Craig Samitt, MD, MBA is the CEO and Founder of ITO Advisors, a healthcare advisory and investment firm, and was most recently the President & CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBSMN), the first Blue Cross plan in the nation, and Minnesota’s largest managed care company serving >3 million members. During his tenure at BCBSMN, Dr. Samitt drove a transformation of the organization’s strategy, operational performance and culture- aimed at “reinvention” of US healthcare and becoming one of the best blue plans in the nation. His work focused on forging groundbreaking value-based partnerships with health systems and independent physician practices, pivoting the health plan’s resources and capabilities toward population health, data/analytics and care-delivery, and driving an intensive focus on cultural transformation, diversity and inclusion, and racial and health equity.
Prior to his tenure at BCBSMN, Dr. Samitt served as the the president of the diversified business group for Anthem, Inc., a fortune 30 company and the nation’s largest blue plan. In this capacity, he unified and aligned Anthem’s diversified businesses including AIM, CareMore, HealthCore, and Data/Analytics, and drove the acquisition of Aspire Health. During much of his tenure at Anthem, Dr. Samitt served concurrently as chief clinical officer, where he led the company’s medical management, health care analytics, provider collaboration, payment innovation, total cost of care, and quality divisions.
Previously, Dr. Samitt has served as partner and global provider practice leader of Oliver Wyman’s Health & Life Sciences division, president & chief executive officer for HealthCare Partners, a subsidiary of DaVita HealthCare - one of the largest physician-centric delivery systems in the U.S., president and CEO of Dean Health System, one of the largest integrated health systems in the Midwest, and senior leadership roles at Fallon Clinic (now Reliant medical group), Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and Harvard Community Health Plan (now Atrius health).
From 2012-2018, Dr. Samitt served as a Commissioner on MedPAC, an influential, independent Congressional Agency established to advise Congress on policies related to payments to private health plans participating in Medicare and health care providers serving Medicare beneficiaries.
Dr. Samitt has served on the Boards of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, BCS Financial, the National Institute of Healthcare Management (NIHCM), Prime Therapeutics, and the Healthcare Payment Learning and Action Network (HCPLAN), He is a nationally recognized expert and thought leader on the transformation of U.S. health care and serves as an annual faculty lecturer at the Wharton School of Business. He was named as one of the “50 Most Influential Physician Executive and Leaders” by Modern Healthcare in 2018.
Dr. Samitt earned his medical degree from Columbia University, his medical residency in Internal Medicine at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and his MBA in health care management from the Wharton School of Business.