Meet the team

The firm is led by Founder Tom Koutsoumpas, who has decades of experience as a leader in the health care field and is a national expert on health system transformation with a special emphasis on advanced illness and hospice.

Managing Partners Andrew MacPherson and Ray Quintero, as well as Senior Partner and President of Healthsperien X, Jeanne De Sa, and Partner Eddie Garcia round out the leadership team with decades of substantive health care industry, government, association and policy experience and expertise on a wide variety of issues. Our broader team includes dozens of talented individuals with varied and complementary backgrounds in law, public policy, business, economics, public health, operations, and strategic communication.

Healthsperien’s culture is built on a foundation of core values: accountability, collaboration, communication, creativity, honesty, and respect. We are proud to demonstrate these values within our team and with our clients.

Together, we believe in the importance of innovation and partnerships in shaping a future health care system that addresses the goals of improved access, lower costs and high-quality care, especially for those most vulnerable.

Partnership Staff

Healthsperien proudly supports a variety of non-profit organizations through staffing, subject matter expertise, and administrative service agreements. These staff members are contracted to work solely for the benefit of the organizations they serve.

Healthsperien, LLC, is a Washington, D.C.-based health care policy consulting firm focused on strategic, regulatory, legislative and implementation issues.

PRIVACY

Bio

Tom Koutsoumpas is the Founder and President of Healthsperien. He has long been recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts and advocates in health care policy. He is a well-known leader in issues related to Medicare, elder care, advanced illness, and hospice care. With a career that spans from the U.S. Senate and the Indiana Governor’s Office to leading the development of the nation’s largest health care companies’ Washington presence, Tom has worked to ensure that private and public health care programs and organizations are prepared to meet the ongoing opportunities and challenges related to health system transformation, with a primary focus on high-quality patient care delivery.

Tom Koutsoumpas serves as Chairman of the Board for Capital Caring Health (CCH), one of the oldest and largest not-for-profit advanced illness care, primary care at home, and palliative and hospice care providers in the nation. All CCH care services are provided in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

Tom also serves as CEO of the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). NPHI is a unique not-for-profit organization that includes as members, over 90 hospice/advanced illness care providers. Collectively, NPHI members care for over 150,000 patients and families across America every day and annually provide over 150 million dollars in charity care. Their shared mission is care must be delivered at the bedside and not dictated by the boardroom.

Tom co-founded and currently co-chairs the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), an organization dedicated to improving the lives of people impacted by serious illnesses by elevating their issues, advising decision makers, and leading a coalition of member organizations to advocate for policies that ensure greater access, equity and enhanced quality of life.

Additionally, Tom is the Co-Founder and a Board Member of ACT NOW for Mental Health, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding access to mental health services and support, while fighting mental & behavioral health stigma for all young adults. Their focus is on communities that have been historically underserved by the health system including LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, people with physical, intellectual, or mental health disabilities, and people who are uninsured or underinsured.

Tom is a member of the Roundtable on Quality Care for the seriously ill which is attached to the Medical Division of the National Academy of Sciences and is a contributor to the Project on Advanced Care at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School.

Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and Founding Executive Director of the Mintz Levin Center for Health Law & Policy, a part of the Mintz Levin law firm. Before joining Mintz Levin, Tom served as Corporate Vice President of UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation’s largest healthcare companies. Tom joined United as Senior Vice President at Ovations, United’s then-Medicare division. At Ovations Tom developed and oversaw federal and state government relations during the implementation of Part D and the expansion of the Medicare Advantage program.

Prior to his work with UnitedHealth Group, Tom was Executive Vice President and Chief of Public Affairs at VITAS Healthcare Corporation. Tom’s work experience prior to VITAS included serving as Senior Advisor and Executive Assistant/Federal Affairs to former Indiana Governor (and later Senator) Evan Bayh. Tom also worked as a health policy advisor with the Health Practice Group of the Hogan Lovells law firm (formerly Hogan and Hartson law firm), where he was instrumental in creating and developing the Medicare Hospice Benefit. He began his career working in the United States Senate and served as an associate in public affairs for Burson Marsteller.

Tom is a co-author of A Roadmap to Success: Transforming Advanced Illness Care in America. He also penned the foreword to the publication, Have Your Own Say: Getting the Right Care When It Matters Most (2012) by Gundersen Health System and the Center for Health Transformation.

A native of Indiana, Tom received his Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. where he has served as a Board of Regents member.

Education

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Bachelor of Arts in American Studies

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER

GEORGETOWN BOARD OF REGENTS

Former Member

Activities & Affiliations

Chairman of the Board of Capital Caring Health
Chief Executive Officer of National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI)
Co-Founder and Co-Chair, The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC)
Co-Founder and Board Member of ACT NOW for Mental Health
Member, National Academies, Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness
Former Board Member and Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, the oldest survivor-led cancer advocacy group in the country.
Former Member of the Advisory Council of the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP)
Former member of the Business-Government Relations Council in Washington, D.C.
Former member of the Board of Regents of Georgetown University.
Previous appointments have included the Board of Directors of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the Board of Trustees of the National Hospice Foundation, and Member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for End-of-Life Care.

