Kensaku Kawamoto, MD, PhD, MHS, associate chief medical information officer and an associate professor of biomedical informatics at University of Utah Health, will serve a second three-year term on a national committee that helps the federal government address health information technology challenges.
Established as part of the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016, the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC) provides recommendations to the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology on policies, standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria that advances electronic access, exchange, and use of health information.
First appointed in 2017, Kawamoto's new term begins on Jan. 1, 2021.
"I am honored to continue my service on this committee," said Kawamoto, who also co-chaired the HITAC Interoperability Standards Priorities Task Force during his initial term. "There is so much potential for information technology to improve health care, and I look forward to contributing to our collective efforts to realize this vision."
Kawamoto received his bachelor's degree in biochemical sciences from Harvard University. He earned his MD, PhD in biomedical engineering with a focus on biomedical informatics, and MHS in clinical research from Duke University. At University of Utah Health, Kawamoto chairs the Clinical Decision Support committee and is a leader of the University's ReImagine EHR initiative, which is a multi-stakeholder effort to enable standards-based, interoperable applications and software services to improve health and health care.