Jim Arnold is the founder and CEO of finHealth. finHealth’s primary mission is to “Simplify & Control Healthcare Costs” for large, self-insured plans and their employees. It is a lofty goal, but not dissimilar from Jim’s initial ambitions when he launched APEX Analytix back in 1988. Over twenty-five years, Jim was able to grow a one-man operation into a $40 million+ global company that currently serves over 200 Fortune 500 clients with audit services and software.
While there are similarities to APEX in using technology to audit payments, finHealth operates in an even more challenging arena due to complex eligibility requirements, stringent healthcare regulations, arcane medical coding rules and a large pool of specialized medical knowledge/jargon. Much like APEX, Jim plans to achieve success for our clients through a combination of education, benchmarking, cost transparency, powerful data analytics and proprietary algorithms.
Prior to founding APEX, Jim spent two years at Texaco, Inc. as a programmer/analyst working on a cash and banking system. Jim moved to the General Foods/Philip Morris organization in their corporate audit function in order to earn his CPA. After nearly 4 years within corporate audit, Jim was promoted to Manager of Financial Planning for their Maxwell House Coffee division. In that capacity, Jim oversaw financial planning and analysis for nearly $1 billion of annual coffee purchases. Jim is certified as a CPA, CMA, CAPP, CISA and CFE. Learn earn more about finHealth.
Brynn Bannach is the Regional Vice President of Sales for Hinge Health where she primarily focuses on developing strategic partnerships with large, national employers to help reduce their overall medical spend while improving the lives of their employees and their families. Brynn is passionate about improving the lives of others and truly believes employers, health plans, and health systems are uniquely positioned to have a huge impact on the overall health and well-being of the communities they serve.
Prior to Hinge Health, Brynn led a national team of regional business directors and subject-matter experts as Vice President of Sales at StayWell. In this role, she provided strategic direction for the design of comprehensive, technology-enabled wellness solutions that met clients’ goals and business objectives. In her more than 12 years in healthcare, Brynn has also held various other roles including product development, strategic account management, and consulting at both Optum and Life Time Fitness’ Corporate Wellness Division.
Todd Bixby, RPh, MBA serves as the Cilta-cel Integrated Evidence Team Lead at Janssen Scientific Affairs (J&J). With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Todd leads research teams specializing in cell therapy within oncology and immunology. His role involves identifying and addressing gaps and opportunities across the research landscape. Todd collaborates closely with stakeholders to develop educational strategies and execute tactical implementation. Additionally, he is a recognized subject matter expert on biosimilar immunology data and regulatory guidance, actively educating stakeholders about the rapidly evolving biosimilar landscape.
As senior vice president for Priority Health, chief medical officer, James D. Forshee, MD, MBA, leads the clinical and pharmacy programs, the development and coordination of population health programs and chronic disease management strategies. Additionally, he helps drive the strategic planning for the organization to further its mission of improving health, enhancing the patient experience, and effectively managing cost. Dr. Forshee’s areas of expertise includes patient care, medical management, strategic pharmacy management, health care initiatives, population health, clinical strategies, and medical policies including both state and federal government programs.
Dr. Forshee has more than 25 years of health care experience, both as a physician and as an executive. His past leadership experiences include both nonprofit and publicly traded health care. Prior to joining Priority Health, Dr. Forshee was chief medical officer at Molina Healthcare of Michigan, where he provided leadership in the areas of medical policy, clinical strategies, medical management, pharmacy management, and quality improvement, among other areas.
Jean-François Beaule, FSA, Executive Vice President, leads health design strategy and innovation for the commercial segment of UnitedHealthcare, focusing on large employers. His work focuses studying data of over 400 large employer experiments and identifying best practices in health engagement, total cost affordability as well as their combined impact on business performance. Jean-François is a frequent speaker at business forums representing the broad analytical capabilities of the enterprise. He is an active collaborator with UHG’s largest clients to innovate new benefit strategies to drive greater health ownership in their populations and optimize the value of their overall health plans.
Jean-François joined the company in 2006 as chief actuary of national accounts for UnitedHealthcare. He has authored key innovations related to individual health engagement, including the Health Activation Index®, the Health Plan Manager reporting platform and the development of personal health scorecards used by participants in wellness programs. Most recently, he has taken on the additional responsibilities of network strategy and value-based care to modernize the portfolio and performance for our clients who are seeking more advanced network-based solutions.
