CalOptima COO Joins ABL Organization

Orange, CA — May 29, 2009 — Greg Buchert, MD, Chief Operating Officer of CalOptima, has joined the Adaptive Business Leaders Organization (ABL). As part of California’s leading vertical-industry Chief Executives’ Organization, ABL Members provide one another with executive leadership coaching through its confidential, professionally-facilitated, peer-CEO Advisory Board Round Tables, executive learning workshops, network of CEO peers, and expert resources.

CalOptima is an integrated healthcare system that administers health insurance programs for Orange County children, low-income families, seniors and persons with disabilities. The public agency’s programs include coverage for people in Medi-Cal, a Medicare Special Needs Plan called OneCare, and coverage for children in the Healthy Families and Healthy Kids programs through CalOptima Kids. CalOptima’s network of doctors and hospitals includes more than 5,000 primary care doctors and specialists and 20 hospitals serving nearly 360,000 members.

Greg is personally very involved with the launching, in 23 Orange County emergency departments, of a health information exchange initiative that will provide physicians with secure electronic access to critical patient information. The initiative is a collaboration between the statewide California Regional Health Information Organization and the Orange County Partnership Regional Health Information Organization. Initially it will provide emergency department physicians with medical record information on CalOptima's 360,000 members. The system is slated to go live by July 2009.

Greg previously worked for Children’s Hospital of Orange County and the La Veta Medical Group. He earned his MD and Masters of Public Health degrees from Tulane University School of Medicine.

About the Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL) Organization
ABL supports the needs of its Member CEOs by providing a place for top-level executives to draw on the experience, knowledge and skill sets of their peers in a vertical industry, personal advisory board – “multi-coach approach” – setting.

The core component of the CEO Membership experience is the group Round Table meeting. Members meet once a month for a half-day with a group of peer CEOs, Presidents, COOs and Division General Managers from non-competing companies, all from the same industry (healthcare, technology or life sciences), in a trusted and confidential board room-like setting, which allows ABL Members to tackle topics and enhance their decision making and business performance. Topics include: developing and honing new business strategies and best practices, new lines of business, “A-players” on the management team, and an effective board of directors, as well as understanding trends in new markets, mergers and acquisitions, compensation, and other “hot” topics brought to the Round Tables by the Members themselves.

ABL Members also gather several times a year at workshops and conferences to exchange ideas and connect with other chief executives beyond their own CEO peer groups. In effect, ABL Members serve as one another’s business coaches within the Round Tables and are encouraged to connect and leverage their co-Member peers’ particular skills and expertise for additional leadership coaching, one-on-one, outside of their monthly group meeting. In addition, each Round Table’s facilitator also serves as an objective business advisor, offering executive and industry insights and advice.

 ABL's Chief Executive Leadership Development Round Table program is currently offered in California's Greater Los Angeles, Orange and San Francisco County areas. More information about the ABL Organization can be found at http://www.abl.org .