ONC’s office of the chief operating officer, under the direction of Chief Operating Officer Lisa Lewis Person, is responsible for a wide range of diverse, key strategic and day-to-day functions that support ONC’s policy and technical work. This month, the ONC Staff Profile series highlights the work of ONC’s two deputy chief operating officers. Adrienne Kimble provides oversight and strategic direction related to legislative affairs, cybersecurity enterprise and architecture, data and reporting, system operations, space management and performance monitoring. Erin Meter provides oversight and strategic direction related to program integrity, budget formulation and execution, financial assistance and acquisitions management, human capital, risk management, and freedom of information act requests.

Tell us about some of the projects or initiatives that you lead.

Adrienne Kimble: Since 2018, I’ve been the lead for the legislative affairs portfolio providing oversight on all major projects. In this role, I prepared the previous two national coordinators for congressional hearings with the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Senate HELP Committee. Over the last four years, I also led efforts to educate members of Congress and Hill staff about ONC’s implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act and our role in the department’s pandemic response efforts.  In 2022, I took on a new role, as the deputy chief operating officer for operations, after the retirement of the former deputy chief operating officer. In this role, I work with the ONC’s operations team to introduce several initiatives including expanding our cybersecurity portfolio, developing a new app-based enterprise system, and staying on top of the rapidly changing COVID-19 status in the DC area, to maintain a safe environment for staff returning to the office.

Additionally, my role in OCOO project management identified costs savings, streamlined operational areas to create efficiencies and fully execute our budget every year.

Erin Meter: I oversee several strategic initiatives related to ONC’s work including hiring and retaining staff with the end goal to make ONC one of the best places to work in the federal government. My portfolio also includes the formulation of the president’s budget request, budget execution, procurement, grants, and enterprise risk management.

Some important projects I have worked on include ONC’s transition to telework during the pandemic and developing the “reimagined” workplace that we now have. I helped to secure ONC’s additional funding on top of our annual appropriations. I also worked to secure funding for ONC’s Public Health Informatics and Technology Workforce Development (PHIT) program. The PHIT program aims to strengthen U.S. public health IT efforts, improve COVID-19 data collection, and increase representation of underrepresented communities within the public health IT workforce, by training over 4,000 students, funding Minority Serving Intuitions in the United States. I am especially proud of the work this program is doing to strengthen U.S. public health IT efforts, improve COVID-19 data collection, and increased representation of underrepresented communities within the public health IT workforce.

What led you to your career here at ONC?

AK: The first part of my career was in the political sphere, working on state and federal elections campaigns. I decided to join ONC because I knew that I wanted to continue making a positive impact in the lives of American people, outside of the political world. I’ve always known that I wanted to dedicate my life to public service. I grew up in family of health care providers and military officers. I spent much of my childhood doing rounds at teaching and military hospitals.  My mother is a retired nursing professor and military officer. She has always stressed the importance of being your own patient advocate.

ONC’s dedication to providing patients’ access to their electronic health care records, thereby creating opportunities for transparency and increased patient literacy, resonates with me as a result of my family background. The most exciting part of working at ONC is being able to share and educate people outside of government about ONC and the impacts of what we do on their daily lives.

EM: I joined ONC because I believe in the mission of improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities using technology and health information. I have stayed with ONC for 11 years because of the people and the challenging yet rewarding work. ONC genuinely cares about its staff and offers opportunities and resources, including numerous diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility events, and a training program for all levels    of employees. In addition, ONC has numerous growth opportunities, which is how I started as a budget analyst, and became one of the deputy chief operating officers. I find my work, and its constantly evolving nature, to be very exciting and fast paced. In addition, I am always challenged to come up with new solutions and improve existing  operational functions, which is something I love working on.

What are some skills or strengths that you contribute to your work at ONC?

AK: Strategic planning, networking and relationship building come naturally to me. OCOO’s project management and strategic planning, along with the legislative affairs portfolio allow me to fully utilize those skillsets and be an asset to ONC. ONC values my work because I take a proactive approach to my work portfolio and have a unique ability to anticipate what comes next.

EM: In operations, sometimes deadlines and projects are incredibly urgent and must be handled quickly, but also require a thorough and thoughtful response. I think my ability to stay calm and focused during these situations has been essential. I also believe my writing skills and desire to continue learning and expanding my skill set have benefited me over my career at ONC.

What is something you’ve accomplished at ONC that you’re most proud of, and why?

AK: I am most proud of my work with congressional stakeholders and being a part of the team that drafted the PHIT program proposal. Over the last four years, I developed substantial working relationships with chair and ranking member staff for ONC’s authorizing and appropriations committees.

I am an Alabama native. Alabama is the state with the most historically black colleges and universities (14). My mom is a Tuskegee University graduate. I am excited to see the impact of the PHIT program creating a diverse and inclusive 21st century healthcare workforce.

EM: I am incredibly proud of ONC’s work swiftly transitioning to telework when the pandemic began and making sure that when we reimagined our new normal, post-pandemic, that we involved staff at all levels of planning. This ensured that ONC could continue achieving its mission during the pandemic and in fact we expanded our work through a few programs, one being the PHIT programs.

At the height of the pandemic, ONC also worked to put out numerous policies and flexibilities for our staff to make sure they could perform their work, while also dealing with the realities of the pandemic (such as remote learning for their children, taking care of loved ones, etc…). I am proud of the role I had in getting those policies in place and making sure they were communicated to staff.

What would you say is the best or most interesting part of working for ONC?

AK: I love hearing about the on-the-ground impact ONC makes on the healthcare ecosystem, as I interact with ONC’s clinician care team. They always have positive things to say about ONC and are well versed in who we are and what we do! I am motivated to stay by the people that I work with and knowing that I am a part of the future of health care innovations.

EM: ONC is a very dynamic environment, and I have always been challenged to come up with new and improved ways of doing things. I love the ability I have to innovate and feel like I am a member of an important and high performing team.

How would you characterize ONC’s success?

AK: ONC will be viewed as successful if all Americans have the information they need to make informed decisions about their health care and treatment plan. We’ve come so far since ONC’s inception in 2004. I am excited to see the advancements that will develop in my lifetime.

EM: ONC will be viewed as successful when we continue to respond and innovate with the ever-evolving health IT landscape, and we make sure our policies (both internal facing and in our external programs) reflect the core values of improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

Tell us about a project you are currently working on and how it fits into ONC’s mission.

AK: Two projects I am most excited about are HHS health IT alignment coordination and the 118^th Congressional stakeholder outreach plan. This plan will align health IT projects across all of HHS. COVID-19 further demonstrated the importance of interoperable data to improve the quality, safety, affordability, and efficiency of health care delivery; inform pandemic response; and identify and address disparities in care. On the Congressional stakeholder front, several of our major authorizing and appropriating committees will have all new committee leadership. This is an opportunity to expand our influence and introduce new members and staff to ONC’s work.

EM: I am currently involved in multiple facets of making ONC an even better place to work. As part of our work related to the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), ONC analyzes the results and works to continuously improve our employee’s views about ONC. The more engaged workforce ONC has, the better work we can do for the American people.

What are the core values of ONC that are important to you?

AK: Better health enabled by data – empowering patients to make informed medical decisions, that are consistent with their goals and values.

EM: ONC values innovation, diversity, and hard work.