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.

Philanthropy

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 US health care system.  Dr. Blumenthal focused the philanthropy’s $46 million annual budget and 50 staff on promoting concrete progress in reducing health care costs, expanding access to care, and improving equity in the health care system.  He revitalized the Fund’s communication strategy, leading to a sixfold increase in its social media footprint, initiating a new podcast, and developing reporting alliances with numerous national outlets including Vox, STAT, the New York Times, and multiple outlets serving populations of color.

Public Leadership

Dr. Blumenthal served as national coordinator for health information technology under President Obama from 2009 to 2011. As the first national coordinator after passage of the historic HITECH Act, he was responsible for leading the critical initial implementation of this legislation, which allocated over $30 billion for incentivizing the adoption of electronic health records in the US.  He led the development of foundational regulations and processes governing the definition of the meaningful use of EHRs, the federal certification of EHRs, and the development of standards for exchange of information.  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.  These exchanges are now playing an increasing role in enabling exchange of health information as incentivized under the 2016 Cures Act.

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.  He was responsible for inserting into that platform a commitment to promoting EHRs, which laid the basis for the HITECH Act.

Previously, Dr. Blumenthal served as a health care aide to the late Senator Edward Kennedy, working on legislation covering a broad range of issues, including health maintenance organizations, biomedical research, workplace safety, and the evaluation of new and existing medical technologies.

Private Leadership

From 1988 to 1991, he served as Senior Vice President of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital, where he was responsible for legal affairs, technology transfer, strategic planning, government relations, media relations and operations in multiple areas, including the pharmacy, radiation oncology, and behavioral health services.

From 2011 to 2013, Dr. Blumenthal served as Chief Health Information and Innovation Officer at Partners Health System (now Massachusetts General Brigham), the largest health system in New England.

Academics

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.  With co-author James Morone, he published Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office (University of California Press, 2009), which recounts for the first time how modern presidents have managed health policy issues.  It was reviewed on the front page of the New York Times Sunday Book Review.

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 Doctor of Science from Claremont Graduate University and the State University of New York Downstate.

Board Service

Dr Blumenthal has had numerous board roles.  He was the founding Board Chair of AcademyHealth.  He has served on the Boards of the Commonwealth Fund, the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the University of Chicago Health System.  He currently chairs the board of the Carol Emmott Foundation and serves on the boards of the Josiah Macy Foundation and the editorial Board of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Authorship

In addition to his academic writing, Dr. Blumenthal has served as national correspondent for the New England Journal of Medicine, and his opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, STAT, the Hill and the Harvard Business Review.