Shields brings to Serco over 30 years of private and public sector leadership with recent expertise in supporting healthcare. She comes to Serco from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)/Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she served as the Deputy Director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO). At CCIIO, she served as the executive leader responsible for all business operations and day to day management for implementation of the Affordable Care Act health reforms.
Shields also served as the Executive for Operations at CMS, where she led multiple Healthcare Open Enrollment periods as well as oversaw the implementation, design and launch of mission critical systems for the disbursement of over $23 billion in federal payments to the health insurance plans. Other leadership roles she held at CMS included Director of the Consumer Information Insurance Systems Group and Director of the Customer Liaison and Support Services Division. Prior to CMS, she supported the Department of Defense, Treasury and other government agencies while working at Lockheed Martin for nine years.
In her new role, Shields will lead the strategy and expansion of Serco’s consulting, business processing, and operational solutions that assist Federal, State and Local governments in providing affordable healthcare for their citizens.
“We welcome Karen to the Serco team. She brings Serco a depth of knowledge and insight within the healthcare industry,” said Dave Dacquino, Chairman and CEO of Serco Inc. “We believe her expertise, thought leadership, and understanding of government agencies operations, policies and programs will enhance Serco’s position for growth in the healthcare services sector.”
“Serco understands the healthcare opportunities and challenges facing the governments and consumers. I have been impressed with their approach to business processing and program integrity as it relates to healthcare,” said Karen Shields. “I believe Serco is well positioned to be a major contributor of important services in the healthcare sector.”