David Blumenthal MD, MPP is a nationally and internationally admired physician-leader, academician, and author in the fields of health care philanthropy, policy and management. He has led change at scale in both the public and private sectors. He has repeatedly been cited as one of Modern HealthCare’s 100 most influential health care leaders and 50 most influential physician executives. Dr. Blumenthal is also a primary care physician, who taught and practiced outpatient and inpatient medicine for 35 years at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
From 2013 to 2023, Dr. Blumenthal was president and CEO of the Commonwealth Fund, a nationally and internationally known philanthropy and think tank with a mission of improving the performance of the U.S. health care system. In the public realm Dr. Blumenthal served as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under President Obama from 2009 to 2011. Under his leadership, the adoption of EHRs by physicians and hospitals soared nationwide, dozens of EHRs were certified, and a national network of health information exchanges was created. As a senior health advisor to the Obama for President Campaign in 2007-2008, Dr. Blumenthal co-wrote the former President’s health care campaign platform, which became the outline for the Affordable Care Act. Previously, he served as a health care aide to the late Senator Edward Kennedy, working on legislation covering a broad range of issues.
From 1988 to 1991, Dr. Blumenthal served as Senior Vice President of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital. He was Chief Health Information and Innovation Officer at Partners Health System (now Massachusetts General Brigham), the largest health system in new England from 2011 to 2013.
Dr. Blumenthal is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and Samuel O. Thier professor of medicine, emeritus, and professor of health policy, emeritus, at Harvard Medical School.
He is the author of over 300 scholarly publications and books, including seminal studies on the adoption and use of health information technology and on commercialization of academic research. He has had numerous board roles and was the founding board chair of AcademyHealth. He is the recipient of the distinguished investigator award from AcademyHealth, the national association of health services researchers, and the Graham Prize in Health Services Research. He holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Rush University and Honorary Doctors of Science from Claremont Graduate University and the State University of New York Downstate.