Alpha is one of the nation's leading health policy centers.
Dr. Helms said that Piper's responsibilities will include providing technical assistance and training to health purchasers and other health care organizations and conducting applied research in health care finance and delivery. This management-oriented research will focus on improving managed care programs in Medicare, Medicaid, and the new Children's Health Insurance Program. Through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Medicaid Managed Care Program, which CHCS runs, Piper will provide technical assistance to states and counties on the design, implementation, and operation of managed care programs. As Wisconsin's state health officer and administrator of the state's health agency during 1996-97, Piper was responsible for Medicaid, managed care, public health, health care information, and several programs for the uninsured. As a health financing examiner with the White House Office of Management and Budget from 1988 to 1990, where he worked on Medicare, managed care, and quality assurance issues.