Shawn Gremminger, President and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions is known for his wide-ranging policy expertise and government relations experience. He brings to the National Alliance a successful record of working with coalitions, employers and other healthcare purchasers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders toward the mission of achieving high-quality, affordable, equitable healthcare.
Shawn was most recently senior vice president at Reservoir Communications Group where he led communications and public affairs strategy and execution on a range of relevant issues, including 340B and the drug supply chain, employer-sponsored insurance regulations, and Medicare payment. He has a strong history of healthcare advocacy and public affairs with employers, plans, hospitals, and consumer organizations. Shawn was previously director of health policy for the Purchaser Business Group on Health, a member of the National Alliance, where he ran efforts to improve quality and affordability for consumers and healthcare purchasers through federal policy. He has held senior leadership roles at Families USA, and America’s Essential Hospitals. Shawn began his career as a lobbyist for the Children’s Hospital Association. He achieved a Master of Public Policy from George Washington University in Washington and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA.
Christine Hale, MD, MBA, joined Lockton Dunning Benefits as Vice President in 2017 and serves as the medical director and lead strategist for the clinical consulting team. Christine is known as an innovator, collaborator and change agent, and is particularly passionate about utilizing data and creative solutions to reduce waste and improve cost effectiveness in health care.
Upon completion of her MBA in 2005, she joined a major consultant agency where she remained for over seven years. During this time, she worked with hospitals and health systems both across the country and internationally in a variety of functional areas, including strategy, operations and organization. Christine was often sought out to facilitate in situations where building physician and administration alignment was key.
She joined Tenet Health care in 2013 as National Director Clinical Performance Excellence. In this role, Christine was responsible for advancing a number of high stakes clinical performance improvement initiatives, including blood product utilization, sepsis identification and management, laboratory utilization, intensive care, palliative care and cardiac quality. She also oversaw fifteen Clinical Expert Panels which engaged across a spectrum of business issues relevant to their areas of clinical expertise.
Amy Hall joined AssuredPartners in 2012. Throughout her tenure with AssuredPartners, Amy has led initiatives and teams to help companies successfully navigate the employee benefits landscape. As an industry leader and employee benefits expert with more than 25 years of experience in the health care and employee benefits industries, Amy specializes in the financial and benefit evaluation of employer-sponsored medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance benefits, as well as the coordination of tax shelters available in employer sponsored programs. Her dedication to clients as well as her background in operations positions her to excel as a Sales Executive at AssuredPartners. In addition to supporting clients, she is active in several local and regional industry associations and boards, including BCBSM’s Statewide Advisory Board, the Economic Alliance of MI (EAM) and the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP).
Dr. Jerry Hautman is the chief medical officer and senior vice president of national and key accounts for UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health care company serving more than 50 million people. Dr. Hautman is responsible for all clinical aspects of UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored health plans, leading teams of senior medical directors, clinical account executives. pharmacists and affordability directors who help support customers across the country. In this role, Dr. Hautman and his team work to create tailored clinical solutions to better serve the health and wellness needs of employers and their employees, while lowering the total cost of care.
Previously, Dr. Hautman served in multiple leadership roles across UnitedHealthcare and at Optum, the diversified health services business of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH). Since joining the enterprise in 2012, Dr. Hautman has worked with case management teams to serve national account customers, as a site lead medical director, a senior medical director for health care strategies, and as a chief medical officer for population health services. Dr. Hautman also served as Colonel Hautman in the U.S. Army Reserves for 21 years. During his military career, he was a division deputy chief of staff (G-1), division command surgeon, Battalion Commander, Chief OCT and staff physician.
Bret Jackson is the President and CEO of the non-profit Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM). Founded in 1982, the EAM is comprised of businesses and unions working together with one clear objective, the continued growth of Michigan’s economy by creating an atmosphere that inspires job growth and maintains Michigan’s competitiveness for attracting new companies and talent. EAM’s membership provides health benefits to an estimated 900,000 lives, creating a powerful voice in the health purchaser industry.
Bret began working at the EAM in 2007 as legislative director. In 2010, he was elected vice president and became the organization’s third president in January 2011. Bret oversees all EAM activities including policy development, research, education, administration, membership, and advocacy. He developed and manages the EAM Health Purchaser Forums, Oncology Symposium, and other various health purchaser roundtables.
With the EAM as The Leapfrog Group’s Regional Leader for Michigan, Bret is a leader in advocating for patient safety in the State of Michigan and completed The Leapfrog Group’s Bruce Bradley Fellowship in 2017. He serves as chair of the Health Policy Affinity Group and on the Board of Governors for the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. In 2020, Bret was appointed to the National Quality Forum Patient Safety Standing Committee. In his spare time, Bret is Chair of the Board for the USA Curling Association. Learn more about EAM.
Craig Kurtzweil is the chief data & analytics officer for UnitedHealthcare’s commercial business. In this role, he leverages the nation’s largest health care data set to identify and share insights that can help people and care providers make more informed health care decisions, make health care more affordable for everyone and improve outcomes. This includes exploring new ways to apply data through machine learning and artificial intelligence, creating the next generation of health care analytics and making data a differentiator in the marketplace for the company.
Craig joined UnitedHealthcare in 2005. Since then, he has focused on enhancing how data and analytics support UnitedHealthcare’s largest employer customers. His team works with large and complex clients that require a broad view of data, ranging from cost and utilization to productivity and disability exposure. As part of this work, Craig formed the Center for Advanced Analytics to focus on analytic innovations that change the way we evaluate health care value.
Colleen McHugh joined UnitedHealthcare in November of 2021 as VP Enterprise Strategic Accounts & Client Development for National Markets. She is focused on building new relationships for the enterprise with large employers, and industry coalitions and business groups.
Prior to joining UHC, Colleen spent a decade working at Healthcare Policy Roundtable and American Health Policy Institute both partner organizations of HR Policy Association. Colleen’s expertise is in leading, developing, and implementing complex, high profile strategic business initiatives in support of large employers. She has extensive experience working with multiple internal and external stakeholders, including at the C-suite and Board level, policy makers, the media, and employer coalitions.
Colleen was one of the original architects in the development of the Health Transformation Alliance, a collective of 50+ Fortune 500 companies that launched in 2016 to drive better health outcomes for employees and their families covered by self-insured employer health plans. With extensive experience in Medicare, Colleen also co-led the development of Retiree Health Access in 2006 for HR Policy Association member companies and managed the retiree exchange during her tenure.
John M. O’Brien, PharmD, MPH, is the president and chief executive officer of the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC), which sponsors and participates in research on the appropriate use of pharmaceuticals and the clinical and economic value of pharmaceutical innovation. NPC’s research contributes to the scientific foundation for informed discussions about health care access, coverage, appropriate use and value. As president and chief executive officer, Dr. O’Brien is responsible for overseeing NPC’s policy research and communications capacity, partnerships with other health care organizations, and strategic vision.
Dr. O’Brien’s broad experience spans the private sector, academia and government. Prior to joining NPC, Dr. O’Brien was senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and deputy assistant secretary of planning and evaluation (health policy). He has also held senior policy positions in the life sciences and managed care industries, including at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, was a career official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) during the Obama administration, and served as a health policy fellow in the U.S. Senate. Dr. O’Brien earned his doctorate in pharmacy at Nova Southeastern University, his master’s degree in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and studied pharmacy and public policy at the University of Florida.
Natalie Pirkola is the Vice-President of Pharmacy and Population Health (VP) at Health Alliance Plan (HAP), part of Henry Ford Health. Natalie provides leadership and oversight for all aspects of health plan drug management and benefit programs, as well as health plan quality measurement, improvement, and accreditation. Natalie also works closely with key stakeholders across the Henry Ford Health integrated delivery system and community to assure coordination of high-quality clinical programs. Prior to this role, Natalie served as a leader in self-insured medical and pharmacy benefits at Ford Motor Company, director of multidisciplinary care management and value-based services for a large independent physician organization in Michigan and served as a population health strategy consultant and subject matter expert.
