Timothy Byrne was placed as the chief operating officer for Sanford Health Plan, part of the Sanford Health system in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. With $4.2 billion in annual net operating revenue, the integrated Sanford Health system is the largest rural, not-for-profit healthcare system in the nation and the largest employer in North and South Dakota, served by more than 27,000 employees. It has locations in 132 communities in six states and internal clinics in Ghana and China, with a total of 39 hospitals, 32 long-term care facilities, 225 clinic locations, and 1,360 physicians. Sanford Health Plan is a non-profit integrated system of healthcare coverage that offers access to a network of over 15,000 providers and hospitals in several states. The health plan provides accountability for healthcare delivery and service, as well as monitoring, evaluating, and improving the quality, safety, and appropriateness of healthcare services provided to its members. In his role, Tim serves as the primary operational leader for the health plan and a key member of the executive leadership team. He works alongside the president of the health plan to develop networks and relationships that will enhance the health services provided to individuals and communities, focusing on operating gain, growth, cost-of-care commitments, revenue, and meeting or exceeding quality and accreditation goals.
Tim brings to the position extensive healthcare, wellness industry, and start-up experience. He is an innovator and operator who has developed and directed critical analytical, operational, and financial functions at a venture-backed, consumer health management technology company, as well as driven strategic operations in a Fortune 100 healthcare organization.
Before joining Sanford, Tim served as the vice president of medical economics for Network Health Plan in Menasha, Wisconsin, which had 300,000 covered lives in commercial and Medicare Advantage plans. In this capacity, he led underwriting and actuarial services, payer/provider contract analytics, financial and care management analytics, decision support, operational support, and reporting. In less than a year, Tim retooled the underwriting team to make it more effective, and developed a new actuarial team from scratch, a function that had previously been outsourced. He also became heavily involved in network development strategy and contract analytic work, providing more insight to the executive team about how it was interacting with providers.
Previously, Tim served as the director of health strategy for RedBrick Health in Minneapolis. He began his career as a senior underwriter for United Healthcare, also in Minneapolis, where he went on to serve as the manager of the company’s Ovations and AmeriChoice divisions and as the director of its OptumInsight product.
Tim is originally from southeastern Minnesota. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Saint John’s University in Minnesota, with a double major in mathematics and natural science, and then completed his master’s degree in statistics at Arizona State University. Tim and his wife are the parents of a young daughter. Outside of work, Tim enjoys participating in a variety of sports.
Roger Quick, president and CEO of QLK led the search to recruit Tim to Sanford, where he has been in place since July 5, 2016.
