In the wake of the departure of Omada Health’s chief healthcare development officer Mike Payne last week for personal reasons, the digital health company has hired the former head of health policy at Google, Elizabeth Engel, as a consultant, as part of a series of new hires.
In a phone interview, Adam Brickman, Omada Health’s director of strategic communications and public policy, said Engel will fill some of the company’s immediate needs on health policy. One matter that she is working on is the current comment period for changes to the physician fee schedule to expand the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program.
Brickman said the company planned to make at least one senior-level hire on the commercial side of the business in the coming weeks.
The company recently agreed to a partnership with Intermountain Healthcare and the American Medical Association, the first such deal the AMA has made.
“It is a busy time at Omada Health. I loved working with Mike Payne and wish the best for him and his family,” Brickman said. “We will miss him.”
He added that the company expects to have additional job announcements in the coming month.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
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