June 12, 2025
Thomas Keane, MD, MBA
Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
330 C Street, SW, 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20024
Dear Assistant Secretary Keane:
On behalf of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), the nation’s leading authority on health information technology (IT), I extend my warmest congratulations on your appointment as Assistant Secretary and National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP)/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Given your experience as a physician, software developer and engineer, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of HHS, and Senior Advisor in ONC, we believe you bring a unique perspective to this role unseen in previous ASTP/ONC leadership. Your deep understanding of the need for access to, exchange of, and use of health data are critical at this time as the industry works to achieve high-quality, coordinated, and patient-centered care.
WEDI was formed in 1991 by then Secretary of Health and Human Services under the George H.W. Bush Administration, Dr. Louis Sullivan with the goal of identifying opportunities to improve the efficiency of health data exchange. WEDI was designated in the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) legislation as an advisor to HHS and we have collaborated with every administration since the passage of that landmark legislation. Bringing together key organizations from across the health care spectrum, WEDI leverages the industry’s collective knowledge, expertise, and resources to advance technology solutions that improve our nation’s health care infrastructure.
Since the inception of ASTP/ONC, WEDI has had effective working relationships with each Assistant Secretary and National Coordinator. We have been honored to have each of them speak at WEDI conferences and events, which have been well appreciated by our attendees. We also appreciate the opportunity to work collaboratively with members of the ASTP/ONC leadership. As you are aware, John Rancourt, Deputy Director, Office of Standards, Certification, and Analysis at ASTP, currently serves as a member of the WEDI Board of Directors, and we value the role he plays in WEDI. A strong public-private partnership is essential to achieving our shared goal of a truly interoperable and effective health care ecosystem. WEDI's strength and lifeblood is our membership, which represents a diverse cross- section of health care stakeholders including federal and state government representatives, the leading health plans and health plan associations, health care providers and provider associations, vendors, standards development organizations, and patient advocacy organizations. As a multi-stakeholder consensus-building organization, WEDI provides a wealth of experience and knowledge in advising HHS and educating the industry on a wide range of private sector health IT initiatives and federal regulatory requirements.
WEDI looks forward to developing a productive working relationship with you. As you begin to develop and then implement your priorities for the coming months and years, we urge you to call on our diverse membership and expertise for input on a wide variety of health IT issues.
As the collective voice of the health care industry on health IT issues, we offer our best wishes for great success during your tenure as Assistant Secretary and National Coordinator. We look forward to working with you to achieve better health at lower cost through collective action. We would be pleased to set up a meeting with you and your senior staff to discuss our respective organization’s priorities and explore collaboration opportunities. I can be reached at 202.368.2675 or rtennant@WEDI.org.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Tennant
Executive Director, WEDI