I recently read that Dr. Jon White, Deputy National Coordinator for the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), announced that he was leaving ONC to become Associate Chief of Staff of Research at the Veterans Administration Salt Lake City Health Care System.
In a way his departure marks the end of an era because Jon has been a key Federal HIT leader for many years and his contributions have been considerable.
Jon started at AHRQ in 2004, shortly before I began my stint at CMS. Over the years our paths crossed many times on a variety of diverse topics ranging from e-prescribing, ICD-10, meaningful use, Medicaid HIT grants, interoperability, and clinical quality measures. In late 2014, Jon moved over to the ONC, where he has served as the Deputy National Coordinator, except for short stints as the Acting National Coordinator between Administrations and a detail at CMS where he helped launch their MyHealthEData initiative.
Over the last fifteen years Jon has played a role – often a key role, in virtually every Federal HIT effort. I could spend the rest of this blog describing the work that Jon did, but I would rather describe the qualities that have made him successful and what will be missed by the Federal HIT community.
In many ways, Jon is the polar opposite of much of the DC crowd, even though ironically, he is actually a DC-metro native. Perhaps it was Jon’s background as a pediatrician that gave him his low-key manner and quirky sense of humor that he often used to bring a sense of calm, pragmatism, and rationality to the sometimes-intense echo chamber of the HIT clan. Jon also has a good sense of work-life balance and while he has a passion for healthcare, he has always been able to put work in its proper perspective.
Jon has never been one to look for headlines but often worked behind the scenes to provide guidance, wisdom, and the ability to ask the right questions to help solve seemingly intractable issues. I always found him to be a great source of information and feedback, not only on the provider community, but also on how various policies and technologies could play at the operational level.
I first met Jon when we were working together with AHRQ to test and implement the initial e-prescribing standards that came out of the Medicare Modernization Act. With Jon’s support, those standards became the bedrock of e-prescribing transactions that are almost universally used by the industry today. In the past several years Jon has been very involved in the ONC’s work around interoperability, information blocking, and implementing the 21st Century Cures legislation.
Now Jon is moving on to work with one of our nation’s most vulnerable populations: veterans. There, he will re-join his friend and mentor Dr. Carolyn Clancy, who has also done so much for the Federal health community over the years, both as the Director of AHRQ and in recent years at various leadership roles in the Veterans Health Administration.
Jon, best of luck to you, my friend. I am glad that you are continuing your work in the Federal government and the VA is very fortunate to gain someone of your caliber and character.