Category: Team

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Sarai McDowell

Enterprise Project Manager

As enterprise project manager, Sarai ensures all client projects are executed with excellence.


Utilizing key objectives, milestones and our project management solution, Sarai oversees delivery of all projects. She maintains overall enterprise project performance while also paying attention to the details of the project.

Working alongside the consultants and partners, she verifies and implements the timeline of the project, has an open line of communication with our project POC and our consultants.

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Sebastion Williams

Advising Health Plan Clients

Sebastion has extensive experience with managed healthcare startups in the government program arena, complex and coordinated care management and behavioral health care delivery.

Focus Areas
  • Medicaid managed care
  • LTSS process design

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Charlyn Shepherd

Advising Government Clients

Ms. Shepherd is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner.  She has devoted her career to accountability in state and federal government programs as an auditor, consultant, forensic auditor, innovator, and leader.  She has more than 25 years of experience performing and leading state and federal program financial, cost report, and compliance audits for health care and social programs under Medicaid, Medicare, and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).  She has been a project manager providing professional services to state clients for programs such including Skilled Nursing Facilities, Intermediate Care Facilities, Promoting Interoperability, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, State Innovation Model Grants, Recovery Audit Contractor, Long Term Services and Supports, Durable Medical Equipment, Physician Services, Pharmacy Program, Non-Emergency Transportation, and Home and Community-Based Services. She has performed audits in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Audit [Yellow Book] Standards (GAGAS), Generally Accepted Audit Standards GAGAS), and OMB Uniform Guidance. Having an understanding of the claim payment process and underlying data, she has developed analyses to identify data trends and anomalies in both Fee for Services claims and Managed Care encounters.  She was Georgia’s first Chief Auditor of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit at its inception in 1995 and performed investigative audits and provided expert testimony in high profile Skilled Nursing Facility and Home Health Agency cost report fraud trails, resulting in over $30 million in recoveries for the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Focus Areas
  • HHS program evaluation
  • Provider audits and reviews
  • Claims payment analysis

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Rob Robidou

Advising Health Plan Clients

Rob is a health care executive with expertise managing the startup of managed-care organizations and the ability to develop and implement strategy in a rapidly changing health care environment. He is a skilled operations leader with a record of success managing the various areas of operations within a health plan including network development, provider relations, claims, call center, system configurations and provider information.

Rob has been part of the executive team leading the successful startup of two pediatric managed-care organizations. As Vice President of Operations with Children’s Medical Center Health Plan, he was instrumental in readying the plan to accept members, including developing a strategy and securing a Medicaid contract. He structured and negotiated contracts with vendors to provide vision and behavior health services, pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), and health risk assessment software. He also oversaw Network Development, Provider Relations, Systems Configuration, Credentialing, Network Administration, Claims, Marketing, Outreach, and Call Center operation.

Previously, as Director of Network Development for Cook Children’s Health Plan, Rob was part of the executive team managing the startup, led staff in the implementation of the CHIP and STAR programs, chaired the Delegation Oversight Committee, and served on Process Improvement, Medical Management, Quality, and Corporate Compliance Committees. He was also a founding member of the Texas Association of Community Health Plans (TAHP), a consortium of provider-owned or community-sponsored health plans that jointly contracted with vendors.

Rob also has served as Director, Managed Care Contracting, Network Development for Cook Children’s Health Care System, as one of five initial employees hired for the development of the Children’s Health Care System Managed Care Department. In that capacity, he helped develop a contracting strategy and managing relationships between national and regional managed-care organizations and Cook Children’s Health Care System. He also developed relationships and negotiated contracts for CCHCS’s Bone Marrow to become a Center of Excellence program.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management from Kansas State University.

Rob has served as a Board Member and President of the DFW Alliance for Healthcare Excellence and on the Navitus Client Advisory Board. He is also a recognized national speaker on managed-care contracting and provider-relationship development, presenting at key industry conferences, including the Medicaid Innovations Forum, World Congress, Institute for International Research, and Network Development Congress.

Focus Areas
  • Health plan implementations and operations
  • Pediatric managed care
  • Provider network management
  • PBM contracting

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Erica Sahm

Advising Government and Technology Clients

Erica provides research and optimization for complex issues in the public health world. Her background in patient advocacy, medical sales, and clinical research inform her mindful and patient-centered approach. Erica is fueled by her passion to understand and provide better avenues for preventive care. She considers herself a ‘forever student’, eager to build on her academic foundations in biology and public health and stay current with the latest policies and healthcare programs through continued professional development.

She believes the most important tool we can use is past experience; therefore, companies and healthcare organizations should always be looking in the past to make a plan for the future. With Erica, you know the work will be autonomous when necessary, but without fail, always involves the greater goals of those she works with. You can count on her to look beyond what is immediately in sight.

