Dr. Bill Winkenwerder is the Chairman and Founder of The Winkenwerder Company, a nationally respected healthcare consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia. The firm specializes in strategic advisory services to healthcare companies and organizations which are bringing new approaches to healthcare through health information technology, prevention, wellness, self-service and process automation, control of infectious diseases, and population health. Dr. Winkenwerder is also a prominent expert on the issues of national health policy and healthcare reform, and he serves as a board director for three leading companies.
Dr. Winkenwerder has a long and distinguished career in health care as a private industry executive, government health policy leader, and practicing physician. He 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, Dr. 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 9.4 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. Dr. Winkenwerder also lead 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.
Prior to government service, Dr. Winkenwerder worked as a senior health executive and practicing physician for more than 20 years. He is known as a thought leader who 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.
Dr. Winkenwerder now serves on the Boards of AthenaHealth, Inc., Logistics Health, Inc., and Capgemini Government Solutions. He is a regular contributor to the Fox Business Network and other media outlets. He is also Chairman of the Board of C-Change, a philanthropic alliance of organizations fighting cancer that was founded by George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush. And he is 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. Dr. Winkenwerder has been honored for his work by the American Medical Association, Davidson College, the University of North Carolina, the Wharton School of Business, and the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Dr. 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.
