Bredesen's whiz-kid moves to HCA

UPDATED 4:37 with details on new role at HCA
Former TennCare chief J.D. Hickey leaves helm of Qualifacts, joins hospital giant

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse and E. Thomas Wood

J.D. Hickey

Update, 4:37 p.m. Tuesday:

An HCA spokesperson tells NashvillePost.com that Hickey joined the company on January 8th as vice president of service lines in HCA's outpatient services group. His new role involves developing plans for growth in outpatient services throughout the large healthcare company.

As originally published:

J.D. Hickey, former TennCare chief under Gov. Phil Bredesen, has left his position as CEO of the privately held company co-founded by Bredesen, Qualifacts Systems Inc., and now is employed by Nashville-based hospital operator HCA Inc., according to sources familiar with the move. Those sources also indicate that Hickey remains on the board of the software development company.

Hickey took the job as CEO of Qualifacts just seven months ago. Bredesen had named him to run TennCare in 2004, when he was only 33 years old. Hickey holds both medical and law degrees from Duke University.

This past September, Qualifacts went through a major restructuring that eliminated 23 positions and brought in David Klements as president and saw the departure of co-founder Steven J. Mason.

At the time of that announcement, Klements acknowledged that Bredesen was still a shareholder in the company but said that neither he nor his wife, Andrea Conte, were on the board of directors.

Prior to his stints in state government and at Qualifacts, Hickey was employed by the international management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Hickey is included in the voicemail system at HCA's Park Plaza headquarters, but neither he nor HCA's spokespersons could be reached immediately this afternoon to explain what his role will be at the company, which went private in November in a $32.7 billion leveraged buyout.