Our Team

George B. Salem
Founder & President

George B. Salem, founder & president of Proxsys, has nearly 30 years of extensive experience in the healthcare industry.  He has a demonstrated track record of successfully building companies, management teams, and raising capital.

Mr. Salem also founded and serves as president of GBS Ventures, LLC, an organization formed to facilitate the development of healthcare-related businesses with a primary focus on healthcare services.  Recently Salem co-founded Respond Medical Staffing Corporation, a company that provides medical staffing to healthcare organizations.

In 1995, he founded and served as president and CEO of GuideStar Health Systems, located in Alabama, until its purchase by Maven Corporation in 2003.  In 1984, he co-founded and served as president of Southeast Health Plan, based in Alabama, until its purchase by PCA Corporation, a publicly traded company.  PCA was later acquired by Humana Corporation.  He has also held executive positions at Methodist Health Systems, based in Memphis, Tennessee, and at Miami Valley Health Systems, based in Dayton, Ohio.

Mr. Salem has served on the Policy Coordinating Council for HIAA, and served six years on the Board of American Managed Care and Review Association.  He serves on the Boards of the Brain Trauma Foundation (based in New York), Birmingham Southern College, American Behavioral, University of Alabama in Birmingham Graduate School of Public Health, and Junior Achievement of Greater Birmingham.  He is a member of the Rotary Club International (recently recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow), The Birmingham Venture Club, L.R. Jordan Management Society, and the Newcomen Society of the United States, and was selected as a participant in Leadership Birmingham.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from  Birmingham-Southern College, a Master of Business Administration from Samford University and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

Salem has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including:

  • 1998 John S. Jemison, Jr. Venture Award
  • Birmingham Business Journal – Birmingham’s Magic 25 – August 1998
  • Inducted into the Birmingham Southern College Sports Hall of Fame – May 2002

 

 

Karen D. Chambers, RN, CCM, CDMS
Chief Operating Officer

Karen Chambers joins Proxsys as Chief Operating Officer.  Ms. Chambers brings with her an extensive background in medical management and software design.  She has 26 years of experience in the health care industry with responsibilities covering virtually every facet of health insurance management.  A graduate of Northwest Alabama State College, Ms. Chambers is a Registered Nurse, Certified Case Manager and Certified Disability Management Specialist.  As Chief Operating Officer of Proxsys, her responsibilities encompass all day-to-day operations, system design, and new client implementation.

Ms. Chambers' career in medical management includes design, implementation and supervision of corporate, regional and local case management; disease management; utilization management; and quality improvement.  She has extensive experience with licensure and accreditation as well as Medicare, Medicaid and HMO policy and reimbursement processes.  Ms. Chambers’s vast knowledge and talented manner of interacting with fellow workers has led to the successful outcome of numerous start up programs and companies.

Prior to joining Proxsys, Ms. Chambers served as Medicaid Maternity Program Director, Director of Quality Improvement and Director of Health Services for VIVA Health, Birmingham, Alabama, an HMO owned by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  In this role, she was responsible for the development and implementation of a Medicaid maternity program in specified districts and all continuous quality improvement for the company ensuring compliance with CMS requirements.  Ms. Chambers was originally at VIVA in the role of Director of Health Services and participated in the HMO licensure process.  She was responsible for development of the medical management department and later spearheaded the development of a case management software program.

Previously, Ms. Chambers was Director of Utilization Management for GuideStar Health Systems, Inc., a start-up managed care organization.  She served in this role from 1996 to 2000, overseeing the development and implementation of utilization, disease and case management programs for a variety of health plans.  Ms. Chambers successfully led the company through the URAC accreditation process. 

Other work experience includes Manager of Case Management for Southeast Health Plan, Corporate Supervisor of Client Services for Relife, Inc. and worker’s compensation case management for Directions Management and IntraCorp.  Ms. Chambers has experience as an Occupational Health Nurse and her clinical experience was in the Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Room.    

Karen Chambers is a past-president of the Case Management Society of America (CMSA).  She was also a founder and the first president of the organization’s Birmingham, Alabama, chapter.   Ms. Chambers’ professional organizational involvement beyond CMSA includes committee member for the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission/URAC, member of the Case Management Leadership Coalition, Region III Perinatal Advisory Council member, member of the Alabama Diabetes task force, as well as service as an expert panel member for the Council for Case Management Accountability.

Ms. Chambers has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including:

  • Inaugural “Karen Chambers” Alabama Case Manager of the Year Award – CMSA Birmingham, AL Chapter (2004)
  • National Case Manager of the Year Award – CMSA (1995)
  • Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare – Marquis (2001-02 Edition)
  • National President for the Case Management Society of America (2002-03)

She has shared her expertise through presentations on a regional, national and international level and via articles published in leading trade publications including:

  • SHP Case Managers: Ready When You Need Us Most, Health Journal; Winter 1994
  • Mothers Praise for SHP Case Managers, Health Journal; Spring 1994
  • Case Management Educational Brochure (developed and published with an educational grant)
  • Patient Management Strategies, Case Management Advisor, Vol.5, No.9; September 1994. (contributed)
  • Caseloads Vary Widely for Case Managers. Case Management Advisor, Oct. 1994.  (contributed)
  • Editorial Advisory Board for “Going the Distance”
  • “Capitation: How It Applies to Case Management”, Perspective; Vol. 1.4; February 1998.
  • “Hospital-Based & Payer-Based Case Managers:  How to Make it a Winning Partnership”. Inside Case Management; Vol. 7, Number 4, July 2000
  • “CMSA President’s Message”, The Case Manager; May 2002 – May 2003
  • “Asthma Education and Outcomes for Women of Childbearing Age”, The Case Manager, November/December, 2003.