HHS reverses Biden-era restructuring of its IT and tech operations
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The move includes transitioning oversight of the agency’s chief technology officer, chief data officer and chief AI officer back to the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday that it is reversing a Biden-era restructuring of its technology and IT operations that consolidated many duties under one top official.
HHS moved in July 2024 to reorganize several of its existing offices as part of an effort to “streamline and bolster technology, cybersecurity, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and policy functions.”
Prior to that announcement, HHS tech and data strategy operations were distributed across three offices: the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the Assistant Secretary for Administration and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
The Biden administration renamed ONC as the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology — ASTP/ONC — and transferred management of most tech, data and AI policy and strategy operations to the consolidated unit.
This included oversight of the HHS chief technology officer, chief data officer and chief AI officer, which the Trump administration is now moving to place back under the Office of the Chief Information Officer. The agency also said it is ending the ASTP/ONC dual management role.
HHS Chief Information Officer Clark Minor said consolidating the CTO, CDO and CAIO roles within his office means that the department “can move faster on shared platforms, protect our systems more effectively, and support ONC and the operating divisions with the technology capabilities they need to innovate for patients.”
Thomas Keane, who currently helms ASTP/ONC, said that the realignment also means “ONC can focus even more on standards, certification, and policy, while our close partnership with OCIO ensures that the infrastructure and cybersecurity foundation are in place to support the health care system of tomorrow.”
Nextgov/FCW previously interviewed then-ASTP/ONC head Micky Tripathi in October 2024, who said the reorganization was about making sure “we are thinking about technology and data from a strategic perspective, that it's important to our mission delivery in strategic ways — not IT as a cost.”
“You need to start thinking about ‘how is technology actually going to enable the mission and perhaps other missions in a more strategic manner?’” he added. “It’s not just an administrative cost. If we're going to be able to move to the next level of capability in AI, for example, we need to be thinking hard about how technology helps to enable those types of capabilities.”