Elkridge, MD – Bob Atlas has been selected as the new President & CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association, just the fourth in the association’s 48-year history.
Atlas has several decades of experience as strategy and policy advisor to health care leaders and governing authorities, and as a top executive of professional services firms. He is currently President of EBG Advisors, the consulting affiliate of the health law firm of Epstein Becker Green. He was previously an advisor on Medicaid reform to North Carolina’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, and before that served as Executive Vice President and COO of Avalere Health, where he led the firm’s strategic advisory and research services for health care providers, payers, life sciences companies, foundations, consumer groups, and public agencies.
“Maryland’s hospitals are fortunate to have selected a person with deep policy expertise, vast leadership experience, and familiarity with the state’s unique hospital payment system,” said Mary Pat Seurkamp, chair of the association’s governing board. “Bob has a profound understanding of where health care has been and where it is going, and what hospitals need to do to maintain their mission of care in the midst of tremendous change.”
Earlier in his career, Atlas was President of The Lewin Group, a nationally respected health care consulting firm. In his 15 years there, he also directed its managed care and health care organizations strategy practices. During the 1980s, Atlas led the consulting practice of Jurgovan & Blair, Inc. (later American International Healthcare), supporting the formation of the managed care industry and the growth of what is now Medicare Advantage.
“Maryland’s hospitals are far ahead of the curve nationally in the volume-to-value transformation of health care delivery,” Atlas said. “I’m grateful for the confidence MHA leadership has shown in me and I look forward to working with Maryland’s hospital leaders, the governor, and our regulatory and legislative colleagues as part of an organization that helps hospitals lead this change. This is an amazing opportunity to continue to demonstrate on a large scale that health care costs can be held in check while providing the high quality care that Maryland’s residents expect and deserve.”
“Bob is a talented leader with valuable policy insights that will benefit the MHA and its members,” said Mark Lutes, Chair of Epstein Becker Green’s Board of Directors. “EBGpromotes, and is always pleased, when its alumni assume key leadership positions in the healthcare industry.”Atlas holds an M.B.A. in Health Administration and Finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. He has lived in Montgomery County for 34 years and part time for the past 10 years in Talbot County.