Who signed the Executive Order Incentives for the Use of Health Information Technology and Establishing the Position of the National Health Information Technology Coordinator?

• A. George W. Bush
• B. Barack Obama
• C. Bill Clinton
• D. Joe Biden

Answer: (A)

The question tests knowledge of who first drove the federal push to adopt health information technology and create national leadership for it. In 2004, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order that promoted the use of health information technology and established the National Health Information Technology Coordinator to lead nationwide efforts. This set the stage for later expansions in health IT, including the broader incentives tied to electronic health records. Barack Obama later expanded these efforts with the HITECH Act, but he did not sign this executive order. Clinton and Biden were not the signers of this particular order.