ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lumeris, a pioneer in population health management solutions headquartered in St. Louis, is pleased to announce the appointment of Joseph Gifford, MD, as senior vice president of Provider Markets.
Dr. Gifford, a healthcare industry veteran with proven experience at high-growth healthcare organizations, will play a key role in navigating the rapidly changing political, professional and regulatory environment in which Lumeris operates. His work will focus on the development of strategic partnerships, fostering continuous dialogues with executive networks, and stewarding sales, clinical, consulting, operations and development teams to introduce our Population Health Service Organization (PHSO) solutions and services to new markets on the West Coast. Dr. Gifford will serve as a member of the company’s leadership team and will report dually to Mike Long, chairman and CEO of Lumeris and Essence Holdings, and Dr. Debbie Zimmerman, chief medical officer of Lumeris and Essence Healthcare.
“The strength and future of Lumeris hinges on the commitment, expertise and ambition of our A-player talent,” said Dr. Zimmerman. “We are pleased to find someone who brings the perfect set of skills for this opportunity and the passion necessary to fit within our culture.”
Prior to Lumeris, Dr. Gifford served as chief executive of the Accountable Care division for Providence Health and Services. During that time, he oversaw the development of a population health portfolio serving more than 600,000 lives, and launched accountable care organizations within a number of industry-leading organizations, including Boeing, Aetna and the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
“It’s critical for health providers to stay ahead of primary care transformation,” Dr. Gifford said. “I believe Lumeris is uniquely positioned to do that and I look forward to helping build a provider network that is focused on delivering high-quality population health solutions to healthcare markets across the country.”
Dr. Gifford holds a medical degree from the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine, and has served on numerous boards as both member and founder, most recently as a member of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association. Previously, Dr. Gifford was appointed by the Governor of the State of Washington to a seat on the Bree Collaborative, where he worked with the legislature to establish a provider-based entity focused on developing collaborative methods to improve healthcare in the northwest region.
ABOUT LUMERIS
Lumeris serves as a long-term operating partner for organizations that are committed to the transition from volume- to value-based care and delivering extraordinary clinical and financial outcomes. Lumeris enables clients to profitably achieve greater results in value-based care arrangements through proven playbooks based on collaboration, transparent data and innovative engagement methodologies. Lumeris offers comprehensive services for managing all types of populations, including launching new Medicare Advantage Health Plans, Commercial and Government Health Plan Optimization, and Multi-Payer, Multi-Population Health Services Organizations (PHSOs) for provider organizations. Currently, Lumeris is engaged with health systems, provider alliances and payers representing tens of millions of lives moving to value-based care. Lumeris has nearly 800 employees.
Lumeris was awarded 2015/2016 Best in KLAS within the Value-Based Care Managed Services category for outstanding efforts to help healthcare professionals deliver better patient care. For 2016 annual enrollment, Essence Healthcare, a Lumeris client, was rated “Excellent” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Essence was Lumeris’ pioneer client and has been leveraging Lumeris for more than a decade to operate its Medicare Advantage plans, which serve more than 62,000 Medicare beneficiaries in various counties throughout Missouri and southern Illinois.