Bio

Andrew MacPherson is Founding Principal and Managing Partner at Healthsperien, LLC, with two decades of federal and state health care legislative and regulatory policy and political experience. As Managing Partner, Andrew co-leads a team of over forty experts who specialize in developing comprehensive legislative and regulatory policy strategies, in-depth analyses, and strategic advocacy and communications initiatives for a wide-range of health care organizations, including Fortune 100 businesses, public sector purchasers, national health plans, professional associations, issue-based coalitions, health care start-ups and market innovators, and not-for-profit providers.

Andrew has a special emphasis and speaks regularly to national audiences on policy and political issues related to person-centered health care delivery transformation, including the public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness in the U.S., value-based insurance design (V-BID), and person-centered advanced illness and end-of-life care delivery. Andrew has been featured in a variety of national media outlets on a range of health policy issues, including The Washington Post, Health Affairs, InsideHealthPolicy, Home Health Care News, Scripps News, The Messenger, and National Public Radio.

Prior to launching Healthsperien in 2013, Andrew served as Director of Government Affairs at Jennings Policy Strategies, Inc. (JPS), a nationally recognized health policy consulting firm led by Chris Jennings, Former Senior Health Care Advisor to President Barack Obama and previously to President Bill Clinton. From 2006-2013, Andrew staffed a wide range of client and pro bono initiatives in the federal policy, political, and communications arenas with JPS, Inc., including the Obama for America and Hillary Clinton for President presidential campaigns, the Bipartisan Policy Center health reform project with former Majority Leaders Baker, Daschle, Dole and Mitchell, and the Clinton Global Initiative in addition to advising a wide array of JPS clients.

From 2001-2006, Andrew worked for a number of policy and political organizations and elected officials, including the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Democratic Governors’ Association, and Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Inc., a market research and strategic communications consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.

Originally from Vermont, Andrew received a B.A. in Political Science from George Washington University in May 2005.

Areas of Expertise

The Affordable Care Act (ACA);
Quality and value-based purchasing
Medicare Advantage;
Medicaid, including managed long-term services and supports;
Prescription drug coverage and pharmaceutical issues;
Long-term care;
Chronic care management;
Palliative and hospice care;
Public and private insurance coverage protections and expansions.

Education

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Activities & Affiliations

Member, Public Policy Council, American Society on Aging
Member, National Academy of Social Insurance
Board Member, American Society on AgingGenerations
Founder & Chairman, Coalition to End Social Isolation & Loneliness
Co-Director, Smarter Health Care Coalition
Senior Advisor, National Partnership for Hospice Innovation
Senior Advisor, Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC)
Advisor, End Well: Design for the End of Life Experience
Former Board Member, National POLST Paradigm
Former Board Member, Social Work Hospice & Palliative Care Network

Recent Speeches

“Everyone Has Their End-of-Life Story. Yes, Even in Washington.” End Well Symposium. San Francisco, CA. 7 December 2017.

“The Policy and Politics of Advanced Illness and End of Life Care: A Washington Perspective.” LeadingAge Annual Meeting and EXPO. New Orleans, LA. 30 October 2017.

“The Policy and Politics of Home Care Medicine: A Washington Perspective.” American Academy of Home Care Medicine Annual Meeting. 13 October 2017.

“The Policy & Political Context for Palliative & Hospice Care: A Washington Perspective.” National Partnership for Hospice Innovation. 9 October 2017.

“Policy & Politics of Hospice and Palliative Care: A Washington Perspective.” Samaritan Health Care & Hospice. 28 September 2017.

“The Policy and Politics of End-of-Life Care: Challenges and Opportunities for Senior Living Communities.” Argentum. 12 September 2017.

“Policy and Political Reform Efforts and the Impact on Public Sector Retirees: A Washington Perspective.” National Council on Teacher Retirement. Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. 25 July 2017.

“Novartis Pharmaceuticals’ ‘Power of Partnering’ Summit.” Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business. 20 June 2017.

“After the Affordable Care Act: Policy and Political Context for Reform.” National Americans with Disabilities Act Symposium.Chicago, IL. 14 May 2017.

“Lay of the Land: The Policy and Politics of Hospice and Palliative Care in Washington.” LeadingAge Ohio. Columbus, OH. 3 March 2017.

“High-Risk Populations, Advanced Illness and Palliative Care in a Rapidly Changing Policy Landscape.” Best Practices for High Risk Populations — Care Transitions & Palliative Innovations Summit. Los Angeles, CA. 14 March 2017. 

Recent Media & Publications

Recent Media

“Aging in America: How money and emotions fuel elder care decisions” | The Race – Scripps News 23 July 2023

“The Silent Public Health Crisis Congress Can’t Afford to Ignore” The Messenger
OpEd: Andrew MacPherson. 11 June 2023.

“Lawmakers Itching to Expand Medicare Advantage to Hospice.” Home Health Care News. Author: Tim Mullaney. 20 November 2017.

“Coalition To Trump: Include HSA Policy In Final Drug Executive Order Policy.” InsideHealthPolicy.com. 20 July 2017.

“Hourly Newscast Coordinated Care for Those Nearing Life’s End — But Does It Save Money?” National Public Radio. 15 October 2015.

Recent Publications

“Most People Want to Die at Home, but Most Land in Hospitals Receiving Unwanted Care.” Washington Post. 9 December 2017.

“Policy and Politics to Drive Change in End-of-Life Care: Assessing the Best and Worst Places to Die in America.” Journal of the American Society on Aging. Vol. 41 No. 1. Spring 2017.

