Optum Advisory Experts

As CEO of Advisory and Implementation, Lisa Collins oversees consulting services, inclusive of implementation services and the Advisory Board Research organization.

Prior to joining Optum, Collins was senior vice president of Global Services at Cerner Corporation. She led their consulting, managed services and support business.

Previously, Collins was a managing director with Accenture in their health care practice, where she established and led the health care provider practice. Preceding Accenture, she spent more than 20 years at Siemens Medical Solutions in a variety of leadership roles, including leading their North America Services business.

Collins is a board member of Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital and is involved locally with Community Volunteers in Medicine.

Rajiv Arya, MD, has more than 19 years of health care experience. His areas of focus 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.

He has experience leading multiple teams to develop and implement organizations' quality, clinical and operational agendas. This includes 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 in Business Administration from the University of Delaware, with a focus on strategic leadership.

Alex Balmes is a vice president within Optum Actuarial Advisory, focusing on Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and ACA lines of business.

He brings more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry, including Medicare Advantage and Part D bid development and strategy, provider contracting, risk adjustment valuation and strategy, mergers and acquisition management, and analytical systems development.

With Optum Advisory for 19 years, Balmes has supported the actuarial needs of payer clients across all lines of business. Specifically, he has performed feasibility analysis, product development and strategy for Medicare payers. He has conducted medical claims modeling and commercial health plan feasibility and forecasting analyses.

Balmes specializes in developing advanced actuarial models supported by financial tools and reporting that help payers and providers understand how their decisions translate into tactical initiatives for member acquisition and improved financial outcomes.

An executive with deep experience in leading change in complex health care organizations, Dr. Michael Consuelos provides clients with informed guidance on innovative clinical programming and go-to-market strategies.

Skilled in facilitating strategic planning with hospital and physician leaders, he has successfully helped organizations plan new service lines from concept to full implementation in difficult markets and evolving payment models. He has led teams through the critical stages of discovery, development, deployment, measurement and refinement to launch new health care products and services.

A U.S. Army Veteran, Dr. Consuelos has held multiple leadership positions. He has led teams to build highly reliable organizations, improve quality of care, and implement workable initiatives to advance the health of communities. He is committed to using his expertise to support health care leaders in their pursuit of better health. Dr. Consuelos has been invited to speak to national audiences on a variety of topics, such as physician compensation in emergent value-based payment models and regional health care response capabilities during nuclear incidents.

Dr. Consuelos received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his pediatric training at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He received his Executive MBA from the Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He received his executive coaching preparation from the Teleos Leadership Institute.

Jennifer Curtis has over 20 years of experience in managed health care. She joined Optum Advisory in 2018 and currently leads the Health Management and Operations (HM&O) and Government practices.

Previously, she was the national vice president of quality for UnitedHealthcare Community and State Business (Medicaid and DSNP). Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Curtis held a variety of local and national roles at Anthem. She supported all lines of business and focused on quality improvement, the design and deployment of value-based contracting programs, and quality data analytics.

She received her doctorate in public policy studies from the RAND Graduate School with a concentration in health policy. She received a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan.

James Dahl leads the Trend Analytics team for Optum Advisory. He has over 28 years of experience as a health care actuary working with health plans and providers. His current work includes consulting with health plans in measuring, managing and forecasting health care trends.

Dahl has applied his experience in detailed claims analytics and modeling toward risk-adjusted methodologies in provider efficiency analytics for risk-sharing, high-performing network development and new product pricing.

Prior to joining Optum, he held consulting roles with traditional actuarial functions such as pricing, underwriting and reserving, along with detailed claims analytics and risk modeling.

Dahl graduated from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He is a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Jim Dolstad has vast experience in several areas, including total cost reduction, leveraging social determinants of health, next-generation underwriting, population health management, program evaluation, performance management, Star Ratings, predictive modeling and risk adjustment.

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

Dolstad 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.

Dr. Jason Grau is a vice president and partner in the Optum Advisory Strategy and Growth consulting practice. He has more than 20 years of expertise in health care, with an accomplished track record across functional areas in payer operations and payer-provider-vendor cooperation models.

Prior to joining Optum, Dr. Grau served as a senior vice president at Navvis. Other previous roles include senior vice president at Xerox Healthcare (Conduent), vice president of enterprise strategy, business integration and analytics at BlueKC and associate partner at Oliver Wyman. Dr. Grau has also worked for the Boston Consulting Group and the BlueCross BlueShield Association’s Strategic Services group.

