As chief health services officer and executive vice president at American Specialty Health (ASH), Dr. Douglas Metz oversees the clinical aspects of the organization, including health services, research, clinical care management, and clinical quality management.
Since joining ASH in 1994, Dr. Metz has played a critical role in implementing the national standards of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and URAC. He led the company to URAC accreditation as well as delegated status with over 50 NCQA-accredited health plans. Dr. Metz was elected to the URAC board of directors in October 2004 and also serves as the chairman of its URAC Standards Committee.
Prior to joining ASH, Dr. Metz served as medical director of health services operations for Aetna Health Plans, Middletown, CT. While there, he was responsible for the oversight of chiropractic policy and programs for Aetna's indemnity programs, PPOs, HMOs, and pointof- service plans, and managed worker's compensation nationally.
Dr. Metz has an extensive background in many aspects of chiropractic managed care, including clinical guideline development, utilization management, quality management, credentialing, and network strategy.
Dr. Metz graduated from the National College of Chiropractic, Lombard, Ill., where he received a bachelor of science degree in biology and a doctor of chiropractic degree.
Dr. Metz is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Chiropractic Association, the California Chiropractic Association, the American Back Society, the American Public Health Association, and the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research. He is also a member of several patient advocacy organizations, including the Acoustic Neuroma Association and the National Brain Tumor Foundation.
Dr. Metz’ articles on chiropractic managed care and community health education have appeared in many professional and community publications, including: Archives of Internal Medicine (2004); Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (2004); Topics in Clinical Chiropractic (2000); and Advances in Chiropractic, Vol. 3 (1996). He frequently lectures on chiropractic managed care.