“Person-Centered Advanced Illness Care at the Intersection of Policy and Politics.” Public Policy and Aging Report. The Gerontological Society of America (Oxford University Press). Winter 2014.

“Meeting the Needs of Older Adults with Serious Illness: Challenges and Opportunities in the Age of Health Care Reform.” Amy S. Kelley (Editor),‎ Diane E. Meier (Editor). Humana Press; 2014 edition. Chapter 4: “This is Your Life: Achieving a Comprehensive, Person-Centered Care at the Intersection of Policy, Politics, and Private Sector Innovation.”

Bio

Ray Quintero is a Managing Partner at Healthsperien, LLC, with nearly two decades in health care public policy, legislative, regulatory, grassroots advocacy, communications and political experience. As Managing Partner, Ray leads a team of experts who specialize in developing in-depth legislative and regulatory policy strategies, analyses, and strategic advocacy and communications for a wide-range of health care organizations, including Fortune 100 businesses, national health plans, professional provider associations, life science companies, issue-based coalitions, and not-for-profit providers.

Ray has a special emphasis on addressing issues supporting physicians and providers, care in the home (home-based primary care & hospital at home), mental & behavioral health, and value-based care. His work focuses on developing policy solutions, advocacy strategies, as well as guiding clients in developing, implementing, and improving alternative payment models.

Through Ray’s work, he has led and been actively involved in numerous multi-stakeholder coalitions aimed at improving our nation’s health care delivery and financing systems. Ray has a special emphasis on policy, business strategy, and political issues related to delivery system reform and stakeholder engagement to advance clients deep and wide-ranging objectives spanning the care and management spectrum, including patients, providers, educators, payers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Prior to joining Healthsperien, Ray served as Senior Vice President of Public Policy at the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) in Washington, D.C. and Chicago. As part of the senior leadership team, he managed a professional team while leading and executing the overall strategic vision of the AOA’s national membership organization, representing nearly 130,000 osteopathic physicians and medical students. Ray oversaw the AOA’s diverse Federal & State government relations program, including the legislative, regulatory, advocacy, and political operations of the organization. Shaping the Association’s message, he frequently was an on-the-record spokesperson commenting on various aspects of the health care industry. During his tenure at the AOA, he led the association’s efforts on many issues, including Medicare physician payment, medical liability reform, graduate medical education, delivery system reform, and efforts to implement new payment models for physicians under both public and private systems.

His government relations background also includes positions at Merck Pharmaceuticals, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), and American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP). As well, Ray provided grassroots and public affairs counsel to a range of health care clients while serving as Vice President of Strategic Alliances at Seven Twenty Strategies. Ray began his career in health care government relations as a policy advisor in the Health and Life Sciences practice of B&D Consulting.

A native of Arizona, Ray received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Arizona, where he served as Student Body President and on the Arizona Alumni Association Board.

Areas of Expertise

Delivery system reform
Alternative Payment Models (APMs)
Quality Payment Program (QPP) – Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)
The Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Physician payment
Quality and value-based purchasing
Medicare
Medicaid
Care delivery in the home
Graduate medical education
Pharmaceutical issues
Long-term care
Chronic care management
Palliative care and hospice
Mental and behavioral health
Public and private insurance coverage expansions

Education

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Activities & Affiliations

Co-Director, Smarter Health Care Coalition
Co-Founder, Coalition to End Social Isolation & Loneliness
Senior Strategic Advisor, National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation
Executive Advisor, Multicancer Early Detection (MCED) Consortium

Bio

With more than two decades of experience in health care policy, data analysis, and strategy, Jeanne helps organizations respond to challenges and opportunities in the changing health care policy environment. She draws on her background in the government and the private sector to translate complex developments in health care reform and reimbursement policy for a range of audiences and purposes, and offers particular insights into the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Her data analysis skills, including working with cost projections, clinical data, and actuarial models, enhances client strategy and business development. She brings a practical approach to projects that deal with health system transformation, specifically those including new models of payment and care delivery, and offers a unique perspective on the federal budget process and the health care economy.

Prior to joining Healthsperien, Jeanne worked at UnitedHealth Group as a Senior Vice President and led an interdisciplinary policy, data analysis, and research team at the company’s Center for Health Reform & Modernization. She also served as an advisor on health policy issues (including Medicaid, Medicare, ACA implementation, and delivery system reforms), conducted analytic and quantitative research on topics related to modernizing the financing and delivery of health care and consulted on the design of pilots for alternative models of care. She authored a series of working papers and presented on topics including Medicare and Medicaid reform, specialty pharmacy, diabetes, genomics and novel diagnostics, and alternatives to fee-for-service.

From 1997 to 2008, Jeanne served as a Principal Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in the Budget Analysis Division’s health care section. As one of the agency’s primary Medicaid, CHIP and low-income Medicare program analysts, she developed ten-year spending forecasts for health care entitlement programs and estimated the financial and programmatic impacts of policy changes in Medicare, Medicaid, and public health programs. She also has experience working with state governments on improving their health care systems through work at the Alpha Center (now part of AcademyHealth) and for the state of Massachusetts.

