Who: Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong
IT insight: Soon-Shiong will advise the Trump administration on health information technology policy as a member of the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, an advisory group to the national coordinator for health IT.
Background: Soon-Shiong began his medical career at UCLA, where he created a new transplant operation for treating diabetes, which worked only temporarily. Later, he helped develop a cancer drug, Abraxane, and a company to sell it, Abraxis. That company and another were sold, solidifying Soon-Shiong's wealth, which he has since used to buy parts of the Los Angeles Lakers and Tronc. In 2007, Soon-Shiong founded NantHealth, a precision-medicine company where he is CEO.
The group: Soon-Shiong joins other recent appointees to the IT panel, including Norton Healthcare CIO Steve Ready, appointed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Sutter Health clinical informaticist Dr. Steven Lane, appointed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Eight members are appointed by congressional leaders, three are chosen by the HHS secretary, and the rest are named by the comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office.
