Who We Are

We provide drug manufacturers with the resources, guidance, and support needed to successfully launch or manage their medical or pharmacy benefit products within the Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care marketplaces.

Our vision is to ultimately enhance the lives of patients by creating access to essential medications.

Our Culture

The Artia Ethos

Faith

We are grounded in our faith in God. Our faith guides us in serving our clients and our communities.

Innovation

We strive to challenge the status quo in our industry, and we encourage employees to push the boundaries in what is expected.

Collaboration

We leave our egos at the door to foster a creative environment of curiosity, teamwork, and camaraderie.

Meet Our Team

Our Team

We're a close-knit group of PharmDs, analysts, and seasoned Medicaid professionals who are committed to the hard work that a successful access strategy requires. We hold more than 100 years of combined Medicaid policy, administrative, clinical, legislative, and budgeting experience.

George is based in Tallahassee, FL. His hobbies include golf and music, especially playing his guitar and Hofner Beatle bass! He also loves spending time with his wife Caralleen, his four children, two step-children, four grandchildren, and his sweet little puppy, Lexy.

George Kitchens, RPh

co-CEO, Senior Partner

George founded Artia Solutions in 2005. For almost two decades, George has ensured that Artia provides top-notch consultation services to clients in need of assistance operating within the Medicaid pharmaceutical environment. George also founded Crossroads: An Artia Solutions Conference in 2017. Prior to Artia Solutions, George was Vice President of Business Development for Provider Synergies, a company managing rebate programs for state Medicaid. One of his major accomplishments was the development of the multi-state pooling initiative known as TOP$.

Previously, George was the Florida Medicaid's Pharmacy Services Bureau Chief for three years. He implemented the first PDL in the country in 2001. His responsibilities included the planning, directing, organizing, and coordinating of policy and procedures related to the Medicaid prescribed drug program, research and analysis of proposed state and federal legislation, Medicaid prescribed drug budget, and cost containment initiatives. Additional responsibilities included coordinating pharmacy audits, supporting various committees such as P&T and DUR, and chief liaison with PBMs. Before joining Florida Medicaid in 2001, George held numerous positions for the Eckerd Corporation. Most notably, he held the positions of Regional Pharmacy Operations Manager, Director of Brand Pharmaceutical Purchasing, Director of Managed Care Development, and Director of Clinical Services. His responsibilities included the pharmacy operations of 300 drug stores, purchasing and inventory of brand pharmaceuticals, negotiation of managed care contracts, and creation of clinical programs.

He is a member of the Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy Advisory Board, Florida Pharmacy Association, and Rho Chi Honor Society, and he served on the American Pharmacist Association Benchmarking Steering Committee, American Pharmacist Association STAT Committee, and JAPHA Editorial Advisory Board. He has also served on the Florida Department of Health Drug Therapy Task Force. George graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from Samford University.

Chris is based in Cincinnati, OH. He enjoys skiing in his spare time, but only in the Rockies because he is a snob about snow. He is also frequently found in the kitchen, at his daughters’ gymnastics and volleyball events, and in support of Columbus, Ohio (NOT Cincinnati) sports teams.

Chris Andrews, PharmD

Vice President, Client Relations

Chris joined Artia in 2021 with more than 17 years of experience in Medicaid administration. He is responsible for supervising, coordinating, and managing the client relations process.

Previously, Chris served state Medicaid pharmacy programs for 17 years in the Magellan Medicaid Administration (MMA) preferred drug list (PDL) program. In 2004, he began as a Clinical Account Manager, with responsibilities including the implementation and daily operation of supplemental rebate and PDL programs for multiple states. This position served as the foundation for his pharmacoeconomic analysis skills that would propel his career with MMA. Chris explained clinical and financial analysis in Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee meetings for over 200 PDL classes on an annual basis and would go on to lead P&T meetings for 17 states. He also contributed to MMA's library of Therapeutic Class Reviews as a writer and editor.

In 2011, Chris was promoted to Director of Clinical Services for PDL programs at MMA. In this role, he added leadership for the PDL Clinical Account Manager team and responsibility for 15 state customer contracts for PDL services. As Director, Chris developed a number of regular reports that provided market context for both the rebate negotiation team, as well as state customers, that supported PDL recommendations. He took an active role with manufacturers to shape supplemental rebate strategy through clinical analysis and net pricing trends. This work extended into co-author status for the industry's first trend report from the Medicaid fee-for-service net spend standpoint, the Magellan Rx Management Medicaid Pharmacy Trend Report, from the first edition in 2016 through 2020.

