Jim Purcell attended Cornell University, was captain of its baseball team, and graduated with a BA in 1967. He enlisted in the U.S. Army, received his officer’s commission, became Airborne and Pathfinder-qualified, and served with the 101st Airborne Division Pathfinder Team in I Corps, Vietnam, where he operated as Pathfinder Team Leader for six months before being wounded and medevaced stateside. 

He later attended Boston University Law School (1971-74) where he was ranked second in his class all three years and cumulatively, served as editor of the Law Review, and was awarded the Dr. John Ordronaux Prize given to the “graduate who, taking into account scholarly excellence, character and conduct, has performed with the greatest overall distinction” in the Class of 1974.

Jim practiced law at the Portland, Maine, law firm of Pierce Atwood, and later at the Providence, Rhode Island, firm of Tillinghast, Collins & Graham. In 1988, he became a founding partner of Partridge Snow & Hahn, Providence, RI, chaired its litigation department, and later became the firm’s first managing partner until 2000.

Jim’s law practice focused on litigation. As outside counsel, he represented BCBSRI in virtually all of its litigation, including arbitrations, mediations, and rate hearings. He handled quality of care and utilization review matters, physician and hospital contract negotiations, contract administration, TPA contracts with self-insured employers, and was involved in the entire spectrum of BCBSRI’s business. He was co-lead counsel for BCBSRI on two federal district courts antitrust trials to completion and was lead counsel in the 1998-99 merger discussions between BCBSRI and Anthem that ultimately did not come to fruition.

He was a charter member of the federal district court of RI’s ADR Panel and conducted court-assisted mediations and early neutral evaluations. Jim is admitted to the Maine, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts Bars, and to various federal district courts, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2000, he left Partridge, Snow & Hahn to become Chief Operating Officer of BCBSRI, where he ceased the practice of law and focused on the internal and external workings of health insurance and its intersections with the healthcare community. Jim became Interim CEO in 2004, pending a national search, and ultimately was named permanent CEO, serving in that position until 2012, when he retired. 

He now is working exclusively as mediator and arbitrator.

Jim has been a guest speaker for the National Blue Cross Association Legal Counsel Summit on payor/provider disputes; he chaired the Health Plan Summit of the 8th Annual World Health Care Congress; and he has spoken at AAA healthcare roster annual meetings and the AHLA semi-annual meeting on payor/provider disputes, ACOs, and healthcare reform.

As CEO of BCBSRI, he was involved in the following healthcare matters, among others:  

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association: As a board member of the National Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, he was a member of its Health Policy and Legislative Committee, its Emerging Issues Committee (which he chaired), and its Administrative Committee. He was a Board member of Blue Health Intelligence, the Blues-owned and operated health information resource and database. He developed long-term strategies for the Blues system regarding ACOs and the Accountable Care Act (reform).

BCS Financial:  He was a BCS Financial Company Board member and Chair of the Investment Committee of this Blues “captive” financial and insurance company located in Chicago, IL. He also was a Board member of PLIC (Plans’ Liability Insurance Company), a D&O and E&O carrier owned by BCS Financial.

General Healthcare: Jim was involved in virtually every significant committee, commission, or dispute involving healthcare in RI from 2000-2011. Until January 1, 2012, he was the Chair of the Board of the Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI), a nationally recognized quality of care organization and the state-designated Regional Health Information Organization. He testified before Congress in support of Mental Health Parity. He was a Board member of HopeHealth, Inc., formerly known as Hospice and Palliative Care of Cape Cod, the southeastern New England-wide nonprofit organization that is leading the effort of integrating hospice, palliative, and home care into ACOs and health insurer models.  

Former Community Involvement:  

Board member and Chair of the Board of the Greater Providence YMCA (the state-wide Y) and a Trustee.  

Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; 

Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council Board of Trustees; 

Crossroads Rhode Island Board of Directors (RI’s largest homeless organization); 

The Advisory Council of Roger Williams University Law School; 

The New England Council Board of Directors; and 

The Rhode Island for Community and Justice (RICJ) Board of Directors (anti bigotry);  

CapeAbilities Board of Directors (developmentally disabled adults)

HopeHealth, Inc. Board of Directors (hospice).

Awards 

Providence Business News Award for Individual Business Leadership Excellence (2005); 

RICJ Award for Community and Justice (2010); 

The Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce of RI Corporate Leader of the Year Award (2012); 

The Gateway Healthcare Community Leadership Award (2011)(large community mental health center).