Rod has extensive expertise in managed care, Medicare, and scenario and strategy development. He has written articles for Pharmaceutical Executive, providing insight in relation to the future of pricing under Medicare D. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group, Rod was vice president of strategic development and marketing for Health Alliance Medical Plans and vice president for managed care at PCS Health Systems. His academic background includes an MBA from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Iowa.

Howard Flushman leads the Specialty Pharmacy Management Service. He brings more than 32 years of experience—working with nearly 30,000 physicians across all major medical specialties and in all organizational structures—to Health Strategies Group. His extensive expertise includes; health plan general management, including all functional areas of managed care organizations; physician group management (single specialty, multi-specialty, and IPA) and managed care contracting; home health care and managed care contracting; and specialty pharmacy industry development. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group, Howard was the founding general manager of the largest IPA-model HMO in CIGNA’s national network. He served as network executive of an IPA-model HMO; executive director of nine multispecialty IPAs and 12 single-specialty IPAs; and consultant to cardiology, orthopedics, and OB/GYN groups. Howard’s health plan in Los Angeles created the insurance plan now commonly known as point-of-service (POS). He has written articles for several publications, including The RPM Report. In “The End of Buy-and-Bill?” Howard provides an in-depth look at managed care’s approach to eliminate physician reimbursement for high-cost infusibles and injectables. His academic background includes an MBA from UCLA in marketing and finance, an MPA from the University of Southern California (health services administration), and an AB from UCLA in ancient history.

Rayna Herman leads the Sales Force Effectiveness Practice, which provides syndicated services and consulting support to sales executives from fifteen leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Since joining the firm in 1999, Rayna has become an industry thought leader on the topic of sales force effectiveness. She has authored dozens of sales force effectiveness publications, including groundbreaking work on representative access and manager effectiveness. Her work has been featured in Pharmaceutical Executive, Pharmaceutical Representative, SPBT FOCUS, “The Pink Sheet”, The Wall Street Journal, and Selling Power. Rayna is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for SPBT FOCUS. She is a featured speaker at industry conferences including the Pharmaceutical Executive’s Sales Summit and the Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainer’s Annual Conference. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group, Rayna spent eight years in sales and marketing at Merck & Co, Inc. where she sold primary care and hospital products, conducted sales force targeting and sizing for new sales forces, and launched Merck’s initiative with organized physician groups. Since joining the pharmaceutical industry in 1991, Rayna has participated in six new product launches and has assisted in developing and refining marketing strategies for eleven different billion-dollar brands. Rayna holds an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Indiana University.

Jerry Miller manages the Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Employer Market Intelligence Research Services. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group, he gained experience in hospital pharmacy, retail pharmacy, managed care administration, and the pharmaceutical benefit manager (PBM) segments. Within the PBM industry, Jerry served as director of clinical services at RxAmerica. Previously, he held the positions of staff pharmacist, pharmacy manager, and managed care consultant for American Drug Stores. He is a frequent speaker at PCMA’s annual meeting, speaking on key PBM and managed markets trends. Jerry is a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association and the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP). His academic background includes a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Southern California.

Cheryl Nelson manages the Strategic Accounts Service. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group twelve years ago, Cheryl was a market research project leader for TrendQuest, a market research firm focusing on the medical device industry. Her academic background includes a bachelor’s degree from Merrimack College.

Dee Prince initiated the Strategic HMO Accounts Service. Prior to founding Health Strategies Group, Dee was a health industry consultant for SRI International and covered the pharmaceutical industry as an editor with "The Pink Sheet." Her academic background includes a bachelor's degree in English from Lafayette College.

David Rees leads the Consulting and Consumer Research Practices. Helping clients make good strategic decisions and consumer research are his expertise. Over the past 15 years David has worked with more than 100 clients to help them make smart strategic marketing decisions, such as how to position, price, and promote new products or reinvigorate promotion of existing products. He has vast insight into consumer drug purchase decisions, and has written articles for Pharmaceutical Executive. In “Feelings Outweigh Facts”, David explores the consumer’s decision making process when choosing a prescription drug for chronic and acute conditions. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group, David was a senior director of marketing at Merck & Co, Inc. David holds an MBA from Cornell University and a BS from Brandeis University in psychology and economics.

Rick Rosenthal manages the Pharmaceutical Sales Force Effectiveness, Pharmaceutical Sales Management Effectiveness, and Hospital Sales Force Effectiveness Services. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group, Rick held a variety of sales, management, and marketing positions at Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc. and Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, both subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson. He writes regularly for trade journals and speaks often at national meetings. Rick served as a panelist at the Pharmaceutical Executive Sales and Marketing Summit and ran seminars at the Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers (SPBT) Conferences. He writes frequently for Pharmaceutical Representative and SPBT FOCUS; authored articles include “When Management Issues are Training Issues”, “Future Stars—How to Identify Potential Leaders”, and “Listen to the Best”. Rick holds a BS degree in economics from Tufts University.

Prior to founding Health Strategies Group in 1982, Jim held a variety of marketing positions at Gillette, Collagen, SRI International, and Abbott. His academic background includes an MBA in marketing from the University of Santa Clara and a BS in the biological sciences from Long Beach State University.

Susan Weber manages the Best Practices Service. Prior to joining Health Strategies Group, Susan was a manager in Deloitte Consulting’s healthcare practice, the director of marketing for Pfizer’s Northern California region, and most recently vice president of marketing for BenefitPoint, an employee benefits technology platform. Her academic background includes an MBA from the University of Washington and a degree in finance from the University of Connecticut.

Heather Lee Ingram Whipple leads the Managed Medicare Rx Service. She brings more than 15 years of experience in both pharmaceutical managed markets and evolving public sector markets to Health Strategies Group. Within the pharmaceutical industry Heather Lee served as a strategic leader in Medicare market development, strategy, and execution at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that Heather Lee was at Merck & Co., where she managed the Medicaid contracting efforts across a broad set of therapeutic categories for the National Medicaid Pooling Initiative (NMPI). Heather Lee began her career on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant for Congressman Porter Goss and later Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon. While working for Congressman McKeon she was also a project director and supported the Republican Leader’s Task Force on Health Care which worked to develop a market driven alternative to the Clinton Health Care Reform bill. Heather Lee holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA from Mount Holyoke College.