George Thomas Devries

George Thomas DeVries, III, is Chairman, President, CEO and co-Founder
of American Specialty Health, Inc. He is one of the nation’s leaders in
complementary healthcare services. He co-founded American Specialty
Health in 1987 with a few thousand dollars of savings. Working from a
second bedroom in his condominium, he posted $34,000 in revenues that
first year. Since then, American Specialty Health has achieved various
‘industry firsts’: American Specialty Health Plans of California was
first in California and the nation in obtaining a chiropractic specialty
health plan license (1994), and similarly the first acupuncture license
(1997). The company also obtained the nation’s first accreditation as a
chiropractic and acupuncture health plan and network from URAC.
Considered an expert on the integration of complementary and alternative
health care into third-party reimbursement, Mr. DeVries was appointed by
President Clinton to the White House Commission on Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Policy. He has testified before various
Congressional and Legislative Committees, and has authored various
published articles on complementary health care. Additionally, he has
been a speaker for various organizations including American Association
of Health Plans, National Managed Health Care Congress, California
Association of Health Plans, Health Care Finance Management Association,
Health Underwriters, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans,
Stanford University, and Harvard University. Currently, Mr. DeVries is a
member of the Board of Directors for the American Association of
Preferred Provider Organizations. Among the honors bestowed on Mr.
DeVries are the National Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Health
Sciences (2000), and San Diego’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in
Health Sciences (1997); he also received Certificates of Recognition
from the California Legislative Assembly, the California Senate, and
various state governors. He was named Outstanding Alumnus of the
University of California at San Diego. He was also named one of the 30
individuals in ‘Who’s Who in San Diego Business’ (1998) by the San Diego
Business Journal. He received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of
California, San Diego.