Major General (retired) Elder Granger MD, FACP, FACPE, CMQ

Major General Elder Granger, MD
Founder and President
The 5Ps, LLC

Biography - Major General Elder Granger, M.D. US Army (retired)

Most Recent Assignment - Deputy Director, TRICARE Management Activity
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs

In July of 2009 after 37 years of Military service Major General Elder Granger, MD retired as the Deputy Director and Program Executive Officer of the TRICARE Management Activity, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), Washington, DC. In this role he served as the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) on DoD health plan policy and performance. He oversaw the acquisition, operation and integration of DoD's managed care program within the Military Health System. MG Granger led a staff of 1,800 in planning, budgeting and executing an $19 Billion Defense Health Program and in ensuring the effective and efficient provision of high-quality, accessible healthcare for 9.4 Million Uniformed Service members, their families, retirees and others located worldwide.

Prior to joining TRICARE Management Activity, MG Granger led the largest US and multi-national battlefield health system in our recent history while serving as Commander, Task Force 44th Medical Command and Command Surgeon for the Multinational Corps Iraq. He has led at every level of the Army Medical Department.

MG Granger began his career with the Army Medical Department in 1971 as a Combat Medic in the US Army National Guard. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Arkansas State University in 1976. A Distinguished Military Graduate, MG Granger was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Upon graduation from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in 1980, he was awarded the Henry Kaiser Medical Fellowship for Medical Excellence and Leadership. MG Granger completed a residency in Internal Medicine in 1983 and a fellowship in Hematology-Oncology in 1986 at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. His Military education includes the Army War College, the Army Command and General Staff College, the Army Medical Department Officer Advanced and Basic Courses, the Military Health System and Army CAPSTONE Courses, and the Combat Casualty Care Course.

MG Granger continues to advance his passion for patients and healthcare improvement through advising and supporting teams across the spectrum of healthcare. He and his wife Brenda now live in Colorado. Their son Elder II is a lawyer and their daughter Eldesia is a M.D.

Recent and Upcoming Speaking Engagements

  • September, 2009 -- North Carolina Health Care Information and Communications Alliance – Asheville NC. Topic: The Role of Data to Support Leadership Decisions

  • May 16, 2009 -- Keynote Speaker at Meharry Medical College 134th Commencement Ceremony

  • May 6, 2008 -- Arkansas State University alumnus Major General Elder Granger, M.D., was the featured speaker at both ceremonies in ASU-Jonesboro's Spring Commencement, Saturday, May 10, in the Convocation Center. The morning ceremony, at 10 a.m., includeed the Colleges of Agriculture, Business, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Sciences and Mathematics. The afternoon ceremony, at 2 p.m., included the Colleges of Communications, Education, Fine Arts, Nursing and Health Professions, University College and Regional Programs.

  • Favorite Books & Recommended Reading

    • The Declaration of Independence & The U.S. Constitution

    • Redefining Health Care - Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg

    • Good to Great - Jim Collins

    • Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within - Robert E. Quinn

    • The World is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman

    • Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done - Larry Bossidy

    • Lean Six Sigma for Service - Michael L. George

    • Performance Measurement: Accelerating Improvement - Institute of Medicine

    • Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century - Institute of Medicine

    • To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System - Janet Corrigan, Linda T. Kohn, and Molla S. Donaldson

    • Winning - Jack Welch and Suzy Welch

    • Core Curriculum For Medical Quality Management - American College Of Medical Quality

    • Consumer Driven Healthcare : Implications for Providers, Payers and Policy-Makers - Dr. Regina E. Herzlinger

    • How To Get The Healthcare You Want - Laura L. Casey

    • Health Care Will Not Reform Itself – George Halvorson

    • Health Care Reform Now – George Halvorson

    • The Best Practice: How the New Quality Movement is Transforming Medicine – Charles C. Kenney

    • Competing on Analytics, The New Science of Winning - Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne B. Harris

     

    Quotes to Remember

    "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

    "I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!"

    "The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants them to do, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it"
    - Theodore Roosevelt
    "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
    - Sir Winston Churchill
    "The manager administers - the leader innovates. The manager maintains - the leader develops. The manager relies on systems - the leader relies on people. The manager counts on controls - the leader counts on trust. The manager does things right - the leader does the right thing."
    - Unknown
    "Do all the good you can,
    By all the means you can,
    In all the ways you can,
    In all the places you can,
    At all the times you can,
    To all the people you can,
    As long as ever you can."
    - John Wesley
    "Well done is better than well said."
    - Ben Franklin
    "It’s what you learn after you know it all, that counts."
    - John Wooden, UCLA Basketball Coach
    "The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving." - Unknown
    "Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination."
    - Unknown
    "Example is not the main thing in influencing others... It’s the only thing."
    - Albert Schweitzer
    "The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress."
    - Charles F. Kettering
    "Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you."
    - Aldous Huxley
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty".
    - Winston Churchill
    "Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value."
    - Albert Einstein


    Reference Links