James R. Ludwig
Senior Consultant

In his 19 years in the managed care industry, Jim Ludwig has led for-profit and not-for-profit group, staff and IPA model HMOs, as:

• President and CEO, responsible for all pre-operational and operational administrative activities, for New West Health Plan, a Montana HMO;
• President and CEO of Health Partners SouthEast, Inc., a 162,000 member network model HMO operating in Alabama and Georgia;
• Kaiser Foundation Health Plan’s:
  • Health Plan Manager for the Texas Region, with 125,000 members in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and
  • Sales and Marketing Director in the Colorado Region, with 298,000 members in the Denver/Boulder area;
• President, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado’s HMO Colorado, a 77,000 member network model HMO; and
• Ochsner Health Plan’s Executive Director and Marketing Director.

Jim brings to The Tompkins Group’s clients a strong track record of success in managing HMO market strategy and multi-state operations. His leadership in acquisitions, product development, Medicare risk programs, and developing creative financial arrangements with providers and potential investors have resulted in membership growth, cost reduction, and increased efficiencies for the organizations with which he has worked. Some of his key accomplishments include:

• bringing to full operational status a three-community, PHO-sponsored health plan within ten months and exceeded first year marketing projections;
• leading a two-year effort to turn an HMO’s five-year history of deficits into after-tax profits of $1.4 million;
• implementing customer service total quality management programs resulting in an FEHBP survey ranking as number one statewide, and in the top ten percent nationwide;
• managing marketing strategy, competitive analysis, advertising, sales, distribution and account servicing, targeting both employer groups and individual members and exceeding growth goals in markets with as many as 25 managed care competitors; and
• directing group model HMO operations from startup as a single site multispecialty group practice to eight satellite facilities, 45,000 members and financial breakeven within two years.

Jim holds a M.P.H. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Cleveland State University. He is a member of the American Association of Health Plans, the HMO Alliance, and the Alabama Association of HMOs.