Chutes & Ladders—MD Anderson gets new chief quality and value officer as it shifts to value-based care

Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.


Transcarent

Transcarent
(Transcarent)

Randy Hawkins has joined the health tech company Transcarent as its new chief medical officer reporting directly to CEO Glen Tullman.

Hawkins will oversee Transcarent’s clinical quality initiatives and support the company’s health analytics strategy. He brings over three decades of experience focusing on patients care delivery and military medicine. Most recently, he took the role of chief medical officer at Carrum. He previously held the same position at ConsumerMedical and also worked as chief medical information officer at PatientKeeper.

Hawkins served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy and is a decorated combat veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Before moving into healthcare management, he spent over a decade as an anesthesiologist.

In 2023, Transcarent has so far acquired AI-powered primary care startup 98point6 and announced a major hospital partnership with The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic.


Oscar Health

LinkedIn
(LinkedIn)

Sean Martin has been promoted as the new chief medical officer of payer Oscar Health.

Martin joined the company in 2016 where he most recently held the position of vice president and medical director. In his new role, he will be responsible for implementing clinical capabilities and enhancing quality of care and outcomes for members.

Martin began his career in internal medicine at University of Colorado Denver and later at the Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas. He went on to work as chief medical officer for BeneMedical, CEO of Medifr and medical director of both Seremedi and Acurus Solutions.

Oscar surpassed one million members at the end of 2021. However, the company posted net losses in 2022 higher than the previous year. Despite over $600 million lost last year, executives remain optimistic about the company's growth.


MD Anderson

MD Anderson
(MD Anderson)

Kerin Adelson has been named chief quality and value officer of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Adelson also holds a faculty appointment in breast medical oncology. She most recently served as chief quality officer and deputy chief medical officer at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut since 2014. In her new position, she will partner with Chief Administrative Quality Officer José Rivera to lead MD Anderson’s value-based care initiatives. The two will work together to designate leadership for the center’s Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement council.

She also will work to improve quality of patient care and demonstrating value to prospective insurers in order to launch innovative reimbursement models that increase access to cancer care services. Adelson will support the Institute for Cancer Care Innovation, patient care informatics medical director, and teams working in clinical effectiveness, tumor registry and Cancer Network quality improvement.

Adelson will collaborate with Chief Patient Safety Officer Carmen Gonzalez to support MD Anderson’s Divisional Patient Safety Quality Officers. She will step into the position March 20.


Athenahealth

athenahealth
(athenahealth)

Caleb Anderson has joined Athenahealth as the new chief sales officer for the provider of software for medical groups and health systems.

Anderson will oversee Athenahealth’s national sales division using his 20 years of experience. He comes to the software provider by way of Netsmart Technologies where he was senior vice president of post-acute sales.

Before Netsmart, he was vice president of commercial sales for Livongo after starting his career at Cerner Corporation. He spent 15 years with Cerner in a handful of roles including vice president of ambulatory and revenue cycle where he delivered double-digit annual revenue growth.

Athenahealth provides electronic health record, revenue cycle management and patient engagement solutions. The company won four Best in KLAS awards in 2023 in the software as service category for its ambulatory EHR and practice management solutions.


> Hims & Hers Health, a health and wellness platform, named Daniel Lieberman as senior vice president of mental health.

> Carium, a virtual care platform, announced that David McCormick has joined as chief operating officer.

> Soda Health, a health tech company, hired Julie Fleischer as senior vice president of marketing.

> Garnet Health appointed Jonathan Schiller as president and chief executive officer for the health system. Jerry Dunlavey will also become chief executive officer of Garnet Health Medical Center – Catskills.

> The Science Center tapped Kevin Baumlin as chief medical affairs officer of the nonprofit focusing on healthcare innovation.

> Community Health Plan of Washington, the not-for-profit Washington-based health insurance carrier, has hired Genevieve Caruncho-Simpson as its first chief transformation and innovation officer.

> Optum Health promoted Caitlin Zulla to chief executive officer of the company's east region.

> Tegria, a healthcare consulting and technology services company, hired Raymond “Ray” Gensinger, Jr. as senior vice president and chief medical officer.

> Renown Health named William Plauth its new chief medical officer.

> Amedisys, a home health, hospice and high-acuity care services provider, announced Richard Ashworth as president and chief executive officer.

> Tactile Systems Technology, a medical technology company, appointed Elaine Birkemeyer to the position of chief financial officer.

> The National Association of Medicaid Directors' board of directors elected West Virginia's Medicaid commissioner Cindy Beane as president.

> Broward Health tapped Steven Travers as its new vice president and chief information officer.

> Inspira Health unveiled William Pelino as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

> Regence has welcomed Brent Hess as vice president of Medicare sales for the payer.

> Hospital Sisters Health System hired Kathy Donovan as its new chief operating officer

> OU Health has appointed Carolyn Kloek as the Oklahoma City-based academic health system's inaugural chief medical officer.

> BDC Advisors welcomed Shawn Fitzgibbon, former senior vice president at Bright Health Group and president of Bright Health subsidiary NeueNetworks.

> NTx (Nature's Toolbox), a life sciences company, appointed Jamie Coffin as its new chief executive officer.

> Bryn Pharma, a pharmaceutical company, welcomed Sandy Loreaux as chief executive officer.