What We Do

THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) serves this objective by leading the development and implementation of an enterprise information technology (IT) infrastructure across HHS. The office establishes and provides support for:

E-Government Initiatives

Coordinates HHS participation in, and the technical implementation of, all President’s Management Agenda (PMA) e-Government Initiatives. HHS serves as the managing partner for two initiatives: Federal Health Architecture and Grants.gov and co-leads the Grants Management Line of Business.

IT Operations Management

Provides IT project management and oversight for all major IT projects that have enterprise importance.
Supports IT infrastructure for the Office of the Secretary (OS) and participating HHS OPDIVs by offering and managing help desk and desktop support.
Provides support for the Secretary’s Command Center and Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP).
Maintains an IT Workforce Development and Training program to support an IT workforce that exhibits technical knowledge and expertise.

IT Investment Analysis

Coordinates the Department’s strategic planning, capital planning and investment control (CPIC), budgeting and performance management processes for information technology, and provides direct planning development and support to assure that Information Resources Management (IRM) plans support agency business planning and mission accomplishment.
Assesses risks that major information systems pose to performance of program operations and administrative business throughout the Department, develops risk assessment policies and standard operating procedures and tools, and uses program outcome measures to gauge the quality of Departmental information resources management.

IT Security and Privacy

Develops, implements and administers the Secure One program to protect the information resources of the Department.
Monitors all Departmental systems development and operations for security and privacy compliance and provides advice and guidance to ensure compliance standards are included throughout system life cycle development.
Develops, implements, and evaluates an employee cyber security awareness and training program.
Establishes and leads the HHS Computer Security Incident Response Capability Team, the Department’s overall cyber security incident response/coordination center.

Performance Measurement

Evaluates major investments in information technology, and is responsible for their subsequent periodic review based on performance measures.
Oversees and manages risks associated with major information systems and information technology.
Reviews the Department’s information resources for fraud, waste, and abuse to avoid having redundant resources, in conformance with the Clinger-Cohen Act.

Policies to Provide Improved Management of Information Resources and Technology

Develops and coordinates Information Resources Management policies applicable across the Department and the Office of the Secretary, including the creation, handling, storage, dissemination, and disposition of information.
Oversees HHS Information Collection, including development of Departmental policies, coordinating the Department’s information collection budget, and reviewing and certifying requests to collect information from the public.
Approves and reports on computer matching activities as required by law through the Departmental Data Integrity Board.
Manages the Departmental printing management, records management, and mail management policy programs.

Strategic Development and Application of Information Systems and Infrastructure

Provides leadership in the planning, design, and evaluation of major Departmental projects and oversight through project rollout and performs post implementation performance assessments.
Provides data processing and communications equipment for the Office of the Secretary and participating HHS OPDIVs, and implements, operates, and maintains standard office automation applications running on the OS network.

Technology Supported Business Process Reengineering

Leads the development and implementation of the Enterprise Architecture (EA) across the Department.
Performs alternative analysis for key emerging and enabling technologies. Coordinates or directs pilot projects in these areas to establish proof of concept, confirm return on investment, or implement initial production implementations.
Produces and updates the Department’s five year IT Strategic Plan.