Education

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
Masters in Public Policy (MPP)

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
History

Activities & Affiliations

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
United Cerebral Palsy

Publications and Presentations

Health care reform landscape and the federal budget

Presentation – An Outsider’s Perspective: 10 insights about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and a few others about the changing health care system. Presentation for the American Academy of Dermatology Association. (Washington, DC) June 26, 2015.
Presentation – Future directions for health care reform and impact for stakeholders, National Hospice Working Group (Washington, DC), May 2014.
Presentation – Consolidation in Health Care: What are the Implications for the Medical Technology Industry? AdvaMed Annual Meeting 2013 (Washington, DC), September 23, 2013.
Issue brief – Does the recession explain why US health care spending growth has slowed? An overview of recent economic research, UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, May 2013.
Panel participation – The Post-Election Health Care Landscape, Lyceum Associates (Washington, DC) November 27, 2012.
CBO Report – The Potential Budgetary Impact of Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages, U.S. Congressional Budget Office, June 21, 2004. www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/06-21-samesexmarriage.pdf

Medicare and Medicaid/CHIP

Presentation. Outlook for Medicaid Managed Care: 2015 and Beyond. Potomac Research Group. (New York, New York) September 10, 2015.
Webinar. Medicare Advantage Basics and Key Issues for Not-for-Profit Hospice Providers: National Partnership for Hospice Innovation. April 23, 2015.
Webinar. Medicare Advantage 101: The Current Landscape and Identifying Opportunities for Advanced Illness Care.Coalition to Transform Advanced Care C-TAC. September 15, 2015
Working paper – Medicare and Medicaid, Savings Opportunities from Health Care Modernization (Working Paper 9), UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, January 2013 http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/~/media/UHG/PDF/2013/UNH-Working-Paper-9.ashx
Working paper – 100% of the future: improving the health of America’s children (Working Paper 10). UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, August 2013.
Panel participation –State budgets and Medicaid, Alliance for Health Reform/State Budget Crisis Taskforce (Washington, DC), May 29, 2013.
Issue brief – The Oregon Medicaid Experiment – What does it tell us? UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, May 2013.
Panel participation – Medicaid in an Era of Tight Budgets, Time to Rethink the Federal-State Relationship? Brookings Institution Roundtable (invitation only – Washington DC) September 6, 2012. Expert policy panel reviewing fiscal and structural challenges Medicaid poses to the federal government and states and options for going forward.
Working paper – Coverage for Consumers, Savings for States: Options for Modernizing Medicaid (Working paper 3), UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, April 2010. www.unitedhealthgroup.com/~/media/UHG/PDF/2010/UNH-Working-Paper-3.ashx
CBO Report – The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (Contributor), U.S. Congressional Budget Office, May 2007. www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/05-10-schip.pdf
CBO Report – A Detailed Description of CBO’s Cost Estimate for the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Contributor), U.S. Congressional Budget Office, July 2004. www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/07-21-medicare.pdf
CBO Report – Issues in Designing a Prescription Drug Benefit for Medicare (Contributor), U.S. Congressional Budget Office, October 2002. www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/10-30-prescriptiondrug.pdf

Data analytics and health IT

Presentation –Transparency in health care: Perspectives on the potential of heath care “big” data, Public Sector HealthCare Roundtable (Washington, DC), November 7, 2014.
Presentation – Harnessing Big Data: An Overview, American Academy of Dermatologists Association, September 8, 2014.
Panel discussion – Big Data: What you need to know for your job in 2014, Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, Boston Chapter (Cambridge, MA), January 30, 2014.
Working paper – Jeanne De Sa, The Market for Accountability: Measuring and Managing Health Plan Performance, The Alpha Center, Washington, DC, 1996.

Life sciences

Issue brief – The growth of specialty pharmacy: current trends and future opportunities, UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, April 2014. www.unitedhealthgroup.com/~/media/UHG/PDF/2014/UNH-The-Growth-Of-Specialty-Pharmacy.ashx
Presentation/Moderator – Perspectives on Specialty Pharmaceuticals: Managing Innovation & Cost, UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization (New York City) April 29, 2014.
Journal article – Reed Tuckson, Lee Newcomer, and Jeanne De Sa, Accessing Genomic Medicine: Affordability, Diffusion, and Disparities, JAMA View Point, Journal of the American Medical Association, April 2013.http://www.tucksonhealthconnections.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Accessing-Genomic-Medicine.pdf
Presentation/Moderator – Reimbursement and the Evidence Base for Molecular Diagnostics, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Business School/Partners Health Care center for Genetic Medicine, Personalized Medicine 2013 (Cambridge, MA), November 7, 2013.
Presentation – Molecular Diagnostics and Genetic Testing: Trends, Spending and Utilization, Personalized Medicine World Conference 2013 (Mountain View, CA), January 19, 2013.
Presentation – Mapping the Future of Molecular Diagnostics: The Role of Personalized Medicine in an Improved Delivery System, 4th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference (Boston, MA), September 13, 2012.
Journal article – Lewis Sandy, MD, Nadine Caputo, Deneen Vojta, MD, Simon Stevens, Jeanne De Sa, and Brantley Carlson, “Growth of Molecular Diagnostics and Genetic Testing in the United States, 2008-2011: Analysis and Implications,” Personalized Medicine, November 1, 2013.
Working paper – Personalized Medicine: Trends and prospects for the new science of genetic testing and molecular diagnostics(Working paper 7), UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, 2012.www.unitedhealthgroup.com/~/media/uhg/pdf/2012/unh-working-paper-7.ashx
CBO Report – U.S. Policy Regarding Pandemic Influenza Vaccines (Contributor), U.S. Congressional Budget Office, September 2008. www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/09-15-pandemicflu.pdf
CBO Report – A Potential Influenza Pandemic: Possible Macroeconomic Effects and Policy Issues (Contributor), U.S. Congressional Budget Office, December 8, 2005, revised July 27, 2006. www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/12-08-birdflu.pdf
CBO cost estimate – Project BioShield Act of 2003, cost estimate for H.R. 2122 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, May, 2003. www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/hr2122ec.pdf

