President
George Chedraoui
Global Well-being and Health Benefits Leader
IBM Corporation
Secretary
Thomas H. Lee, MD, M.Sc.
Partners Healthcare System
Treasurer
Charles F. Montreuil
Vice President, Corporate Human Resources
Carlson Companies
Suzanne F. Delbanco, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
The Leapfrog Group
George J. Isham, M.D., M.S.
Chief Health Officer and Plan Medical Director
HealthPartners
Vincent E. Kerr, M.D.
President
Care Solutions Uniprise
Allan M. Korn, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
Steve Nord
Corporate Compensation
United Parcel Service
Jeffrey Rideout, M.D., M.A., F.A.C.P.
Vice President, Internet Business Solutions Group
Corporate Medical Director, and
Co-lead, North American Healthcare Vertical
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Pascale Thomas
Director of Planning, Communications, and Public Policy
Verizon Communications
Delia Vetter
Senior Director of Benefits and Programs
EMC Corporation
Andrew Webber
President and CEO
National Business Coalition on Health
Dale Whitney
Former President
Bridges to Excellence
George Chedraoui
Global Well-being and Health Benefits Leader
IBM Corporation
George Chedraoui has 18 years of business experience spanning multiple industries. He has held leadership positions in risk management, occupational health services, and most recently, in well-being and health benefits. Currently, Mr. Chedraoui is serving in an HR advisory capacity, working closely with IBM senior management on designing and deploying a patient-centric healthcare strategy for 500,000 employees, retirees and dependents.
Mr. Chedraoui's main areas of responsibilities focus on advising IBM management on adopting healthcare strategies that balance cost and quality. To achieve this mission, he is providing thought leadership and influencing stakeholders to help change the marketplace. Mr. Chedraoui has been engaged in diverse activities and initiatives aimed at transforming the way healthcare is 1) purchased, 2) delivered, and 3) consumed.
Mr. Chedraoui is passionate about the need to transform healthcare in the U.S. As a professional engineer by education and training, he understands systems, and how systems function to minimize defects and create value. He leverages his vast experience in applying these principles to our complex healthcare system.
Suzanne F. Delbanco, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
The Leapfrog Group
Suzanne F. Delbanco is the founding CEO of The Leapfrog Group. On behalf of the millions of Americans for whom many of the nation’s largest corporations and public agencies buy health benefits, The Leapfrog Group aims to use its members’ collective leverage to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality, and affordability of health care for Americans. The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 by the Business Roundtable. Ms. Delbanco is a Commissioner on the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, on the Board of Bridges to Excellence, a member of the NCQA Purchaser Advisory Council, and a member of the Healthcare Executive Leadership Network.
Before joining The Leapfrog Group, Ms. Delbanco was a senior manager at the Pacific Business Group on Health where she worked on the Quality Team. Prior to joining PBGH, she worked on reproductive health policy and the changing healthcare marketplace initiative at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. She has also consulted on health insurance coverage in the temporary employment industry, the first statewide survey in California of Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and worked as a community liaison for Kaiser Permanente during the establishment of one of California’s first County Organized Health Systems. Ms. Delbanco holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy and a M.P.H. from the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.
George J. Isham, M.D., M.S.
Chief Health Officer and Plan Medical Director
HealthPartners
George J. Isham, M.D. is responsible for quality, utilization management, health promotion and disease prevention, research, and health professionals’ education at HealthPartners. He is active in strategic planning and policy issues. He is a founding board member of the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, a collaborative of Twin Cities medical groups and health plans that is implementing clinical practice guidelines in Minnesota. Dr. Isham is a past member of the board of directors of the American’s Health Insurance Plans and he is currently on the board of directors of the Alliance of Community Health Plans. He is past co-chair and current member of the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) Committee on Performance Measurement which oversees the Health Plan quality measurement standards. He has served on the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Task Force on Community Preventive Services and on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) Advisory Board for the National Guideline Clearinghouse. He has served on the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Population Health and Public
Health Services and chaired the committee that authored the report Priority Areas for National Action, Transforming Health Care Quality. In 2003, Dr. Isham was appointed as a lifetime NationalAssociate of the National Academies of Science in recognition of his contributions to the work of theInstitute of Medicine. Epidemic of Care, published in April 2003, with co-author George Halvorson, isDr. Isham’s examination of the impending health care crisis with suggestions on ways to solve it.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Isham was medical director for MedCenters Health Plan in Minneapolis and executive director for University Health Care, Inc., in Madison, Wisconsin. His practice experience as a primary care physician included eight years at the Freeport Clinic in Freeport, Illinois, and three and one-half years as clinical assistant professor in Medicine at the University of Wisconsin.
