American Specialty Health
Vendor Review for Medicaid Vendor Partner Readiness
- Overall Assessment
- Basic Info
- Relevant Leadership Experience
- Brand Perception
- Clarity of Value Proposition
- Scalability
- Funding Model
Overall Assessment
Summary
- Established wellness and specialty network solution provider with strong leadership team
Scoring

Composite

Leadership Medicaid Experience

Scalability

Brand Perception
Category
Tech>Mobile health
What they do
Provide musculoskeletal provider networks and wellness solutions to health plans and employers.
Self-stated value proposition
ASH provides health plans, employer groups, insurance carriers, and trust funds with a wide range of health management, fitness and exercise, and musculoskeletal provider networks programs to improve the health of their members or employees.
Founded
1987
Annual Revenues
Estimated @$500M
# employees
Estimated @ 2,000
Points Possible: 212
Points Earned: 125

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Role | | |
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CEO | ![]() George Devries, III | Click for Bio (self-reported)George DeVries co-founded American Specialty Health Insurance Company’s parent company American Specialty Health (ASH) in 1987 with only a few thousand dollars, working from a second bedroom in his condominium. His goal was to develop specialty health care programs and to integrate them into traditional medical plans offered by Fortune 500 employers, insurance companies, and health plans. Over the years, George has guided ASH’s growth to become one of the nation’s largest health services organizations, providing a broad range of musculoskeletal provider network, fitness and exercise, and health management programs. |
Operations Executive | ![]() Robert White | Click for Bio (self-reported)Robert (Bob) White brings to American Specialty Health (ASH) more than 20 years of diverse experience and leadership in the California health care industry. Bob was also involved in international health care business ventures and HMO start-ups outside of California for several years. Before joining ASH in 2001, Bob was executive vice president and chief operations officer of Health Net, one of California's largest HMOs. In this capacity, he had responsibility for Health Net's day-to-day commercial operations, Medicare and MediCal product lines, information services, and human resources. Additionally, Bob oversaw the merger integration activities of Health Net and Foundation Health and supported efforts to obtain a 3-year National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accreditation for the new firm. Prior to joining Health Net, Bob was president and chief executive officer of CareAmerica Health Plans, where he was responsible for the growth and profitability of all CareAmerica companies, including CareAmerica's HMO, Life Insurance Company, CareAmerica Michigan, and CareAmerica Compensation. In his 8 years with the organization, he served as senior vice president and general manager of CareAmerica's Medicare services division, as well as vice president of administration. Previously, Bob was executive vice president and chief operations officer of Health Visions, where he was responsible for the formation and leadership of 2 fully licensed start-up managed care companies in Nevada and Texas. Bob began his health care career in 1974 at Blue Cross of California, where he served for more than 13 years in a number of management positions. Bob has also served as member of the board of the California Association of Health Plans and the board of directors for the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations. Bob earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Northridge as well as an MBA from Pepperdine University. He has a Fellow, Life Management Institute designation. |
Information Technology Executive | ![]() Ken Kujawa | Click for Bio (self-reported)Kevin Kujawa has more than 30 years of information technology experience, ranging from computer programming to his current position as chief information officer and executive vice president of information technology. He has more than 27 years of experience in health care information systems. Kevin joined American Specialty Health (ASH) in 1995 as a manager of information systems. Since then, he has steadily taken on more responsibilities and has been promoted several times. He is currently responsible for the company’s software engineering, IT operations, telecommunications, data analysis and reporting, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), facilities and processing services departments. Prior to joining ASH, Kevin spent 2 years with Prudential Healthcare Systems in Nashville, and 3years with Aetna Health Plans in San Diego, leading local information technology teams. Kevin earned a bachelor of science degree in computer sciences from Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, Illinois) and an MBA from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas, with an emphasis in information systems. While at UNLV, Kevin received a Conrad Hilton Scholarship and earned distinction as a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. |
Cell | Cell | Cell |
Points possible: 95
Points earned: 75

Analyst Notes
- Healthy company culture based on Glassdoor reviews
- Settlement of class action suit (jointly with Cigna) related to denial of chiropractic claims (April 2019)
- Marketing Fitness Coach services to duals
Points possible: 60
Points earned: 50

Analyst Notes
- Measuring quality of musculoskeletal provider network
- Measuring impact on fitness data for wellness programs
- Tracking healthy incentives impact
Points possible: 50
Points earned: 50

Analyst Notes
- More than half of directors/managers have 10 years or more experience
- More than half of product / ops staff have 10 years or more experience
- Slight staff growth on 2 year trend, with strong hiring outlook for IT and Product Management roles
Analyst Notes
Ownership model
Privately owned