DeSalvo Named National Coordinator

Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MsC has been named by HHS as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. DeSalvo, health commissioner for the City of New Orleans, will start on January 13.

According to an internal email from HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “Throughout her career, Dr. DeSalvo has advocated increasing the use of health information technology (HIT) to improve access to care, the quality of care, and overall population health outcomes –including efforts post-Katrina to redesign of the health system with HIT as a foundational element. ”