Management Team Guiding our vision through values

George DeVries co-founded American Specialty Health Insurance Company’s parent company American Specialty Health (ASH) in 1987 with only a few thousand dollars, working from a second bedroom in his condominium. His goal was to develop specialty health care programs and to integrate them into traditional medical plans offered by Fortune 500 employers, insurance companies, and health plans.

Over the years, George has guided ASH’s growth to become one of the nation’s largest health services organizations, providing a broad range of musculoskeletal provider network, fitness and exercise, and health management programs.

When George first co-founded ASH, he focused on chiropractic provider network programs. The company has since added physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, podiatry, nutritionist, dietetic, acupuncture, naturopathy, and therapeutic massage provider networks. George has led ASH to develop its own national provider group supported by other ASH subsidiaries including a national insurance carrier, a specialty health plan in California, an IPA in New York, and other organizations currently covering more than 33.6 million Americans. During this process, ASH achieved a variety of industry firsts, including:

• Creating the first specialty health plan for chiropractic
• Creating the first specialty health plan for acupuncture
• Receiving the first national accreditations for a specialty ancillary provider health insurer, network, and/or health plan organization

After the company achieved these milestones, George personally guided the innovation process which has transformed ASH into one of the nation’s leading health services organizations.

ASH developed the Healthyroads ^® program, which offers lifestyle coaching, condition coaching (disease management), an online wellness portal, incentive programs, data analytics, and various worksite programs covering more than 1.7 million members nationally. Most recently, ASH introduced the EmpoweredDecisions!™ coaching and digital engagement and learning platform for musculoskeletal pain and opioid usage.

George guided ASH as it created comprehensive fitness programs, which includes Silver&Fit®, an exercise and healthy aging program for Medicare plans; Active&Fit ^® and Active&Fit Direct ^TM , a fitness program for commercial plans; ExerciseRewards ^TM , an exercise incentive program; and FitnessCoach ^TM , a fitness program for special needs and dual eligible populations. ASH’s fitness programs now serve more than 5 million members nationally.

With offices in Carmel, Ind. (Indianapolis area); Southlake, Texas (Dallas area); San Diego, Calif.; and Columbia, S.C.; ASH currently provides its programs for more than 43 million covered Americans; is projected to post $500 million in 2017 revenues; and has more than 1,300 employees. ASH works with more than 140 health plans nationally. George is the majority owner of ASH and its corporate subsidiaries; ASH is a privately-held company and there are no private equity or venture capital investors. Under George’s leadership, ASH has organically developed all of its products, revenues, and membership over the past 30 years.

Considered an early expert in the integration of complementary health care into third-party reimbursement, George was appointed by President Clinton in 2000 to serve on the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. He has testified before various congressional and legislative committees, and has published articles on complementary/alternative health care and health improvement in numerous trade publications.

Key honors bestowed on George include:

• America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Innovators Award in 2004
• Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year for Health Sciences in 2000
• San Diego Entrepreneur of the Year for Health Sciences in 1997
• 21st Century National Leadership Award from Impact Urban America

As an innovator in corporate health and wellness, ASH has received numerous awards for its efforts, which include being named one of the Inc. 5,000 Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies 8 of the last 9 years, a National Business Group on Health “Best Employers for a Healthy Lifestyle” Gold winner, one of the country’s 15 Fittest Companies by Men’s Fitness magazine, and one of the “Healthiest Employers in San Diego” by the San Diego Business Journal, among others.

George has also focused on developing an exceptional management team and work environment for his employees. As a result, ASH has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in San Diego” by both San Diego Magazine and the San Diego Business Journal. The company has also been named among the “100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare magazine.

George was named an Outstanding Alumnus in 2001 by the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree. In 2011, he was honored as one of “50 Distinguished Alumni” out of more than 130,000 alumni during UCSD’s 50th anniversary celebration.

He received his high school degree from the Culver Academies in Culver, Ind., a college preparatory boarding school, and currently sits on its Board of Trustees.

Robert (Bob) White brings to American Specialty Health (ASH) more than 20 years of diverse experience and leadership in the California health care industry. Bob was also involved in international health care business ventures and HMO start-ups outside of California for several years.

Before joining ASH in 2001, Bob was executive vice president and chief operations officer of Health Net, one of California's largest HMOs. In this capacity, he had responsibility for Health Net's day-to-day commercial operations, Medicare and MediCal product lines, information services, and human resources. Additionally, Bob oversaw the merger integration activities of Health Net and Foundation Health and supported efforts to obtain a 3-year National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accreditation for the new firm.

Prior to joining Health Net, Bob was president and chief executive officer of CareAmerica Health Plans, where he was responsible for the growth and profitability of all CareAmerica companies, including CareAmerica's HMO, Life Insurance Company, CareAmerica Michigan, and CareAmerica Compensation. In his 8 years with the organization, he served as senior vice president and general manager of CareAmerica's Medicare services division, as well as vice president of administration.

Previously, Bob was executive vice president and chief operations officer of Health Visions, where he was responsible for the formation and leadership of 2 fully licensed start-up managed care companies in Nevada and Texas.

Bob began his health care career in 1974 at Blue Cross of California, where he served for more than 13 years in a number of management positions.

Bob has also served as member of the board of the California Association of Health Plans and the board of directors for the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations.

