Authors
Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo
Dr. Karen DeSalvo is a physician who has served as a leader through her 20-year career toward improving access to affordable, high quality care for all people with a focus on vulnerable populations through her direct care, medical education and administrative roles. Before coming to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, she was the New Orleans Health Commissioner and New Orleans Mayor Mitchell Landrieu’s Senior Health Policy Advisor.
Before joining the Mayor’s administration, Dr. DeSalvo was a professor of medicine and vice dean for community affairs and health policy at Tulane University School of Medicine.
Following Hurricane Katrina, she created an innovative model of neighborhood-based primary care and mental health services for low-income, uninsured and other vulnerable individuals, and was the founder and president of 504HealthNet, a consortium of safety net providers in the New Orleans region.
Dr. DeSalvo served as president of the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum and the National Association of Chiefs of General Internal Medicine. She has served on the boards of the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Society of General Internal Medicine.
Dr. DeSalvo was recognized as one of “Women of Excellence in Health Care” by the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus and named a “Children’s Hero” by the Children’s Bureau of New Orleans and Family Service of New Orleans named her as one of their Ten Outstanding Persons. In 2013, Governing Magazine named Dr. DeSalvo one of nine Public Officials of the Year.
She earned her Medical Doctorate and Master’s in Public Health from Tulane University, and Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo's Latest Blog Posts
Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo | January 19, 2016
Where We’ve Been
As we mentioned in a speech last week, the Administration is working on an important transition for the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. We have been working side by side with physician organizations and have listened to the needs and concerns of many about how we can make improvements that will allow technology to best support clinicians and their patients. While we will be putting out additional details in the next few months,
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Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo | January 11, 2016
In order to effectively manage their health, individuals need to be able to access and use their health information when, where, and how they want, including sending it to the people and tools helping them become or stay healthy – neighbors, friends, relatives, health care providers who are treating or consulting with the individual, or even third-party software tools used for self-management. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) governs the privacy of individuals’ protected health information (PHI) and when and how that information can be shared.
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Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo | December 11, 2015
On Tuesday, I spoke at the Bipartisan Policy Center about our vision for the near future where electronic health information is unlocked and securely accessible to achieve better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.
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Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo | October 6, 2015
This is a unique time in health care. Scientific and technological advancements made by you, our partners across the health industry, have been rapidly transforming health and health care in the nation. More than 3 million individuals have accessed their electronic health information using ONC’s Blue Button tool. Today, over three-quarters of eligible providers and nine-in-ten eligible hospitals have received incentive payments for adopting and meaningfully using certified health IT compared with less than 15% before the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs started.
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Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo | October 1, 2015
Today, ONC joins hundreds of providers, consumers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and federal and private sector partners to celebrate advancements in consumer engagement through health IT at its premier consumer event: the Fifth Annual Consumer Health IT Summit (#consumersummit15). We have a lot of success to celebrate, a lot of exciting developments to share with one another, and yes, -a lot of work still to do.
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