Our vision is to help clients reduce costs and increase productivity by getting the manageable “health risks” of their covered populations under control. We believe when such health risks are identified, and resources applied in a focused and positive manner, long term behavior change will result. Our experience proves that implementing the health risk management concept results in reduced costs and increased productivity.

HealthRisk Management, LLC, is a privately owned company formed by three principals who together have more than 75 years experience in health and productivity management, clinical interventions and organizational efficiency. These principals are dedicated to implementing health risk management as the long term solution to controlling healthcare costs, from the employer perspective.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Mr. Jerry Burgess

Mr. Burgess holds an MBA with double concentration in Marketing and Management and three undergraduate degrees. He has over 25 years experience as a senior executive in the health care industry and is a frequent speaker and lecturer on health care. Jerry held executive positions with three large healthcare systems, and is also Co-Program Director of the College for Advanced Management of Health Benefits, which is a partnership with the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) and Jefferson Medical College. He is Adjunct Professor for one of the nations’ top MBA programs for physicians at the University of Tennessee.

Jerry is President/CEO of HealthCare 21, a non-profit, member driven coalition of businesses committed to improving the quality of health care for East and Middle Tennessee. HC21 represents some 200,000 covered lives. He is also on the Board of Governors of NBCH, and a recognized leader among coalitions and a key participant in the founding of two regional healthcare coalitions.

Mr. Darrell Douglas

A senior manufacturing executive holding a BSBA, and an MS in Management, Darrell has more than 30 years human resource and management experience. While in senior leadership positions in the paper industry, he implemented innovative health care strategies, including best management practices, direct contracting with hospitals and physicians, provider network development, health plan design and on-site medical programs in unionized manufacturing companies.

He serves as Co-Chair for the Board of Directors of Carolina’s Labor Management Conference and is a past Adjunct Professor of Management at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. As VP-Human Resources, he became the first U.S. employer to publicly offer employees a “Global Healthcare Option.”

Ms. Gaye Fortner

Ms. Fortner is a master’s prepared nurse and has held educator and hospital leadership roles. She represents purchasers and providers in quality reporting initiatives and has made numerous presentations on Leapfrog, quality and transparency. Gaye is the Regional Rollout Leader for Leapfrog in East and Middle TN, being one of the original six regions to report Leapfrog. She is an active participant with the National Quality Forum, and has represented purchasers on the Steering Committees for the National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Nursing Sensitive Care, and the HCAPS performance measures for public reporting. Under Gaye’s direction, HealthCare 21 has led purchasers to apply national standards for quality measurement in TN, publicly reporting Leapfrog, JCAHO Core Measures and other national data sets. In addition to her work on quality projects, Gaye assists TN purchasers in selecting and reviewing disease management vendors and facilitates numerous initiatives to support employers as they implement a value-based, health risk management approach to improving employee health and reducing costs.