HHS names Parks as chief technology officer

The Health and Human Services Department has tapped the co-founder of a company that sells management software for doctors to serve as chief technology officer.

Todd Park, chief development officer for Athenahealth, has been named CTO of Health and Human Services. "My entire professional career has focused on developing technologies and services that can help our health care system work the way it should," Park said in a statement released by Athenahealth.

"I am extremely excited about the opportunity to help the administration explore and catalyze new ways to improve the health status of the United States through the power of data, technology and innovation," he added.

Park and Athenahealth Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Bush started the company in 1997 after they bought a medical practice in California and found themselves buried in medical claim papers. They could not find an application to automate the process, so they developed their own. That led to the formation of Athenahealth, which had revenues of $140 million in 2008, according to information on the company's Web site.