Before joining Vivo Infusion, Rodgers was CEO at AccentCare for over a decade. He was also formerly CEO of OptumHealth Collaborative Care, a division of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) that owns, manages, and provides administrative and technology services to health care delivery systems.

Earlier in his career, he was a health care executive at General Electric, responsible for purchasing health care benefits.

Vivo Infusion provides cost-effective infusion care to patients in partnership with their physicians.

Accra names Frette as chief solutions officer, Chad Derner CFO

Accra has named LeAnn Frette as chief solutions officer. Frette transitions to her new role after serving as chief financial officer (CFO) for over a decade. The company has also appointed Chad Derner to succeed Frette as CFO.

“Over 18 years of service at Accra, LeAnne has guided our organization through tremendous growth and helped us maintain financial success despite constant disruption in the home care industry,” said Accra President and CEO John Dahm said in a statement. “Her expertise will be critical in clearing the future hurdles we face to best serve the thousands of Minnesotans who need care at home.”

Accra is a nonprofit organization providing individualized home care services to people with disabilities and older adults. Headquartered in Minnetonka and operating in all counties throughout Minnesota, Accra helps people who need care get self-directed assistance with activities of daily living.

As chief solutions officer, Frette will partner with leadership on all operational and strategic issues and provide recommendations based on financial analysis and projections, cost identification and allocation, and revenue/expense analysis.

“I am excited to dive into my new role as chief solutions officer and look forward to collaborating with Accra’s executive leadership team on strategies to build an ecosystem that better meets the needs of Minnesotans who require personalized care at home,” Frette said.

Frette started with Accra as a system analyst in 2006 and supported the company’s growth by building out its financial operating systems and practices. She was named CFO in 2014.

Taking on Frette’s former role as CFO, Chad Derner will manage Accra’s accounting and billing departments, oversee all financial activities and operations and provide strategic guidance to leadership. Derner joins Accra with 25 years of experience in finance and accounting, the last 16 of which have been in leadership.

“I am thrilled to welcome Chad Derner as Accra’s new CFO,” Frette said. “Having dedicated many years to this role, I understand the importance of having a leader with Chad’s extensive experience and strategic vision. I am confident that Chad’s broad health care experience will help Accra grow and thrive in our ever-changing industry.”

Derner will focus on identifying opportunities to optimize financial strategies across all of Accra’s business ventures. He will be critical in ensuring Accra fosters financial excellence and strategic growth.

“I am excited to join this dedicated team and contribute to Accra’s mission by ensuring financial excellence and strategic growth,” Derner said. “I look forward to leveraging my experience in financial management and technology-focused health care to support Accra and significantly impact our community.”

CaringBridge announces new board members

CaringBridge, a Bloomington, Minnesota-based health care platform supporting family caregivers, recently announced new members to its board of directors: Sandy Chung, American Academy of Pediatrics immediate past president, CEO of Trusted Doctors, Medical Director of the Virginia Mental Health Access Program; Kristy Lindquist, co-founder and partner at Chasm Partners and Steve Margolis, retired health plan executive, independent board member and current president of the Vitality Group.

The company also announced that retired health care executive Sarah Krevens was the board chair, and Linda Ireland, an independent board director, was the board vice chair.

Calvin Allen, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has joined as Treasurer, Finance & Development Committee chair.

Cris Ross, chief information officer at Mayo Clinic, is the new Impact Committee chair.

Adrian Slobin, chief growth officer at Huron Consulting, has joined as the Governance Committee chair.

Scott Spiker, board director and chairman at First Command Financial Services, is board chair Emeritus.

“I am thrilled to welcome our new members to the CaringBridge board,” CEO Tia Newcomer said in a statement. “Our board comprises seasoned professionals in health care with deeply personal connections to caregiving. I am truly excited about the future and what we will accomplish together. The board is essential in continuing our path of meaningful and transformational work to surround family caregivers with emotional, social and functional support as they care for a loved one on a health journey.”

nVoq welcomes Iddings as chief revenue officer

nVoq announced Dawn Iddings as its chief revenue officer. Iddings brings over 20 years of experience in health care, technology and electronic health records. Most recently, she served as senior vice president and managing director of post-acute care at Netsmart Technologies. 

“Dawn is an incredible addition to our executive team,” President and Chief Operating Officer Debbi Gillotti said in a statement. “Her deep expertise in the in-home health care market, combined with her career-long commitment to creating technology solutions for our industry, will elevate our ability to service our agency customers and industry partners.”

nVoq Inc., headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, provides HIPAA-compliant, SaaS-based technology for the in-home health care industry.

“The in-home health care market is on the brink of a significant transformation, and AI is at the heart of it,” Iddings said in a statement. “nVoq has been developing and evolving this technology to meet the unique needs of clinicians for over a decade. Our solutions continue to redefine efficiency, quality and accuracy in clinical documentation, and I’m thrilled to be a part of this journey.”

