Our Story

Built by physicians,
with physicians in mind.

CME was created by UCLA-trained physicians with vast personal experience in the med-legal category. They realized that effectively developing and managing a med-legal practice can be daunting. Their goal with CME was to simplify and expedite the process, leveraging the right systems and support to enable each partner physician to successfully build their med-legal practice.

Since then, CME has grown steadily, adding physicians, team members and evaluation facilities to better serve our clients. CME provides a deeper level of support and services than any other med-legal company.  Today, with more than 200 medical specialists and over 150 exam locations across California, CME offers the resources and the expertise to provide medical, legal and insurance professionals with the best evaluation experience.

Our team

Phil Christianson

CEO

Phil Christianson has 30 years of healthcare leadership experience, including providing services to the largest physician groups and health systems in the country.  He has led divisions of Fortune 25 companies and as the CEO of five mid-sized companies that provided health plan administration services, disease management, SaaS, and health information technology to health care providers, health plans, and employers. In between CEO roles, Mr. Christianson acted as an investor and advisor to health services and information technology companies.

Mr. Christianson earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California, a Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.  In his spare time, Phil likes to be with his family, travel, surf and read good books. 

Phil Christianson

CEO

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team

Phil Christianson

CEO

Phil Christianson has 30 years of healthcare leadership experience, including providing services to the largest physician groups and health systems in the country.  He has led divisions of Fortune 25 companies and as the CEO of five mid-sized companies that provided health plan administration services, disease management, SaaS, and health information technology to health care providers, health plans, and employers. In between CEO roles, Mr. Christianson acted as an investor and advisor to health services and information technology companies.

Mr. Christianson earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California, a Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. In his spare time, Phil likes to be with his family, travel, surf and read good books.

Tasha Austin

COO

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Tasha Austin

COO

Tasha Austin has over ten years of experience in healthcare operations. From 2012 through 2020, Mrs. Austin held positions of increasing responsibility at Sound Physicians. In 2017, Mrs. Austin was the Director of Operations for Sound’s Advisory Services division when she was promoted to Regional Vice President of Operations for the western region. She was responsible for driving growth and financial and operational performance.

Mrs. Austin has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Illinois Wesleyan University and resides in Ventura, California. She is passionate about athletics and mentors young athletes during her spare time.

Scott Wells

VP of Finance

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Scott Wells

VP of Finance

Scott Wells is a senior financial executive and former commercial banker passionate about helping others. He is a CFA Charterholder and an expert in financial modeling and analysis, financial management, relationship building, investor relations, corporate treasury, and business development. 

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Wells has worked with individual and institutional investors and senior business leaders to ensure service satisfaction and trust. He led the development of new product lines and managed risk and compliance projects while coordinating with auditors, regulators, and stakeholders.  Prior to joining CME, Mr. Wells worked for some of the largest financial institutions in the world, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo. 

Scott earned a Bachelor’s in Finance at Miami University at Ohio.  He enjoys running, weight training, the financial markets, reading, learning about fintech solutions, and spending time with his wife and two dogs. 

João Cowperthwaite

VP of Physician Recruitment and Marketing

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João Cowperthwaite

VP of Physician Recruitment and Marketing

João Cowperthwaite is a growth-focused executive and creative thinker who has brought several California-based healthcare companies to market. Examples include Exer Urgent Care (now with 30 centers and growing), Doctorpedia, Sovereign HealthCare, and Luminus Holdings. 

In each of his roles, Mr. Cowperthwaite recruited physicians, developed brands, managed teams, and devised strategic sales solutions – digitally and through community marketing. He is a strategist and brand ambassador who values his extensive and trusted network in health care. 

Mr. Cowperthwaite studied Sociology at the doctorate level at Rutgers University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations at Cornell College.  João enjoys music and exploring new places with his wife and 7-year-old daughter.

Laura De La Cruz

Director of Operations

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Laura De La Cruz

Director of Operations

Laura De La Cruz is a passionate and visionary bilingual leader who drives results. She has over 15 years of experience in leadership, financial management, business development, performance improvement, and organizational management. Mrs. De La Cruz has been responsible for the regional leadership of a large California dialysis home therapies company, operational manager for a rapidly growing healthcare start-up, and director of operations for 12 health and dental centers with more than 500 employees, 65 clinicians, and 300,000 annual patient visits. She has a Master of Public Health degree with a focus on Health Services Management from the University of California, Los Angeles.  Laura enjoys hiking, is learning to snowboard and is training her puppy for competitive diving.

Ramond G. Doyley

Director of Operations, Report Production

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Ramond G. Doyley

Director of Operations, Report Production

Ramond Garth Doyley is an assertive, results-driven professional skilled in operations management, process improvement, and leadership. His demonstrated history of working in the healthcare industry includes companies from large non-profits to smaller teleradiology startups.

A recent graduate from USC Sol Price School of Public Policy with a Master of Health Administration concentrating in Strategic Management and Quality and Process Improvements, Mr. Doyley brings leadership and project management to the Operations and Report Production team. 

Mr. Doyley is an avid cook and lover of new technology. His hobbies include collecting indoor plants, hiking, finding new gadgets, and hanging out with his dog Cash.

Jodi Pleitez

Director of Human Resources

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Jodi Pleitez

Director of Human Resources

 

Mrs. Jodi Pleitez has over 20 years of experience in Human Resources and Operations. From 2016 through 2022, Mrs. Pleitez served as the Human Resources and Operations Director at Beverly Hills Cancer Center. Before that, she was the VP of Human Resources for REMAX California and Hawaii. She joined REMAX after selling her own startup company to a private equity group after seven years in business.

Mrs. Pleitez resides in Playa Del Rey, California.  In her spare time, she enjoys world travel, beach walks with her husband, and time with her three adult children.

Count on us for our knowledge, reliability, and integrity.

Our goal is to simplify and enhance the evaluation process for all parties involved by:

  • Reducing the operational hassles of a med-legal practice by managing the administrative details, logistics and document submission requirements
  • Providing a dedicated practice manager who understands a physician’s individual med-legal practice needs and a quarterly analysis of their results, enabling the panelist to make adjustments and changes over time
  • Assisting legal and insurance professionals to choose a medical specialist who offers the qualifications and expertise needed to conduct a fair and viable evaluation
  • Offering industry-leading training and educational resources to build the breadth and knowledge base of our physicians’ network

Our Core Values:

Be Tenacious

We are a team of professionals with a can-do attitude and the grit to work through tough challenges.

Be of Service
We are team players who care about the services we provide and how we provide them. We enjoy adding positive value in every interaction.

Be Innovative
We strive to be one-step ahead. We invest in our processes and our people to provide industry-leading services.

Be Relationship Driven
We build long-term and trusting relationships. We highly value every interaction with our panelists, our partners, and most importantly, our colleagues at CME.

Be the Best
We are committed to improving every day. We achieve our goals to make CME the best med-legal provider in the industry.

Ready to get started?

Call us at 888-853-7944

Call us at
888-853-7944

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