Chris was named Vice President, Account Management in 2017 for MMA's PDL business line. With this advancement came additional responsibilities for manufacturer relations, rebate negotiation, and business development for the country's largest PDL services provider. Under his leadership, MMA's Medicaid footprint grew to 26 state PDL programs and over 33 million Medicaid recipients. With responsibility for the entire business unit, Chris led MMA to winning proposals for new business and customer retention as well as additional program sales for medical supplies rebates and PDL compliance monitoring of managed care organizations. His thorough knowledge of the pharmaceuticals market in Medicaid brought hundreds of millions in supplemental rebate dollars to MMA state customers. Chris' Medicaid expertise has been noted in interactions with the Senate Finance Committee, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Congressional Budget Office.

Chris graduated from The Ohio State University with his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy and earned his Doctor of Pharmacy from University of Cincinnati.

Nick is based in New York.

Nick Penzetta

Vice President, Market Access

Nick joined Artia in 2022, and he is responsible for leading the continued development of Artia's operational knowledge and expertise in the Managed Medicaid area and other managed markets.

Nick brings 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to the Artia team. He has broad experience in commercial operations and has spent the past 15 years with Teva Pharmaceuticals in Market Access.

Nick successfully led Teva’s Account Management teams as Vice President, Market Access, heading the US Specialty Government and Commercial payer account management functions. Nick began his Market Access career in the government payer channel with a focus on Medicaid Managed Care and FFS State payers. He built the Public Sector payer account team at Teva and was responsible for maximizing channel profitability in the Medicaid segment.

Nick went on to lead the Commercial Account Management teams at the regional and national levels with responsibility for national PBMs, health plans, and Medicare market customers. His product launch experience covers specialty brands and biosimilars in both the Rx and medical benefit with a focus on creating appropriate access. Nick was integral in developing strategies with payer marketing and contracting to execute in both the government and commercial channels of business. He has deep experience with the US pharmaceutical supply chain, government pricing, and payer reimbursement models.

Prior to Teva, Nick spent his early career with Sanofi and its predecessor companies with commercial roles in sales and sales leadership. He focused on hospital sales, leading teams as a District Manager and eventually taking the role of Regional Account Manager in Managed Markets, where he had sole responsibility for Medicaid Managed Care accounts.

Nick recently joined the External Affairs team at Teva as VP of US Public Policy and State Government Affairs. This role provided insight into the policy and broader issues facing the biopharmaceutical industry, such as drug pricing, reimbursement, and transparency. In this role, Nick broadened his background to include the generic product markets and the complex legal and regulatory policies governing this industry. Nick represented Teva Pharmaceuticals before government officials at the state level and supported Teva’s engagement in trade organizations such as Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) and the Biosimilars council. He holds a BS degree from Ithaca College and participated in Teva’s Global Leadership (LEAP) program at the Wharton School of Business. Nick has two daughters, and he and his wife Marjorie reside in New York.

Melissa Burris, PharmD

Manager, Drug Launch Services

John is based in Henderson, NC. Having graduated from the University of North Carolina, John is an avid Carolina Tarheel fan … Go Heels! When he is not working, John enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants and fishing.

John Stancil, RPh

National Account Director, Market Access

John joined Artia in 2021 with more than 10 years of experience in state Medicaid pharmacy administration and pharmacy benefit management. He is responsible for providing account management and operational support for new drug launches, assisting with nationwide and individual state strategy development, payer engagement and post-launch pull through.

John graduated with his B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill and his professional career as a pharmacist includes more than 25 years of experience in management of hospital, long-term care and retail pharmacy practice settings. His professional career also includes 5 years of experience as an account manager for five State Medicaid programs with a national Pharmacy Benefit Manager and 5 years of experience as the Pharmacy Director for North Carolina Medicaid where he was responsible for the pharmacy benefit for more than 2 million beneficiaries and a budget of ~$2B.

While at NC Medicaid, John worked closely with stakeholders and cross-functional partners to implement innovative pharmacy reimbursement models which ensured appropriate reimbursement for pharmacy providers and policies which significantly reduced the over-utilization of opioids and increased access to drugs indicated for the treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) to address NC's opioid crisis. John also significantly contributed to the design of the pharmacy benefit which was implemented by NC's five MCO's in July 2021. Additionally, John directed the management of the North Carolina Preferred Drug List and worked collaboratively with industry partners to ensure access for patients and providers while ensuring the best value for the State. It was for his exceptional collaborative skills that John was recognized at the inaugural Artia Crossroards conference in 2018 with an Extra Mile Award.

