GAO names new members to Health IT Policy, PCORI committees

U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro yesterday named three new members to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, which recommends policies and standards to the National Coordinator for Health IT. Appointed to three-year terms were Kathleen Blake, M.D., vice president for performance improvement at the American Medical Association; Donna Cryer, founder and president of the Global Liver Institute in Washington, D.C.; and Brent Snyder, chief information officer at Orlando, FL-based Adventist Health System. Blake will fill the position of an expert in health care quality measurement and reporting, Cryer the position of an advocate for patients or consumers, and Snyder the position representing health care providers. In addition, GAO named one new member to the Methodology Committee of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute: Adam Wilcox, director of medical informatics at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City. The Methodology Committee assists PCORI in developing and updating methodological standards and guidance for comparative clinical effectiveness research.