Richard K. Thomas, Ph.D., has nearly 50 years of experience in health services research, planning, and evaluation. He was trained as a medical sociologist and has been instrumental in the development of the field of health demography. He serves as a consultant to hospitals, clinics, health plans, and other healthcare organizations, providing consultation related to market research, business development, strategic planning, and project evaluation. He has developed a variety of methodologies for application to health-related problems and pioneered the development of predictive modeling in health care. His current emphasis is on the emerging field of population health and initiatives aimed at community health improvement.  Dr. Thomas has authored more than 20 books on health/healthcare and demography and numerous articles for professional journals, newsletters, and magazines. He has conducted numerous workshops and made dozens of presentations on his research. He holds a bachelor’s degree (economics, Rhodes College), two master’s degrees (sociology and geography, University of Memphis), and a Ph.D. (medical sociology, Vanderbilt University). In addition to his consulting activities, he has served on the faculties of several universities and medical schools and is currently on the faculties at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and the University of Mississippi Medical School and is a research associate at the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University.