Meet Thom
Thom Walsh is a member of Vermont's Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB), a nonpartisan branch of state government comprised of five members dedicated to serving the public interest. The GMCB provides unbiased and transparent information and analysis regarding the performance of Vermont's healthcare system. Its primary responsibilities include offering impartial evaluations of hospitals and insurers, regulating hospital budgets, commercial insurance rates, and statewide healthcare reform initiatives.
Thom is an adjunct faculty member at Dartmouth College, where he teaches courses on Health Systems & Policy at the Geisel Medical and Tuck Business schools. He has authored two books and numerous articles on features of US healthcare systems. Before his appointment to the GMCB, Thom was the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Cardinal Point Health Solutions, a consulting company whose clients included The Joint Commission, Veterans Affairs, Navy Medicine, Boise State University, OneHealth Nebraska, and the University of Tulsa. His background includes direct patient care as a board-certified Physical Therapist specializing in Orthopedics. Throughout his clinical career, he pursued further education, earning a Master of Science in Clinical Evaluative Science and a Doctorate in Health Policy, both from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
17 December 2021
Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of Thom Walsh, PhD, MS to the Green Mountain Care Board (GMBC).
He is a senior expert on healthcare transformation at The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare were he leads the development of their assessment tools, associated products, programs, and consulting services. Previously, he served as a high reliability expert with Safe & Reliable Healthcare, a consulting company helping organizations improve their safety, reliability, and outcomes to improve their clinical, operational, and financial value. At S&R, Thom co-lead a team developing the policies and analytic plans for assessing a healthcare organization’s reliability and safety initially and over time. He also teaches principles and practices of high reliability, including theories of accident causation, just culture principles, and error management tools. He is also a Visiting Professor at Boise State University and an adjunct lecturer at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
“Dr. Walsh is an experienced professional who will bring an important perspective to the Green Mountain Care Board,” said Governor Scott. “His background both in health policy and delivering healthcare will serve him well in this new role.”
Dr. Walsh is an expert in health care systems, policy, and patient care. He is currently a senior expert on health system transformation at the Joint Commission - Center for Transforming Healthcare. In previous roles, he served as a high reliability organization expert for the Veterans Health Administration with Safe & Reliable Healthcare and as founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Cardinal Point Healthcare Solutions, whose clients included U.S. Navy Medicine, One Health Nebraska, the Connecticut Institute for Primary Care Innovation, Maine Medical Center among others.
He is also the author of Finding What Matters Most to Patients (2019) and Navigating to Value in Healthcare (2017).
His career began as a Physical Therapist with board certification as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and sub-specialty training as a spine specialist. His clinical career spanned private practice and academic settings, including the development and launch of a multidisciplinary spine center at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He was particularly interested in researching patient outcomes and the systems, processes, skills, and policies needed to continually improve them throughout that time. These interests led him to earn an MS in Clinical Evaluative Sciences and a PhD in Health Policy from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
Known as an excellent teacher and mentor, he draws on his clinical, research, and consulting experience to help people and organizations navigate a rapidly changing healthcare environment. Thom’s peer-reviewed and general audience articles on patient-reported outcomes, shared decision making, change management and leadership have appeared in numerous publications, including the BMJ, JAMA, Spine, The Journal of Healthcare Management, Forbes, The New America Foundation, and The Atlantic. In addition, the September 3, 2018 edition of Managed Care featured Thom’s career.
He enjoys hiking, running, kayaking, reading, and gardening.
Thom is an adjunct faculty member at Dartmouth College, where he teaches courses on Health Systems & Policy at the Geisel Medical and Tuck Business schools. He has authored two books and numerous articles on features of US healthcare systems. Before his appointment to the GMCB, Thom was the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Cardinal Point Health Solutions, a consulting company whose clients included The Joint Commission, Veterans Affairs, Navy Medicine, Boise State University, OneHealth Nebraska, and the University of Tulsa. His background includes direct patient care as a board-certified Physical Therapist specializing in Orthopedics. Throughout his clinical career, he pursued further education, earning a Master of Science in Clinical Evaluative Science and a Doctorate in Health Policy, both from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
17 December 2021
Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of Thom Walsh, PhD, MS to the Green Mountain Care Board (GMBC).
He is a senior expert on healthcare transformation at The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare were he leads the development of their assessment tools, associated products, programs, and consulting services. Previously, he served as a high reliability expert with Safe & Reliable Healthcare, a consulting company helping organizations improve their safety, reliability, and outcomes to improve their clinical, operational, and financial value. At S&R, Thom co-lead a team developing the policies and analytic plans for assessing a healthcare organization’s reliability and safety initially and over time. He also teaches principles and practices of high reliability, including theories of accident causation, just culture principles, and error management tools. He is also a Visiting Professor at Boise State University and an adjunct lecturer at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
“Dr. Walsh is an experienced professional who will bring an important perspective to the Green Mountain Care Board,” said Governor Scott. “His background both in health policy and delivering healthcare will serve him well in this new role.”
Dr. Walsh is an expert in health care systems, policy, and patient care. He is currently a senior expert on health system transformation at the Joint Commission - Center for Transforming Healthcare. In previous roles, he served as a high reliability organization expert for the Veterans Health Administration with Safe & Reliable Healthcare and as founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Cardinal Point Healthcare Solutions, whose clients included U.S. Navy Medicine, One Health Nebraska, the Connecticut Institute for Primary Care Innovation, Maine Medical Center among others.
He is also the author of Finding What Matters Most to Patients (2019) and Navigating to Value in Healthcare (2017).
His career began as a Physical Therapist with board certification as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and sub-specialty training as a spine specialist. His clinical career spanned private practice and academic settings, including the development and launch of a multidisciplinary spine center at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He was particularly interested in researching patient outcomes and the systems, processes, skills, and policies needed to continually improve them throughout that time. These interests led him to earn an MS in Clinical Evaluative Sciences and a PhD in Health Policy from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
Known as an excellent teacher and mentor, he draws on his clinical, research, and consulting experience to help people and organizations navigate a rapidly changing healthcare environment. Thom’s peer-reviewed and general audience articles on patient-reported outcomes, shared decision making, change management and leadership have appeared in numerous publications, including the BMJ, JAMA, Spine, The Journal of Healthcare Management, Forbes, The New America Foundation, and The Atlantic. In addition, the September 3, 2018 edition of Managed Care featured Thom’s career.
He enjoys hiking, running, kayaking, reading, and gardening.