Robert S. Tagalicod

Over the last fifteen years, Robert Tagalicod has been at the forefront of strategic federal efforts that include the HHS IT Strategic Plan, the HHS Interoperability Roadmap, the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) E-Health Strategic Plan. Presently, Mr. Tagalicod is Chief of Cyber Communications and Engagement in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Information Security (OIS). In addition to communications, he oversees the Department’s cyber workforce development and champions data interoperability in the health, human services, and cybersecurity domains.

Before coming to OCIO, he was the Director of CMS’ Office of eHealth Standards and Services (OESS) and Senior Agency Official for Privacy. He led and directed a $27 billion health IT effort in this capacity as part of nation-wide healthcare transformation under the American Recovery and Affordable Care Acts. This effort included the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs and Administrative Simplification, including ICD-10 implementation. Mr. Tagalicod was also the Deputy Director and Acting Director of CMS’ Office of Communications. He helped spearhead the effort to consolidate CMS’ various communication efforts under one executive office comprising web and other digital consumer services such as Medicare.gov and mymedicare.com, and national public information campaigns highlighting Medicare Open Enrollment and the Health Insurance Exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, and the 1-800-MEDICARE call center. He first came to federal service as a project officer at Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), overseeing clinical workforce development and deployment of healthcare professionals in targeted Medically Underserved Areas across the U.S.

Before Federal service, Dr. Tagalicod oversaw several healthcare initiatives for state and county health systems in California, and the University of California, San Francisco. In these settings, he successfully directed several efforts that address community, regional and national health equity, including working extensively in the Pacific Rim collaborating with HRSA, CDC, WHO, and global health officials on clinical workforce development. Mr. Tagalicod brings over 25 years of management practice in IT and security; health policy and operations; communications; workforce development; enterprise program and data governance; and corporate finance.