Cigna taps Dr. David Brailer as first health chief

Cigna has tapped health information-technology veteran Dr. David Brailer as its first chief health officer.
 
Brailer, who also will serve as an executive vice president at Bloomfield, Connecticut-based Cigna, will join the company in early September.
 
As chief health officer, Brailer is tasked with bringing together Cigna’s products, technologies and services to improve members’ health, including supporting the company’s efforts to reach members with digital technology, Cigna said Tuesday. He will report to Chairman and CEO David M. Cordani.
 
"With his proven expertise in care delivery, information technology, innovation and public policy, Dr. Brailer is an invaluable addition to our team," Cordani said in a news release.
 
Brailer was appointed in 2004 by then-President George W. Bush to lead the new Health and Human Services Department’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
 
Brailer will continue to be involved with Health Evolution, a healthcare education company he founded in 2011 and where he serves as chairman, and the Duke-Margolis Health Policy Center, where he serves as vice chairman, according to the news release.
 
During a quarterly earnings call this month, Cordani told investment analysts that Cigna could make acquisitions in specialty pharmacy, virtual and behavioral healthcare and other forms of care delivery. There has been speculation that Cigna could be interested in acquiring insurtech Bright Health Group, in which it's already an investor.
 
Cigna posted $45.4 billion in revenue for this year’s second quarter, up 5.4% year-over-year. Its net income rose 6.2% to $1.5 billion, which the company attributed to less emergency department and surgery utilization and lower direct costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.