Dr. Schneider was one of the founding partners of the Health Economics Consulting Group, LLC (HECG) which merged with Oxford Outcomes in 2009. Since that time Dr. Schneider has served as Senior Director of the US health economics operations of Oxford Outcomes, which in recent years has included facilitating integration between Oxford Outcomes and ICON plc. Currently the CEO, he started Avalon Health Economics in 2013 by bringing together the consulting practices of several industry and academic colleagues, building on what he started with HECG in 2004. Prior to starting HECG Dr. Schneider was on the faculty in the Department of Health Management and Policy and the Department of Economics at the University of Iowa. His PhD is in Health Services and Policy Analysis from the University of California Berkeley, with a concentration in health economics. He has over 25 years of experience studying economic and organizational aspects of the health care industry, including professional appointments at the Center for Health Economics Research (Waltham, MA; now part of RTI International), and the California Association of Health Plans (Sacramento, CA).Dr. Schneider has also served as a consultant to managed care organizations, state health departments, trade associations, medical device manufacturers, large pharmaceutical companies, and others. He has also served as an expert witness in several legal proceedings. Dr. Schneider’s expertise include analysis of medical care costs, health insurance and managed care, regulation, hospital competition, specialty hospitals, physician ownership, outcomes research, technology assessment, process change, and insurer-provider contracting. Some of his research has been published in Medical Care Research and Review, International Journal of Healthcare Finance and Economics, Tobacco Control, Health Economics Review, Health Affairs, Inquiry, Health Services Research, Review of Industrial Organization, International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, American Journal of Medical Science, Prevention Science, and Health Care Financing Review. He is co-Author of The Business of Health (AEI Press, 2006).