Payment and delivery reform

Working paper – Farewell to Fee-for-Service (Working paper 8), UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, December, 2012 (Contributor). This paper emphasizes how to help providers develop the capabilities needed to succeed in new payment reform environment. It also discusses an action agenda for all stakeholders.www.unitedhealthgroup.com/~/media/UHG/PDF/2012/UNH-Working-Paper-8.ashx
Panel participation – Opportunities for Public-Private Collaboration in Rural Health (White House invitation-only event), July 22-23, 2013.
Working paper – Modernizing Rural Health Care: Coverage, quality, and innovation (Working paper 6), UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, July 2011. Discussion of practical application of payment reform models, such as accountable care organizations, to rural communities. http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/~/media/UHG/PDF/2011/UNH-Working-Paper-6.ashx
Presentation – Nurse Practitioners: The Payment Environment after Reform, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (Washington, DC), November 18, 2010.
Journal article – Jeanne De Sa and Stephen Schrodel, “Emerging State Policy Trends Related to Medical Group Practice,” The Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, Volume 19, Number 4, October 1996.
Journal article – Debra Lipson and Jeanne De Sa, “Impact of Purchasing Strategies on Local Health Care Systems,” Health Affairs, Summer 1996. http://www.content.healthaffairs.org/content/15/2/62.full.pdf+html?sid=2272fe7b-df52-4bc4-9302-49237cdbd0b6

Long-term care and chronic conditions

Panel/Workshop – Workshop to address polypill clinical trials and regulatory approval and Polypill therapy – opportunities and challenges for payers, CardioVascular Clinical Trials Forum, The George Institute for Global Health, (Washington, DC), December 7, 2014.
Journal article – Deneen Vojta, Jeanne De Sa, Ted Prospect, Simon Stevens, “Effective Interventions for Stemming the Growing Crisis of Diabetes and Prediabetes: A National Payer’s Perspective,” Health Affairs, Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2012. http://www.content.healthaffairs.org/content/31/1/20.full.pdf+html?sid=2272fe7b-df52-4bc4-9302-49237cdbd0b6
Working paper – The United States of Diabetes: Challenges and Opportunities in the Decade Ahead (Working paper 5), UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, November 2010. www.unitedhealthgroup.com/~/media/UHG/PDF/2010/UNH-Working-Paper-5.ashx
Panel – Atrial Fibrillation: Medicare Advantage and Readmissions, StopAfib event (Washington, DC), January 26, 2010.

Bio

As Partner, Eddie offers clients thoughtful and expansive expertise in health and social policy development and advocacy for low-income and other vulnerable populations. Eddie’s 20 years working in government health and social services programs has made him knowledgeable in a multitude policy issue areas. Eddie serves as the lead Partner supporting our health plan portfolio and as well as our coalitions and non-profits focused on social isolation and loneliness and mental health. In addition, he brings a wealth of knowledge and passion for policy and program development to expand access to social determinants of health and health equity programs and services. Eddie is a sought-after speaker on issues of social isolation and loneliness and social health as showcased before the American Public Health Association, the World Health Organization, and the European Commission, and numerous national governments and organizations around the globe.

Before joining the Healthsperien team, Eddie served as the Executive Director for Federal Affairs at CareSource, a government programs-focused health insurer. He oversaw the development of federal policy and advocacy across their multi-state health plans. His portfolio included policy development and advocacy on Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, Health Insurance Exchanges, dual-eligible coverage, and social determinants of health programs and financing. He led and was actively involved in numerous multi-stakeholder coalitions aimed at improving our nation’s health care delivery and financing systems, including the Root Cause Coalition and Aligning for Health. He similarly served on the Board of Directors for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the Association of Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP).

Before joining CareSource, Eddie served as Director of Federal Relations for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association where he maintained a similar portfolio related to Administration advocacy and regulatory policy development.

Prior to joining the private sector, Eddie held positions in both the Executive and Legislative branches. From 2007 – 2012, Eddie worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services where he oversaw the development and implementation of quality measurement strategies across all CMS quality programs. From 2012-2015, Eddie served the House Energy and Commerce committee as a professional staff member under Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) overseeing their Medicare finance and quality portfolios.

Hailing from the great state of Ohio, Eddie received his B.A. in political science and comparative health politics from Boston University in 2004. In 2008, Eddie received his Master of Health Science in Public Health degree from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and was inducted into the Delta Omega honors society as the valedictorian of his graduating class.

