The National Quality Forum (NQF) has formed a new Health IT Advisory Committee (HITAC). Members of the new advisory committee represent a wide range of healthcare stakeholders, including consumers, providers, clinicians, purchasers, suppliers, and public and community healthcare organizations.

According to NQF, the Board of Directors approved the creation of HITAC, charging it with:

• developing a strategic plan and providing ongoing guidance for NQF’s HIT portfolio;
• offering input on HIT projects, such as maintenance of the Quality Data Set and specification of testing requirements for eMeasures;
• reviewing electronic specifications for NQF-endorsed and candidate standards; and
• making recommendations on the endorsement and maintenance of HIT-related consensus standards.

HITAC is a standing committee of the NQF Board of Directors. Members of HITAC are eligible to serve three-year terms. To stagger the future appointment cycle, inaugural HITAC members will serve one-, two- or three-year terms, NQF stated.

Members of HITAC include:

• Paul C. Tang, MD, MS (Chair): Vice President and Chief Medical Director, Palo Alto Medical Foundation;
• Patricia A. Abbott, PhD, RN-BC: Associate Professor, The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Health Sciences Informatics;
• Richard J. Baron, MD: President and CEO, Greenhouse Internists;
• David W. Bates, MD, MSc: Chief of Division of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Medical Director of Clinical and Quality Analysis, Partners Healthcare System;
• Chad Bennett: Director of Health Informatics and Product Strategy, Iowa Foundation for Medical Care;
• A. John Blair, III, MD: President, Taconic IPA;
• Marilyn Jane Bowman-Hayes, RN, MSN, MBA: Informatics Nurse Specialist, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses;
• Becky J. Cherney: President and CEO, Florida Healthcare Coalition;
• Ian Z. Chuang, MD, MS: Medical Officer, Applied Informatics, CIGNA Healthcare;
• John F. Derr, RPh: Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Strategic Officer, Golden Living;
• Caterina E.M. Lasome, PhD, MSN, MBA, MHA, RN, CPHIMS: Chief Operating Officer, National Cancer Institute Center for Biomedical Informatics & IT;
• Christoph U. Lehmann, MD: Director, Clinical IT, Johns Hopkins University, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine;
• Michael I. Lieberman, MD, MS: Director, Medical Quality Improvement Consortium, GE Healthcare IT;
• Blackford Middleton, MD, MSc: Corporate Director, Clinical Informatics Research & Development, Partners Healthcare System;
• J. Marc Overhage, MD, PhD: Director of Medical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute;
• Stanley L. Pestotnik, MS: General Manager, TheraDoc, Hospira;
• Eva M. Powell, MSW: Director, Health Information Technology Project, National Partnership for Women & Families;
• Christopher J. Queram, MA: President and CEO, Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality;
• Deborah A. Reid, JD, MHA: Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program;
• Martha A. Roherty, MPP: Executive Director, National Association of State Units on Aging; 
• John Seibel, MD: Medical Director, New Mexico Medical Review Association;
• Shannon Sims, MD, PhD: Director of Health Informatics in Performance Improvement, Rush University Medical Center;
• Christopher S. Snyder, DO: CMIO, Peninsula Regional Medical Center;
• David A. Stumpf, MD, PhD: Senior Vice President for Clinical Data Strategies, United Health Group; and
• Marcia Thomas-Brown, MHSA: COO, National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved.