Brian R. Wheeler is the Executive Vice President, Health Services of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst), one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit healthcare organizations. In his role, Brian leads a division dedicated to optimizing high-quality, highly integrated health service operations to drive affordable, accessible and equitable healthcare for the people CareFirst serves. He oversees all aspects of provider networks, care management teams, clinical support services and quality & accreditation.

Brian joined CareFirst in 2008 as Special Assistant to the CEO and has served in roles of increasing responsibility ever since. Most recently, Brian served as Vice President of Provider Collaboration and Network Transformation, where he focused on expanding and advancing CareFirst's approach to value-based care to better serve the region. In this role, he led the company’s provider and network-related business functions, including network strategy, network operations, practice transformation, provider contracting, advanced payment model (APM) design and healthcare delivery partner relations.

Brian has helped shape the regional regulatory environment with his ability to serve as a thought leader and subject matter expert around continued healthcare transformation. He made substantial headway on corporate goals by advocating for value-based care models and improved access to behavioral health and substance abuse services by expanding network capacity.

An entrepreneur at heart, Brian has worked in the healthcare sector for over 25 years, serving in various leadership roles in large and small provider organizations, start-up companies, and a multi-national Fortune 500 company. He served on several corporate, non-profit and community Boards of Directors in the past and currently serves on the Boards of Maryland and DC’s Health Information Exchange (CRISP), the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, and the Advisory Board for Health Payer Specialist.