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National Health Information
Technology Coordinator (ONC)

Karen M. Bell, M.D., M.M.S.
Director, Office of Health IT Adoption

Office of the National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20201

Dr. Bell is a board certified internist with extensive experience in office practice, public health, academic medicine, physician support, and the commercial health insurance sector. She joined the Federal Government in October, 2004 after developing multiple successful payer contracting models which provided financial support for the adoption of clinical health information technologies in the delivery system. Before joining Dr. David Brailer’s team in the Office of the Secretary, her work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services focused on supporting Health Information Technology adoption through contracts with the Quality Improvement Organizations in every state. A previous position with Partners Health Care in Boston provided the opportunity to work with a number of the physician groups affiliated with Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

She graduated from Pembroke College and Tufts University School of Medicine and trained at the Harvard teaching hospitals in Internal Medicine. She spent two years at Toronto General Hospital in Canada and finished an infectious disease fellowship at the University of Chicago before accepting an appointment at the University of Rochester and the Dept. of Public Health in Rochester, NY. While in Rochester, Dr. Bell was a PI on the Medicare Demonstration Project that led to coverage of influenza vaccine for Medicare beneficiaries.

When first relocating to Boston, she held an appointment at Harvard Medical School, teaching in the second year core curriculum, while practicing as an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital and serving as a Medical Director at Harvard Community Health Plan. She maintains licensure in both Massachusetts and Maine, and continues to reside in Massachusetts with her husband, a cardiologist at MGH.

Her current work includes development, implementation, and coordination of strategies to incentivize adoption of HIT and personal health management tools; oversight and evaluation of an HIT certification process; and identification and documentation of methods to assess HIT use as well as the costs and benefits of interoperable technologies.

Last revised: January 17, 2006

What's New

  • Third Nationwide Health Information Network Forum: Prototypes and Business Models, January 25-26, 2007.
    more details


  • Emergency Responder Electronic Health Record Detailed Use Case
    more details


  • HHS Announces State Alliance for e-Health
    more details


  • State Privacy and Security Subcontract Opportunities Announced Under Expanded HHS Contract with RTI
    full story


  • Click here to find out more about the American Health Information Community workgroup meetings.


  • HHS Enters Into Agreements to Support Digital Health Recovery for the Gulf Coast
    full story


  • HHS Announces Award of NHIN Prototype Contracts
    full story


  • ONC and AHIMA release two anti-fraud project reports
    full story


  • Health IT (HIT) Adoption Initiative Announced
    full story


  • Health IT Contracts Awarded Stemming from RFPs
    full story


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