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Pictured above: Gloria Sachdev, President and CEO, Employers’ Forum of Indiana; Chris Foutch, Senior Finance Supervisor, SEL; Pamela Colley, Senior Public Affairs Manager, SEL; Christan Royer, Director of Benefits, Indiana University.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) has been awarded the 2024 Dave Kelleher Leadership Award by the Employers’ Forum of Indiana (EFI). The award was presented at the EFI All-Stakeholder Meeting held on November 12 in Indianapolis. Pamela Colley, senior public affairs manager, accepted the award on behalf of the company along with Chris Foutch, who focuses on forensic and financial analysis at SEL.

EFI, an employer-led healthcare coalition founded in 2001, is comprised of employers, physicians, hospitals, health plans, benefit consultants and others dedicated to improving the value of healthcare services through collaborative efforts and innovative solutions.

“We’ve been so impressed with all that SEL is doing to support market and policy initiatives towards aligning payment with the value of services provided,” said EFI President Gloria Sachdev. “Their commitment to healthcare price transparency is truly commendable.”

Past recipients of the Dave Kelleher Leadership Award include Indiana State Representative Donna Schaibley, for her leadership in shaping legislation aimed at lowering healthcare prices in Indiana, and Chris Whaley, author of the RAND Hospital Price Transparency studies, which provide crucial data for understanding and addressing the high and variable costs of healthcare in the U.S.

In addition to its leadership award, EFI also presented its annual award for healthcare innovation, which was presented to Mark Cuban for his work to provide access to safe, affordable medicines through the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company.

“A guiding principle at SEL is empowering the people who are closest to the problem to help come up with a solution,” said SEL Founder and President Edmund O. Schweitzer, III. “Advocating for healthcare price transparency is the first step in enabling patients and employers to fully understand the problem and push toward a solution. This is a problem that won’t get solved behind closed doors.”

SEL has engaged with EFI since 2019 as part of its ongoing efforts to improve healthcare price transparency and improve the quality of care for its employees, their families and others across the U.S. SEL uses its claims data to review contracts with its plan administrator and other providers to avoid hidden fees, identify large price discrepancies, manage its prescription drug program and contract directly with providers.

To learn more about the work SEL is doing related to healthcare, click here. To learn more about EFI, click here.