Federal Health Architecture (an E-Government Line of Business, managerially located within the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator)



Q: How long have you been involved with The Open Group?

The Federal Health Architecture (FHA) has been a member for 3 months. I have participated in The Open Group for over 7 years.

Q. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?

I am the Program Director for FHA. In this role, I lead efforts with federal agencies to rapidly and efficiently implement government-wide solutions for interoperable and secure health information exchange that address federal agency business priorities while protecting citizen privacy. I have served in this capacity for almost 18 months.

Q: Why did your organization become a member and what does your involvement look like?   FHA joined The Open Group Healthcare Forum because of the work conducted by the Healthcare Forum and the impact that work has on our federal partner community. We hope to participate in The Open Group's events as a voice for federal health IT efforts. We also hope to be a resource for The Open Group and its members regarding collaboration opportunities with our federal partner community.

Q: How will membership in The Open Group benefit you, your organization and the industry at large?

We are very new to The Open Group but we see a benefit in having access to subject matter experts from across the globe in order to gain a better understanding of federal health IT in the "bigger picture." We are also looking forward to participating in the coordination of efforts regarding the healthcare forum that will benefit the industry at large by minimizing duplication of efforts as it pertains to health IT architecture, standards development and information modeling.

Q: What contributions do you hope to bring to The Open Group? 

FHA hopes to bring first-hand-knowledge about federal health IT activities and requirements to The Open Group; and provide a forum by which industry members can interact with our federal partners in order to support the nationwide learning health system - a system that will support better healthcare for all citizens.

Q: Why is it important for other organizations to join The Open Group? 

As the premier organization for the promotion of international open standards and Enterprise Architecture, all organizations that are active in information sharing can benefit from participating with The Open Group and collaboration with its members. Specifically, within the health IT space, many of the challenges that are common to IT have already been identified, explored, and in many cases solved by The Open Group and its members. As more organizations involved in the health IT industry join, we can better leverage solutions or lessons learned for common IT problems and work together to address health IT specific challenges.

Q: What are your hobbies?

I enjoy the typical reading, listening to music, dancing, camping and travel. I admit, I have been known to enjoy a ride on a motorcycle and horse as well. 



Q: What book are you currently reading?

“The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age,” by Robert M. Wachter

Q.  What social networks do you belong to?

FHA is on Twitter (@ONC_FHA)

LinkedIn group (http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Federal-Health-Architecture-FHA-4526376/about)

Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/federalhealtharchitecture/).

I can be found on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gkalbfleisch) and Twitter (@FHAGail).

Q: Any last thoughts?

FHA is looking forward to working with The Open Group and being able to serve as a valuable resource as well as benefit from the diverse knowledge and experience found in The Open Group and among its members in order to better support our federal partner community. 

June 2015