Cerner Executive Appointed to National Health Information Technology Advisory Committee

Published on December 22, 2021

Cerner announced the appointment by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) of Hans Buitendijk, Director of Interoperability Strategy at Cerner, to the National Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC).

Established as part of the 21^st Century Cures Act in 2016, HITAC provides recommendations to the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology on policies, standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria relating to the implementation of a health information technology infrastructure, nationally and locally, that advances the electronic access, exchange and use of health information. The Advisory Committee focuses on the priorities of achieving a health IT infrastructure both nationally and locally; promoting and protecting privacy and security of health information; and, facilitating secure access by an individual and approved family and caregivers to the individual’s protected health information.

“I’m honored to be appointed to HITAC to help shape the future of interoperability and enhance the caregiver and patient accessibility to health records,” said Buitendijk. “The Advisory Committee is a key source of information for ONC as they consider how to progress their roadmap, learn about IT capabilities on the horizon and gain multidisciplinary industry feedback. Being able to provide the EHR community perspective on behalf of Cerner and EHRA is critical given the health data we have available and as key enablers of interoperability.”  

Buitendijk’s new term begins Jan. 1, 2022. At Cerner, Buitendijk leads the strategy that focuses on establishing and propagating industry standards to enable interoperability across health IT systems. He represents Cerner in various industry initiatives to advance interoperability, such as HL7, CommonWell Health Alliance, Carequality and The Sequoia Project, and serves as the chair of the Electronic Health Record Association’s (EHRA) executive committee. He received his Master of Science in Management Science and Industrial Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands.

“Cerner is proud to have Hans represent us and provide insights on behalf of the EHR industry as part of HITAC,” said Sam Lambson, vice president of interoperability, Cerner. “He has decades of technology expertise and is an excellent selection to help guide important interoperability policies and standards.”