Bob earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Northridge as well as an MBA from Pepperdine University. He has a Fellow, Life Management Institute designation.

As president and chief operations officer of American Specialty Health Management programs and executive vice president of American Specialty Health (ASH), Julie Jennings is responsible for the operations and performance of the ASH health management programs, including the Healthyroads ^® population health improvement programs and the EmpoweredDecisions!™ digital engagement and coaching programs for musculoskeletal pain. In this role, Julie oversees the implementation of new enhancements to products and services as well as ongoing management of all Health Management programs. She oversees the coaching programs, program (account) management, customer service, outreach, worksite programs (including biometric screening services), data analytics and outcomes, product management, and the interoperability of the product portfolio.

Julie joined ASH in 2001. Prior to transitioning to her role in Health Management, Julie was responsible for oversight of ASH’s specialty health care management and fitness program operations, including claims, customer service, internet support, group services, membership, appeals and grievances, credentialing, clinical services management administration, business analysis, and performance management.

Prior to joining ASH, Julie had over 20 years of extensive management experience in the health care industry. She was co-founder of 2C Solutions, a managed health care consulting firm; vice president/consultant of e-commerce development for Health Net of California; vice president of group operations for CareAmerica Health Plans; and associate vice president of business planning and operations at PPO Alliance.

Julie holds a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Redlands and an executive MBA from Pepperdine University

During his 30-year career, Dr. Metz has served on many health industry organization boards and committees, including over 18 years on the URAC Health Standards Committee (6 years as chairman). He has also served on the Wellness Standards Development Committee for URAC, the Outcomes Measurement Committee of the Disease Management Association of America, the Research Advisory Committee for the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), the Corporate Health Improvement Program (CHIP), and the Chief Medical Officer’s Committee of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).

Dr. Metz regularly contributes to articles published in various health journals including the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Health Affairs, Archives Internal Medicine, and others.

Dr. Metz graduated from the National College of Chiropractic, Lombard, Ill., where he received a bachelor’s degree in human biology and a doctor of chiropractic degree.

William (Bill) M. Comer, Jr. brings to American Specialty Health (ASH) over 30 years of accounting, finance, and general management experience in both publicly held and privately owned companies. As chief financial officer, Bill is responsible for the management and oversight of all financial matters for ASH.

Prior to joining ASH in 2008, Bill was vice president, audit and corporate compliance officer for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, a publicly held pharmaceuticals company. In this role, he was responsible on a global basis for managing Valeant's internal audits, assuring compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 (SOX 404) internal controls requirements, monitoring and reporting on financial and non-financial regulatory compliance matters, promoting ethical standards, and performing special investigations. Bill also formerly served as CFO of Valeant's publicly held research and development subsidiary, where he managed its accounting and financial operations, implemented SOX 404, participated in the initial implementation of several multi-million dollar global clinical trials, and started and managed a distributions company in Southeast Asia.

Bill has worked as CFO for several companies in the health care services industry, with a significant concentration on provider management organizations, including, among others, Premier Practice Management (PPM), Inc., which was a national physician practice management company, and Presbyterian Healthcare Associates Corporation, a physician-hospital organization. Bill is accomplished in mergers, acquisitions, and start-ups, and is highly regarded for his team-building skills. Over a 4-year period, he performed due diligence at PPM on over 250 companies throughout the United States, using a specially developed streamlined approach that saved significant amounts of annually recurring costs payable to external consulting firms to perform due diligence.

Kevin Kujawa has more than 30 years of information technology experience, ranging from computer programming to his current position as chief information officer and executive vice president of information technology. He has more than 27 years of experience in health care information systems.

Kevin joined American Specialty Health (ASH) in 1995 as a manager of information systems. Since then, he has steadily taken on more responsibilities and has been promoted several times. He is currently responsible for the company’s software engineering, IT operations, telecommunications, data analysis and reporting, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), facilities and processing services departments.

Prior to joining ASH, Kevin spent 2 years with Prudential Healthcare Systems in Nashville, and 3years with Aetna Health Plans in San Diego, leading local information technology teams.

Kevin earned a bachelor of science degree in computer sciences from Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, Illinois) and an MBA from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas, with an emphasis in information systems. While at UNLV, Kevin received a Conrad Hilton Scholarship and earned distinction as a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

As chief technology officer for American Specialty Health (ASH), Jerome Bonhomme is responsible for leading the consumer technology department, which develops and maintains innovative consumer-facing applications. These vital capabilities help to activate and engage ASH’s many members, customers, providers and partners. 

Jerome’s broad background as a software technology executive includes more than 20 years of experience in developing ecommerce platforms, applications and architecture to support customer engagement, product launches and marketing outreach. Prior to joining ASH, he was vice president of software engineering at Lytx in San Diego. There, he was responsible for all software engineering and product development, delivering a next generation platform and implementing new software engineering processes.  While at Lytx he also filed several patents in the domain of geo-spatial data processing. 

In 2004, Jerome joined Sony Electronics to develop the architecture and launch Sony’s online store: Store.Sony.com. Later he became part of Sony’s global technology team as director and chief architect for the global ecommerce platform, leading the creation of a single cohesive platform to serve each country with its own language and fulfillment capabilities. A graduate of the University Sorbonne in Paris, Jerome spent his early career working in technology positions in France and San Diego, helping to launch new products and develop new generations of technology platforms.