The Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) has named Elizabeth Mitchell its new president and CEO, succeeding David Lansky, Ph.D., who retired in early 2019.
Mitchell most recently served as senior vice president for healthcare and community health transformation at Blue Shield of California, during which time she designed Blue Shield’s strategy for transforming practice, payment and community health in select California regions.
The nonprofit PBGH, formed in 1989, focuses on improving health outcomes, experience and affordability. Members include Boeing, CalPERS, Comcast, Intel, and Walmart. PBGH leverages purchaser action in partnership with providers, payers and policymakers to identify, test, and scale innovative models for improving health outcomes and affordability.
“The status quo in healthcare is not an option and collectively we can act to ensure better care for people at lower cost,” Mitchell said in a prepared statement. “The time is right for action at the national and regional level, and I look forward to building on PBGH’s tremendous track record for even greater impact.”
Prior to her work at Blue Shield, Mitchell served as the president and CEO of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), a network of regional quality improvement and measurement organizations. She also served as CEO of Maine’s business coalition on health (the Maine Health Management Coalition), worked within an integrated delivery system (MaineHealth), and was elected to the Maine State Legislature, serving as a state representative.
She has served as vice chairperson of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC), Board and executive committee member of the National Quality Forum (NQF), member of the National Academy of Medicine’s “Vital Signs” Study Committee on core metrics, and a guiding committee member for the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network.