Natalie has also been a healthcare educator, inpatient pharmacist, community pharmacist, and engaged member of various pharmacy organizations. Natalie holds a Master of Science in Information Systems with a concentration in Health Informatics from Northwestern University, a Master of Applied Science in Population Health Management from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Health Care Leadership from Oakland University, and a Doctor of Pharmacy from Wayne State University. Natalie maintains clinical pharmacy board certifications in geriatrics and ambulatory care as well as certifications in case management, diabetes education, and asthma patient education.
Lottie Shaw has played various roles in the health insurance field, but recently landed at Gallagher as a Client Marketing Specialist dedicated to The Western Michigan Health Insurance Pool (The Pool). Overseeing Pool marketing and communications, she is focused on engaging and educating Pool members on their health benefits and additional wellbeing programs while keeping The Pool’s values top of mind.
In her free time, you can find her exploring new trails with her dog Zeus and attending anything that involves live music or comedy around Michigan.
Suki Singh, MD, DABFM, DABOM, is a board certified family physician and obesity medicine physician at Henry Ford Health. She is the system medical director of Henry Ford Health weight management clinics in Detroit, Michigan, and the regional obesity medicine director at Henry Ford Health hospitals in Detroit, Plymouth, Wyandotte, and West Bloomfield, Michigan. Dr. Singh is also an assistant professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. She earned her medical degree at the Medical University of the Americas in Nevis, West Indies, and completed a residency in family medicine at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Dr. Singh is a Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine and the American Board of Family Medicine. Dr. Singh is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative, the Obesity Medicine Association, and The Obesity Society. She has presented at industry conferences, including annual meetings of the American College of Physicians, Michigan Pharmacy Association, and the Society of General Internal Medicine. Her research has been published in relevant publications, including Environmental Technology, ID Cases, and the Indian Journal of Hematology and Blood Transfusion.
Dr. Singh’s passion for disease prevention and those with metabolic complications led her to further specialize in obesity medicine after family medicine. She has a particular interest in the use of a multi-modal approach to the treatment of the disease of obesity. Dr.Singh is a big advocate for improving diagnosis and treatment of obesity by educating physicians. Dr. Singh excels at helping patients with obesity to problem solve and develop a comprehensive obesity treatment plan based on their degree of obesity and co-morbid conditions.
Sarah Spannbauer joined General Motors in early 2020 and is currently an analyst on the U.S. health care strategy team responsible for the strategy and design of competitive health care benefit programs that align with GM’s business strategy, goals and objectives. In her time at GM, she has supported many benefit initiatives such as 2023 UAW negotiations and the launch of several new value-based benefit programs including point solutions for prevention and management of chronic conditions.
Prior to joining GM, Sarah was Director of Operational Development at a Federally Qualified Health
Center in Detroit supporting integrated health care. Sarah earned an MBA and a Bachelor of Science
degree in Dietetics from the University of Wisconsin.
Christine Syverson serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Nevada Business Group on Health/Nevada Health Partners where she leads a group of public and private employers in direct contracting for health care services as well as employee and community health.
Chris has held senior leadership in diverse organizations from Health Care (Washoe Medical Center – now Renown), to Automotive (Porsche Enterprises, Incorporated), to High Tech (Intuit), to Municipal Government (City of Sparks, Nevada). Chris serves as Board Chair of the National Alliance of HealthCare Purchasing Coalitions. With the National Alliance, Chris has worked diligently in several affinity groups, including assisting in the development of the first Advanced Primary Care Market Survey, and is currently leading the High Cost Claimant Advisory Group. Chris also serves as the Vice Chair of the Nevada Community Board for CoMagine Health and serves as Chair of the Nevada Advisory Council on the State Program for Wellness and the Prevention of Chronic Disease (CWCD).
Matt Vesledahl is the chief affordability officer for UnitedHealthcare’s commercial domestic insurance business and is responsible for the innovation, development and execution of affordability initiatives.
Affordability is a multi-disciplined approach focused lowering health care costs, which leverages benefit design, prescription formulary development, appropriate price setting, member engagement and awareness to lower cost options. Matt also leads areas of congruent activity to affordability, the out-of-network, commercial pharmacy businesses, and condition capitation.
Matt has more than 20 years of experience in a range of health care roles. Prior to his current role, he spent 10 years at OptumRx within the areas of industry and network relations and underwriting. Matt also worked at Target in the pharmacy division and at HealthPartners managing network negotiations.