Michael S. O’Neil

With a master’s degree in counseling psychology and more than 20 years’ worth of “skinned knees and bloodied knuckles that come with driving change in healthcare,” Michael O’Neil’s experience and passion lie at the core of Healthcare Bluebook’s purpose: to protect patients by exposing the truth and empowering choice. While his official title is Chief Executive Officer, Michael says his real job is Sheepdog:

“In every walk of life, especially in healthcare, you have at least three types of people: You have the sheep—those who are vulnerable because they don’t have all the tools, visibility, and information they need to protect themselves (patients). You have the wolves who prey on the sheep by leveraging the advantages of their strength, size, position, and information (large status-quo payers and providers). And then you have Sheepdogs—those who intimately understand the world of the wolf but live to protect the sheep from the wolves.”

To that end, Michael and his team work closely with employers, providers, and patients to deliver outsized gains in healthcare savings, safety and service to plan sponsors and patients alike.

Before joining Bluebook, Michael was chief executive officer for Clinically Home, a physician group model focused on providing safe acute care allowing patients to remain in the safety and comfort of their own homes in the acute and post-acute stages of care.

In previous roles, Michael served as senior vice president for HealthSpring (later acquired by Cigna) where he led the strategy and development team to successfully create virtual, integrated delivery systems to improve patient outcomes; and prior, as general manager at Healthways with a focus on population health and behavior change.

Michael began his professional career writing and producing for television, print, and film. During this time, he co-produced The Emperor’s Club, a feature film released by Universal Pictures.  Apart from work, Michael volunteers as a counselor with The Crisis Text Line; and enjoys time on the slopes or beneath the waves with his family whenever possible.