Paul Egerman is a retired software engineer and political activist.  A graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he co-founded Interpretive Data Systems (later IDX), a medical information software company in 1974. After 20 years as COO, the company went public and Egerman retired.

Egerman later co-founded and was CEO of eScription, a company that provided voice transcription software for physicians. The company was sold to Nuance Communications Inc. for $400 million in 2008, and Egerman has since intensified his second career as a political activist, raising money for Democratic candidates and liberal causes, and serving in various roles of left-leaning PACs, most notably as board treasurer of left-leaning political donor strategy group Democracy Alliance.^{1 2}

Health Industry Technology Policy Committee

In 2009, Egerman was appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to the Health Industry Technology (HIT) Policy Committee and was co-chair of the certification workgroup.³

Under Egerman, regulations were changed such that healthcare IT products would no longer be certified by an independent “vendor-led” group, the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT).  Instead, certification would be done by the government through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS would in turn authorize other independent companies to test healthcare IT products, adding an extra step in the certification process as CCHIT had previously both tested and certified software. In a March 2010 podcast, Egerman expressed surprise that his changes were so readily and speedily approved.⁴ As part of the Obama administration-backed 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (better known as the “Fiscal Stimulus”), $17 billion in taxpayer funds would be disbursed to physicians and hospitals that purchased and made “meaningful use” of these government-certified healthcare IT products.⁵

As a result of these regulatory changes, CCHIT went out of business in 2014.⁶

Although one of the goals of this stimulus money was the governmental sharing of patient data to improve medical research outcomes, Egerman later expressed opposition to patients using third-party apps to access their own health records, on the grounds that their private data might not be protected, or that the patient’s doctor of choice might misuse it.⁷

Political Activities and Donations

Egerman has held offices with multiple organizations promoting the Israeli left wing and left-of-center American policy toward Israel and the Middle East. He is a former member of the Advisory Council of left-leaning Middle East policy advocacy organization J Street⁸ and is North American Vice President of the New Israel Fund, a New York-based non-profit that advocates for liberal policy issues in Israel.⁹

Egerman has made numerous large contributions to liberal Super PACs. Between June 2017 and July 2018, Egerman donated $595,000 to Planned Parenthood Votes, and $325,000 to Senate Majority PAC.¹⁰ At $1.7 million Egerman was also a top donor to the super PAC American Bridge 21^st Century,¹¹ as well as its now-defunct offshoot Correct the Record.¹²

With his wife, he founded the Paul and Joanne Egerman Charitable Family Foundation which, in addition to its charitable works such as providing scholarships and funding MIT, donates to left-leaning advocacy organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, Bend the Arc, Alliance for Business Leadership, and Issue One.¹³

Egerman is also a member of Patriotic Millionaires, an alliance of wealthy Americans who favor higher taxes.¹⁴

Elizabeth Warren 2020

Egerman has been a longtime supporter of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), co-chairing the fundraising for her 2012 Senate run.¹⁵ He is campaign treasurer for her 2020 presidential bid, drawing criticism upon her from some quarters due to his connections to “dark money” groups such as the secretive Progressive Change Campaign Committee.¹⁶

1. Lebovits, Susan Chaityn. “Personal PAC Man.” Boston Globe Archives. March 11, 2007. Accessed October 24, 2019. http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/11/personal_pac_man/
2. Beachum, Lateshia. “Elizabeth Warren Decries Big Money in Politics. Etc.” Public Integrity. May 23, 2019. Accessed October 21, 2019. https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/elizabeth-warren-president-pac-money-treasurer/
3. Guerra, Anthony. “One-on-One with HIT Policy Committee Member and Certification & Adoption Workgroup Member Paul Egerman.” Hea!thcare Innovation. November 15, 2011. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.hcinnovationgroup.com/policy-value-based-care/arra-hitech/article/13012604/oneonone-with-hit-policy-committee-member-and-certification-adoption-workgroup-member-paul-egerman-part-i
4. Guerra, Anthony. “Podcast: Hit Policy Committee’s Paul Egerman Discusses New NPRM on Certification.” HealthySystemCIO.com. March 4, 2010. Accessed October 24, 2019. https://healthsystemcio.com/2010/03/04/podcast-policy-committee%E2%80%99s-paul-egerman-discusses-new-nprm/
5. Lipowicz, Alice. “Health IT: etc.” FCW. July 7, 2009. Accessed October 28, 2019.   https://fcw.com/articles/2009/07/17/multiple-organizations-proposed-for-health-it-certification.aspx
6. Hedges, Lisa. “CCHIT Certification May Be Ending, but There Are Other Options for Evaluation EHRs.” Softwareadvice.com. May 18, 2017. Accessed October 29, 2019 https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/cchit-certification-other-options/#what-happened
7. Slabodkin, Greg. “Experts Worry that API-Enabled Apps Will Endanger Patient Data.” Health Data Management. June 7, 2016. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/experts-worry-that-api-enabled-apps-will-put-patient-data-at-risk
8. Jewish Insider. “J Street Donor to Host President Obama.” June 10, 2014. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://jewishinsider.com/2014/06/j-street-donor-to-host-president-obama/
9. New Israel Fund. “People: Paul Egerman.” NIF.org Website. Undated. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.nif.org/people/paul-egerman/
10. Federal Election Commission. “Individual Contributions, Paul Egerman, SMP, Planned Parenthood Votes.” FEC.gov Website. Undated. Accessed October 28, 2019. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?committee_id=C00484642&committee_id=C00489799&contributor_name=egerman%2C+paul&two_year_transaction_period=2018&min_date=01%2F01%2F2017&max_date=12%2F31%2F2018
11. Beachum, Lateshia. “Elizabeth Warren Decries Big Money in Politics. Etc.” Public Integrity. May 23, 2019. Accessed October 21, 2019. https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/elizabeth-warren-president-pac-money-treasurer/
12. Blake, Aaron. “Top Hillary Supporters Launch ‘Correct the Record Effort.’” The Washington Post. November 1, 2013. Accessed October 24, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/11/01/top-hillary-supporters-launch-correct-the-record-effort/
13. Form 990. “Paul and Joanne Egerman Family Charitable Foundation.” Undated. Accessed October 24, 2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/46835621/2017_05_PF%2F04-6835621_990PF_201612
14. Delaney, Arthur. “Patriotic Millionaires Describe What They’ve Done with Their Bush Tax Cuts etc.’” Huffington Post. June 6, 2011. Accessed October 30, 2019.  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/patriotic-millionaires-bush-tax-cuts_n_871840
15. Bierman, Noah. “Driven by Deep Devotion, Funds Flow to Warren.” Boston Globe. June 22, 2012. Accessed October 28, 2019. http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/06/22/warrens_money_machine_has_helped_her_raise_more_than_any_other_congressional_candidate_across_the_country/?page=2
16. Slodysko, Brian. “Democratic Pledges Against Big Money Come with an Asterisk.” AP. Real Clear Politics Website. May 23, 2019. Accessed October 24, 2019. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/05/23/democratic_pledges_against_big_money_come_with_an_asterisk_140407.html