Daniel J. Hilferty, the former president and CEO of Independence Health Group, has a new line for his resume.
And it has nothing to do with soccer, despite Hilferty serving as chairman of Philadelphia Soccer 2026 — which successfully landed a spot as a host city for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Hilferty on Tuesday announced he has founded a strategic advisory firm called Dune View Strategies.
Dune View Strategies will advise and invest in small and midsize health care companies and startups seeking to bring transformational services, technologies and products to market.
"With the constantly evolving marketplace, the opportunities and challenges that innovative health care companies have to navigate have never been more competitive," said Hilferty, the firm's chairman and CEO.
After 10 years in the role, Hilferty retired at the end of 2020 as CEO of Independence, the region's largest health insurer. Prior to that, he held multiple leadership positions within Independence and its Medicaid managed care subsidiary, AmeriHealth Caritas. Hilferty served as chairman of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association from 2015 to 2017. He also served as board chairman for the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia from 2018 to 2020.
Hilferty told the Business Journal he isn't ready to embrace full-time retirement.
"I had a really exciting career with Independence and I wanted to take a break and spend more time with my family," he said. "But If I just sat around I'd go crazy, and I'd make my family crazy. I love health care and I love health care innovation. I thought I could cobble together some folks I've worked with over the years and we could advise startups on developing teams, business strategies and marketing. This is something I'm excited about because I get to be involved on my terms."
Hilferty said his goal it to "steer the next generation of health care leaders through the complex wireframe of provider, payer, and political relationships in today's industry — and help them to accelerate growth and reach their full potential."
Hilferty plans to build out a team of "trusted advisors" in the coming months. He mentioned Joseph Frick, his predecessor as CEO of Independence, as a person to whom he would likely reach out.
The firm has a staff of four and a small office on South Broad Street. It has already invested one company that his family is involved with called Project Manifesto, which is helping people who are in recovery find meaningful careers and working to reframe the view of addiction in the workplace.
As for the name of the firm, Hilferty said, "We've owned a house down the Shore for years. Many times, I've stood by the dunes lining the beach and taken stock of important decisions – in business and in life. It's about perspective. That's the vision for this company and the value we'll bring to clients.”
Dune View Strategies is organizing its first big event, the HealthKey Summit, in partnership with Futuretense Health, the health care communications practice of Philadelphia-based Brian Communications.
The HealthKey Summit will be held in Philadelphia from Nov. 2 to Nov. 4. It will focus on bringing about meaningful change in areas including behavioral health, digital health and cell and gene therapy. Additional details and speakers will be announced in the coming weeks and months. Event sponsors include Comcast, Penn Medicine, Independence Blue Cross and AmerisourceBergen.
"The goal of the HealthKey Summit is to explore what's needed, what's next and what's possible in health care," Hilferty said.
He said a lot of similar forums are held on the West Coast.
"We want to highlight Philadelphia as a hotbed for health care innovation and breakthroughs," Hilferty said.
