Richard F. Averill is Principal Consultant at Hesperium and a pioneer in linking the financial and clinical dimensions of healthcare through innovative payment design. As Director of Health-Related Research at the Yale School of Management (1972–1982), he was a lead developer of the Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) and the case mix cost accounting system that became the foundation for Medicare’s Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS). He later served as chief consultant to New Jersey on the nation’s first DRG-based payment demonstration.
Averill subsequently founded Health Systems International, acquired by 3M Health Information Systems in 1990, where he served as Senior Vice President of Clinical and Economic Research. At 3M, he led multiple CMS initiatives, including the development and maintenance of the DRGs, Ambulatory Payment Classifications (APCs), Medicare Severity DRGs (MS-DRGs), and the ICD-10 Procedure Coding System. He also oversaw creation of widely used classification systems such as the All Patient Refined DRGs (APR DRGs).
Following his retirement from 3M in 2016, Averill founded The Hesperium Group. He continues to advise state Medicaid agencies on integrating quality-based adjustments into reimbursement systems. Recognized multiple times by Modern Healthcare as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare,” Averill has testified before Congress and is a frequent speaker and author of more than 80 publications on healthcare policy and management.