Vincent E. Kerr, M.D.
President, Care Solutions
Uniprise
Vincent E. Kerr, M.D., is President, Care Solutions at Uniprise, a UnitedHealth Group Company serving large, self-insured employers. At Uniprise, he is responsible for network and clinical strategy. He is involved in leading the Uniprise effort to promote quality and efficiency differentiation within the network and is focused on enhancing the value proposition of Uniprise to its customers along these domains.
Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Dr. Kerr was Director of Healthcare Management at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan. As such, he led all healthcare purchasing and decision making for the second largest private purchaser of healthcare in the country. At Ford, Dr. Kerr was also responsible for the health and safety of Ford employees globally, and the operation of 100 medical clinics with over 500 physicians and nurses at Ford's major manufacturing facilities globally. In addition, he served as a national negotiator in the 2004 UAW-Ford contract bargaining.
Before joining Ford, Dr. Kerr served in a number of roles at GE in Fairfield, Connecticut, culminating in the position of Company Medical Director. Dr. Kerr has served in a leadership capacity on a number of national boards and committees including the National Business Group on Health, NCQA, and The National Partnership for Women and Families. He is past chairman of the Leapfrog Group, an employer and consumer-driven coalition focused on patient safety and quality. Dr. Kerr attended Harvard University and received his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine. He is trained in internal and occupational medicine and is trained as a Six Sigma Quality Champion. He has been involved with Bridges to Excellence since its inception and has served as a board member for several years.
Allan M. Korn, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
Allan Korn, M.D., is Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of 40 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for more than 93 million – nearly one-in-three – Americans.
Dr. Korn serves as Medical Director for BCBSA and oversees the Technology Evaluation Center (TEC), an independent, applied health service research organization that uses an evidence-based methodology for the assessment of clinical technologies. He also represents BCBSA with governmental agencies, regulatory bodies and accrediting entities, and oversees the National Council of Physician Executives made up of senior BCBS Plan physicians that advise the Association.
Before joining BCBSA, Dr. Korn served as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. From 1994 until 1996, Dr. Korn was Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs for Premier Health Alliance, where he provided strategic direction and product development for risk adjusted IP and OP clinical data systems. Earlier, he served as a Principal for William M. Mercer, Inc. and as Vice President, Medical Affairs for Healthcare Compare/Affordable Healthcare Network. From 1976 until 1986, he was an internist at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Evansville, Indiana.
Dr. Korn received a Bachelor of Science and Medical Degrees from Tufts University. He completed his internship and internal medicine residency at Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital and at the Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Korn is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and is a member of the American Medical Association. He a member of the Board of Directors of e-Health Initiative, Bridges to Excellence, is a member of the Hospital Quality Alliance and Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance and sits on the Steering Committees of Prometheus and Connecting for Health. He has served on several Institute of Medicine Roundtables.
Thomas H. Lee, MD, M.Sc.
Partners Healthcare System
Thomas H. Lee, MD, is an internist and cardiologist, and is Network President for Partners Healthcare System, the integrated delivery system founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, and Chief Executive Officer for Partners Community HealthCare. He is a graduate of Harvard College, Cornell University Medical College, and Harvard School of Public Health. He is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. His research interests include risk stratification and optimal management strategies for common cardiovascular problems, and improvement of quality of care, with a particular focus on critical pathways, guideline development and implementation, and managed care.
