Dr. Andrew Ziskind, an interventional cardiologist who most recently oversaw physician performance improvement efforts for Huron Consulting Group, will lead Premier's strategy to help train a new generation to work under population health and alternative payment models.
Ziskind, the former president of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, will be the senior vice president of academic strategy at Premier, a group purchasing and healthcare quality improvement organization based in Charlotte, N.C. Ziskind was instrumental in creating Seattle-based UW Medicine's Spine Center and Regional Heart Center. He also served as vice dean for clinical affairs and as associate vice president for clinical programs at the university.
“Dr. Ziskind's extensive experience in this space is a valuable asset that supports Premier's strategic capabilities to offer forward-looking, next-generation solutions to test and scale transformational academic care models,” said Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier
Ziskind's 25-year career has primarily focused on developing and implementing primary-and specialty-care delivery systems in a variety of healthcare settings, including hospitals, physician practices and academic medical centers.
“Academic health systems have distinct needs as they look to both holistically improve research and education efforts as well as quality, cost and population health outcomes,” DeVore said.
When he began at Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group in 2012 as managing director for healthcare transformation, Ziskind hinted at the importance of getting future generations to think about value in healthcare.
"The next frontier of cost and quality performance will require extraordinary collaboration between health systems and their aligned physicians—collaboration that truly changes the way care is delivered,” he said at the time.
More than 4.7 million people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program have gotten care through accountable care organizations and voluntary and mandatory bundled-payment programs, according to HHS. The Obama administration set a goal of 50% of payments for traditional Medicare benefits being tied to alternative payment models such as ACOs by the end of 2018.
At Huron, Ziskind used analytics and promoted collaborative learning to form plans and management teams that improved clinical outcomes while reducing the total cost of care.
Ziskind previously was a partner at Accenture, a consulting and technology group, where he led efforts in accountable care organizations and academic health systems. He also was a senior executive in Accenture's health and public service operating group.