Areas of Expertise

Healthcare Quality Measurement
Health Equity and Access
Mental & Behavioral Health
Value-based Payment Design
Health Plan Policy, Legislation, Regulation, and Advocacy
Social Services Programs
Social Determinants of Health
Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Social Connection
Personal Determinants of Health
Coalition Development
Non-profit Management

Education

BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Comparative Health Politics

JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Master of Health Sciences in Public Health

Activities & Affiliations

Co-Founder and Board Member, ACT Now for Mental Health
Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Foundation for Social Connection
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Coalition to End Social Isolation & Loneliness
Co-Chair, Global Initiative on Loneliness and Connection
Senior Advisor, National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation
Senior Advisor, Public Sector Health Care Roundtable
Board of Directors, Whitman Walker Health System
Board of Directors, Whitman Walker Health (FQHC)

Bio

Brian W. Lindberg is a Washington, DC-based advocate, policy educator, and lobbyist. He serves as a public policy advisor to aging, health care, and special needs advocacy organizations and as Executive Director of the Consumer Coalition for Quality Health Care. Throughout his career, Brian has developed national policy guidelines, legislation, and strategic plans for organizations on issues ranging from health and serious illness care, long-term care, to caregiving, social isolation, civic engagement, elder justice, community-based services, and housing, all with the goal of improving the systems that support optimal aging and quality care for all.

Brian is a social worker and human services manager by training and after finishing his Master’s degree, Brian worked for Pennsylvania’s junior senator (at that time), the late Arlen Specter. Before long, he had joined the Senate Special Aging Committee as professional staff to Chairman John Heinz, followed by several years on the House Select Committee on Aging, completing his Hill work as staff director of the Subcommittee on Housing and Consumer Interests.

Brian helped create the Consumer Coalition for Quality Health Care in 1993, which continues to advocate for health care system reform that provides meaningful consumer information, strong due process protections, a consumer advocate program, and a system for independent quality oversight. As Executive Director of the Consumer Coalition, Brian was involved in the formation of the National Quality Forum, having been appointed by Vice President Gore to serve on the NQF planning committee and board of directors.

Brian’s legislative accomplishments include provisions in laws addressing the Older Americans Act, geriatrics training, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, older Native Americans, caregivers, Medicare, pensions, long-term care, elder abuse, guardianship, social isolation, housing, and aging research and evaluation.

He worked on the 1995, 2005, and 2015 White House Conferences on Aging, as well as with AARP, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, The John A. Hartford Foundation, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Brian has served on many boards and advisory panels, including for the Institute of Medicine, CMS’s National Medicare Education Program, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and the Temple University Board of Trustees. Currently, he serves on the NQF Patient Experience and Function Standing Committee and the Board of Visitors of the College of Public Health at Temple University.

Education

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Social Work

UNIVERSITY OF STOCKHOLM’S INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE SCHOOL
Studies in comparative health care systems and policy.

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
Master’s in Management of Human Services

Bio

Mr. Beauregard provides strategic consult for Healthsperien’s clients. Tom is a top leader in health care innovation and implementation, with 30 years of broad experience with a range of organizations in the health care sector, industry, public policy, academia and the non-profit community. His current work focuses on development of next-generation health care solutions with diverse partners and support for non-profit organizations in this sector.

In his previous role as Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of UnitedHealth Group, Tom led a visionary and nimble research and development team with a disruptive mission – finding practical solutions to the most pervasive and difficult challenges in health care. The team focused on designing, developing and launching initiatives that transform the financing and delivery of care and leverage new technologies and care models to address underlying challenges with cost, quality and access.

Tom’s combination of strategy, implementation experience, and insights about the evolving health care sector and technology has driven his success in developing a portfolio of 20 to 30 R&D initiatives and expert role in managing the company’s overall investment in innovation. Other accomplishments include the National Diabetes Prevention Program in partnership with the Y-USA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an evidence-based childhood obesity solution, and a reality TV-based diabetes prevention program (Project NOT ME) that earned Tom a regional Emmy for in his role as an Executive Producer.

Prior to taking on that role, Tom’s work focused on innovative solutions for employers and consumers and applicability of initiatives to Medicare and Medicaid populations. He ran an interdisciplinary research team identifying ways to improve care delivery during health reform with colleague Simon Stevens (now head of the UK National Health Service). He also served as the Chief Executive Officer of a UnitedHealth Care business segment (United Essentials) that ran research and new product development activities. Tom led a team that conducted extensive employer and consumer research and developed programs and products that extended appealing and affordable coverage to targeted employer and consumer segments. Tom’s team launched several innovative solutions that included breakthroughs in affordable coverage solutions, advanced consumer choice models, value-based incentive models, and portable insurance solutions.

Tom brought extensive experience from the health benefits consulting sector to his research and development work. He was the National Practice Leader for Hewitt Associates, a global management consulting firm where he worked closely with large employers seeking innovative approaches to improving their employee benefit plans while addressing increasing costs. As the youngest partner in the firm’s history he tripled the size of the practice during his tenure. He also led the firm’s foray into a technology-based approach to consumer-directed care as a Chief Strategy Officer and built out an extensive network of relationships with the then early-stage digital health sector.

Bio

Brian has 25+ years of leadership experience within healthcare organizations (payers and technology-based solution providers) ranging from startups to large, publicly traded companies. He is a C-suite executive (CEO, COO, CSO, CGO), board member, and advisor who is passionate about transforming the healthcare system to improve access to care, healthcare delivery, and patient outcomes. Brian is a disruptor, innovator, and problem-solver with a compelling record of leading, transforming, and growing healthcare technology companies.

Brian acts as an advisor to prominent, national VC/PE funds, in evaluating investment opportunities and coaching the leadership teams of their investment portfolio companies on matters ranging from go-to-market strategies, pricing models, product design, workflows, growth, sales, execution, and measurement against established performance indicators.