Dr. Lee is co-chair of the Committee for Performance Measures of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), and has been the Chairman of NCQA’s Cardiovascular Measurement Advisory Panel since 1996. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of Geisinger Health System. He is a member of the Board on Health Care Services of the Institute of Medicine. He is the Editor-in-Chief for The Harvard Heart Letter and Associate Editor of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Charles F. Montreuil
Vice President, Corporate Human Resources
Carlson Companies
Charles F. Montreuil joined Carlson Companies as director of employee benefits in 1997 with a vision of transforming his role as administrator/controller of the company’s cookie-cutter benefits program to a valued contributor in helping the company achieve its business objectives.
Promoted to his current role in 1999, Mr. Montreuil oversees a portfolio of benefit and work-life plans and programs designed to help attract, retain and reward high-performing employees. The portfolio ranges from total rewards (compensation, benefits, work-life and recognition) to international human resources and a three-year healthcare strategy.
Under his energetic, hands-on direction, Carlson’s benefit plans have earned a positive “street rep” for the scope and quality of employee rewards. Just as important to Mr. Montreuil is his team’s burgeoning reputation for partnering as strategic consultants to the company’s business leaders.
Mr. Montreuil’s commitment to affecting positive change to the healthcare landscape extends to his participation in a number of health-related associations. In addition to serving as chair of Buyers HealthCare Action Group, he is a board member of LifeSciences Alley, an active member of the Client Advisory Board for Ceridian Corporation, and a past board member of the Council of Employee Benefits.
In 2001, his leadership role in helping Carlson achieve its vision of being a great place for great people to do great work through innovations in work-life programs and progressive benefit plans earned him a Chairman’s Special Achievement award—Carlson’s highest career-recognition honor.
Prior to joining Carlson, Mr. Montreuil was General Counsel of Employee Benefit Plans, Inc. in Minneapolis from 1992 to 1997. Prior to that he was part of the corporate legal department of Home Owners Warranty Corporation in Arlington, Virginia from 1990 to 1992.
From 1984 to 1990 he provided legal counsel and advice in the areas of life and health insurance, and employment law as a member of the corporate legal department of MSI Insurance Companies in St. Paul, MN.
In 2003, Mr. Montreuil attained his SHRM certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI). He earned his Masters of Human Resources and Industrial Relations at the Carlson School of Management in 2003.
Mr. Montreuil also holds an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice Studies, Summa Cum Laude from St. Cloud State University and a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN.
About Carlson: Carlson Companies is a global leader in the hotel, restaurant, business and leisure travel, and marketing industries. Among the names in the Carlson family of brands and services are: Regent® International Hotels, Radisson® Hotels & Resorts, Park Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson®, Park Inn® hotels, Carlson Wagonlit Travel®, Carlson Destination Marketing Services, Carlson Leisure Travel Services, CW Government Travel, Results Travel, Cruise Holidays, Cruise Specialists, Inc., Fly4less.com, SinglesCruise.com, SeaMaster Cruises, Cruise Deals, Inc., Regent Seven Seas Cruises®, Carlson Marketing®, Peppers & Rogers Group, and T.G.I. Friday’s® and Pick Up Stix® restaurants. Based in Minneapolis, MN, Carlson’s brands and services employ about 190,000 people in more than 150 countries.
Steve Nord
Corporate Compensation
United Parcel Service
Steve Nord has responsibility for Compensation, Health Care, Retirement, Executive Programs, Savings Plans, Sales Incentive Plans and other employee rewards for UPS. UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds. UPS employs 375,000 people worldwide. Mr. Nord has been with UPS for 33 years and has held a number of Human Resources and other assignments including responsibility for HR in UPS’s North Asia Pacific region, headquartered in Hong Kong.
Mr. Nord has been a speaker at a number of national conferences including the Employee Benefits Forum, Employer Relocation Council, SHRM, World at Work, the Conference Board and various international assignment and corporate governance conferences. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Business school with a BSB in accounting. He and his family live in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Jeffrey Rideout, M.D., M.A., F.A.C.P.
Vice President, Internet Business Solutions Group
Corporate Medical Director, and Co-lead, North American Healthcare Vertical
Cisco Systems, Inc.
