Phillip Polakoff, MD

Dr. Polakoff’s distinguished career in health and health care spans forty-five years and includes clinical services, product innovation, network development, care management, organizational and business enhancement, policy formulation, communications and financing. He is a health transformation advisor, and previously has worked in product and network development, care management, organizational and business development, policy formulation, communications and financing. He serves as the founder and CEO of A Healthier We, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing critical issues of rural health. 

Dr. Polakoff’s previous positions have included being short listed for US Surgeon General, Senior Managing Director of publicly traded consulting firms, advisor to numerous payers, providers, investors, employers, labor organizations and public entities. Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Total Health Advocacy Partners (Thap!). He has produced numerous health-related media productions. Including videos being aired as Phil Polakoff MD-Thrive Global. For many years Dr. Polakoff and his wife, Nancy Pfund, have been integral advisors to the Center. As an affiliated scholar at the Bill Lane Center, Dr. Polakoff is intimately involved with the Rural West initiative, and particularly with the program design of the 2017 Eccles Family Rural West Conference, which focuses on rural health and health care issues. In addition to his work at the Center, Dr. Polakoff is a consulting professor at Stanford’s School of Medicine. He is the author of five books and has published more than 200 articles. Dr. Polakoff holds degrees from Cornell University (B.S), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (M.S. Environmental Sciences), Wayne State University (M.D.), UC Berkeley (M.P.H.) and Oxford University.