William Winkenwerder, Jr.

William Winkenwerder, Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American physician, health care industry consultant, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, and health insurance industry executive.

Career
Winkenwerder has founded the "Winkenwerder Company LLC" in 2007, an Alexandria, Virginia consulting firm specializing in strategic advisory services to health care companies and organizations. Winkenwerder also serves as the company's chairman. In addition, Winkenwerder has served as a practicing physician, health insurance industry executive, and government health policy advisor.

In addition to his consulting firm, Winkenwerder now serves on the boards of or otherwise advises several consulting and health care companies, Logistics Health, Inc. including Athenahealth, Inc., and Capgemini Government Solutions. He is also on the board of C-Change, a philanthropic alliance of organizations fighting cancer that was founded by George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush. He is also an advisor to The Bob Woodruff Foundation dedicated to the assistance of military members who have suffered traumatic brain injury founded by former ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff. He is a director of the Davidson College Athletic Foundation. On June 4th 2012, it was annouched Highmark Inc Board of Directors elected him President & CEO.

Department of Defense
Prior to founding his consulting business, Winkenwerder served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs in the U.S. Department of Defense from October 2001 through April 2007. At the Department of Defense, Winkenwerder was the leader of the Military Health System and the principal medical advisor to the Secretary of Defense. With a $40 billion budget and over 130,000 personnel, the Military Health System provides care for 9.2 million people through an extensive network of private physicians and hospitals known as TRICARE and through more than 70 military hospitals worldwide.

During his tenure there were significant advances in battlefield medicine, new programs to address mental health issues and new health benefits for guard and reserve members. Winkenwerder also led the implementation of a new worldwide electronic health record system (AHLTA), guided the merger of Walter Reed Army and Bethesda Naval Medical Centers, and responded to numerous humanitarian crises. He served on the American Health Information Community (AHIC) Commission charged by the federal government to develop a plan for electronic health records for all Americans. He was also elected Chairman of the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM) a 90 country organization representing all the major nations of the world.

Prior
Prior to his government service, Winkenwerder worked as a senior health executive and practicing physician for more than 20 years. He was an early advocate of evidence-based medicine, prevention, and clinical practice guidelines. He held senior positions at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Prudential Healthcare (now part of Aetna) and Emory University. He also served on the Board of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the national trade association representing health plans and insurers.

Recognition
Winkenwerder has been recognized for his work by the American Medical Association, the University of North Carolina, the Wharton School of Business, and the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. He has appeared in the national media, before Congress, and as a public lecturer. He served in 2008 as an Advisor to Presidential Candidate John McCain.

Winkenwerder is a graduate of Davidson College, the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and is board certified in internal medicine and received an MBA from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania.