Authors
Thomas A. Mason
Dr. Thomas Mason is Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As CMO he is a health IT and stakeholder ambassador for ONC, routinely meeting with clinicians in the field and advocates across the healthcare industry, focusing on improving health IT usability, reducing clinician burden, and advancing ONC’s mission to improve data use and its availability across the health care spectrum. Working closely with staff at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) and other agencies within HHS, Dr. Mason leads efforts to better understand and address clinical documentation burdens and other administrative burdens relating to the use of electronic health records. Dr. Mason led the development of ONC’s Health IT Playbook, which offers tools, resources, and best practices to help address the challenges of implementing, adopting and optimizing health IT.
Prior to joining ONC, Dr. Mason worked at the Cook Country Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS), the third largest public hospital system in the country. He spent 14 years as a board-certified internist with an emphasis on primary care and preventative medicine and led the charge to implement EHRs across the system. His work at CCHHS allowed specialists and primary care providers to streamline and optimize EHR use, improving clinical workflow and system efficiency. Dr. Mason has brought his experience implementing multiple EHRs to ONC to help the agency better understand the difficulties clinicians experience with health IT and to help facilitate collaboration between the government and the healthcare industry to improve clinicians’ and patients’ engagement with innovative health technologies.
Dr. Mason earned his M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Rush University Medical Center and Cook County Hospital.
Thomas A. Mason's Latest Blog Posts
Thomas A. Mason | October 3, 2019
According to new findings, the percent of clinicians who electronically prescribe controlled substances (EPCS) has increased. Despite this increase, overall EPCS rates remain low. The use of EPCS technology can help healthcare providers directly integrate opioid prescription information into electronic health records (EHRs), which can enhance patient safety and help deter diversion and fraud. ECPS technology can also streamline clinician workflow and reduce patient burden.
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Thomas A. Mason | September 18, 2017
Today is National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness day – providing a perfect opportunity to talk about how health information technology (health IT) and electronic health information help doctors better manage the care of patients living with HIV and AIDS and improve the care that they receive.
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Thomas A. Mason | March 21, 2017
Every day, clinicians work tirelessly to provide the best possible care for their patients. Clinicians and other health care providers like hospitals are increasingly using health information technology (health IT) such as electronic health records (EHRs), and a growing body of evidence shows health IT can help them make care safer. However, new technology can pose challenges and risks. At the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC),
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Thomas A. Mason | September 26, 2016
Today, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is releasing the Health IT Playbook to help make using health information technology (health IT) easier for providers so they can get the most out of their technology investment. The Playbook is a dynamic, web-based resource that builds on and updates the Patient Engagement Playbook for Providers, which was released earlier this year.
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Thomas A. Mason | June 2, 2016
Clinicians and other health care providers practice medicine with the noble goal of improving patient outcomes. The day-to-day considerations in treating patients are complex, which is where technology can be leveraged to streamline and better inform the patient-provider interaction.
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