Dr. Grau holds a doctorate in materials sciences and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he also studied at the Sloan School of Management. Dr. Grau received his Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Iowa.

Karl Gregor leads the pharmacy practice within Optum Advisory. He leads the development of client actuarial insights and ensures appropriate translation and application for meaningful solutions.

Previously, Gregor was a leader in the Optum Access and Value Solutions group. This team focuses on European and North American reimbursement assessments and solutions for a wide variety of pharmaceutical, device and diagnostic products.

Before joining Optum, he held U.S., European and global HEOR leadership and research roles at Eli Lilly and Company for more than 15 years.

Gregor holds a Bachelor of Science in animal health sciences. He earned a Doctor of Pharmacy and a Master of Science in pharmaceutical economics, policy and outcomes. He also holds an Eli Lily and Company Health Economics Research Fellowship from the 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 maximizing patient access impact and improving point-of-service collections. Her expertise includes engaging physicians in documentation improvement initiatives and enhancing business office performance and overall revenue cycle performance.

Before joining Optum Advisory, Haines was a revenue cycle practice partner for the Advisory Board Company. She was responsible for long-term client relationship management for more than 150 revenue cycle partners, with nearly $20 million in active contract value.

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

Rich Hunter leads the Optum Advisory 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, Hunter transitioned to focusing on business process transformation. Prior to joining Optum, he was the global innovation lead for Accenture’s Health and Public Service BPaaS practice.

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

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

Johnson 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.

Johnson previously served as the senior vice president at Avalere Health, leading the Healthcare Networks consulting practice and overseeing new product development.

Johnson earned his Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has a Bachelor of Arts with honor and distinction in political science from Stanford University.

As a senior leader in the Optum Advisory and Implementations division, John Johnston leads Optum Advisory teams serving both provider and payer clients across the country.

Johnston previously led the Optum provider consulting practice and the development of Optum managed services offerings in hospital care management, supply chain and the enterprise transformation office.

Prior to joining Optum, Johnston was a senior consulting leader with Advisory Board. Earlier in his career, he held senior executive roles with Quorum Health Resources, Premier Inc, and financial leadership positions at 2 community hospital systems.

Johnston is a CPA and holds a Master of Healthcare Administration from Trinity University. He also has a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Carson-Newman University.

Matthew Kinney is senior vice president for strategy consulting at Optum. With a focus on vision, strategy formation and adaptive change leadership, he works with executives across the health care industry to design for growth and competitive advantage.

His experience spans strategy, product development, experience design, growth, operations and technology. He has worked with many clients on consumer-driven health initiatives, leading our Advisory engagements in retail, virtual primary care, price transparency and consumer payments.

A leader in developing partnerships with health systems through the Center for Applied Innovation, Kinney brings industry leaders together to solve health care’s most challenging problems.

He also leads the Optum applied innovation practice, blending strategy consulting with design thinking to surface consumer needs in ways that break open new market opportunities. His team develops insights through ethnographic research, analytics, creative thinking and co-creation.

Kinney holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and writing from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Matthew Matousek is a broad-range digital and technology leader passionate about delivering exceptional payer and provider experiences, modern operations and innovative technologies for world-class health care organizations.

He has worked in the health care space for nearly 25 years. He has led digital transformation initiatives, created innovative and high-performing teams and developed sustainable processes.

Matousek joined UnitedHealth Group in 2006 and has served in various transformative digital leadership roles. He deployed the first UnitedHealth Group Medicare Part D plan enrollment and member website, which evolved to serve the broader portfolio of M&R plan types of MA, MAPD, MEDSUPP and Group Retiree.

He also was responsible for the development and execution of the strategic digital agenda for one of the company’s largest partners, AARP. Matousek has launched many online innovative operational and clinical solutions that have helped bridge the gap between consumer, provider and payer.

Kathy Pennock brings 35 years of health care performance improvement experience to Optum Advisory. She works with senior hospital and health system executives throughout the country to improve health care delivery, operations and patient care.

Pennock has helped organizations reduce operating expenses and redesign processes to improve quality, increase customer satisfaction and reduce variation in care delivery.

Previously, Pennock served in multiple positions for Huron Consulting Group, most recently as a leader in Huron’s Cost Improvement Segment.

