The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the selection of David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. as the Obama administration's choice for National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. As the National Coordinator, Dr. Blumenthal will lead the implementation of a nationwide interoperable, privacy-protected health IT infrastructure as called for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provides $19.5 billion in health IT funding.
Dr. Blumenthal most recently served as a physician and director of the Institute for Health Policy at The Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners HealthCare System in Boston, Mass. He was also Samuel O. Thier Professor of Medicine and Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. There, he also served as director of the Harvard University Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement. Prior to that, he was senior vice president at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and served as executive director of the Center for Health Policy and Management and as a lecturer on Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
During the late 1970's, Dr. Blumenthal worked on Senator Edward Kennedy's (D.-Mass.) Senate Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research. More recently, Dr. Blumenthal served as a senior health adviser to the Obama presidential campaign.
Read the press release.
