CHICAGO, June 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Leading healthcare companies announce the formation of Avaneer Health and its incoming CEO, Stuart Hanson. Avaneer Health is a new venture designed to create a seamless, end-to-end experience and eliminate the inefficiencies afflicting today’s healthcare system. Driven by its vision for a more productive and people-centered industry, Avaneer Health is building an inclusive network, breakthrough infrastructure and solutions to unlock healthcare’s potential. The groundbreaking company enters the market with an expert team of change agents; investment from top industry players; and a technology backbone designed to support a vast array of platforms for greater applicability and use in reducing administrative costs, accelerating care and improving the experience for people and their families.
Avaneer Health grew out of the Health Utility Network, a consortium of leading companies serving the industry. The group convened to lay the foundation for a frictionless health system oriented around serving people. Today, Avaneer Health is launching as a stand-alone business with a significant investment from its founders: Aetna, Anthem, Cleveland Clinic, Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), IBM, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. and Sentara Healthcare. Their participation and commitment to the venture gives Avaneer Health the overlapping patient populations necessary to make a meaningful difference at launch.
“Avaneer Health is uniquely positioned to change how we manage the modern healthcare ecosystem,” said Marvin Richardson, co-chair of Avaneer Health’s Board of Directors, and senior vice president and CIO, HCSC, which operates health plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. “The organization is executing on the vision of an inclusive infrastructure – a utility network – for the healthcare industry.”
“This utility network will provide the answers needed to deliver outstanding care and service to people, which today are opaque and in latent silos,” said Tim Skeen, senior vice president and CIO, Sentara Healthcare. “Avaneer Health has the potential to change every aspect of the healthcare experience. We are also thrilled to launch this business with Stuart Hanson as the CEO. He has a long track record of strategic innovation in healthcare and carries a deep personal commitment that aligns perfectly with our vision for Avaneer Health.”
Hanson will take the reins of Avaneer Health as CEO, effective August 2021. With a strong track record of building innovative businesses, teams and new models in healthcare transaction processing, Hanson brings a wealth of industry expertise and connectivity to drive the strategy of this exciting venture. A proven strategic thinker and business builder in the healthcare industry, Hanson will join from his current role as managing director and senior healthcare industry executive at JPMorgan Chase. At JPMorgan, his activities included driving a vision for the healthcare payments business and leading a strategic acquisition in 2019. Prior to this, Hanson held leadership positions at Change Healthcare, Citi and Fifth Third Bank.
Hanson is committed to the vision of improving healthcare experience for people. Much of his work within HIMSS, where he served as chair of the HIMSS Health Business Solutions Committee and the Revenue Cycle Improvement Task Force, was focused on reducing transactional friction in healthcare, specifically on the emergence of a consumer-centric view of healthcare revenue and payment cycle solutions.
“I’m excited for this opportunity to help solve healthcare’s biggest challenges,” said Hanson. “I’m looking forward to working with both the Avaneer Health team and our industry partners, driving the strategy and building positive momentum for Avaneer Health.”
Avaneer Health will reveal its full vision and demonstrate solutions at the 2021 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition (HIMSS21), Booth #3427, August 9 – 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
