Christopher Jones

Christopher Jones is a Senior Fellow and Vice President for Healthcare Policy at the Cicero Institute. Previusly, Chris was the Commissioner for the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for Medicaid, children and family services, economic assistance, behavioral health and other services for people with disabilities, and includes a statewide system of public behavioral health clinics and two institutions. Previously, he served as a division senior vice president of strategy and business development for Catholic Health Initiatives. Prior to that role, he spent several years as a manager, director and analyst in CHI’s Strategy and Business Development function and worked as a consultant for Allina Health System and Vizient. Jones earned his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis and has undergraduate degrees in health care administration and Scandinavian studies from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN.

My Truth

While behavioral science and economics are softer scientific fields, we have not leveraged the science in the delivery of social services with desired outcomes. And we have not been able to clearly articulate to stakeholders (taxpayers) the overall impact of social programs. I want to be able to articulate economically how investing in kids and family, significantly reduces the overall economic burden to the taxpayer, both directly and indirectly.