Tom Daschle's withdrawal is a disappointment to many in the HIT community because of his track record of advocacy for reform. It will be interesting to see who the Obama team puts up next, especially with regard to leadership in HIT. The need for greater use and funding of information technology in healthcare has been firmly established by a steady parade of industry groups, and they're not going away just because Daschle dropped out. Any replacement named by Obama will no doubt advance the same agenda.
While speculation over who will draw the nod includes everyone from Jeanne Lambrew to Howard Dean, one less obvious, but sensible pick might just be Oregon Senator Ron Wyden. If you're not familiar with Wyden, who authored the first federal law to protect seniors from unscrupulous Medicare insurance scams and is quietly regarded as one of the most plugged-in Democratic members of Congress when it comes to healthcare, you can get his story in a nutshell here.
If not Wyden, why not? Who's your pick for Health Czar?