Before creating his own advisory firm to support the growth of early-stage healthcare companies, Brian led Tabula Rasa HealthCare’s Office of Strategic Growth—an office he created in 2014 for the initial purpose of establishing a footprint in the payer market (including health insurers, self-funded employers, and risk-bearing provider organizations) as a runway for Tabula Rasa’s IPO. Within six months of joining the Company, Brian secured its first payer pilot, followed shortly thereafter by its first payer commercial contract ($62MM). The Company’s IPO followed in 2016 (NASDAQ: TRHC).

During his tenure with Tabula Rasa, Brian continued to expand the Company’s payer market through the design, testing, validation, and deployment of new products, services, and financial models (including chronic disease programs and the deployment of value-based contracting solutions). Brian also worked to lay foundations for the Company across new markets, including pharma/life sciences, life insurance, consumer, and international.

Brian presently serves as the Chair of the Board of Advisors of StationMD, a telehealth company serving persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (where he was previously the first independent director on the corporate board). He also serves as a member on the Board of Advisors to Pearl Health, a leader in assisting primary care practices understand and accept “intelligent” financial risk arrangements.

Brian is a member of the Board of Directors of CP Unlimited (Formerly Cerebral Palsy Association of New York State), a leading provider of residential and day programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. CP Unlimited has close to 2,000 employees supporting more than 700 persons in residences and many hundreds more through its day programs.

Brian spent his earlier professional years leading the successful startup and exit of an oncology-focused medication decision support technology company. He has also held strategy-related management positions with two large Blue Cross organizations. Before that, Brian spent five years serving as the Chief Legislative Counsel to New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman.

As a recognized expert in healthcare strategy, growth, and policy, the Jefferson School of Population Health elected Brian as a Senior Fellow. He also served as the longest tenured Chair of the New Jersey Association of Health Plans. Over his career, government leaders, from governors to members of Congress, have appointed Brian to serve on federal and state healthcare access and reform commissions.

Brian earned a JD from Rutgers University School of Law and a BA in Economics from Vassar College.

Brian and his wife, Donna, live in South Carolina with their two rescue dogs, Lucca and Finley.

Education

VASSAR COLLEGE
Bachelor of Arts in Economics

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF LAW
Juris Doctorate

Bio

Debra McCarron has extensive experience in strategic communications & marketing, stakeholder engagement, and project management. She joins Healthsperein as Deputy Director to provide comprehensive communications and operational support to the company and its non-profit partner organizations.

Before joining Healthsperien, she served as the Deputy Director of the Communication and Outreach Division at Ripple Effect, a government consulting firm. There she led healthcare policy projects for federal agencies such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). As the Project Director of the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network (LAN), she managed an over $1M per year budget, leading a multifaceted communications team to fully support LAN communications, events, and stakeholder engagement.

Additionally, she utilized her marketing and branding expertise to grow a small community business from one location to three. She assisted in the day-to-day operations of the three facility sites, including budget management, human resources, support, facilities management, and internal and external communications. She co-owned Quality Design Solutions, a full-service company specializing in web design, marketing, and database development for non-profit and small businesses.

Early in her career, she supported NIH medical research grants at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She also has over four years of clinical research experience at the University of Maryland, Department of Cardiology, where she worked with interventionists developing glycoprotein IIb/IIIa platelet inhibitors.

Debbie grew up in Maryland, received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Virginia Tech, and has completed coursework at the University of Maryland at Baltimore in Instructional Systems Design. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, the Association for Talent Development, and the Society for Health Communication. She is passionate about community service. She serves as a committee member for the American Cancer Society Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk of Central Maryland and volunteers her time for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Smithsonian’s National Zoo, and the Carroll County Arts Center.

Education

VIRGINIA TECH
Bachelor of Science in Biology

Activities & Affliations

Member, Society of Health Communication
Member, Public Relations Society of America
Member, Association for Talent Development
Director of Special Projects, National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI)
Communications Workgroup Lead, Multicancer Early Detection Consortium (MCED)

Bio

Dr. Atkins is Research Director of the Long-Term Quality Alliance in Washington, DC. He is a Board member and immediate past-President of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He was recently the Staff Director of the federal Commission on Long-Term Care, which issued its final report in September 2013. Prior to that, he was Executive Director, U.S. Public Policy at the global pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck.

Dr. Atkins is a veteran of more than 30 years of health and social policy analysis, policy development, and legislative representation at the local, state, and federal levels. He directed Public Policy at Schering-Plough Corporation; was founder and President of Health Policy Analysts, Inc., a firm providing consultation on pharmaceutical, health benefits, and health care reimbursement issues; was Executive Director of the Corporate Health Care Coalition, an alliance of Fortune 100 companies on federal and state health reform issues; and headed a health and benefits policy practice in the Washington office of the New York law firm Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam and Roberts. During the 1990s, Dr. Atkins served on two quadrennial Social Security Advisory Commissions – 1991 as a Commission member and 1995 as a member of the Technical Panel.

During the 1980s, Dr. Atkins served on the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging as professional staff, Deputy Staff Director and Republican Staff Director for Chairman John Heinz (R-PA), and advised Senator Heinz as a member of the Senate Finance Committee on retirement income and health policy matters, and as a member of the 1983 National Commission on Social Security Reform. Prior to his work in the Congress, Dr. Atkins developed health and human services policy at the state and local government levels.

Dr. Atkins holds a Ph.D. from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, where he is currently a member of the Board of Overseers. He holds master degrees from the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky, and an undergraduate degree from Kenyon College.

