David Brailer

David J. Brailer (born July 16, 1959) is an American health care executive and government official.

On May 6, 2004, Brailer was appointed by the administration of President George W. Bush as the nation's first 'Health Information Technology Czar'. Brailer's official title was National Health Information Technology Coordinator. In this role, he developed the nation's strategy for electronic records and transformation of research and public health with the goal of widespread deployment of health information technology within 10 years.

Brailer remained in his government post for two years. During his service, he was named the Most Powerful Person in Healthcare in 2003 by Modern Healthcare Magazine. Following his public service, he co—chaired a Federal Advisory Committee called the American Health Information Community and transitioned to the private sector where he has held several executive and advisory positions.

Education Brailer holds doctoral degrees in both medicine and economics. He earned his Ph.D. in managerial economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and his M.D. from West Virginia University School of Medicine in 1986.

While in medical school, he was a Charles A. Dana Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine. Brailer served on the board of trustees of the American Medical Association. He completed his medical residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and became board certified in internal medicine. Brailer was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

Brailer holds an adjunct professorship at the Wharton School, is an associate professor in internal medicine for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and is a senior fellow for the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.

Health Technology Center After CareScience, Brailer took an advisory role at Health Technology Center, a non-profit research and education organization that provides strategic information and resources to health care organizations about the future impact of technology in health care delivery. There, he advised the center on a number of regional and national data sharing projects.

Health Evolution Partners In mid-2007, Brailer founded Health Evolution Partners, a private equity fund focused on rapidly growing middle market companies in the health care industry, with a mission to “invest in things that can reduce the crushing costs of health care.” The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) invested $700 million in the fund.

Notable exits:

On March 23, 2011, CambridgeSoft was acquired by PerkinElmer, Inc. in a $220 million deal.

On December 7, 2017, CenseoHealth Health were acquired by New Mountain Capital for an undisclosed amount.

On July 23, 2017, Kisimul Group was acquired by Antin Infrastructure Partners in a £200 million+ deal.

On January 10, 2018, Freedom Innovations was acquired by Otto Bock HealthCare for an undisclosed amount.

On December 30, 2024, Prolacta Biosciences was acquired by EW Healthcare Partners for an undisclosed amount.

Cigna In September 2022, Dr. Brailer was named the Chief Health Officer of Cigna. Brailer was later named Chief Transformation Officer of The Cigna Group, where he led enterprise-wide efforts to position the company as a leader in consumer value. Brailer left his roles at The Cigna Group in September, 2025 to return to investing and public policy.

US Department of Health and Human Services On May 6, 2004, Brailer was appointed as the first National Health Information Technology Coordinator, pursuant to by President George W. Bush on April 27, 2004, which called for widespread deployment of health information technology within 10 years.

Awards and achievements Brailer was the first recipient of the National Library of Medicine Martin Epstein Award for Medical Computing Research for a student paper on expert systems.

He was also one of the first medical students to serve on the board of trustees for the American Medical Association.

Most notably, he was the country's first health IT czar, leading the national effort to digitalize healthcare.