Lauren Thompson
Dr. Lauren Thompson serves as the Director for the Department of Defense (DoD)/Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Interagency Program Office (IPO), collaborating with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Standards Development Orga- nizations, and other public and private partners to support national interoperability efforts. In this role, she leads the DoD and VA’s efforts to implement national health data standards for interopera- bility, and guides the DoD/VA IPO as the single point of accountability for identifying, monitoring, and approving clinical and technical data standards and profiles. Further, Dr. Thompson leads the DoD/VA IPO to ensure the seamless integration of health data between the two Departments and private healthcare providers.
Dr. Thompson previously served as the Associate Director for Initiatives and Coordination for ONC. In this position, she managed the development and execution of the national health stan- dards strategy, including specifications for health data interoperability and exchange. She also served as the Director of Federal Health Architecture for ONC.
Dr. Thompson also held several leadership positions in private firms, including: Deputy Director of Systems Research and Initiatives and Deputy Group Director of the Health Financial Systems for Altarum Institute; Program Manager for the Health and Human Services Division for MITRE Corporation; Principal and Practice Area Director of Organizational Engineering for Birch & Davis Associates, Inc.; Director of Business Strategy for the Health and Science Solutions at Northrop Grumman Information Technology; Director of Strategic Planning and Policy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs; as well as the Founder and Managing Principal of Principal Innovation.
Dr. Thompson received her Doctorate of Philosophy in Health Policy and Strategic Management, as well as her Master of Health Services Administration in Health Services Management and Policy and Information Management from George Washington University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Colgate University. She is a Certified Leadership Coach, a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, a Fellow in the Healthcare Information and Man- agement Systems Society, and a member of the International Coach Federation. She also served as an Adjunct Professor and Internship Preceptor for Georgetown University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University.