Mathematica is pleased to welcome John A. Stern to our health team. In this new position as director of health program improvement, Stern will lead business development and product offerings for Mathematica’s Medicaid portfolio. In particular, Stern will bring his diverse private and public sector experience in executive leadership and information technology (IT) to lead Mathematica’s work and client outreach in Medicaid data analytics, quality, measures, and governance; program integrity; research evaluation, technical assistance, and product development.
“John Stern brings an impressive mix of public and private experience from a variety of health, business, and tech settings,” said Jonathan Morse, senior vice president and general manager of Mathematica’s health program improvement division. “John’s contributions include expansive knowledge of business and technology transformation coupled with dynamic leadership abilities, including stints as a chief information officer for both the state of Vermont and notable firms. His talents will help us creatively collaborate with our state and federal clients to deliver evidence-based solutions and products and, ultimately, propel our mission of catalyzing change and improvement in the current Medicaid space
“What caught my immediate attention was Mathematica’s Lane 1,TM an exciting new offering for state-based Medicaid organizations that takes an entirely new approach to helping states analyze and evaluate managed care organizations,” Stern said. “Mathematica is driven by broad-based public interest in finding ways to improve the quality, efficiency, affordability, equity, and financing of health care and is an acknowledged leader in research and data on Medicaid care delivery and financing, quality measures, and innovation. With a strong team of experts who study long-standing issues such as covering the uninsured, measuring and improving health care quality, controlling health care costs, and designing efficient and effective delivery systems to meet diverse needs, Mathematica provides an excellent foundation and path for innovative service and product offerings.”
Stern’s experience and career accomplishments span senior positions in leadership, technology, and business transformation. In addition to his tenure at the Vermont Agency of Health and Human Services (AHS), he served in technology leadership positions with organic and specialty food pioneers and tech and consulting firms. In the public arena, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin recruited Stern to stabilize, improve, and secure Medicaid technology for Vermont’s industry-leading Public Health Exchange system. After taking the helm as AHS deputy chief information officer and portfolio director, Stern successfully retooled and restored the state’s Vermont Medicaid IT policy, deficient in status since 2014, to a compliance status in accordance with federal regulation. Stern’s diverse leadership experience in the private sector includes serving as vice president for the next-generation technologies practice and service offerings at Speridian Technologies, developing e-marketing and commerce platforms and generating $5B in growth in the organic and specialty food markets via technology modernization. He also served in a senior management capacity at Deloitte Consulting, LLP, in its business development efforts.
Stern lends his strengths to Mathematica’s impressive health team, which informs health policy debates and provides decision makers with actionable information through reliable data and analysis. Driven by broad-based public interest in finding ways to improve the quality, efficiency, affordability, equity, and financing of health care, Mathematica is an acknowledged leader in research and data on Medicaid care delivery and financing, quality measures, and innovation. Mathematica’s experts also study long-standing issues such as covering the uninsured, measuring and improving health care quality, controlling health care costs, and designing efficient and effective delivery systems to meet diverse needs.
Stern holds an M.S. in international business studies from the University Of South Carolina and Waseda University (Tokyo) and is a graduate of the Executive Program in IT Strategy and Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. In addition to his career accomplishments, Stern served as a chairperson for the Medicaid Technology Alliance, providing thought leadership and guidance on national, multi-state efforts of public/private partnerships to advance health care technologies.