Focus Areas
  • HHS technology (various)
  • Integrated care
  • Data analysis and systems
Other Affiliations
  • Glacier Healthcare Consulting (President)

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Chuck Collins

Advising Pharmaceutical Clients

Mr. Collins has over 30 years of career experience in the Pharma Industry.  He has a long history across multiple therapeutic areas and works across all managed market channels and helps to develop our customized managed market solutions.  He serves as a Sr. Fellow to Medonomics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank specializing in health policy, finance, and operations.   He has provided strategic managed markets consultation and tactical implementation to multiple major pharma clients.  In previous roles, he led the managed markets strategic counsel efforts providing insight and execution for commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care, and retail pharmacy chains.  He currently speaks on a national basis regarding healthcare delivery disparities at AMCP, NASP, and ASEMBIA. Mr. Collins participated in the strategic launch of American Health & Drug Benefits and, as a founding member of the editorial board, contributed actively for several years. He currently serves on the Saint Joseph’s University Haub School of Business Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Marketing MBA Program Board of Advisors. Mr. Collins graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University. Mr. Collins additionally holds a master’s degree in clinical chemistry from Old Dominion University and a master’s degree of business administration in pharmaceutical marketing from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Chuck is also Principal and President, Healthcare Stakeholder Solutions™ LLC, a managed market consultancy in its 9th year focusing on the healthcare delivery disparities across multiple therapeutic areas

Focus Areas
  • Managed markets
  • Implementation and launch
  • Training and publication assistance

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Steven Hedgepeth

Advising Technology, Health Plan, Provider and Investor Clients

Steven Hedgepeth, MBA has a strong operational and strategy implementation background with over fifteen years of experience working across the Human Service, Physical and Behavioral Health fields at both the local community and state/national levels.  As a founder and senior leader in multiple healthcare organizations, Steven is adept at setting a clear vision and strategy to navigate the challenges of a shifting healthcare landscape.  He has led organizations through significant Medicaid policy and payor changes, acquisitions, merger integrations, and implementation of Financial and EHR information systems.  Steven has experience creating innovative public/private partnerships to adapt to rapidly changing models of care across both for-profit and not for profit organizations.  His ability to quickly assess the needs of an organization and devise a plan for success has been honed advising a myriad of both public and private organizations.

Focus Areas
  • HHS technology
  • Behavioral health
  • Integrated care
  • Data analysis and systems

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Lauretta Converse

Advising Government and Technology Clients

Lauretta Converse is a healthcare consultant, providing informed, timely and cost-effective solutions that help states, payors, providers, and investors improve their services to Medicaid and other publicly funded programs.  Combining policy expertise with analytical skills, her previous roles include directing Rhode Island’s payment reform efforts and serving as the Senate’s primary resource on healthcare finance.  She lives in New England, where she teaches graduate courses in healthcare management and loves waking up to freshly fallen snow.

Focus Areas
  • Strategy
  • Data analysis

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Jeff Myers

Advising Rx and Health Plan Clients

Jeff is an expert advisor helping clients understand and formulate successful market access and reimbursement strategies. His experience spans working for Congress, life science innovators, as well as a range of payors and providers. Over his three decades in Washington, he has built and managed communications, government relations and regulatory policy organizations that have successfully addressed complex public policy issues that cross multiple constituencies. His fluency in understanding the big picture as well as the technical expertise in nuanced reimbursement and coverage policy and politics is demonstrated by his often sought out views. He frequently is asked to serve as a keynote speaker and panelist at conferences or is a “go to” opinion leader in the healthcare media space.

One of the largest growth areas in healthcare has been in the public payor space – specifically Medicaid and Medicare. As the former CEO and President of the Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA), Jeff was at ground zero during the massive expansion of this program and the overwhelming shift to managed care organizations (MCOs) and the resulting federal and state regulations. During his five-year tenure, his efforts with MHPA propelled the trade association to become a top influencer with government regulators, Congress and the media while representing companies taking full risk in populations as diverse as children, the working poor, and intellectually and physically disabled citizens.

He has an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and a BA in International Relations and Psychology from Rhodes College.

Focus Areas
  • Medicaid managed care
  • Pharmaceutical market access strategy
  • Pharmaceutical regulatory analysis

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Kip Piper

Advising Government and Pharmaceutical Clients

Kip Piper is a leading expert on Medicaid, Medicare, and health reform – is a prominent consultant, speaker, and author.  A skilled business and policy strategist, Kip Piper advises health plans, hospitals and health systems, states, and pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, information technology, and investment firms.  Kip Piper’s 30 years’ experience includes senior advisor to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, director of the Wisconsin Medicaid program, Wisconsin state health administrator, a senior Medicare budget officer at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and director of national, foundation-sponsored projects on payment reform and quality improvement.

Focus Areas
  • Policy development
  • Medicaid financing
Career Highlights
  • Wisconsin state Medicaid Director
  • President of Piper Results Group