Advisory Services Experts

Rajiv Arya, MD, has more than 19 years of health care experience. His focuses include hospitals, academic medical centers, data analytics, quality, patient safety, change management, medical staff engagement, innovative care models and clinical optimization.

Dr. Arya has extensive expertise in interpreting and leveraging medical data sets to direct the pursuit of outcome-based solutions. He has successfully engaged stakeholders and medical staff to decrease variation and deliver high-quality, cost-effective patient care.

Dr. Arya has experience in leading multiple teams in the development and implementation of an organization's quality, clinical and operational agenda. Previous efforts include developing and executing focused strategies to scale complex care solutions for high-cost Medicaid members with significant social and behavioral health needs.

Dr. Arya completed his undergraduate studies in computer science at the Columbia University School of Engineering. He received his medical degree from New Jersey Medical School and his master’s in business administration from the University of Delaware, with a focus on strategic leadership.

Jim's expertise is total cost reduction, leveraging social determinants, next generation underwriting, population health management, program evaluation, performance management, Stars, predictive modeling and risk adjustment.  

Prior to joining Optum, Jim was the chief actuary for a global operations management and analytics company. He also has served as chief actuarial officer.

Jim earned his Bachelor of Science in mathematics and economics from the University of Puget Sound. He is a fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, an associate of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Karl leads the Pharmacy Advisory Services practice within Optum Advisory Services. His role is to facilitate the development of client actuarial insights and assure appropriate translation and application for meaningful solutions.

Prior to joining Optum Advisory Services, Karl was a leader in the Optum Access & Value Solutions group. This team focused on European and North American reimbursement assessments and solutions for a wide variety of pharmaceutical, device and diagnostic products. 

Karl held U.S., European and global HEOR leadership and research roles at Eli Lilly and company for more than 15 years, prior to joining Optum.

Karl holds a Bachelor of Science in animal health sciences. He also earned a doctorate of pharmacy, a Master of Science in pharmaceutical economics, policy and outcomes, and an Eli Lily and Company Health Economics Research Fellowship from University of Arizona.  

Morgan Haines designs and oversees complex revenue cycle transformations for large health systems, academic medical centers, community hospitals and medical groups. 

She specializes in:

• Improving point-of-service collections
• Maximizing patient access impact
• Engaging physicians in documentation improvement initiatives
• Enhancing business office performance and overall revenue cycle performance

Prior to joining Optum Advisory Services, Morgan was a revenue cycle practice partner for the Advisory Board Company. There she was responsible for long-term client relationship management for 150+ revenue cycle partners, with nearly $20 million in active contract value. 

Morgan holds a Bachelor of Science in business from Wake Forest University.

Rich leads Optum Advisory Services’ StepWise practice, which helps payers drive profitable growth through business strategies, technology enablement, and services focused on the optimization of key underwriting and actuarial functions.

After beginning his career as a software developer and technology program manager, Rich transitioned to focus on business process transformation. Prior to joining Optum, he was the global innovation lead for Accenture’s Health & Public Service BPaaS practice. 

Rich received his Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and political science from Duke University. 

Erik Johnson brings 25+ years of expertise empowering the health care industry to develop new growth models, value-based care strategies and payer-provider collaborations.

Erik has experience leading clients through designing and developing population health strategies for value-based care and operating models that rely on risk sharing between payers and health systems. Other strategies include ACO strategies, policy analysis, data analysis, strategic planning, and organizational design and reinvention.

Previously, Erik served as the senior vice president at Avalere Health where he led the Healthcare Networks consulting practice and oversaw new product development. These efforts empowered health systems to determine adoption strategies for accountable care and payment bundles in addition to the overall guiding strategy.

Erik earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts with honor and distinction in Political Science from Stanford University.

Sasha Preble brings 18+ years of experience serving health care organizations by defining their strategic paths forward and building tactical roadmaps. These initiatives helped to change market dynamics, align with overall organizational aspirations and objectives, and garner support from diverse executives.

Sasha’s areas of expertise include strategic growth, payer/provider collaboration, partnership evaluation and development, consumer-centric design, payment innovation and addressing health equity.

Previously, Sasha served in multiple leadership positions for Aetna’s Accountable Care Solutions Advisory Services. Prior to that, she worked with leading health care strategic and financial advisory consultancies to lead growth strategy development. Sasha’s experience has earned her numerous speaking invitations on health care topics, and she has authored several articles for notable industry publications.

Sasha earned a Master of Business Administration in management and strategy from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She also has a Bachelor of Science in business administration, magna cum laude, from Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.

