Jacob Bast

About Jacob Bast

For nearly 30 years, I\'ve focused on one of healthcare\'s most complex challenges: redesigning the delivery model to truly reward what matters—better health outcomes. I am passionate about moving beyond transactional, fee-for-service medicine to build sustainable systems that thrive on value.As the Chief Operating Officer for one of the region\'s largest integrated medical groups, I led the charge in scaling a 150-provider practice into a nearly 900-strong, high-performing enterprise. My approach is rooted in four core beliefs:1. Provider Alignment is Paramount: True transformation only happens when you engage physicians and providers as partners, aligning operational goals and financial incentives with their clinical expertise.2. Data Drives Decisions: I\'ve built frameworks for everything from workforce planning to facility design based on rigorous data analysis, leading to top-quartile performance in engagement, patient experience, and quality.3. Policy Shapes Practice: My long-standing advocacy work in Washington, D.C, and leadership with the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) have given me a unique perspective on the intersection of federal policy and on-the-ground operational reality.4. Value is the Future: the financial headwinds facing healthcare delivery organizations and the sheer number of patients aging into Medicare creates a challenge simply too great to overcome with the traditional approach of commercial insurance revenue making up for poor government reimbursement, and we can\'t expense cut our way out of this without hospital closures and sacrificing critical community services. Keeping patients healthier and reducing the healthcare spend is the pathway not only to survive but to thrive.

Experience

1. Search and Recovery Diver

   Boone County Water Rescue

   Jun 2025 — Present · Cincinnati, OH, US

Education

• University of Minnesota School of Public Health

  MHA, Health Care Administration

  1995 — 1997

• Florida Southern College

  BS, Business Administration

  1991 — 1994