The Sequoia Project Adds New Members to its Board of Directors

VIENNA, Va., Feb. 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Sequoia Project, a non-profit and trusted advocate for nationwide health information technology (health IT) interoperability, announces the addition of four diverse members to its board of directors representing a federal agency, health system, digital health platform, and health information association.

The Sequoia Project welcomes board members Jennifer Blumenthal of OneRecord, Matthew Eisenberg, MD, of Stanford Medicine Health Care, Wylecia Wiggs Harris of AHIMA, and Colonel Thomas Cantilina, MD, of the Department of Defense.

Since its founding in 2012, The Sequoia Project has evolved from nine founding members to nearly 100 organizations representing the continuum of healthcare, from consumers to providers, payers and health IT developers, to federal agencies. The enhanced board of directors will bring fresh perspectives and guidance to The Sequoia Project’s work on the nation’s most pressing health IT interoperability challenges. The Sequoia Project is most well-known for its Interoperability Matters cooperative, which is a public-private initiative that identifies, prioritizes, and solves discrete barriers to secure and interoperable health information exchange. The non-profit serves as the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC’s) Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), which is anticipated to go live within the next 12 months.

“We are excited to welcome our new board members, Blumenthal, Eisenberg, Harris, and Cantilina, who have been involved and supportive of The Sequoia Project’s mission. Their experiences and views will be invaluable for The Sequoia Project in the upcoming years as we continue to advance nationwide interoperability and health IT initiatives,” said Mariann Yeager, chief executive officer of The Sequoia Project. “I also want to congratulate the continuing members of the board of directors, whose leadership and expertise have been vital to us across all of our efforts.”

The board of directors elected officers for the year. Michael Hodgkins, MD, will serve as chair. David Horrocks of New York eHealth Collaborative will serve as vice chair. Nancy Beavin of Humana will serve as secretary, and Lee Barrett of DirectTrust will serve as treasurer.

A complete list of the board of directors and more information on The Sequoia Project governance can be found on The Sequoia Project website at https://sequoiaproject.org/about-us/board-of-directors/.

About The Sequoia Project

The Sequoia Project is a non-profit, 501c3, public-private collaborative chartered to advance implementation of secure, interoperable nationwide health information exchange. The Sequoia Project focuses on solving real-world interoperability challenges and brings together public and private stakeholders in forums, such as the Interoperability Matters cooperative, to overcome barriers. The Sequoia Project is the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), for which it will develop, implement, and maintain the TEFCA’s Common Agreement component and operationalize the Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) designation and monitoring process. For more information about The Sequoia Project and its initiatives, visit www.sequoiaproject.org. Follow The Sequoia Project on Twitter: @SequoiaProject.