Speaker's Profile

Thomas is a Senior Advisor on State and Medicaid Policy for the Office of Policy in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT where he supports the advancement of Medicaid interoperability in the drafting and review of Federal regulations. He works closely with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – Medicaid Data and Systems Group – where he provides direct support to state Medicaid agencies and state governments on Health Information Exchange funding and strategy.

Most recently Thomas wrote several portions of the, "CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Proposed Rule," which focuses on improving patient's right of access to their data. He also led implementation of Section 5042 of the SUPPORT Act which provided enhanced technology funding to state Medicaid agencies for Qualified Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs.

Thomas has led the ONC and CMS efforts to update federal technology policy to more aggressively support and fund health information exchange for the coordination of care for Medicaid patients. He was the principle author of several state Medicaid directors’ letters as well.

Prior to ONC, Mr. Novak was CMS’s Medicaid HITECH lead for the eastern United States and the national lead on eligibility policy for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. He wrote portions of the Meaningful Use Stage 2 regulation that pertain to eligibility and children’s hospitals. Thomas has provider experience having been the Director of Quality for the largest HIV agency in Wisconsin where he led the agency’s successful efforts to attain a Level 3 Recognition as a Patient Centered Medical Home.