Sutter Health hires its first chief population health officer

The health system also created Sutter Population Health Services in April. Dr. Rishi Sikka, Sutter president of System Enterprises, was put in charge of all of Sutter's population health management initiatives and mental health services.

"As a member of Sutter Health's system enterprises leadership team, Dr. Stanley will closely partner with leaders and teams already employing innovative solutions to advance care coordination, eliminate duplication of services and improve the patient experience across the full continuum of our integrated network," Sikka said in a statement.

Sutter's move follows an ongoing trend among some of the largest healthcare providers in recent years to make population health management a part of C-suite level considerations as more seek to develop systemwide strategies to address social determinants of health, prevention and wellness.

Kaiser Permanente was one of the first to establish the executive role for population health management when in 2016 it named former Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Bechara Choucair as the system's first chief community health officer.

Last June, the Cleveland Clinic named Dr. Adam Myers to lead the academic medical center's new population health approach.