Preston leads the EHR implementation and IT managed services work of Optum Advisory Services. He focuses on helping health systems minimize inefficiencies related to EHR deployment, optimization and ongoing management.

Preston is a senior health care technology leader with more than a decade of experience implementing and optimizing health care technology in large, complex health systems. His specific focus is on EHRs and Epic Systems. 

Preston holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from the University of Central Florida. He earned an MBA from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). Preston is Epic-certified in several modules: EpicCare Ambulatory, OpTime, Inpatient Clinical Documentation and Orders.

Herschel joined the company in 2005 and has steadily increased his responsibility and scope.

He has worked in the actuarial health care and managed care arena for more than 30 years. His expertise includes:

• Strategy assessments
• Performance improvement
• Pricing
• Underwriting
• Reserving
• Product development

Prior to joining Optum, Herschel held actuarial and executive roles in group health care, dental and vision for the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. He led a significant growth of its dental business. 

Herschel received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Bernard M. Baruch College. He's a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Jeremiah is a provider actuarial leader within Optum Advisory Services. He has 18 years of experience in the health care actuarial field. His primary career focus has been in the area of U.S. health care consulting for providers. 

Jeremiah has worked with:

• Health insurance plans
• Health care providers
• Accountable care organizations
• Clinically integrated networks
• Medicare Advantage organizations
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
• State and national regulatory agencies

Jeremiah has significant experience covering all aspects of risk analysis in the financing and delivery of health care. 

His work has included:

• Compliance and financial reporting
• Rate review for state regulatory agencies
• Development of actuarial models
• Provider contracting
• Health insurance rate filings
• Actuarial modeling of pharmacy claims and pricing of pharmacy benefits

Jeremiah earned his Bachelor of Science in mathematics and physical science from Mayville State University. He earned a Master of Science in mathematics from the University of North Dakota.

Since 2014, Eileen has led the revenue cycle consulting team. The team within Optum Advisory Services provides custom support across the hospital and physician revenue cycle to:

• Advance patient financial experience
• Prevent denials
• Improve clinical documentation
• Increase cash collections
• Redesign business processes

Prior to joining Optum, Eileen held executive leadership roles at The Advisory Board. These included leadership of the executive advisor team, and senior director of key accounts for the Advisory Board Leadership Academies. 

She also served as a consultant to national and international organizations in individual and organizational development.

Eileen holds a Master of Science and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Fairfield University.

Tiffany brings more than 25 years of experience in acute and outpatient care. She is responsible for assisting hospitals in improving efficiency and effectiveness of clinical operations, evaluating productivity, improving throughput and redesigning processes.  

Prior to joining Optum, Tiffany served as director of care management and chronic care programs at ProHealth Care in Waukesha, Wisconsin. She has also held a variety of clinical operations leadership positions.  

Tiffany is a member of the American Case Management Association and the American College of Healthcare Executives. She earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Marquette University. She is also a registered nurse.

Mylynn Tufte brings 25+ years of health care industry experience and specializes in population health management and health strategy. As a former state health official, she established health policy as well as developed and implemented strategic priorities.

She has served within various roles as a health management executive and strategic advisor to payers, providers and the public sector. She has extensive experience in strategy, operations and health information technology.

Mylynn uses technology to improve health equity, social determinants of health and care for vulnerable populations. Operationally, she has supported health care organizations in clinical care coordination, patient flow and implementation of health information systems.

Her diverse experience includes working with federal, state, local and tribal governments, national and regional health plans, integrated delivery networks, academic and community medical centers, physician groups and accountable care organizations.

Mylynn is a progressive leader with experience in strategy, operations and health information technology. She has helped organizations to develop and implement innovative solutions that improve health care for diverse populations. 

She earned a BSN from Case Western Reserve University, and an MBA and Masters in Information Management from Arizona State University.

Elena has more than 20 years of experience optimizing provider networks and complex contracts for major plans and providers. She led national network expansions to meet regulatory standards, medical cost of care management requirements and value-based contracting. 

She held leadership positions in the managed care industry with community physician groups, integrated hospital systems and risk-based management service organizations. 

Elena earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California Riverside. She earned a Master of Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University.

Eric works with Optum Advisory Services clients on a wide array of health system margin improvement efforts. His areas of focus include health system finance, cost management, revenue cycle and reimbursement, debt and capital management and strategic growth. 

He has 29 years of experience in health care finance and operations, including more than 17 years as a health system chief financial officer. 

Eric holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Urbana University and a Master of Business Administration from Capital University.