Our Vision

Health Options Worldwide (HOW) leverages an expertise in behavioral economics and social psychology to deliver tools that improve engagement and change behavior. Our solution integrates all of an employer’s healthcare data into a single platform for employees providing a clear path to better health, more production, and reduced healthcare costs.

Our Founders

HOW Founders Clark Lagemann and David Goldstein both have had successful careers in the healthcare industry. Goldstein helped train surgeons in the use of medical devices. Lagemann developed patient engagement strategies used by top hospitals.

Even as they helped hospitals and surgeons save patients with acute health problems, Lagemann and Goldstein realized that many of these surgeries could have been avoided if the patients had received proper preventative care.

Determined to reduce unnecessary costs and disease, Lagemann and Goldstein founded Health Options Worldwide (HOW) with a mission to use technology to increase health awareness and help people take action.

Goldstein and Lagemann hope that HOW will help employees make better proactive decisions on protecting their health and reducing their risk of developing chronic illnesses.

Our Team

David Goldstein | President & CEO

David is proud to be one of the quickest promoted Sales Managers at ADP where he inherited a team of inexperienced sales representatives and led them to the #1 Team in the Country. His management and sales accomplishments were acknowledged year after year with multiple President’s Club Awards. In addition to these successes he created new product offerings and sales trainings that are still used by the company. David transitioned into the healthcare industry by joining C.R. Bard’s Davol where he concluded his tenure by ranking as the #1 sales representative in the company in surgeon training. He eventually left to run a surgical distributorship called L5 Surgical where he served as the CEO’s right-hand man. During this time he learned many entrepreneurial skills to compliment his robust sales background. David continues to share his sales and leadership expertise to both students and professionals by offering trainings and educational presentations at ADP, C.R. Bard, DeVry University, Insight Only, JuiceTank, L5 Surgical and Rutgers University. He currently serves as a mentor for Tigerlabs’s health accelerator and as the Vice Chairman of Trustees of the Montgomery Woods Homeowners Association.

Balaji “Bala” Jayaraman | Chief Technology Officer

Bala is a seasoned information technology management executive with more than 15 years of technology background in web systems architecture, development, IT operations, database and project management in verticals such as technology, government, insurance and several start up’s and early stage companies. During his career, he has successfully managed multi-million dollar budgeted projects and is recognized for the work he has performed for the WTC 911 recovery project and the system’s architecture and development of biopod, to create a mathematical algorithm for Bureau of Health Services in helping the city of new york to determine the time needed to vaccinate all the first responders in the event of a terrorist activity or a biological threat in new york city. He is also a recognized leader, developer of IT talent and holds numerous certifications to his credit from Oracle, Sun, Zend Technologies (opensource) and Learning Tree International. Bala has a bachelor’s degree from Loyola College and holds a post graduate certificate in systems management. He is currently enrolled at Cornell University for his MBA degree and is a graduate of 2014.

Clark Lagemann | Vice President

Clark’s professional highlights include the prestigious Presidents Club Award at ADP for ranking in the top 2% of all sales representatives and a national recognition at GlaxoSmithKline for his efforts re-launching PaxilCR. Furthermore, he earned 3 consecutive Presidents Clubs at American Medical Systems. His first was achieved as a marketing manager where he built brand and patient awareness at 4 of the top 15 US News Best Hospitals and successfully developed a prostate cancer discharge kit that is being utilized in top hospitals nationwide. During the next two years he transitioned into a sales position where he doubled revenue to $5M and was ranked as the top territory manager in the country. As a former Rotarian, Clark is passionate about giving back to underserved communities and has sat on the Public Awareness Committee of the Manhattan Interagency Council on Aging. Currently he serves on the International Committee at the Westfield YMCA, an organizer of Startup Weekend, as a leanstartup mentor, and as a Rutgers University Business School alumni mentor. He also founded Scarlet Startups, a nonprofit startup community to inspire the next generation of New Jersey entrepreneurs.

Dan Sorkin | Business Analyst

Dan recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science. During his time at Rutgers he was involved with various entrepreneurial ventures, from which he gained experience in sales, marketing, and strategic thinking, which also led him to serving as the TA for the Marketing for Entrepreneurs class. His enthusiasm for health and fitness is part of his passion for HOW, and he is an integral part of both the business development process and the strategic development of the company.

