Ambulatory technology company NextGen Healthcare tapped former Teladoc executive David Sides as its new CEO.
Sides will take the reins as president and chief executive Sept. 22.
Sides brings more than two decades of experience in healthcare IT and product innovation, according to the company in a press release. He joins NextGen after two years at telehealth giant Teladoc. He served as chief operating officer of Teladoc Health, where he led worldwide commercial and operations teams. During his tenure at Teladoc, revenues doubled in 2020 and are on track to exceed $2 billion in 2021.
Last year, Teladoc made a blockbuster $18.5 billion deal to acquire Livongo, creating the largest virtual care company.
The CEO position had been open since June when former NextGen president and CEO Rusty Frantz left the company by mutual agreement.
“David’s appointment marks the conclusion of a successful CEO search process, during which we evaluated a number of highly qualified candidates over the past weeks. David stood out as the ideal person to serve as NextGen Healthcare’s CEO and guide our next stage of growth and success,” said Jeffrey Margolis, chair of the board of directors, in a statement.
RELATED: NextGen Healthcare founder Razin looks to shake up board to improve company's performance
Before Teladoc, Sides served as CEO of Streamline Health, a revenue cycle management solutions company for the healthcare industry. Sides led the full-scale turnaround of Streamline Health, growing revenue, EBITDA and cash flow organically, according to NextGen's press release.
Prior to that, Sides was recruited by TPG to serve as CEO of iMDsoft, an Israel-headquartered provider of clinical information systems and electronic medical records for critical, perioperative and acute care organizations. Sides also worked for Cerner for 17 years, leading the company's professional services in 24 countries.
“With David on board, NextGen Healthcare has a powerhouse management team that defines what leadership should look like: continuing stability in operations and customer delivery, upgraded strategic industry knowledge, and a seasoned and experienced leader as CEO," Margolis said.
“NextGen Healthcare has an incredible future as we partner with our clients to improve their productivity and patient outcomes,” said Sides in a statement “Investments made over the past five years in talent and technology position NextGen Healthcare in the sweet spot of long-term industry trends, such as connected health and population health analytics."
Sides said he is energized by the company’s work to capitalize on these trends and empower the transformation of ambulatory care.
"Together with NextGen Healthcare’s talented employees, I am committed to accelerating NextGen Healthcare’s growth and value creation by ensuring we remain the trusted partner of choice for our valued clients," he said.
Sides takes the reins of the health IT company as company founder Sheldon Razin attempts to shake up the board leadership, citing the company's poor financial performance under Margolis' direction.
RELATED: NextGen Healthcare's boardroom spat heats up as founder launches proxy campaign
NextGen Healthcare board members continue to spar in a very public "tit for tat" as Razin launched a proxy campaign for an alternative slate of director candidates for board seats.
In connection with his appointment as president and CEO, Sides has been appointed to the company’s slate of director nominees for the upcoming annual meeting, NextGen healthcare executives announced. The company’s nine-member slate includes five directors—Julie Klapstein, Geraldine McGinty, M.D., Pamela Puryear, Ph.D., Darnell Dent and Sides—who will have been added in the past four years and four who are diverse across race and gender, executives said.
"The board has every confidence that the Company is well-positioned to accelerate its leadership position in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry with our expanded solution offerings—and with David at the helm, we now have the right team to get us there," Margolis said in a statement.
The company's boardroom spat has become very public as the two sides have issued a flurry of press releases accusing the other of trying to gain board control.
Razin, who sits on the board, and fellow Director Lance Rosenzweig accuse Margolis and his allies on the board of establishing an "imperial boardroom culture" that has effectively taken control of the board.
The pair said NextGen's board, under Margolis' direction, has been unwilling to take the steps necessary to reverse the company's "anemic growth, deteriorating margins, poor hiring and operational practices, and wasteful capital allocation policy," they wrote in an open letter to shareholders last month.
NextGen's other board members, in turn, accused the pair of trying to obstruct board operations and pushing their own agenda.
NextGen Healthcare's annual meeting of shareholders is scheduled for Oct. 13.