David Brailer

David Brailer

Dr. David J. Brailer, MD, PhD is a former United States public health official best known as the first "health information czar" under the administration of President George W. Bush. Currently he is Chairman of Health Evolution Partners, a health care private equity firm based in San Francisco, California.

Brailer's official title was National Health Information Technology Coordinator. He was appointed on May 6, 2004, pursuant to an executive order by President Bush of April 27, 2004, which called for widespread deployment of health information technology within 10 years.

Brailer remained in his government post for two years. Following his public service, Brailer started a private equity fund in 2007 called Health Evolution Partners with a stated purpose of pursuing "investments in cost-effective, high-quality health care" and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) invested $700 million in the fund.

For ten years prior to his appointment in the Bush administration, Brailer directed CareScience, Inc., a provider of care management services which was focused on reducing medical errors. Brailer led the company in establishing the nation's first health care Application Service Provider (ASP) and creating a care management business process outsourcing partnership. Brailer also designed and oversaw the development of one of the first community-based health information exchanges in Santa Barbara County, California.

Brailer was a Senior Fellow at the Health Technology Center in San Francisco, a non-profit research and education organization offering information and resources to health care organizations about the future impact of technology in health care delivery. In 2010 he joined the board of Walgreens.