Pennock began her health care career in systems engineering in community hospitals, large health systems and academic medical centers.

Pennock has a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Iowa State University. She is also trained in Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques.

Michelle Poulin is a senior executive at Optum Advisory, leading Provider Transformation Services. She has more than 25 years of experience in management consulting, strategy and operations in the health care industry.

She has extensive experience leading the development and execution of enterprise-wide transformation initiatives for health care systems and provider organizations.

Prior to joining Optum Advisory, Poulin spent 5 years as vice president of strategic planning and enterprise portfolio management for a leading regional health care system in South Florida.

She has experience in corporate, business and functional strategy development, and portfolio, program and project management.

Poulin has a Master of Business Administration from NYU Stern.

As vice president of digital transformation with Optum Advisory, KR Prabha focuses on transforming health care to become more affordable and convenient, with better experiences. Having lived and worked in the United States, Canada and India, she brings an international view and engineering mindset when solving health care challenges.

Prabha has worked with over 20 health care organizations, including integrated care delivery systems, academic medical centers, regional systems and faith-based entities, as well as national and regional health insurers.

Prior to joining Optum, Prabha worked in various strategy transformation-focused roles at Ford, Huron and Price Waterhouse Coopers. She has collaborated with boards of directors, C-suite executives and senior management to design and execute transformative strategies.

Pursuing her interest in global health, she serves as Chairperson of the Board of Directors for Washington Global Health Alliance. She also enjoys publishing and speaking on health care challenges and innovations.

Pursuing her interest in global health, she serves as Chairperson of the Board of Directors for Washington Global Health Alliance.

With more than 18 years of experience serving health care organizations, Sasha Preble helps organizations bring their strategic path forward and build tactical roadmaps. Her areas of expertise include strategic growth, payer and provider collaboration, partnership evaluation and development, consumer-centric design, payment innovation and addressing health equity.

She previously served in multiple leadership positions for Aetna’s Accountable Care Solutions Advisory Services. Prior to this role, she worked with leading health care strategic and financial advisory consultancies to lead growth strategy development.

Her 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 Raulerson is the Senior Vice President of Technology Consulting for Optum, which includes the Digital Transformation, EHR Services, Technology Implementation, Payer Technology and Technology Management Consulting work of Optum Advisory, both in the US and abroad.

He focuses on how technology investments can help health care organizations accelerate their strategic roadmaps, elevate their impact on health care and improve the digital experience for everyone.

Prior to joining Optum in 2018, Mr. Raulerson served as a technology consulting leader at Clinovations and then Advisory Board, focused on partnering with health care organizations to implement and realize the power of their technology investments. At Advisory Board, he led some of their largest engagements, helping health systems implement EHRs and transform the way they delivery care.

After joining Optum, he continued the growth and development of these capabilities through creation of a managed services practice that now includes more than a thousand team members across technology consulting and services.

Before his work in consulting and managed services, he spent time in technology leadership at Bon Secours Health System in Richmond, Virginia and in software configuration and implementation at Epic Systems in Verona, Wisconsin.

Mr. Raulerson has a Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Central Florida.

Herschel Reich is a vice president with Optum Advisory, joining the company in 2005.

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 and product development.

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

Reich 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 Reuter is a provider actuarial leader within Optum Advisory with 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.

Reuter has worked with numerous types of organizations across the health care industry. These include health insurance plans, health care providers, accountable care organizations, clinically integrated networks and state and national regulatory agencies. He has also worked with Medicare Advantage organizations and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

He has significant experience covering all aspects of risk analysis in the financing and delivery of health care, including compliance and financial reporting, provider contracting, health insurance rate filings, actuarial model development, rate review for state regulatory agencies, and actuarial modeling of pharmacy claims and pricing of pharmacy benefits.

Reuter 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.

Eileen Russo has led the Optum Advisory revenue cycle consulting team since 2014. This team provides custom support across the hospital and physician revenue cycle to advance the patient financial experience, prevent denials, improve clinical documentation, increase cash collections and redesign business processes.

Prior to joining Optum, Russo 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.

Russo holds a Master of Science and a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. She has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Fairfield University.

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

Before joining Optum, Steffen served as a 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.

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

Mylynn Tufte brings more than 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.

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

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

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

Eric Young works with Optum Advisory 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.

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