Mari Zag – Director

Mari Zag joined AArete in 2016 after more than 25 years of executive leadership in healthcare strategy and delivery—spanning large health systems, risk-bearing Medical Groups, and Managed Care Organizations. As a Director at AArete, Mari’s approach is data-driven, evidence-based, and deeply collaborative, partnering with payers, providers, and communities to inspire teams to outperform benchmarks, reduce unwarranted variation, and promote equity‑focused, value‑based care. Mari’s goal in serving clients is to help them achieve operational accountability, stronger financial performance, greater efficiency, and validated compliance.

Mari has led AArete teams and supported client transformations that have produced more than $100 million in cost savings with projects including total cost of care analytics and tech transformations, leveraging ML, AI, and smart tools for operational efficiency and improved medical management, utilization management, network contracting, claims payment intelligence, and MCO compliance projects. Her strength is bridging strategy with execution—turning enterprise goals into outcomes that improve both quality and financial performance for the client.

Beyond her consulting work, Mari has served for 17 years on the Board of Directors for Partners in Care Foundation, a non-profit think tank of SDOH specialists across the U.S. She has taught for 7 years as an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University and has mentored future public health leaders at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

At her core, Mari’s passion lies in helping clients build healthcare processes that are efficient, sustainable, and person‑centered—and she brings that expertise to every engagement.