Christopher Boone, director of outpatient quality and health IT for the American Heart Association in Dallas, will fill a vacancy on the federal Health Information Technology Policy Committee. Boone will fill one of three committee positions held by advocates for patients or consumers. 

Gene L. Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), announced the appointment Sept. 6.

“The voice of patients and consumers is critical to the formation of a responsive policy for health information technology,” Dodaro said. “I am pleased that we had so many well-qualified individuals respond to our request for nominations.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 established the HIT Policy Committee and gave the comptroller general responsibility for appointing 13 of its 20 members. The HIT Policy Committee makes recommendations to the national coordinator for Health IT on the development and adoption of a nationwide health information infrastructure, including standards for the exchange of patient medical information. 

In his role with the American Heart Association, Boone is responsible for planning and implementing outpatient quality and health IT initiatives, including oversight of The Guideline Advantage, an outpatient quality improvement program and clinical registry program formed as a national tri-agency partnership with the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association.

Boone previously worked at a number of healthcare institutions and consulting firms, including Cook Children’s Healthcare System, Texas Health Resources, UT Southwestern Medical Center and Deloitte Consulting. He serves as co-chair of the National Council on Heart Technology, a special committee for the e-Health Initiative that was formed to examine the use of health IT in caring for patients with heart disease.