Director, Office of Economic Analysis, Evaluation, and Modeling

Dr. Furukawa serves as Director of the Office of Economic Analysis, Evaluation, and Modeling (OEM) within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He joined ONC in January 2011.

OEM is responsible for measuring and evaluating progress toward adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR); assessing and conducting research on the value of health information technology; and evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of the HITECH programs.

Dr. Furukawa has conducted extensive research on EHR adoption and the impact of EHR use on efficiency and quality of care. His work has been published in Health Affairs, Health Services Research, Medical Care Research and Review, Inquiry, Medical Care, and American Journal of Managed Care.

Prior to ONC, Dr. Furukawa was an Assistant Professor in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He has professional experience in information systems at Southern Regional Medical Center and in marketing at GE Medical Systems.

Dr. Furukawa earned a Ph.D. in Health Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He has an M.S. in Health Systems Engineering and a Bachelor in Industrial Engineering, both from Georgia Tech.