For the last two years, John has been a Senior Regional Account Executive for the mid-Atlantic region with Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT). While at GBT, John contributed to the successful access launch for a drug indicated for the rare disease, Sickle Cell Disease and achieved excellent coverage and access across all payer types in his six-state territory. His efforts earned him President's Club recognition as Regional Account Executive of the Year in 2020, his first year in the pharmaceutical industry.

John lives in Henderson, NC, and has two adult children, daughter, Katherine, who lives in Wilmington, NC, and a son, John Charles, who lives in Columbia, SC.

Ashley is based in Tallahassee, FL.

Ashley Peterson, MHA

Director, Contracting & Analytics

Ashley joined Artia in 2023. She holds over 15 years of experience in a variety of health care settings. Before joining Artia, Ashley served as the Pharmacy Administrator for Florida Medicaid where she was responsible for administering the prescription drug benefit serving over 5.5 million lives with an annual reimbursement totaling over $3.5 billion. During her time at Florida Medicaid, Ashley was responsible for directing the state’s Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee and providing oversight for the inclusion of drugs on the state’s single preferred drug list. Ashley successfully implemented strategies to reduce opioid prescribing and utilization as well as pioneering coverage of FDA approved prescription digital therapeutics for the treatment of substance use disorder.

Prior to Florida Medicaid, Ashley spent over 8 years with the Kentucky Hospital Association in multiple roles, most recently as Director of Strategy and Program Development. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ashley designed and implemented an innovative multimillion-dollar solution to provide hospitals with life saving medications without increased financial burden.

Ashley is a member of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) and has previously served as Treasurer for the Political Action Committee representing over 100 Kentucky hospitals. She also served as a Board Member for Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky advocating specifically for safe sleep practices and a reduction in pediatric abusive head trauma.

Ashley holds a Master’s of Health Administration from the University of Cincinnati, a Post-Baccalaureate in Public Sector Management from Indiana University, and B.A. in Sociology from the University of Kentucky. Ashley earned a Master’s Certification in Pharmaceutical Regulation from the University of Florida in February 2023.

Hunter Garrison

Analyst I

Brielle Dozier

Analyst

Madison Zeltwanger

Analyst, Student Intern

Helaine is based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. When it is not all about work, it is about Caribbean-related pursuits, such as beaches and ocean waves and music accompanied by the appropriate adult beverages.

Helaine Gregory, JD

Senior Director, Puerto Rico & USVI Operations

Helaine Gregory has over 30 years of professional experience as an attorney, business executive, and business owner.

Helaine founded her private consulting firm over fifteen (15) years ago, where she assists clients with business development, strategy and planning, corporate governance, joint venture partnerships, physician practice administration, national payer and PBM accounts/market access, expert witness testimony (civil and criminal proceedings), healthcare provider operations (hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers) matters. She also provides compliance program monitoring services, and recently completed an assignment as a monitor and evaluator for a medical device company in Latin America.

She has extensive experience in biopharmaceutical market access strategy (national and regional payer account management), orphan drug product launches and implementation and managed care contracting in the United States and Puerto Rico. She has experience with organizing and participating in physician and payer advisory boards.

Helaine was recently invited to join the Board of Advisors of an investment consultancy house where she is asked to analyze and recommend proposals requesting capital investments in the health care field. She is regularly called upon given her business acumen and extensive health care operational experience.

Her most recent expert witness experience was in litigation involving a national health insurer in a reimbursement dispute opposite a clinical laboratory as part of a confidential American Arbitration Association-mediated matter, where she provided opinion regarding Medicare and Medicaid law and regulations.

She was a Vice President of Operations for Fresenius Kidney Care, having responsibility for a multi-site operations budget and P&L, Medical Director relationships, quality indicators, regulatory compliance, managed care, strategic footprint expansions, and real estate and construction matters.

Helaine was the Director, Business Practices at UnitedHealth Group in Hartford, where she implemented and directed the Government Operations division’s compliance program, which covered 1,400 employees located in 9 locations, administered 5 government contracts and generated revenues of 120MM per year.

She was an Associate General Counsel at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of the National Capital Area, where she specialized in government contracts, accounting and procurement regulations, and Code of Conduct/compliance training program design and implementation.

Helaine started her career as a business litigation associate at Bickel & Brewer in Dallas, now known as Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.

Helaine has an A.B. (cum laude) in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Harvard University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Texas and several federal jurisdictions. She is a member of the Interamerican Bar Association and Secretary of the Puerto Rico Chapter.

Cristy Becker

Controller

Faith

Innovation

Collaboration