EHNAC Appoints Five New Commissioners

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a nonprofit standards development organization and accrediting body, recently announced the appointment of five new commissioners to assist in the management and control of the commission. Joining a team of 13 existing EHNAC commissioners from both private and public organizations, the following five industry leaders will serve EHNAC through 2016:

• Kate Berry, CEO of National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC);

• Paul Calatayud, chief information security officer for Surescripts;

• Jan Estep, president and CEO of NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association;

• Edward Marsh, vice president and chief technology officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts; and

• Robert Tennant, senior policy advisor with the Government Affairs Department of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA).

"The EHNAC board of commissioners is driven by some of the most prominent and well-respected stakeholders in our industry, and represent the interests of electronic health networks, health information service providers, health information exchanges, payers, providers, consumer organizations, financial service providers, and health IT vendors," says Debra Hopkinson, vice president of operations for EHNAC. "Their domain expertise and invaluable insights are critical in preserving the continued credibility and value of EHNAC's standards-based accreditation programs."

Kate Berry is the CEO of NeHC, a public-private partnership that works closely with the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and many health care stakeholders to encourage widespread adoption of health information exchange to improve health and health care. She has more than 20 years of health care experience. Prior to joining NeHC, Berry was senior vice president of Surescripts, working with a wide range of health care stakeholders at the national and state level to lead and coordinate electronic prescribing and health information exchange initiatives.

Paul Calatayud joined Surescripts five months ago and serves as the head of the Information Security Department as the chief information security officer. He is responsible for company policy, audits, security architecture, and enterprise risk management. Prior to his role with Surescripts, Calatayud was director of information security for United Health Group, a Fortune 20 company, where he managed a department of 50 security professionals supporting more than 150,000 employees. Calatayud has 14 years of experience within information security which started by serving in the Army as an information security cryptographer.

Jan Estep is president and CEO of NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association. NACHA oversees the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network, the backbone for the electronic movement of money and data. In her role, Estep guides NACHA's daily operations and rulemaking processes, and encourages the development, promotion, and use of electronic payment solutions such as direct deposit via ACH and direct payment via ACH.

Edward Marsh is vice president and chief technology officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts, the state's larger payer organization. He is responsible for strategic partnerships, as well as community based partnerships, and is engaged with the New England Healthcare Exchange Network, the MA Health Data Consortium, and the Massachusetts Health Information Highway. He sits on several technology related Blue Cross Blue Shield Association advisory boards.

Robert Tennant is the senior policy advisor with the Government Affairs Department of the Medical Group Management Association. Tennant focuses on federal legislative and regulatory health information technology issues for MGMA including HIPAA, electronic transactions, secure messaging, health information exchange, privacy and security, ICD-10, EHRs, and other HIT issues. Tennant serves on numerous industry initiatives, including vice-chair of the board of directors of Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) and cochair of the Consumer Engagement Workgroup of the 2013 WEDI Report.

Source: Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission