Log In

Tufts Works With Physicians to Get Their Support, Says CEO

Harris Berman, MD
Edited by: Deborah J. Neveleff

May 2002
Interview

Harris Berman, MD, is CEO of Tufts Health Plan in Boston, a 900,000-member nonprofit managed care organization. A graduate of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, Berman did his residency in internal medicine and had a fellowship in infectious diseases at the New England Medical Center and Boston City Hospital. After two years in the Peace Corps as a physician, he returned to his home state of New Hampshire and in 1971 co-founded the Matthew Thornton Health Plan in Nashua, the first HMO in northern New England. There, he served first as medical director and then as executive director. He also practiced primary care medicine and his specialty for 15 years. Berman has served as the CEO of the Tufts Health Plan since 1986. Richard L. Reece, MD, contributing editor, conducted this interview.

Q:How has managed care changed since you became head of Tufts Health Plan?
A:It has changed enormously in the last 15 years. Managed care started as an idea on the West Coast and began to be implemented on the East Coast only in the 1970s. I spent most of my early career explaining what an HMO was. What was then an unusual alternative for organizing health care has now become a standard way of delivering care. Managed care has gone from being an interesting alternative to becoming a cornerstone of our health care system. And with that change, a huge shift has occurred in how people think about health care and financing.
Certainly, Tufts Health Plan has grown; in fact, it’s the second largest HMO in the state. During my tenure as CEO, the plan’s membership has grown from 60,000 to about 900,000 members.
Q: ....

This articles can viewed in its entirety by registered users only.

Login (requires cookies)

Forgot Password:
Click here if you cannot remember your password

Register Here:
Click here to register