Live Better, Longer: Dr. Jeffrey Kang Joins ChenMed As President

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Nov 19, 2015, 04:51 ET

"I am proud to now be helping grow what I consider to be the best clinical model for ambulatory elderly patients that I have seen. It's a joy to be collaborating with thousands of humble healers - all passionate about improving health by being truly accountable to their patients." Dr. Jeffrey Kang, President, ChenMed.

MIAMI, Nov. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of U.S. Medicare beneficiaries are actively considering which primary care physicians and specialist doctors will help them optimize health in the coming year. Plus, they are reviewing health plans to determine which offer the best value, along with unrivaled access to outstanding PCP and specialist doctors. The Annual Election Period (AEP) is underway, and the nation's leading integrated primary care practice for seniors, ChenMed, today announced that Jeffrey Kang, MD, MPH is now serving as its President.

"We're delighted that Dr. Kang shares our enthusiasm for transforming healthcare for some of the neediest populations," says Christopher Chen, MD, ChenMed chief executive officer. "Jeff's extraordinary experience includes P&L responsibility for running the $1.5 billion Walgreens Health and Wellness Division including over 400 US work site clinics, over 400 retail health care clinics, hospital system pharmacies, and accountable care organizations and he's prepared to make our best-in-class model the dominant care solution for at-risk seniors across America. Jeff will help increase ChenMed's relevance by rapidly expanding our flagship staff-model centers and our affiliate MSO." Before joining Walgreens in October 2011, Dr. Kang was Chief Medical Officer at CIGNA from 2002 to 2011. Previously, Dr. Kang joined the Clinton Administration in 1994 as a White House fellow and then subsequently served as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Chief Medical Officer for the Office of Managed Care (1995 to 1998) and then as the entire agency's Chief Clinical Officer (1998 to 2002.) Dr. Kang began his career as an internist and geriatrician running a primary care group practice in Boston that cared for the frail elderly and accepted full risk. Jeff currently serves as a board member for the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and recently served as a board member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

"ChenMed provides affordable, accessible, continuous and comprehensive care that clearly is improving both health outcomes and satisfaction levels for seniors in six states," notes Dr. Kang, a healthcare industry leader for 30 years. "I am proud to now be helping grow what I consider to be the best clinical model for ambulatory elderly patients that I have seen. It's a joy to be collaborating with thousands of humble healers – all passionate about improving health by being truly accountable to their patients."

ChenMed -- which successfully operates 37 Senior focused full risk Chen and JenCare Neighborhood Medical Centers in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Virginia -- also provides operational support and risk focused end-to-end technologies helping more than 200 medical practices deliver superior outcomes for seniors with Medicare Advantage.

Chen and JenCare Neighborhood Medical Centers have enjoyed double-digit growth every year for five years, primarily due to the organic growth and expansion of the MSO. Committed to transparency and accountability, ChenMed facilitates satisfaction surveys of about 30 percent of its weekly patient volume and consistently yields industry-leading Net Promoter Scores in the high 80s and low 90s.

The innovative ChenMed success formula for senior health includes increased access to senior focused primary care physicians and specialist doctors, daily walk-up appointments, door-to-doctor transportation, on-site labs, on-site x-ray, acupuncture, and on-site prescription services. The PCP-coordinated care available at nearly 40 Chen and JenCare Neighborhood Medical Centers primarily attract seniors with multiple chronic and complex diseases. The clinical model is specifically designed to improve the outcomes of the 10-15% of the population that accounts for the majority of health care costs.

ABOUT CHENMED AND JENCARE

ChenMed is a privately owned medical, management, and technology company working to positively change American health care through primary care innovation primarily for the neediest populations. Led and inspired by ChenMed Chairman and founder, James Chen, M.D., the company's medical practice model has been serving low-to-moderate income seniors with multiple complex chronic diseases for nearly 30 years.

Read the Forbes story on how the family-owned, physician-led business is a transformation agent to improve the broken, unsympathetic and fragmented care delivery system that many patients still experience today; or The Economist reporting that "Medicare patients at ChenMed spent nearly 40 percent fewer days in hospital than the national average."; or Medical Economics notes that ChenMed "may be the best primary care system in the U.S.".

Based in Miami Gardens, its operating units include Chen Neighborhood Medical Centers bringing better health care to Florida seniors; JenCare Neighborhood Medical Centers bringing better health care to seniors in Atlanta, Chicago, Louisville, New Orleans, Richmond and Tidewater, Virginia; plus Practice Management Resources (PMR) and ChenTech, delivering outstanding management services and technology systems to improve operations and patient experiences at diverse medical practices nationwide.