Beebe Names Conway’s Ancil Lea To Head Health IT Coordination

Gov. Mike Beebe (D) announced that Ancil Lea of Conway will be the new Coordinator for the Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT).

The appointment comes after Ray Scott, the current OHIT Coordinator, informed Beebe of his intention to retire at the end of this year. Beebe chose Scott to be OHIT’s first Coordinator in 2010.

The OHIT office leads the statewide effort to improve the development and use of electronic health records, which have been touted as an efficiency mechanism in health care reform.

Lea, 49, is currently the executive director of HITArkansas, a regional extension of health information efforts through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A graduate of Ouachita Baptist University, he has also worked in medical technology sales and in academic outreach at the University of Central Arkansas.