David Blumenthal

David Blumenthal (born August 31, 1948) is an American academic physician and healthcare policy expert, who served as the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology from 2009 to 2011 during the early implementation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act provisions on "meaningful use".

Early life and education Blumenthal was born in Brooklyn, the son of Jane M. (née Rosenstock) and Martin A. Blumenthal, the president of a commodities trading firm. His mother was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to a Jewish family that originated in Prussia and Baden, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Frankfurt, Germany.

Blumenthal received his B.A. from Harvard College (1970), his M.D. from Harvard Medical School (1975), and his M.P.P. from Harvard Kennedy School (1975). His internship and residency were at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1975 to 1980.

Blumenthal was associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston (1987 to 1991) and then associate physician at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1991, physician from 1997.

Blumenthal's charge was to set enabling policy for a nationwide health information system and to support widespread meaningful use of health information technology. By many reports, he succeeded in putting in place one of the largest publicly funded infrastructure investments the US ever made in such a short time period, in any field. In 2010, he was named by Modern Healthcare as the most influential physician executive in the U.S. In February 2011, Blumenthal announced that he would leave the post of National Coordinator that spring; on April 8, Farzad Mostashari was announced as his successor.

Personal life David Blumenthal married Ellen Gravitz Blumenthal on August 9, 1970. They have two children. Blumenthal's older brother, Richard, is a United States senator from Connecticut.