William Winkenwerder Jr.

Winkenwerder worked as a senior executive in the private health care industry. Of note was his early advocacy of evidence-based medicine, prevention and clinical practice guidelines, which are now widely viewed as significant elements for high standards of care.[2]

Winkenwerder served as an executive at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, for Prudential Healthcare (now Aetna) and at Emory Healthcare of Emory University. AHIP, the national trade association for health plans and insurers asked him to join their board of directors.[3][4]

From October 2001 through April 2007 Winkenwerder served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs in the United States Department of Defense.[3] His senate confirmation was sponsored and presented to the US Senate Armed Services Committee by Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.

At the Department of Defense, Winkenwerder was the leader of the Military Health System and the principal medical advisor to the Secretary of Defense, responsible for medical services provided to all active and retired military service members throughout all branches of service. With responsibility for a budget of $40 billion and over 130,000 personnel worldwide, the Military Health System Provides care for 9.2 million military service members and families through a global network of private physicians and more than 70 hospitals worldwide, known as TRICARE.

During Winkenwerder's service there were significant advances in battlefield medicine, expanded mental health programs, and new benefits designated for U.S National Guard units and reservists. He led the global implementation of the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application(AHLTA), a highly controversial and near-universally criticized electronic medical record system. Dr Winkenwerder's refusal to use an already established and well-regarded electronic medical system, such as the VistA system used by the Veterans Administration facilities, resulted in the implementation of a highly inferior product at an estimated total cost of $20 billion (four times the initial budget estimate).[5] He also steered the critical cost-effective consolidation of Walter Reed Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington, DC.[6]

In addition, Winkenwerder responded to global humanitarian health crises (such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and earthquakes in Pakistan,) as well as domestic threats of anthrax and smallpox attacks, while insuring the protection of military service members and families in all global threat situations. Winkenwerder was elected chairman of the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM) a 90-country organization representing all major nations of the world.[7]

From 2012 to 2014, Winkenwerder served as CEO at Highmark, a diversified health care enterprise with $17 billion in revenues, 38,000 employees and 35 million individual customers.[8][9]

During Winkenwerder's tenure at Highmark, he led several acquisitions, restructured the company overall, introduced new products, created new business units, and successfully managed the initial phases of implementation for the Affordable Care Act. Winkenwerder secured important new partnerships for Highmark with Johns Hopkins Medicine and Carnegie Mellon University. As CEO, he increased revenues by nearly $4 billion overall, and the company added 18,000 new employees.[10] In May 2014, Winkenwerder was ousted in a board of directors meeting.[9][11]

Since 2014, Winkenwerder has served as chairman of The Winkenwerder Company, specializing in strategic advisory services to innovative health care organizations.[12] The firm's clients included large, prominent US health care organizations such as Kaiser Permanente and Johns Hopkins Medicine, and leading technology companies introducing new IT solutions to the health care sector, such as Microsoft Corporation, 3M Corporation, and Harris Corporation.

Winkenwerder has served on boards of directors for publicly held and private corporations, and charitable health care organizations. Corporations include Logistics Health Inc. (now a part of United Health Group,) Athenahealth, Inc., CapGemini Government Solutions. Charitable organizations include The CEO Roundtable on Cancer, C-Change (an alliance of organizations fighting cancer founded by Former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush), The Bob Woodruff Foundation (founded by ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and wife Lee Woodruff, dedicated to the needs of military families dealing with traumatic brain injury.)[13] Winkenwerder served as a board director of The Davidson College Athletic Foundation, his alma mater, where he was a quarterback on the football team. Since 2015, Winkenwerder has served as the board director of CitiusTech Inc. and since 2017 its Chairman.[14][15]