George DeVries's Email & Phone

George DeVries co-founded American Specialty Health (ASH) in 1987 with only a few thousand dollars, working from a second bedroom in his condominium. His goal was to develop non-traditional health care programs and integrate them with traditional medical benefit plans offered by Fortune 2,000 employers, insurance companies, and health plans. Over the years, George has guided ASH's growth to become one of the largest specialty health plans, insurers, and network administrators nationally for complementary and alternative health care covering over 19 million Americans. During this process, ASH achieved a variety of industry firsts, including: Creating the first specialty health plan for chiropractic Creating the first specialty health plan for acupuncture Creating the first national insurer for complementary and alternative health care Receiving the first national accreditations for a specialty complementary/alternative health insurer, network, and/or health plan organization After the company achieved these milestones, George personally guided the innovation process which has transformed ASH into one of the nation's leading health and wellness organizations. First, ASH developed Healthyroads, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASH, which offers a broad array of prevention and wellness programs including lifestyle coaching, an online wellness portal, incentive programs, and various worksite programs covering over four million members nationally. Additionally, ASH also developed several comprehensive fitness products including Silver&Fit®, Active&Fit®, and FitnessCoach.com which now serve over a million members nationally. ASH currently provides complementary and alternative health care, prevention and wellness, or fitness programs for 24 million Americans; will post about $165 million in annual revenues in 2010; and has almost 800 employees. ASH works with 120 health plans and over 2,200 employer groups nationally. Based in San Diego, California, ASH has employees located throughout the nation. Considered an early expert in the integration of complementary and alternative health care into third-party reimbursement, George was appointed by President Clinton in 2000 to serve on the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. He has testified before various congressional and legislative committees, and has published articles on complementary/ alternative health care and health improvement in numerous trade publications. He is also a frequent guest speaker on health care topics for various organizations. Key honors bestowed on George include: America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Innovators Award in 2004 Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year for Health Sciences in 2000 San Diego Entrepreneur of the Year for Health Sciences in 1997 21st Century National Leadership Award from Impact Urban America As an innovator in corporate health and wellness, ASH is a three-time Gold winner of the National Business Group on Health's Best Employers for a Healthy Lifestyle? award and was named one of Americas 15 Fittest Companies by Men's Fitness magazine. ASH has also won three consecutive Silver Fit Business? awards from the California Taskforce on Youth and Workplace Wellness and has been named one of Healthiest Employers in San Diego? by the San Diego Business Journal. George has also focused on developing an exceptional management team and work environment for his employees. As a result, ASH has been named one of the Best Places to Work in San Diego by both San Diego Magazine and the San Diego Business Journal . The company has also been named among the ?100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare? by Modern Healthcare magazine. George and ASH are also actively engaged in community service. In 2005, 2006, and 2010, George served as the corporate chair of the Network of Strength Walk to Empower for Breast Cancer Awareness. He supports a broad range of community service initiatives including having ASH clinicians provide chiropractic services at a medical clinic for the homeless in San Diego. He also supports fundraising activities for organizations such as Toys for Tots, the El Refugio Senior Center in Mexico, Pets are Wonderful Support (PAWS), the American Heart Association, Soldier's Angels, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, SuperFood Drive, and others. In 2001 and 2002, ASH employees traded their own holiday party to host an event for the spouses and children of deployed military from San Diego bases. George was named an Outstanding Alumnus of the University of California-San Diego (UCSD), where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree. He is also a graduate of the Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana and currently sits on its Board of Trustees.