Health IT

New Caradigm CEO talks interoperability, population health

Caradigm started as a Microsoft-GE Healthcare joint venture in healthcare connectivity and analytics. It has evolved into a population health company, supporting health systems and Accountable Care Organizations, as a wholly owned GE subsidiary.

Population health company Caradigm Thursday named Neal Singh its CEO. Singh, who has been with Caradigm since its beginning in 2012, was promoted from CTO.

The former CEO, Caradigm founder Michael Simpson, “left to pursue other business opportunities,” according to the Bellevue, Washington-based company.

Don’t expect any major changes in operations, Singh told MedCity News. The big change happened already, rather quietly.

Caradigm had been a joint venture between GE Healthcare and Microsoft for nearly four years. Earlier this month, General Electric bought out Microsoft’s stake and made Caradigm an operating affiliate of GE Healthcare. That wasn’t widely shared until now.

Caradigm started as a joint venture in healthcare connectivity and analytics. It has evolved into a population health company, supporting health systems and Accountable Care Organizations, because, well, isn’t everyone promoting population health and supporting ACOs these days?

But Caradigm is not directly involved in population health management clinical service. Instead, it provides analytics and data aggregation services, as well as software for care coordination. Singh said that one of the company’s strengths is its ability to connect people to “a broad set of data points.”

He said that the company has been putting a lot of money into improving the core Caradigm Intelligence Platform and in broadening the types of data available to customers — including claims and social data.

Interoperability also has been a focus. “We can pretty much interoperate with any EHR, not just in the U.S., but globally,” Singh said. This is important in this age of practice buyouts, hospital mergers and ACOs, since so many organizations are wrestling with data from multiple EHRs.

“We’ve built out a system that parses data that is nonprogrammatic,” he added. That means there usually is no need for customers to write code to connect their EHRs and other databases to the Caradigm platform.

“Our goal is to see if we can simplify some of this for our customers,” Singh said. That also applies to the new, proposed MACRA regulations to replace Meaningful Use and other Medicare incentive programs. “I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunity here,” said Singh, who has not yet done more than a cursory read of the massive proposal.

Singh said Caradigm is in it for the long haul. “We believe this is going to be a long, long marathon,” he said.

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