name: Brad Fluegelstatus: activepriority: high
Brad Fluegel
Who
- Wharton HCM lecturer (26 years, Teaching Excellence Award 2023–24)
- Founder, BMF Advisors — advises healthcare companies, entrepreneurs, PE firms
- Former CSO of Walgreens, EVP/Chief Strategy Officer at Anthem/WellPoint, SVP at Aetna
- Former CEO of Reden & Anders (now Optum Consulting) — negotiated sale of Tillinghast Health to Optum
- Harvard Kennedy School MPP, UW BBA
- Based in Greater Chicago Area
- 4,000+ LinkedIn followers
Connection to Us
- Thomas's Wharton HCM professor
- Chair of the Board at Premera — this is not just a warm intro, Brad is the top of the governance structure at our biggest client
- Key connector — introduced us to:
- Jeremy Friese (Humata Health) → led to Dec 2025 intro call
- Premera → became our first/second client
- Two of our most important relationships trace back to Brad
Career Highlights
- Walgreens (11 years): CSO, then SVP Chief Healthcare Commercial Market Development Officer — all commercial healthcare activities, biopharma, retail clinics, clinical affairs
- Anthem/WellPoint: EVP, Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer
- Aetna: SVP National Accounts, VP Enterprise Strategy
- Reden & Anders / Tillinghast-Towers Perrin: CEO of clinical/actuarial/management consulting practice serving all healthcare sectors
- Health Evolution Partners: Executive in Residence
- Serves on multiple public and private boards
Why He Matters
- Has touched every corner of healthcare: payer (Anthem, Aetna), retail (Walgreens), consulting (Optum), PE, and academia
- Actively advises healthcare startups and PE firms — this is his current business
- Two-for-two on introductions that converted (Jeremy, Premera). High-quality connector.
- Commented "So proud to be affiliated with the best AI company in healthcare!" on a recent post — genuinely invested in his network's success
Interactions
| Date | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| (backfill — Wharton class, intro to Jeremy, intro to Premera) |
Notes
- Worth keeping very warm. Two of our most consequential relationships came through him.
- He's the chair of Premera's board. This makes Brad arguably the most important relationship in the network — he's the governance link to our biggest client. Don't just keep him warm, keep him thrilled.
- His advisory practice (BMF Advisors) means he's constantly in the flow of healthcare deals and startups.