Education

KENYON COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY Heller School of Social Policy and Management

Bio

Ms. Fisher serves as President for the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). Utilizing her previous experiences and deep familiarity with not-for-profit community-based hospice and palliative healthcare, she is charged with leading a wide range of activities for the membership organization. With an emphasis on developing strategic partnerships, meaningful collaborations and transformational innovations, Ms. Fisher provides support for NPHI members leading complex organizations.

As a seasoned C-suite leader, advisor, innovator and public policy advocate, for the past 35 years she has successfully led and transformed for-profit and mission driven healthcare organizations. Ms. Fisher has significant experience in growing and transforming companies, developing people, and preparing organizations for navigating the unforeseen and unanticipated. She has significant experience in growing market share, contracting with payers, building specialty provider networks, developing and integrating cutting edge technology, facilitating M&A mid-size transactions and is well respected for her ability to merge cultures and teams.

Ms. Fisher is the former President and CEO of Nathan Adelson Hospice. In a fiercely competitive market she positioned the organization as a nationally known industry leader respected for their clinical advancements and innovations. Under her leadership the company was recognized eight years by Modern Healthcare Magazine as a 100 Best Places to Work in the country.

Prior to this she held senior roles advancing behavioral healthcare companies and oversaw a large multi-specialty provider group owned and operated by Sierra Health Services, later acquired by United Health Care.

Ms. Fisher has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from University Nevada, Las Vegas and attained a Masters Certification in Organizational Leadership from the Thayer Institute in Asheville, North Carolina. She is currently a Guest Editor for the American Society on Aging’s Generations Journal. She serves as an adjunct faculty member for Teleios University and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Thayer Institute. Previously she served on the Board of Directors for MountainView Hospital – a subsidiary of HCA, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation, Health Insight, UNLV Health Law Program Advisory Board and the Nevada Hospital Association.

Ms. Fisher spends her time working between her homes in Las Vegas, Nevada and Covington, Louisiana.

Education

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Social Work

THAYER INSTITUTE
Masters of Leadership, Arts and Sciences-Certification

LEAN SIX SIGMA CERTIFICATION

Bio

Dr. Cameron Muir is a nationally recognized physician, educator and executive leader in hospice, palliative medicine and advanced illness care. He is the Principal and Founder of CMC, Cameron Muir Consulting, LLC, where he works with health care provider organizations to help them innovate and develop or enhance high quality value-based care and payment models. In addition, he serves as the Chief Innovation Officer for the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice innovation (NPHI) where he established and oversees the NPHI Innovation Lab. Unique in the hospice space, the Lab focuses on population health, claims analytics, practice optimization, and other systematic approaches to enhance and improve advanced illness care for NPHI members.

In additional Innovations work, Dr. Muir has served as the medical director for a Medicare Innovations (CMMI) high-needs ACO REACH program, where he worked with multiple advanced illness provider organizations to develop standardized approaches to claims analytics, quality measurement, and care coordination strategies to help drive double digit savings in year one of the program. Dr. Muir also served as an executive leader for a PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly) program, where he was responsible for oversight of both the clinical and medical director for this start-up PACE program.

Dr. Muir received his medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He also earned fellowships in bioethics at the University of Chicago Medical Center and in Medical Oncology and Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Muir is Board Certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and Internal Medicine.

For sixteen years (2002-2018) Dr. Muir served as the Chief Medical Officer and EVP for Clinical Services at Capital Caring Health (CCH). As CMO, he recruited and managed a medical team of over 60 professionals who delivered over 260,000 hospice and palliative care encounters. Additionally, Dr. Muir developed systems of quality advanced illness care that resulted in publication of over a dozen peer-reviewed articles defining innovations and best practices in advanced illness care. He also managed teams devoted to business development, marketing, and communications.

Dr. Muir has been married for nearly 30 years and has two grown children and a Labrador retriever. He enjoys running, cycling, sailing, and playing his grandfather’s bagpipes.

Education

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Bioethics/Medical Ethics

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY – THE FEINBERG SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Medical Oncology Residency Program
Hospice and Palliative Medicine Residency Program

GEISEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE at DARTMOUTH
Internal Medicine Residency Program

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
Doctor of Medicine

TRINITY COLLEGE – HARTFORD
Bachelor of Science, Neurobiology and Neurosciences

Meet the team

Partnership Staff

Healthsperien, LLC, is a Washington, D.C.-based health care policy consulting firm focused on strategic, regulatory, legislative and implementation issues.

Tom Koutsoumpas

Andrew MacPherson

Ray Quintero

Jeanne De Sa

Edward Garcia III

Tomas Bednar

Brian W. Lindberg

Tom Beauregard

Philip Ellis

Brian Litten

Daneen Sekoni

Meg Wallace

Wendy O’Brien

Debbie McCarron

Nikhil Holla

Ethan McChesney

Aaron Ledbetter

Joy Chen

Abigail Gadbois

Victoria Russo

Mosalewa Ani

Rachel Jordan

Shiven Bhardwaj

Ava Walderman

Jonathan Chew

Caroline Espree

Quinten Lyons

Kelsey Lyons

Rachel Huo

Marta Green

Larry Atkins, PhD

Carole Fisher

J. Cameron Muir, MD

Jillian Racoosin

Abigail Barth

Matt Wilkinson

Shannon Vyvijal