David Merritt, Project Director

David Merritt is a project director at the Center for Health Transformation and the Gingrich Group. The Center, headed by former Speaker Newt Gingrich, is a collaboration of leaders dedicated to transforming health and healthcare in America.

David advises Speaker Gingrich and leads the Center’s projects on health information technology and expanding coverage to the uninsured, with additional work in Medicare, consumerism, and transparency.

He is the editor of the 2007 HIMSS Book of the Year, Paper Kills: Transforming Health and Healthcare with Information Technology, published by CHT Press. His writing has been widely published, including the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Arizona Republic, and the Miami Herald. He is widely quoted in national and trade press and a frequent speaker in the industry. He was a guest lecturer at Princeton University at the invitation of visiting professor and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

David was an adviser to the presidential campaign of former Senator Fred Thompson. He served on Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s Health Information Technology Council, where he chaired the Business Case Subcommittee. He also served on the Improving Quality, Consumer Awareness, and Prevention Workgroup of Governor Kaine’s Health Reform Commission. He sits on advisory boards to InterComponentWare (ICW) and the Center for Community Leadership, an initiative of Misys Healthcare Systems.

Prior to joining the Center, David was with America’s Health Insurance Plans. He earned his Master’s degree in political science from Loyola University Chicago, with a primary focus on political theory and executive powers, and he earned his Bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University.