As the global leader of Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group Healthcare Practice, Dr. Jeffrey Rideout works with health care and public sector leaders to help them use technology to accelerate transformation of hte health care industry. Working on a non-fee basis, the group helps customers use technology and business process innovation to transform their organizations and drive industry-leading change. Dr. Rideout also provides strategic support for business development, investment and policy decisions regarding healthcare for Cisco.
Dr. Rideout also serves as Cisco's Corporate Medical Director. In this role, Dr. Rideout provides strategic leadership for health benefit value purchasing decisions for Cisco's 65,000 employees and dependents worldwide and represents Cisco on the Board of Directors for the Pacific Business Group on Health.
As co-lead of the Cisco North American Healthcare vertical, Dr. Rideout is responsible for leading a coordinated "go to market" strategy for Cisco in healthcare. As Cisco's first industry-specific effort, the healthcare vertical has helped to accelerate a new organizational construct within Cisco for approaching specific industries. In the past fiscal year, healthcare has been Cisco's fastest growing vertical segment, achieving nearly 40 percent year over growth.
Currently Dr. Rideout serves as a member of the American Health Information Community (AHIC's) Chronic Care Workgroup for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is a board member of the Pacific Business Group on Health, and is a member of the newly created National Quality Forum Task Force for Personal Health Records executive briefing series. Dr. Rideout is also an Advisory Board member for the Health IT Certification program, and is a volunteer physician and Board of Directors member for Medical Teams International, an international medical relief organization.
Previously Dr. Rideout was Chief Medical Officer and SVP for Blue Shielf of California. He was a member of the National Advisory Council for hte Robert Wood Johnson/IHI Pursuing Perfection grant program for excellence in health care delivery. Dr. Rideout also served as the Chief Medical Officer for the National Health Care Purchasing Institute, supporting the Institute's $8.8 million Rewarding Results grant program jointly underwritten by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the California Health Care Foundation.
Dr. Rideout is a board certified internist, completing his residency training at University of California, San Francisco. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, an assistant clinical professor at UCSF and a lecturer at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and his undergraduate degree from Stanford University. He also holds a master's degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.
Pascale Thomas
Director of Planning, Communications, and Public Policy
Verizon Communications
Pascale Thomas has over 15 years of professional experience in insurance, human resources, and employee benefits. She currently works for Verizon Communications as Director of Planning, Communications, and Public Policy in the Corporate Human Resources organization under the Benefits Strategy and Design umbrella. Together with Verizon’s federal and state government relations groups, Ms. Thomas develops healthcare policy positions that reflect Verizon’s perspective on the national healthcare landscape. She also manages internal benefit communications to employees as well as external communications that highlight Verizon’s corporate citizenship role in the benefit arena.
Prior to joining Verizon, Ms. Thomas worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) as a project manager and consultant to their Global HR Solutions practice. Her professional experience also includes eight years as a Risk Manager and Insurance broker to corporate clients.
Ms. Thomas is very active in a number of public policy initiatives. She recently served as the co-chair of the Greater Washington Board of Trade Health Policy Workgroup, and is a member of the Corporate Health Care Coalition, the National Business Group on Health, the American Benefit Council and the ERISA Industry Committee.
Ms. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Sciences from the School of Risk Management at St. John's University, and other industry certifications, including the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) certification from the Insurance Institute of America, and the Project Management Master’s Certificate from George Washington University.
Delia Vetter
Senior Director of Benefits and Programs
EMC Corporation
Delia Vetter joined EMC Corporation in 1994. Her responsibilities include creating and implementing benefits strategy, communications, systems, and administration for EMC’s organizations in the United States and Canada.
Throughout the past 12 + years at EMC, Ms. Vetter has built a comprehensive benefits program focused on cost-effectiveness, innovative technologies, and health programs. Recently, she led the development of a cost containment health care management strategy focused on employee consumerism, using leading edge technology to manage employee health and health care dollars, as well as to effect behavior modification.
