In a note to ONC staff, Karen DeSalvo announced that ONC Chief Nursing Officer and Director of the Office of Clinical Quality and Safety Judy Murphy will be resigning to become the new Chief Nursing Officer with IBM Healthcare Global Business Services. Murphy joined the ONC in 2011 as the Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy where she led the HITECH funded program offices helping over 100,000 providers and 1,300 critical access and rural hospitals meet the meaningful use incentive requirements. She also helped grow the MUVer (Meaningful Use Vanguard) Program to 1,000 providers and the Health IT Fellows Program to 45. Her last day will be October 17th.
Regarding the transition plans for the ONC, DeSalvo stated:
“We are planning a smooth transition of Judy’s current duties. Judy’s CNO responsibilities will be entrusted to the other nurses at ONC until a replacement CNO can be named. Dr. Jon White will be on a part-time detail to ONC from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to serve as interim lead of OCQS and serve as ONC’s Acting Chief Medical Officer, reporting to Deputy National Coordinator Jacob Reider, while ONC searches for permanent staff to fill these positions. Dr. White directs AHRQ’s Health IT portfolio and will continue in that role part-time.
Dr. Andy Gettinger, from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, has agreed to lead the OCQS Safety team and the patient safety work. Dr. Gettinger comes to us with vast experience in many areas of health IT and we are excited to welcome him to the team. Judy is working closely with Jon, Andy, the extraordinary OCQS team, and me to ensure a seamless transition of her responsibilities.”
