Wyatt Decker, M.D.

Executive Director, Health Care Transformation Hub

Wyatt Decker, M.D., MBA, is UnitedHealth Group’s executive vice president and chief physician for value-based care and innovation. In this role, Dr. Decker serves as the company’s lead ambassador working across the enterprise and externally with key stakeholders to further enable and advance accountable models of care.

Dr. Decker previously served as chief executive officer of Optum Health, UnitedHealth Group’s national integrated care delivery platform. During his nearly five-year tenure, he played a vital role in building out and accelerating Optum Health’s value-based care delivery capabilities and helping over 90,000 affiliated and employed physicians achieve lower costs and deliver better outcomes for more than 100 million people – including the nearly 5 million people Optum now serves in fully accountable, value-based arrangements. Under his leadership, Optum Health established national platforms for care delivery, home and community care, behavioral care, benefits chronic disease management solutions, and the Center for Advanced Clinical Solutions, applying cutting-edge technologies to solve some of health care’s toughest problems.

Prior to joining Optum, Dr. Decker served as CEO of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. In that role he established Mayo Clinic in Arizona as the safest hospital in the United States, launched a state-of-the-art cancer center, the second campus of Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and was acknowledged by U.S. News & World Report among the nation’s top 20 hospitals. At Mayo Clinic, Dr. Decker pioneered the use of digital technologies, including telemedicine and artificial intelligence, to deliver health care expertise to affiliated care providers nationwide, as well as led the digital strategy around engaging and empowering patients. Dr. Decker also served as the founding chair and professor of emergency medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine where he established and directed the emergency medicine residency training program.

Dr. Decker holds an M.D. from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Science from University of California, Santa Cruz. He has published numerous scientific articles and has been recognized among the nation's top 100 health care leaders by Modern Healthcare.

Kenneth Roy Cohen, M.D.

Chief Scientific Officer, Health Care Transformation Hub

Dr. Kenneth Cohen is an experienced physician executive and researcher who has attained national recognition for the design and implementation of value-based care models. He publishes and lectures extensively on VBC. He was a founding physician of New West Physicians, one of the largest medical practices in Colorado, where he served as Chief Medical Officer for 24 years. He currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of the Health Care Transformation Hub and the Executive Director of Translational Research at Optum Health, leading the Optum Center for Research and Innovation.

Dr. Cohen has received awards of recognition and distinction for teaching, including the Lutheran Medical Center Physician of the Year award in 2011. Under his stewardship, New West Physicians won the AMGA Acclaim award in 2015 and the Million Hearts Hypertension Champion Award in 2017.

He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Dr. Cohen holds degrees from Dickinson College and Hahnemann University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha honor societies.

Lauren Oliver Nevins

Chief Operating Officer, Health Care Transformation Hub

Lauren is currently the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Alliances at UnitedHealth Group. She has been at UnitedHealth Group since 2020, holding various roles across Corporate and External Affairs, and currently works on developing and strengthening external partnerships as well as strategy and innovation projects.

Prior to working at UnitedHealth Group Lauren worked as the Executive Director of Federal Affairs, Strategy and Communications at AHIP, leading a team responsible for analyzing and writing policy briefs, educating external stakeholders on the role of health plans in the system and communicating with health plan partners.

Lauren also worked at CMMI in the Seamless Care Models Group Division of Financial Risk, working on operations and policy for the Next Generation ACO Model, the Value Based Insurance Design Model, and new model development.

Lauren holds a bachelor’s degree from Providence College and a master’s in public policy from Duke University.

Heyward Donigan

With over 35 years of healthcare industry leadership, Heyward brings a wealth of experience driving transformation, growth, and excellence across organizations. Her impressive track record spans roles at renowned healthcare companies, including Cigna, ValueOptions, and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, where she established her reputation as a visionary leader committed to impactful change. Her extensive payor and CEO experience includes network contracting, operations, sales and marketing, underwriting, clinical care, and technology.

Before joining Health Network One as CEO, Heyward served as President and CEO of ValueOptions, she expanded behavioral health services and grew company revenues to over $1 billion. She then served as CEO of Sapphire Digital, leading the company through a period of record growth and enhanced consumer engagement. Most recently, Heyward was the President and CEO of Rite Aid, where she guided the company through complex industry challenges, expanded pharmacy services, and introduced critical COVID-19 support efforts, earning a Distinguished Leadership Award in 2022.

Beyond her distinguished career, Heyward is supported by her husband of 37 years, their two grown children, and a beloved cat. Her blend of strategic insight and collaborative leadership aligns seamlessly with Health Network One’s commitment to empowering its team, and we look forward to her impactful leadership as we continue to advance together.

A. Mark Fendrick, M.D.

A. Mark Fendrick, M.D. is a Professor of Internal Medicine in the School of Medicine and a Professor of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. Dr. Fendrick received a bachelor’s degree in economics and chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program.

Dr. Fendrick conceptualized and coined the term Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID) and currently directs the V-BID Center at the University of Michigan (www.vbidcenter.org), the leading advocate for development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative health benefit plans. His research focuses on how clinician payment and consumer engagement initiatives impact access to care, quality of care, and health care costs. Dr. Fendrick has authored over 450 articles and book chapters and has received numerous awards for the creation and implementation of value-based insurance design. His perspective and understanding of clinical and economic issues have fostered collaborations with numerous government agencies, health plans, professional societies, and health care companies.

Dr. Fendrick is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, served on the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee, and has been invited to present testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel. Dr. Fendrick is the co-editor in chief of the American Journal of Managed Care and is an editorial board member for 3 additional peer-reviewed publications. He is also a member of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan.

Elizabeth Fowler, Ph.D., J.D.

Liz Fowler is a nationally recognized expert in federal health policy and a visionary leader with a proven record of success in both public and private sector executive roles. Most recently, Liz was Deputy Administrator and Director of the Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In that role, she was responsible for advancing innovative payment and care delivery models in Medicare and Medicaid to promote value-based care on a national scale. These value-based payment models have provided an important testing ground and scaling opportunity for innovative start-ups and health care disrupters.

Prior to leading the Innovation Center, she was Executive Vice President of programs at The Commonwealth Fund and Vice President for Global Health Policy at Johnson & Johnson. In 2011-2012, she served as special assistant to President Obama on health care and economic policy at the National Economic Council to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As Chief Health Counsel at the Senate Finance Committee, she played a major role in the drafting and passage of the ACA in 2010, and she also played a key role drafting the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA).

Liz has over 25 years of experience in health policy and health services research. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Minnesota. She is admitted to the bar in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Liz is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Aspen Health Innovators Fellowship and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2022. She is currently on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Brian Miller, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H.

Brian Miller is a practicing hospitalist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, an Associate Professor of Medicine and Business (courtesy) at Johns Hopkins University, and a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Dr. Miller runs a multi-disciplinary, fifteen-person research group that analyzes market-driven solutions in FDA regulatory policy and Medicare payment policy. Research by his team has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Tobacco Control, BMJ, and Health Affairs Forefront among other venues.

Trained and board-certified in preventive medicine and internal medicine, Dr. Miller has broad regulatory experience at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Miller is a Commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and a Trustee for the North Carolina State Health Plan. He serves as an advisor to members of Congress and other elected officials and lives in Washington, D.C.