CVS Health expands leadership responsibilities
CVS Health announced additional responsibilities for several members of the company’s executive leadership team, effective immediately:
Shawn Guertin will continue as chief financial officer and is now President of Health Services.
Prem Shah will continue as chief pharmacy officer and is now the sole president of pharmacy and consumer wellness.
Michelle Peluso, as chief customer and experience officer, will expand her focus to create a superior end-to-end patient experience across all of the company’s care delivery and customer service channels.
Brian Kane joins CVS Health this week as president of Aetna, as previously announced in April.
“At a time when we are accelerating our strategy to deliver superior health experiences for consumers, we are advancing leaders who are driving patient-centric innovation,” said CVS Health president and CEO Karen Lynch. “Our leaders are deploying the full set of our capabilities to improve overall health, lower costs and provide broad access to care for the people and communities we serve.”
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As president of Health Services, Guertin will be responsible for unifying the company’s care delivery assets, driving innovative strategies while expanding products and services, and delivering results across these growth businesses.
Oak Street Health and Signify Health will continue to be aligned under Health Services. These recently acquired assets bring core capabilities to the company’s value-based care platform that drive optimal patient engagement with health services across multiple channels. The company’s retail health assets, including MinuteClinic, will also be a part of the Health Services portfolio.
Mike Pykosz and Kyle Armbrester, who lead Oak Street Health and Signify Health, will now report directly to Guertin. Both Pykosz and Armbrester will remain members of the company’s executive leadership team.
“This structure simplifies access to our multi-payor capabilities and better aligns the way we serve clients,” Guertin said. “By bringing these businesses together, we will be better positioned to more effectively address the total cost of care, implement new care solutions that support healthy communities, and improve the growth rate of the company.”
Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness will be led by Shah, simplifying the leadership structure for the segment (Shah previously served as co-president with Peluso). Shah will continue as the company’s chief pharmacy officer, delivering best-in-class service to consumers and patients, while also advocating for and supporting the evolving role of the pharmacist as a health care provider.
“Pharmacists are among the most trusted and accessible providers, representing one of the most frequent interactions in health care, and pharmacies will increasingly serve as a critical customer engagement point to other health services,” Shah said. “We have a tremendous opportunity to connect our patients to other care channels, given their deep relationships and trust with their local pharmacists.”
Read more: CVS Health report highlights need for expanded role of retail pharmacists]
Peluso’s enhanced role will focus on improving the patient experience across the company’s care delivery and service channels, key drivers of overall satisfaction with CVS Health.
“Our unique collection of care delivery assets gives us the opportunity to create a more coordinated experience for our customers and patients,” Peluso said. “Through this work, our team can help ensure that our customer and patient touchpoints are seamless, connected, and lead to better health.”
As previously announced in April, Kane also joins CVS Health this week as executive vice president and president of Aetna. Kane most recently acted as a strategic consultant to several leading private equity firms focused on healthcare services, and, prior to that, served as chief financial officer of Humana and oversaw its primary care businesses. Kane has a track record of bringing customer-driven innovations to the market and delivering strong results, CVS Health noted.