Under her leadership, EMC’s health care management strategy has received numerous Best Practice Awards, including: New England Employee Benefits Council Awards: On-site Employee Assistance Program, Health Care Strategy, and Health Care Scorecard; Worcester Business Journal: Health Care Heroes Award; Dalton Pen: Website Communications Award; and ADP: Outstanding Business Relationship, Strategy Excellence.
Ms., Vetter serves on several Advisory Counsels such as WebMD, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and several other Massachusetts-based health plans. Actively involved in the health care marketplace, she is a member of several organizations, such as New England Health Institute Research and Policy Committee, Human Resources Policy Association Coalition on National Health Access, Pharmaceutical coalition focused on prescription drug price transparency, The Leapfrog Group, Bridges to Excellence, Associated Industries of Massachusetts, and The New England Employee Benefits Counsel.
About EMC Corporation: EMC Corporation, headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, employs over 27,000 people worldwide. EMC Corporation is the world leader in products, services and solutions for information management and storage that helps organizations extract the maximum value from their information, at the lowest total cost, across every point in the information lifecycle.
Andrew Webber
President and CEO
National Business Coalition on Health
Andrew Webber is President and CEO of the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH). NBCH is a national, not-for-profit, membership organization of 80 local and regional business coalitions on health, dedicated to health system reform through value-based purchasing. As President and CEO, Mr. Webber is responsible for directing all association activities and functions including public policy advocacy, education, communications, program development and technical assistance.
Mr. Webber serves on the Board of Directors of both Bridges to Excellence and the Leapfrog Group. He is a member of the Purchaser Advisory Councils for the National Committee for Quality Assurance and the eHealth Initiative. He is a member of the Implementation Committee of the National Quality Forum.
Prior to assuming his NBCH role, Mr. Webber was a Vice President for External Relations and Public Policy at the National Committee for Quality Assurance. In this role, Mr. Webber directed all government relation activities and outreach efforts to the employer and consumer communities. Previous positions also include Senior Associate for the Consumer Coalition for Quality Health Care and Executive Vice President for the American Medical Peer Review Association (currently renamed the American Health Quality Association). Mr. Webber started his health care career in 1978 as an employee of the Washington Business Group on Health (WBGH), rising to the position of Vice President for Public Policy.
Mr. Webber is a frequent speaker and lecturer on health care policy issues. He is a graduate of Harvard University.
Dale Whitney
Former President
Bridges to Excellence
Dale Whitney spent over fifteen years in the Corporate Health and Welfare function at UPS. Between 2000 and 2006, he had overall responsibility for the function and the $2.2 billion health care and ancillary benefit investment UPS makes each year in it’s 750,000 UPS employees, retirees and their families around the world. The UPS benefit program was consistently named as one of the best in corporate America during that time.
Mr. Whitney's formal education includes degrees in Political Science, History and Education. He is certified by the American Compensation Association as a Benefits Professional.
During his thirty-two years at UPS, Mr. Whitney also held assignments in Operations and Health and Safety and led the Human Resources functions in several western U.S. states. In 1990 he joined the Corporate Health and Welfare function.
During his tenure, Mr. Whitney led initiatives to restructure benefits administration and design, negotiate and implement health plans for both bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit employees, develop the UPS employee health portal, combine over thirty acquired company benefit plans into a single benefit platform and develop a program to integrate and use patient information to help UPSers receive high quality – coordinated care, and become educated and enabled health care consumers.
Mr. Whitney is a member of several professional organizations and currently serves as Vice-Chair of The Leapfrog Group and as President of the Bridges to Excellence program; a broad-based coalition dedicated to using provider and patient incentives and rewards to cross the quality chasm. He also serves in a leadership role with the Georgia Diabetes and Obesity Project led by the Center for Health Transformation.
He has recently served as co-chair of the eHealth Initiative Employer Advisory Board, and a member of the Executive Client Advisory Councils for Aetna and United Health Group, the Purchaser Advisory Group for the National Committee for Quality Assurance and the National Quality Forum Board.
Mr. Whitney is a frequent speaker at various venues advocating the need for improved efficiency and effectiveness of the health supply chain from the purchaser and consumer viewpoint.