One Senior Care expands executive leadership team

Erie, Pennsylvania-based One Senior Care announced the expansion of its leadership team.

As chief medical officer, Dr. Jerry Wilborn, a 25-year veteran in post-acute care, will work alongside the organization’s medical directors to drive clinical strategy and positive health outcomes.

“Over the last few years, it’s become increasingly clear that seniors want to age in their homes. One Senior Care is making this a reality for the older adults we serve in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and soon, Ohio,” Wilborn said in a press release.

The newly appointed chief operating officer, Craig Worland, brings a professional background in leading growing health organizations, having previously served in Southeast Primary Care Partners and Tanner Health System.

“I’m honored to join One Senior Care, which has great potential to expand this truly integrated and participant-centered program to serve more older adults and communities across the country,” Worland said in a press release.

As chief quality and compliance officer, Laura Lyons will enhance the company’s quality and compliance programs, according to the release.

“As we look toward the future, we look forward to building upon our reputation in quality care and continuing to ensure that older adults can live healthy, happy and independent lives in their own homes and communities,” Lyons said.

Element Care appoints Thompson new CEO

Element Care announced the appointment of Douglas Thompson as chief executive officer (CEO). Doug brings experience in health care leadership, financial management and community engagement to the company.

“In seeking a new CEO, it was essential to the board of directors to select a candidate that not only has the leadership and technical skills necessary to manage such a complex organization but also someone committed to providing high-quality health care to low-income seniors,” President of the Board of Directors, John Feehan said in a statement. “We are extremely excited to have Doug join the Element Care team and look forward to working with him to bring high-quality, wrap-around medical services to many more seniors in need.”

Element Care, based in Lynn, Massachusetts, provides managed care for senior care options (SCO) under a contract with Commonwealth Care Alliance. The company serves over 1,000 Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) participants and 2,000 SCO members across 60 North Shore, Merrimack Valley and Greater Boston communities.

“I’ve worked with diverse populations throughout my career and am passionate about developing innovative programs to serve patients with complex health needs,” Thompson said. “I am excited about the mission and high quality of health care that is the foundation of Element Care. I look forward to building on the success of this organization and leading its next chapter as the population of aging seniors continues to grow.”

Thompson was previously the CEO and founder of Perfect Health Inc., where he developed a comprehensive primary care clinical model as a risk-bearing provider organization focused on serving seniors with complex health care needs at home. He was also the former chief financial officer of the Massachusetts state Medicaid program and three Medicaid managed care organizations.

Avenues Home Care welcomes Hendrix as senior care coordinator

Avenues Home Care announced Grant Hendrix as senior care coordinator for northwest Georgia and southeast Tennessee. Hendrix will help families and veterans living in Dalton, Chattanooga and surrounding areas engage with home care services to meet their needs.

“At Avenues Home Care, we are committed to offering those we serve professional, compassionate and flexible home care solutions,” CEO Doug Markham said in a press release. “With our years of experience and industry knowledge, we empower our local teams to foster meaningful connections within the community. Grant’s extensive experience, education, and the Avenues’ vision and support give him the essential insights and resources to ensure we meet our clients’ distinct needs.”

Dalton, Georgia-based Avenues Home Care is the parent company of community-centric home care agencies spanning multiple communities across the South. The company provides in-home senior care, activities of daily living, medication assistance, meal preparation, companionship, transportation, light housekeeping and more.

“Avenues’ motto, ‘your journey, our care,’ is something I will strive to remember every time I visit families and their loved ones,” Hendrix said. “My passion is to connect people to exceptional home care services that will help improve their quality of life. With their excellent reputation and resources, Avenues Home Care has given me a great opportunity to help families in the areas we serve.”

In his new role, Hendrix will analyze the market, visit communities and meet with clients in their homes.

Integrated Home Care Services Inc. welcomes Ajani Nimmagadda as CMO

Integrated Home Care Services Inc. (IHCS) announced that Dr. Ajani Nimmagadda has been named the organization’s new chief medical officer. Nimmagadda will assume clinical and medical management leadership across the organization.

“Dr. Nimmagadda’s leadership in driving clinical outcomes, quality of care and health care affordability will be instrumental in helping us continue to fulfill our mission and support our continued growth,” CEO Christopher Bradbury said in a statement. “Her proven track record of achieving better outcomes for patients, providers, and health plans and her expertise across the health care ecosystem will further accelerate our innovation and value-based care solutions.”

Integrated Home Care Services is a home care benefit manager that enables and accelerates value-based home care for health plans and risk-based provider organizations. Headquartered in Miramar, Florida, the company services millions of patients across many states and Puerto Rico.

