Meet Our Team: Q&A with Justin St. Andre, Managing Director

What brought you to Sellers Dorsey?
I was recruited to the firm, and I went through a lot of interviews with a lot of great people here. They helped me overcome my fear of returning to consulting, as it’s something I’ve done previously in my career. In my prior consulting role, I didn’t have much of a work-life balance, which looking back, I desperately needed. Sellers Dorsey gave me the reassurance that I would have that balance and I believed them. They kept that promise, and here I am more than three years later in an environment where managing work-life balance is attainable. And that’s something I’m very proud of. I love consulting and I enjoy the challenges that come with it. Being able to think creatively and working with different clients, those are all things I love and that I get to do here.

What is your area of expertise?
My background is in statistics, which then moved me into healthcare data, management, and analytics. And that has blossomed into a career around both finance and quality, which requires heavy analytics. Right now, we are at this interesting intersection in the American healthcare system where finance and quality are coming together for value-based arrangements as part of the future of the Medicaid landscape.

What types of clients do you typically serve?
Because of my position and where I’m situated on the broader team, I have a very peppered variety of clients that I serve here. I work with hospitals, physicians, and associations. I’m a little bit unique as my position bridges the gap between Medicaid finance and national consulting, which I really enjoy doing because it allows me to work with a lot of different clients.

What is your superpower and what is your kryptonite?
One of my superpowers is having the real-world experience of doing the work from the ground up. I can work with everyone from the back of the office programmer to the C-suite and feel very comfortable. My kryptonite, which is known to some folks in the firm, is my inability to say no. I have a tendency to think I can take on everything and more. And I could do a better job of establishing some guardrails for myself.

What is a project that you’ve worked on at Sellers Dorsey that you’re especially proud of?
I’m really excited about our project with a university health system. We are undertaking the largest data claims analytics task in the firm’s history. It involves collaboration across various teams from Legal to IT to Medicaid Finance and National Consulting. The cool thing is that everyone from the firm has touched it in some way. It’s exciting to be part of a project that sets a precedent for the future and now that we’ve done it, we can replicate it with other health systems.

The work is still in progress, but we just got the first hospital over the finish line with several years of data that we’ll be analyzing to identify opportunities and trends for our client. There’s lots of work ahead which we are very excited about.

What do you enjoy most about your role at Sellers Dorsey?
I enjoy the fact that every day is something different. It’s not predictable. There’s always going to be a new challenge and a new solution or goal that you get to work towards. That’s what gets me up in the morning. I like challenges and coming up with creative solutions. We don’t make widgets and that’s why I’m here.

What are the biggest challenges you predict for your clients in the next few years? What solutions do you hope will solve them?
We’re going to continue to see the financial pressure and constraints on all our providers, and I don’t think we’re going to come out of the pandemic and have a rebound. The pressures were there before they were exacerbated by COVID-19, and they will only continue to intensify. Many of our clients will continue to focus on finding new opportunities to decrease costs while serving the Medicaid population. And the solutions to those challenges are part of what our team has been working on, which is the large data analysis that we undertake. Data is something many of our clients struggle with. They struggle to identify where the problems are as well as their pain points. The firm’s ability to provide data analysis as a service is invaluable and will continue to be in the future as we’ve laid the foundation.

What is one fun fact that people would be surprised to learn about you? 
I ran the 2023 Chicago Marathon to benefit the Aids Foundation of Chicago.

What was your very first job?
My very first job where I received an actual paycheck, I was 15 years old, and I was a dishwasher at my aunt’s restaurant. It was a family supper club.

What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?
Run. At this point, I don’t know if it’s my favorite thing to do or just something I need to do. You don’t get to 26.2 without a little bit of training.

What is your favorite all-time movie?
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion. It is so ridiculous, and I watch it over and over.

To learn more about Justin and his role at the firm, check out his bio here.