Our Board of Advisors

Joe Carabello | Founder at Regulatory Harmonization Institute

Joe Carabello is President and CEO of CPR Strategic Marketing Communications. He has been involved in a broad range of developmental and operational activities relating to marketing and marketing communications throughout his career spanning healthcare, managed care, medical tourism, and e-business and technology sectors. As President and CEO of CPR, Mr. Carabello focuses his energy on developing key relationships with industry leaders, as well as managing all areas of CPR’s operations. Holding key positions in several managed care organizations, as well as venture-based startups and consulting firms, Mr. Carabello has extensive experience in the healthcare industry. He has served on the board of numerous companies including managed care organizations, physician partnerships, and public service organizations. He currently sits on the boards of Unotron, Inc, Regulatory Harmonization Institute, Inc., Keenton LTD, and Sphera International USA, Inc. amongst others. An experienced strategic planner, he was responsible for the start up and marketing programs of several health maintenance organizations including Oxford Health Plans and Health Care Plan of New Jersey.  Mr. Carabello also served as Vice President of Olsten Health Care Services, a home healthcare company, where he was responsible for managing the company’s activities on a national level.  Over the course of his career, Mr. Carabello has also been called upon to start up, develop, and market regional ambulatory healthcare systems. Mr. Carabello holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Fairleigh Dickenson University and an MBA from Louisiana State University.

Don Lightfoot, MBA, CEBS, CLU | Chairman, The Grant Group

Don Lightfoot has more than 30 years experience as a senior executive with major health insurance companies and benefit consulting firms. Mr. Lightfoot is credited with the marketing of more employee benefit programs to Global 500 companies (70+ F500 clients), unions (UAW) and other large organizations, including governmental entities (U.S. Army, the State of Michigan and the Federal Reserve), over the past 40 years than any other professional in the industry. This is a result of designing, marketing, selling and administering uniquely creative and innovative employee benefit programs. Throughout his successful career, Mr. Lightfoot co-developed and sold the first PPO in America, and later the first group legal plan, while with Prudential Group, to the Chrysler Corporation. As Chief Marketing Officer for two prosperous start ups (UltraLink and eBenX), both health care administration companies, he increased sales by 400%. He was a principal driver for a successful IPO (eBenX), resulting in stockholder value of close to $1 billion in the first two weeks of share subscription. Most recently, Mr. Lightfoot was selected for an advisory role with the Global Center for Health, Education and Environment, an affiliated agency of the United Nations. He assists in determining which projects worldwide should be considered for funding by private enterprises and government agencies. Mr. Lightfoot’s military service includes proudly serving as a decorated U.S. Marine and he traces his American Indian heritage to the Blackfoot Tribe.

Mim Minichiello | Chief Operating Officer of EBS Capstone

Mim Minichiello is a Senior Partner and Chief Operating Officer of EBS Capstone. As a seasoned health insurance executive she brings over 25 years of experience in developing and implementing sales/service strategies, refining processes for maximum client/firm value and creating highly effective teams. In her role as Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Minichiello directs the integration of all line of business – employee benefits, property & casualty and financial services. Ms. Minichiello comes to EBS Capstone from Tufts Health Plan where she held numerous leadership positions, her most recent being Vice President, Sales and Client Services. She was responsible for overseeing sales and client retention in all industries and market segments in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Prior to joining Tufts Health Plan Ms. Minichiello was director of client services and implementation at Private Health Care Systems. Ms. Minichiello holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Physical Therapy from the University of New Hampshire. She also received a graduate certificate in management from Radcliffe College. In addition Ms. Minichiello is a licensed insurance broker and completed AHIP’s Executive Leadership program and attained the Certified Health Insurance Executive designation. She is a member of New England Employee Benefits Council, Society for Human Resources, and The Commonwealth Institute. Ms. Minichiello is on the board of YWCA of Boston. She is also Vice-Chair of The Boston Club’s Nonprofit Board Committee and a participant on the United Way’s Campaign Cabinet.

Tej Maini, MD | International Healthcare Consultant & Medical School Dean

Tej Maini, M.D. is a global health care authority with a highly successful track record evaluating, planning and leading international expansion ventures, hospital start-ups and turnarounds. He currently serves as Senior Adviser in International Affairs to the Dean, Tufts University School of Medicine, and Visiting Scholar at Brandeis University. Previously Dr. Maini led the strategic transformation of Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (Managed by Cleveland Clinic) into a world-class hospital and group practice. He turned a significant annual loss into an operating profit, while introducing performance and quality initiatives that ranked the hospital tops in the Middle East. Dr. Maini was also served as the Senior Vice President of Cleveland Clinic Global Solutions where he developed plans and recruited the leadership team for a new $3 billion, world-class teaching hospital in Abu Dhabi. As a health care system CEO for more than two decades in the U.S. and abroad, he has won widespread recognition for financial turnarounds, metrics-driven performance initiatives, technology innovation and leadership on health care policy issues. He lead the largest group practice in Central Massachusetts (240 physicians in 26 locations, one million visits annually), effected a dramatic turnaround of a nearly bankrupt company with $16 million in debt to a $4 million profit in one year. Furthermore, he built cash reserves and focused on productivity, cost control and efficiency of practice while maintaining patient satisfaction and quality of care.

