Rubrum Advising Welcomes CMS veteran Carol Blackford as Principal and Vice President, Payment & Health Care Delivery Policy

Blackford joins Rubrum’s bench of former senior CMS and FDA officials, practicing clinicians, and market access experts in September 2026

Philadelphia, PA (Aug. 25, 2026)—Rubrum Advising, a healthcare advising and solutions firm that helps bring innovative therapies and technologies to people sooner, today announced that Carol Blackford, MPP, will join the firm in September as principal and vice president of payment and health care delivery policy.

Blackford most recently served as executive vice president and head of payment and health care delivery policy at AdvaMed, the world’s largest medical technology association. Before that, she spent 28 years at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where she was a senior executive and director of the Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group, which is responsible for the annual rules that set how Medicare pays hospitals and hospital outpatient departments, and for the pathways through which new technologies enter those payment systems.

“Ask anyone in MedTech what keeps them up at night, and sooner or later you get to payment,” said Lee A. Fleisher, MD, ML, co-founder and CEO of Rubrum Advising. “Carol spent 28 years helping write payment rules and the last few helping industry work within them. We’re thrilled to have that expertise available as we help our clients and customers get better care to patients sooner.”

At Rubrum, Blackford will advise companies on market access payment pathways for novel technologies and therapies. Paired with the firm’s coverage practice, her arrival gives health innovators a birds-eye view of the coverage, coding, and payment decisions that together determine whether a new technology actually reaches a patient.

“What drew me to Rubrum is its truly comprehensive approach to market access,” Blackford said. “By combining FDA, coverage, and reimbursement expertise in a single organization, Rubrum helps companies understand and navigate the full journey from product development to patient access. Instead of addressing regulatory, coverage, and payment challenges in isolation, clients benefit from coordinating strategies that align each step of the process.”

Blackford holds a Master of Public Policy from The College of William & Mary and a bachelor’s degree in political science from McDaniel College.

About Rubrum

Rubrum Advising and Rubrum Solutions provide integrated healthcare consulting and software solutions to accelerate the adoption of health innovation so that people get better care sooner. For more information, visit www.rubrumadvising.com or follow us on LinkedIn.