The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and its office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) have responsibility within the Executive Branch of the U. S. Government for informatics aspects concerning health. The NCVHS (see separate page) is designated as an advisory body to ASH. In addition, there is a Data Council (See: http://aspe.os.dhhhs.gov/datacncl within HHS having representatives from the various agencies within DHHS which provides a unified forum for discussing information issues within the Department and arriving at common recommendations about approaches to these issues.  In April 2004 the President established the “Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT)” [http://www.hhs.gov/onchit/] to coordinate the establishment of the National health Information Network (NHIN) of the National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) that will enable wide use of Electronic Health Records. A “Framework” document has been issued and a structure and policy is being created.