Pacific Business Group on Health

Founded in 1989, Pacific Business Group on Health is one of the nation’s top business coalitions focused on health care. Our 50 large purchaser members spend billions of dollars annually to provide health care coverage to more than 3 million employees, retirees and dependents. PBGH is a respected voice in the state and national dialogue on how to improve the quality and effectiveness of health care while moderating costs. Partnering with the state’s leading health plans, provider organizations, consumer groups and other stakeholders, PBGH works on many fronts to promote value-based purchasing in health care.

A 501(c)3 corporation, PBGH is results-oriented and member-driven. The coalition identifies health care and business trends, assesses the impact of those trends and recommends practical steps to advance a common agenda. It works closely withpayors, providers, researchers and others to achieve the highest quality and most cost-effective health care. PBGH also works collaboratively with all purchasers in California and with other business coalitions throughout the United States.

The Contributors

David Lansky

David Lansky, Ph.D, joined the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) in February 2008. He previously served as Senior Director of the Health Program at the Markle Foundation (NY) from 2004 to 2008. His work there focused on accelerating the adoption of interoperable health information technology throughout U.S. health care, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that patients and consumers have access to and control over their information and can participate fully in the redesign of the health care system. Prior to coming to Markle, Lansky was President of the Foundation for Accountability (FACCT) from 1995 to 2004.

A nationally-recognized expert in accountability and quality measurement, Lansky has served as a board member or advisor to numerous health care projects and programs, including the National Quality Forum, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the National Patient Safety Foundation, the Leapfrog Group, the Medicare Beneficiary Education Advisory Panel, and the American Health Information Community (AHIC).

Before establishing FACCT, Lansky was a senior policy analyst for the Jackson Hole Group during the national health care reform debate of 1993-94. He also led the Center for Outcomes Research and Education at Oregon-based Providence Health System. His responsibilities included outcomes research, measurement of consumer satisfaction, health risk and health status assessment, development of electronic member records, and communicating with purchasers and the larger community about health care quality.

Arnold Milstein

Arnie Milstein is the Medical Director at PBGH and the National Health Care Thought Leader at William M. Mercer. His work focuses on improving managed care programs for large purchasers and government.

Dr. Milstein’s 30 book chapters and published articles have centered on managed care program design. A member of NCQA’s national committee to develop HEDIS and the Performance Measures Coordinating Committee, Business Insurance magazine selected him as “one of the 20 people who has made a difference in employee benefits management in the past 20 years.” Last year’s New England Journal of Medicine’s series on employer sponsored health insurance described him as a “pioneer” in employer efforts to advance quality.

In January 2002 Dr. Milstein was named to the Strategic Advisory Council of the National Quality Forum (NQF).

Dr. Milstein holds a medical degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree in health services planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University. He is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and a Worldwide Partner at Mercer.

Peter Lee

Peter Lee, JD, the Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), oversees the organization’s efforts to improve access to high quality health care, moderate costs and work collaboratively with other groups to achieve these goals.

Mr. Lee is a member of the boards of the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the National Business Coalition on Health, and is the co-chair of the Consumer/Purchaser Disclosure Project, a national effort to promote better transparency of health care providers’ performance. Mr. Lee has served on numerous national and statewide bodies, such as the Institute of Medicine’s Crossing the Quality Chasm Summit Committee and the State of California’s Managed Health Care Improvement Task Force.

Prior to joining PBGH, Mr. Lee was the Executive Director of the Center for Health Care Rights.