Blackford Middleton, MD, MPH, MSc
Blackford Middleton is Corporate Director of Clinical Informatics Research & Development, and Chairman of the Center for IT Leadership at the Partners Healthcare System, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Middleton studied Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He received an MD from the State University of New York School of Medicine at Buffalo, and was trained in internal medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center. He received a Masters in Public Health degree from the Yale University School of Medicine with a dual concentration in Epidemiology, and Health Services Administration. His Fellowship was at Stanford University, where he received his Master of Science degree in Health Services Research, focusing on medical informatics.
Dr. Middleton’s work focuses on clinical information management systems, and the applied science surrounding design and implementation of practical systems in complex environments. At Partners, his main responsibility is to lead and manage the teams that are responsible for the design of clinical information systems and informatics infrastructure for Partners HealthCare System, and to manage and participate in applied research related to clinical information management systems.
Dr. Middleton is Chairman of the Center for Information Technology Leadership at Partners HealthCare System, Inc. He was a co-founder of this Center at Partners in early 2002, and led the design of its mission, goals and objectives. In 2004, CITL began its Fellowship Program in Information Technology Assessment, where Dr. Middleton serves as Fellowship Program Director.
Prior to joining Partners Healthcare and Harvard Medical School, he was Medical Director of Information Management and Technology at Stanford Health Services, 1992-1995, and Sr. Vice President for Clinical Informatics and Chief Medical Officer for MedicaLogic/Medscape 1995-2001. He has over 150 publications and invited presentations on computer-based patient records, the Internet in healthcare, and related policy and technical issues. Dr. Middleton has served as expert consultant to the Leapfrog Group, IOM, CMS, NCVHS, AHRQ, NCQA, the NRC, as well as several hospitals and health systems, venture firms, and private companies.
Dr. Middleton serves on the Boards of Directors of the Healthcare Information Management & Systems Society (HIMSS) where he is Chairman-Elect, and the Foundation for e-Health Initiative, and is a member of the HealthTech IT Working Group. Dr. Middleton is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Medical Informatics, and of the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society.