Barbara Wachsman Joins Galileo
We are excited to announce that Barbara Wachsman has joined the Galileo team as Head of Employer Strategy.
Barbara joins us with decades of experience leading the Benefits team at Walt Disney Company where she oversaw operations of Disney’s onsite clinics, physician group partnerships and created the largest full-risk, direct health system deal in the country.
In her role at Galileo, she will serve as a consultant to employers interested in upgrading their virtual care solutions or making a shift to virtual-first and value-based delivery models. She is an expert at helping employers identify quality, affordable care delivery and building more effective direct relationships with providers. She will be an incredible asset to our employer partners and looks forward to the collaboration opportunities ahead.
We sat down with Barb to get her take on the dynamics impacting employers’ healthcare decisions today and what she’s looking forward to.
Tell us about your background and a lesson you learned about employee benefits?
I’m a dedicated healthcare person with over 25 years of experience with every element of the healthcare ecosystem – physicians, hospitals, employers, health plans, benefit consultants and of course, perhaps the most important stakeholder -- the employee, and their families. My career has focused on helping employers identify quality, affordable care delivery and more effective direct relationships with providers. I have learned that the pace of innovation and change can be slow and difficult but recognize the value of time and building trust in developing long term relationships with all stakeholders to create sustainable change.
When you think about the future of healthcare programming for employers, what keeps you up at night?
I worry about unsustainable, high costs to patients and, broadly, the decline in our populations’ good health because of untreated or poorly treated chronic, and many times preventable, conditions. I worry about poor access to high quality care, especially in areas where lack of providers, poor transportation and other conditions deny employees care from the finest, most highly trained physicians in the world.
Primary care is one of the highest value elements of good healthcare delivery, but the pathway has not always been a straight one. Primary care is essential to health and leads to higher quality, more equitable care with lower costs and improved health status. I’m excited to continue to work on the connection between access to high performing primary care and improved productivity, quality, and affordable care for employers and their employees.
What gets you excited about the opportunity Galileo has to shape the healthcare experience for employees across the country?
I’m inspired by Galileo’s vision to transform the way healthcare is delivered. I’m most excited about working with an incredibly talented and skilled team with an outstanding reputation and with thought leaders and a legacy of innovation and change. Galileo is designed around the highest quality, academically trained physicians and an innovative system of collaboration and training that is truly changing the way medicine is practiced and delivered to patients. Engaging a Digital Medical Practice like Galileo is the most important investment an employer can make as health care and benefits professionals to achieve the goals of accessibility, affordability and quality to support a productive, healthy workforce.
More about Barbara’s background
While leading Benefits Strategy and Engagement for the Walt Disney Company, Barbara was responsible for a $2.5 billion budget, leading strategic initiatives to address Disney’s long-term healthcare goals and objectives for a dynamic workforce with the ultimate in experience expectations.
Prior to Disney, Barbara held senior leadership positions at international benefit consulting & human capital consulting firms. She is a national speaker, senior healthcare advisor, investor and serves on several boards for early stage healthcare companies.