David Merritt is a Senior Advisor at Leavitt Partners. He is a nationally recognized expert in health policy and a sought-after speaker, author and policy advisor. At Leavitt Partners, Mr. Merritt helps lead Health Intelligence Partners™ , a member-based, health care intelligence service that offers health care research, analysis and thought leadership to participating partners.

Mr. Merritt is currently an advisor to Speaker Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign and, earlier in his career, served as health policy advisor to the presidential campaigns of Senator John McCain and former Senator Fred Thompson. He is also the former CEO of the Center for Health Transformation and the Gingrich Group, a health care policy collaborative founded by Newt Gingrich. Mr. Merritt has also worked with America’s Health Insurance Plans, where he led their policy education initiatives

Mr. Merritt has a distinguished background in health information technology. He edited the book Paper Kills 2.0, the 2010 sequel to Paper Kills, an award-winning book about the promises and challenges of implementing health information technology. He also served on former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s Health Information Technology Council as well as the quality workgroup of his Health Reform Commission. He has served on numerous advisory boards, including the board of commissioners of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.

Mr. Merritt earned his master’s degree in political science and government from Loyola University Chicago and earned his bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University.