Karen Shields

Karen Shields is the CEO and Owner of K Shields Health Tech Consulting, LLC. We provide strategic thought leadership, policy interpretation and operational implementation support in the field of public sector insurance programs. Our team brings an extensive background in federal health programs and consulting with expertise spanning various critical areas, including Medicaid and ACA policy operations.

We bring a wealth of roll-our-sleeves-up, get it done, tactical implementation and change driving in large- and small-scale state and federal health initiatives, change management and strategic planning.

Karen Shields

Capabilities Highlights and Services

Regulatory Impact Analysis – plain language interpretation across healthcare programs – mapping your priorities to legislative changes.
Strategic Analysis: Strategic analysis and operational impact assessments of federal and state healthcare mission and priorities, particularly in Medicaid and ACA operations.
Voice of the Customer Surveys: Removing blind spots and pinpointing the accuracy of your service delivery with independent feedback survey services.
Leadership mentoring and Coaching – activating your leadership team to perform at the highest level.
Operational Implementaton – converting the “what” to the “how” and designing large scale projects to meet policy goals with outcomes and metrics.

CEO Experience Highlights

Leadership in Medicaid Programs: Led initiatives across 29 states at Gainwell Technologies and oversaw Medicaid and CHIP programs for over 84 million individuals as Deputy Director at CMS.
Financial Oversight: Managed the disbursement of $880B in Medicaid grants and provided operational oversight of $1.2B in federal Medicaid spending.
COVID-19 Response: Spearheaded the response efforts for all 50 states and developed post-public health emergency unwind strategies.
ACA Implementation: Oversaw the operational, financial, and contractual implementation of ACA reforms within CMS, managing a $2.5B budget.