ATA ANNOUNCES THREE NEW BOARD MEMBERS, EACH PROVIDING DIVERSE AND STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES ON THE EVOLVING TELEHEALTH LANDSCAPE
WASHINGTON, DC, MAY 17, 2023 – The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) today announced the addition of three new Directors, bringing extensive clinical, legal and policy experience to the dynamic and highly talented ATA Board. The ATA is pleased to announce the following new Directors joining the Board: Marc Adelson, JD, Teladoc Health; Kavita Patel, MD, MS, Mary’s Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center; and Sarah Pletcher, MD, MHCDS, Houston Methodist.
“During this milestone year marking the 30th anniversary of the ATA, the leadership and insightful guidance of our Board enables us to convene the industry on critical issues, maintain the leading voice on telehealth policy priorities and address the challenges of creating equitable access to healthcare services wherever and whenever needed,” said Ann Mond Johnson, CEO, the ATA. “We are pleased to have these highly respected thought leaders join our Board, representing diverse and valued perspectives, as we continue to advance the role of virtual care in omnichannel care delivery.”
Joining the ATA Board of Directors:
Marc Adelson, JD, serves as the deputy chief legal officer and global chief compliance officer at Teladoc Health. In this role, Marc leads a global team of legal, privacy, compliance and risk management professionals who oversee the company’s global compliance, ethics and regulatory issues. Marc has been with Teladoc Health since 2011 and previously served as chief privacy officer and vice president, corporate counsel where he oversaw privacy and HIPAA compliance and the development and implementation of corporate-wide compliance training. He has helped shape the emerging telemedicine industry as co-founder and executive legal director of the Institute for Patient Safety & Quality in Virtual Care, the first federally qualified patient safety organization (PSO) focused on virtual care. Marc has an extensive legal background, working previously with insurers including Centre Solutions (a subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services) and Oxford Health Plans in areas ranging from risk sharing and reinsurance to network contracting and underwriting.
Kavita Patel, MD, MS, is a practicing primary care physician at Mary’s Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Washington, DC and Maryland where she is one of the sole adult providers in a community hardest hit by the pandemic. She is also a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates and an NBC/CNBC/MSNBC contributor. Previously, Dr. Patel served in the Obama Administration as director of policy for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement in the White House, where she played a key role in the design of health care reform legislation. As a senior aide to Valerie Jarrett, President Obama’s senior advisor, Dr. Patel helped lead the mission in policy development and evaluation of policy initiatives connected to health reform, financial regulatory reform and economic recovery issues.
Sarah Pletcher, MD, MHCDS, is system vice president and executive medical director for strategic innovation at Houston Methodist, advancing a wide range of virtual and other innovative care models and solutions. Dr. Pletcher previously spent 12 years at Dartmouth, first for surgery residency, then in executive leadership roles for the health system. In this capacity, she founded a rural emergency and trauma quality consortium and then architected and built a national scale telemedicine program. Dr. Pletcher has 30 years of experience in healthcare and innovation execution, scholarship and research in a variety of roles and settings. She has advised health systems, philanthropic foundations, government entities, companies, policymakers, payers and investors and is a national thought leader and invited speaker in areas including digital and virtual health/telemedicine, remote monitoring, clinical transformation, rural and social disparities, and health care delivery innovation.
About the ATA
As the only organization completely focused on advancing telehealth, the American Telemedicine Association is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to safe, affordable, and appropriate care when and where they need it, enabling the system to do more good for more people. The ATA represents a broad and inclusive member network of leading healthcare delivery systems, academic institutions, technology solution providers and payers, as well as partner organizations and alliances, working to advance industry adoption of telehealth, promote responsible policy, advocate for government and market normalization, and provide education and resources to help integrate virtual care into emerging value-based delivery models.
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