Taking care of business at #HealthFoo: Nomination Letter, Regina Holliday, Health IT Policy Committee

Almost 3 years to the day (May 28, 2009), I wrote a blog post entitled “Is it meaningful if patients can’t use it?”, that detailed my first meeting of Regina Holliday ( @ReginaHollidayblog ). In it, I wondered if the then-unannounced Meaningful Use standards would recognize the important role of patients and families in the health system.

3 years later, I am writing a letter of nomination to the General Accounting Office of the United States of America, nominating Regina Holliday to become a member of the Committee that sets direction for Meaningful Use. In 2012, it appears that a lot of other people think that electronic health records aren’t meaningful unless patients can use them – great to see that this is a statement rather than a question :).

I’m posting my letter below, so that you may copy, improve, and nominate Regina or the patient advocate of your choice. You can read the Federal Register announcement for this vacancy here. Letters are due in just 5 days, May 25, 2012, so be sure to do this as soon as you can.

I just spent 3 days with Regina at HealthFoo (post on that coming later), and I took the photograph on the right during our daily #walkwithadoc-and-an-artist. I noticed a person who’s able to enjoy her life and the people around her. She brings optimism, energy, and compassion to literally every conversation we have. At the same time she tells me she is on a mission – she will do whatever it takes to change the role of patients and families in health information technology and health care.

Comments, as well as a link or paste of your letter, are welcome below. Just make sure you send a copy to General Accounting Office like I did.

May 20, 2012

General Accounting Office
441 G Street NW Washington, DC 20548
Also via email: [email protected]

RE: Nomintation: Regina Holliday, Health Information Technology Policy Committee

Dear Gentlepersons,

I am writing to nominate Ms. Regina Holliday to fill the current vacancy for a patient advocate on the Health Information Technology Policy Committee.

I have known Ms. Holliday for 3 years, when she began her work advocating on behalf of patients and families impacted by the lack of access to information in their health care. Since that time, she has become a national expert in Meaningful Use, patient and family engagement in the health care system, and communicating the benefits and challenges of health information technology.

Ms. Holliday brings value and diversity in her voice in that she represents the interests of patients and families based on her own personal experience, rather than as an employee or an affiliate of a consumer advocacy organization. In my opinion, her unaffiliated state will make her representation accessible and responsive to the public who she will serve. She has already demonstrated the ability to successfully collect, synthesize, and communi- cate the most vital information necessary for an informed policy conversation. I have per- sonally observed Ms. Holliday in dialogue with health professionals, health IT leaders, health system leaders, patients, families, and consumer advocates and feel she is able to engage in detailed conversations about use of Health IT in medicine to improve patient care and overall health.

I believe Ms. Holliday will make the best contribution to the Health Information Tech- nololgy Policy Committee, with lasting impacts for Americans seeking to acheive optimal health through a health care system enabled by the technology.

I am disclosing, with Ms. Holliday’s consent, that I am an employee of the organization where Ms. Holliday receives her health care. I am not involved in the provision of her health care and this letter is written on behalf of myself.

Feel free to contact me with questions about this nomination.

Kind regards,

Ted Eytan, MD MS MPH
Washington, DC, USA

HTTP://WWW.TEDEYTAN.COM • TWITTER: TEDEYTAN

3 Comments

I made it a mailto: URL with a simple subject and body here: http://motorcycleguy.blogspot.com/2012/05/who-should-represent-patients.html so that you can easily edit and submit your recommendations.

Ted Eytan, MD