Lack Of Funding, Clout Didn't Deter Kolodner From Tackling ONC's Top Spot

Dr. Robert Kolodner had his eyes wide open when he took the top spot at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS.

He knew that his predecessor, Dr. David Brailer, had asked in vain for billions of dollars to help subsidize the cost of EHRS to hospitals and physicians, federal money he thought ONC needed. But Kolodner took the job anyway, saying that timing was important. His work helped lay the foundation for the accelerated EHR adoption period that did come under his successors, Dr. David Blumenthal and Dr. Farzad Mostashari.

The trained psychiatrist also said he wasn't particularly bothered when Congress and the Obama administration drafted the HITECH provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 while he was ONC chief, largely without consulting him.