EP151: Employers say, "Show Me the Money I'm Spending on Health Care," with Mike Dendy, Vice Chairman & CEO of Advanced Medical Pricing Solutions

 Mike Dendy is Vice Chairman & CEO of Advanced Medical Pricing Solutions (AMPS), an Atlanta, GA-based health care cost management company, serving the self-funded (ERISA) payer community. Since joining the Company in 2005, Mike has overseen all aspects of AMPS management, ranging from sales and marketing, to finance and client relations. AMPS has seen organic growth of over 300% over the last 5 years and has continued to increase its offerings in the health care cost containment space. AMPS clients range in size from those in the Fortune 500 to mid-sized regional employers.

Prior to joining AMPS, Mike served as Chairman & CEO of HPS Paradigm Administrators Inc. from 1997 until its subsequent sale in 2004. HPS Paradigm is a health insurance Third-Party Administrator (TPA) serving corporate and government employer groups throughout the United States. During his tenure as CEO, HPS Paradigm experienced strong corporate growth, increasing on average 50% in fee income per year, while achieving industry leading EBITDA margins of over 22%. In 2000, Mike oversaw HPS’ business process outsourcing (BPO) relationship with Memorial Hospital of Savannah, Georgia, which at the time was one of Georgia’s largest hospital systems. Mike served as Executive Director of Memorial’s TPA, HMO, PPO, UR/UM and Case Management services provided for the benefit of Chatham County area employers.

From 1992-1997, Mike founded and managed Health Partners Services, Inc. (HPS), a brokerage and consulting firm, which specialized in stop-loss insurance, benefit plan design, provider negotiations, pharmacy benefit management, disease management, predictive analysis, and cost containment. HPS developed community health system plans in a number of southeastern US markets and grew consulting revenues to $600,000 annually.

Mike holds 2 master’s degrees, from Georgia State University in Business Administration (MBA), and Healthcare Administration (MHA) and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Georgia in both Journalism and Psychology. In addition to his graduate and undergraduate achievements, Mike attended executive management programs at Harvard’s Business, Public Health, and Law Schools. Mike serves on the Advisory Board for the Robinson College of Business and the School of Healthcare Administration at Georgia State University and is the former Board Chairman for the National Safe Care Campaign. Mike was awarded the School of Health Administration’s Healthcare Executive of the Year in 2015.

00:00 Easing into the “inflection point” for employee healthcare.
02:30 The motivations of an HR Manager vs. a CFO.
03:35 Investigating why costs are as high as they are.
03:45 The overall cost of Healthcare equation, and how to reduce those costs.
05:00 “How can an employer make an intelligent decision when they have no idea what they’re paying for services?”
06:40 “The only way you can really drive down the cost of healthcare is to find a way to purchase services less expensively.”
08:00 Defined Contributions Healthcare Plans.
11:30 How do you decide what to pay for?
16:00 Bundled Payments vs. Defined Contributions.
19:40 “There is a point when it’s fair for both the payer and provider.”
21:30 “Typically, the providers that cost less are better because they’ve figured out how to provide services more affordably.”
23:20 “Get a grip on where you are now.”
29:30 You can learn more at www.advancedpricing.com