A Colleague Moves On…

Last week, Arien Malec submitted his resignation as Coordinator of the Direct Project and the Standards & Interoperability (S&I) Framework to return to the private sector.  In the past year and a half, he has successfully built a solid foundation for nationwide interoperability and exchange through his creative and diligent leadership of the Direct Project and the S&I Framework. Arien’s role as Coordinator of the S&I Framework will be transitioned to Jitin Asnaani, who will also act as interim Coordinator for the Direct Project. Jitin’s experience as Initiative Coordinator for two of the current S&I initiatives and role in helping State Health Information Exchanges to implement Direct Project specifications ensures that both of these important initiatives will continue receiving appropriate ONC guidance.

Arien’s reasons for leaving are strictly personal, and I asked him to share his thoughts on his transition: When I originally talked to Farzad Mostashari, Todd Park, and Doug Fridsma about working with ONC on what became known as the Direct Project, we agreed on a short-term, narrowly focused nine-month effort, at the end of which I would go back to the world I’ve known and loved: the world of the innovative health-care startup.