Blumenthal to chair Commonwealth Fund commission

Dr. David Blumenthal, the former head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS, has been named chairman of the Commonwealth Fund's 17-member Commission on a High Performance Health System.

Blumenthal succeeds Dr. James Mongan, the former president and CEO of Partners HealthCare System, Boston, who died May 3. The commission, formed in 2005, has worked to "highlight specific areas where health system performance falls short of what is achievable and to recommend practical, evidence-informed strategies for transforming the system," according to the organization's website.

Blumenthal, a Harvard University researcher, was named by President Barack Obama to be the third ONC leader. He served from April 2009 to April 2011. He returned to academia after leaving the ONC and is a professor of medicine and healthcare policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Partners HealthCare System and Harvard Medical School, all in Boston.