Aledade Welcomes Dr. Mandy Cohen, Former North Carolina HHS Secretary, as CEO of Aledade Care Solutions

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aledade, the leading primary care enablement company, today announced that Dr. Mandy Cohen, former Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Aledade Care Solutions (ACS), the company's new health services unit. She will also serve as Aledade's Executive Vice President. Dr. Cohen will assume her new roles in March 2022.

As CEO of ACS, Dr. Cohen will lead the implementation of targeted wraparound care solutions to support the more than a thousand primary care practices in Aledade's nationwide network of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). ACS will complement the care that practices provide, developing new programs to improve patient outcomes and increase cost savings. ACS announced its first launch earlier this month with Aledade's acquisition of Iris Healthcare, a company that offers virtual Comprehensive Advance Care Planning services to patients across the country, following a successful pilot with Aledade.

Future care solutions will be explored with input from practices in the Aledade ACO network, finding ways to leverage data and technology, including remote and virtual services, to improve patients' health and increase ACO savings. ACS will help Aledade create innovative care delivery solutions that are seamlessly integrated with a patient's primary care practice.

"One of Aledade's secret powers has been our ability to welcome amazing executives from public service to come and serve the broader social good in a different way," said Dr. Farzad Mostashari, co-founder and CEO of Aledade. "I have had the opportunity to work with Mandy when she was a leader at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and as Secretary of Health and Human Services for North Carolina. I have always been impressed with her proven track record of delivering results for people who need high-quality, whole-person care, and we are thrilled that she will be helping to guide this next phase in our growth."

"Aledade's support for primary care practices to deliver integrated, whole-person care in value-based payment arrangements is good for practices, payers, patients, communities and society. Importantly, it's the kind of care I want for my family," said Dr. Cohen. "As part of the Aledade leadership team, I look forward to ensuring primary care practices have the resources they need to keep their patients and communities healthy."

Among her other initial priorities, Dr. Cohen will lead Aledade's work to support the large and growing number of patients enrolled in Medicaid programs that are served by Aledade practices and health centers. This will further Aledade's goal of bringing the benefits of value-based care to patients across all payers.

Dr. Cohen is an internal medicine physician and nationally recognized public health expert bringing extensive public sector experience to the growing Aledade team. She has more than 15 years of experience in health care in some of the highest leadership positions in state and federal government. Before joining Aledade, she led the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, where her approach to transitioning the state's Medicaid program to managed care received national recognition for its innovation and focus on whole-person care. She led the state's COVID response, which has been lauded for its focus on equity, data accountability, and transparent communication. Prior to that, she served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services helping to implement the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges and innovative new payment models. Dr. Cohen is a strong advocate for whole-person care and addressing the non-medical drivers of health. She has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine and currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.

About Aledade

Founded in 2014, Aledade is the leading physician enablement company helping independent practices, health centers, and clinics deliver better care to their patients and thrive in value-based care. Through its proven, scalable model, which includes cutting-edge data analytics, user-friendly guided workflows, regulatory expertise, strong payer relationships, and integrated care solutions delivered through Aledade Care Solutions, Aledade empowers physicians to succeed financially by keeping people healthy. Together with more than 1,000 practices in 37 states, Aledade shares in the risk and reward across more than 140 value-based contracts representing more than 1.7 million patient lives under management. To learn more, visit www.aledade.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.

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