Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota tapped Anthem executive Dr. Craig Samitt as its new president and CEO starting July 30.
Samitt, an internal medicine physician, takes the reins from Kathleen Blatz, who has served as interim CEO of the Eagan-based Minnesota Blues since Michael Guyette stepped down in March after five years in the role.
Samitt is currently president of Anthem's diversified business group, which includes the company's primary-care provider CareMore Health and care-management company AIM Specialty Health. He will remain with Anthem until the end of July, a company spokeswoman said.
Prior to joining Anthem in 2015 as chief clinical officer, Samitt served as CEO of medical group HealthCare Partners, a subsidiary of DaVita HealthCare. Before that he was president and CEO of Dean Health System, a multispecialty medical group and health plan in Madison, Wis. acquired by SSM Health Care in 2013.
Samitt was named to Modern Healthcare's list of 50 Most Influential Physician Executives and Leaders in 2018 for helping to drive improvement in Anthem's financial and operational performance by growing the number of Anthem plans with a four-star rating from the CMS and increasing the amount of provider revenue tied to value-based contracts.
Meanwhile, Anthem on Thursday named Dr. Prakash Patel as executive vice president and president of its diversified business group to replace Samitt, effective Aug. 6. He will be responsible for advancing integrated clinical-care models and developing new ways to improve quality and health outcomes for consumers and customers, Anthem said.
Patel is the chief operating officer of GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp. and Florida Blue, the state's Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliate. He is also president of GuideWell Health, the organization's care delivery company.