Talya Miron- Shatz, Ph.D. | Co-founder and CEO CureMyWay

Talya Miron-Shatz, Ph.D., is a decision scientist who uses insights on patient comprehension and motivation to arrive at their implications to adherence and outcomes. She has a BA, MA and PhD in psychology from Hebrew University, and did her post-doc with Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman at Princeton University, 2005- 2009. She taught consumer behavior at Wharton, is now the founding director of the Center for Medical Decision Making at the Ono Academic College, and publishes extensively in peer reviewed journals and books (Oxford University, MIT Press, and more). Talya puts her extensive knowledge of decision making to use in her role as co-founder and CEO of CureMyWay, a start-up company that promotes behavioral change towards better health. Her commitment to bridging industry and decision science led her to chairing the startup panel at the Medicine 2.0 conference,  and leading the Pharma 2.0 series for NYC’s Health 2.0. She brings her unique insights on consumer and prescriber behavior and barriers to her work with big pharma: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis, BMS, Edelman PR, Draftfcb, and other health and media companies.

Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D. | Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation

Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D., a seasoned veteran of more than three decades in Washington policymaking, is The Heritage Foundation’s senior fellow in domestic and economic policy studies. Mr. Moffit long has specialized in health care and entitlement programs, including Medicare. He brings to the reform effort his government experience as a senior official of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) during the Reagan administration. He is a senior member of Heritage’s pace-setting health care team, directed the think tank’s Center for Health Policy Studies from 2003 until June 2010.  He was one of only a few conservatives to make Modern Healthcare magazine’s August 2010 list of “The 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.” He has appeared on the major cable news channels as well as the broadcast networks, and is quoted regularly by USA Today and other leading newspapers. His analysis and commentary have been cited or published by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and The Washington Post, among scores of newspapers large and small. He is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Buckley Foundation for Communications. Recognition for his work includes public service awards from such diverse organizations as the American College of Eye Surgery, the Great Lakes Association of Clinical Medicine and the National Hispanic Family Against Drug Abuse. Mr. Moffit holds both a master’s degree and a doctorate in political science from the University of Arizona.

Vicki Raeburn, Ph.D. | President at Raeburn Consulting

Vicki P. Raeburn, Ph.D., is currently an independent consultant focusing on organizational development and information quality. Prior to her retirement in 2012, she was Senior Vice President of Information & Insight Operations at IHS, managing an 850 + person team responsible for information content creation, editorial, and publishing for all information products. A recipient of a Ph.D. from Yale University, Mrs. Raeburn has an extensive background in business, having held a number of key general management, operations, strategic planning, and product management positions prior to joining IHS. While Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer at D&B; (Dun & Bradstreet), Mrs. Raeburn managed a $100 million cost reduction program while simultaneously improving both employee engagement scores and customer satisfaction quality metrics. Before joining D & B, Mrs. Raeburn acted as President and Chief Operating Officer of Mergent, where she was able to transform the product line from 85% print delivery to 80% electronic delivery. She has also previously had a senior leadership position at Standard & Poor’s (S&P;). She has taught at NYU’s Stern School of Business and at Vassar College.

Nancy Schneier | Business Executive Specializing in Strategic Alliances

Nancy Schneier is a Business Development Executive who has over 25 years of experience working with banks, broker/dealers, investment managers and software vendors to deliver technology and business solutions to financial services clients.   She has expertise in launching industry solutions with a focus on data management and analytics. Furthermore, her experience in launching industry technology solutions with a focus on data management and analytics enabled her to structure partnerships with IMB and SAP.  Mrs. Schneier has leveraged this expertise to work with start-up and early stage companies in healthcare to develop and execute strategies for revenue acceleration.  Mrs. Schneier has a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.  She is an active member and past board member of the Women’s Bond Club, an organization focused on advancing women in financial services.

Gregory White | Managing Director at The Probity Group

Greg White is a business consultant and coach with more than 25 years of consulting and management experience. He is currently the CEO for The Probity Group, Inc. (TPG), a management consulting firm focused on business strategy and execution. Prior to forming TPG, he was a partner-level senior consultant with one of the premier global management consulting firms, Watson Wyatt & Co. (now Towers Watson). Greg has also successfully served as the Vice President and Practice Leader for Seidensticker & Blake, a national consulting firm specializing in employee benefits. He has worked with executives and managers from start-ups to Fortune 50, including organizations such as Avery Dennison, PETCO, The Walt Disney Company, Hilton Hotels, Dole Food Company, MetLife, Merrill Lynch & Co. and The First American Corporation. Greg holds a B.A. in marketing from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is involved in the community currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors of World is Just a Book Away Foundation and an Advisory Board Member to The Circle of Charities. Greg has also been an active board member of the Corporate Advisory Board to the Center for Management Communication Marshall School of Business, University of Southern CA and Junior Achievement of Southern California.