“I am honored to join IHCS as chief medical officer,” Dr. Nimmagadda said. “I look forward to leveraging my experience in successful health care operations and improved operational efficiency while optimizing clinical outcomes. IHCS’s approach is reinventing home care benefit management, replacing fragmented approaches with an integrated, insights-based, coordinated model that improves clinical outcomes and patient experience and reduces health care costs. Improving care in the home has always been a passion of mine, and I look forward to unlocking the full potential of care in the home with our team members, providers, caregivers and health plan partners.”

Dr. Nimmagadda has nearly three decades of experience in health care, both as a practicing internal medicine and infectious diseases physician and as a health care executive.

Most recently, she served in various leadership roles at Cigna Healthcare, overseeing comprehensive medical and pharmacy utilization management programs and specialty drug clinical programs, including gene therapies.

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Home-based care providers and Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) organizations are in a unique position to strengthen the work one another is doing to care for seniors.

No one understands this better than Alivia Care, a home-based care provider that also has PACE programs under its umbrella. In 2021, Alivia Care opened up Jacksonville, Florida-based The PACE Place.

“We thought No. 1, it related to the type of care that we gave, in terms of chronic elderness, geriatric frailty, many of the things that we see in our hospice patients, so we felt that we had some core competencies there,” Alivia Care CEO Susan Ponder-Stansel told Home Health Care News. “One of the things that we also wanted to do is just practice being responsible for the total cost of care, over a longer period of time.”

Jacksonville, Florida-based Alivia Care provides home health care, hospice care, personal care, palliative care, advanced care planning and PACE services across Northern Florida and Southern Georgia. Currently, The PACE Place serves roughly 150 seniors.

Ponder-Stansel has seen opportunities to bring in its home health resources to benefit the seniors who are receiving care through the company’s PACE program.

“We found that it was actually better to work with our home health agency, especially for things like wound care,” she said. “Home health [clinicians] have certain skill sets that most are very good at, things like wound care or cardiac rehab or diabetic education, some of those things that we would see in our PACE population. Some PACE providers just do it all themselves, so it depends on what works for them, but we felt this was a better way.”

In addition to this, Alivia Care utilizes its personal care staff to offer transportation escorts for medical appointments to seniors receiving PACE services through The PACE Place. These caregivers are also providing support in the home, delivering housekeeping services and help with chores.

On the other end, the company has been able to bring PACE services into the home.

“Not every PACE participant will come into your day center every day,” Ponder-Stansel said. “There are times when people just don’t feel well. We’ve been able to do occupational therapy, physical therapy, and bring that to the home for them. Because PACE is the payer for this, you don’t have to necessarily go through all the hoops of the OASIS. You can just contract with your home health to provide it.”

Referral-based partnerships

One Senior Care is a PACE organization that has formed referral-based partnerships with home-based care providers.

“Oftentimes it’s those home health companies that really know and see the conditions that the patients are living in, and really have a good understanding of the complexity of these patients,” Craig Worland, chief operating officer at One Senior Care, told HHCN. “They’re the ones who realize that the patient may need more, and they actually can be a referral source for us.” 

Erie, Pennsylvania-based One Senior Care is the top PACE provider for rural and Appalachian communities.

Similar to Alivia Care’s The Place Place, One Senior Care also brings its home-based care partners into the home of PACE participants that need additional support.

“There are definitely times where there’s a skilled need that we don’t have at a center within our staff, or there is something that a patient needs just due to how complex they are that we are not equipped to provide,” Worland said. “We work with the home-based care company to provide that.”

The biggest value-add of these partnerships is being able to offer an additional level of care through working with home-based primary care and home health providers, according to Worland.

“That to me is really the sweet spot for these partnerships, it’s allowing us to meet our goal, which is keeping the participant at home, that could be anything from wound care to infusion [services],” he said.

Despite PACE and home-based care providers being natural allies, Worland believes that the latter are sometimes reluctant to collaborate with the former.

“Sometimes home-based care companies view PACE as a competitor, and they almost have an aversion to working together, or an aversion to using PACE as a resource for their really sick patients,” he said. “I think what I’d love to see is just more of that collaboration.”

For Alivia Care, the internal partnership between its home-based care arm and its PACE program has meant leaning into each segment’s strengths, as opposed to taking everything on.

This doesn’t mean the collaboration is completely free from challenges.

“Coordination and communication is something that is sometimes challenging, and you have to build in mechanisms for hearing from those who are providing the care in the home, and then having them coordinate with your interdisciplinary care team to manage that care and make sure you’re responding to anything that’s going on, and planning adequately,” Ponder-Stansel said. “There’s a higher degree of communication than you would normally see with a Medicare patient.”

Worland also stressed the importance of strong communication within these partnerships.

Ultimately, he wants home-based care providers to understand the mutual benefits that come from teaming up.

“The onus is on the PACE plan to explain that and spell that out, but as patients continue to get sicker, get more complex and their care needs become more challenging, I really want these home care companies to be thinking about PACE as a partner,” Worland said.

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