Drs. Beth
Harris, Thomas Holland,
Girish Putcha, and Michele Schoonmaker join board to advise
Concert on clinical policy content
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its
commitment to provide transparent, evidence-based medical policy
and enable accurate reimbursement for a broader set of diagnostic
services, Concert today announced the establishment of an advisory
board of experts in clinical laboratory medicine and the release of
policies for an expanded scope of routine and advanced laboratory
testing.
The newly formed board will advise Concert on its clinical
laboratory content. Members include Drs. Beth Harris, Thomas
Holland, Girish Putcha, and
Michele Schoonmaker. Details on each
board member appear below.
"Expanding the expertise that informs our content means Concert
can bring transparency and efficiency to a broader set of health
services, while keeping our solutions tightly linked to the latest
evidence and guidelines," said Gillian
Hooker, Concert's Chief Scientific Officer. "We are thrilled
Drs. Harris, Holland, Putcha, and Schoonmaker have decided to join
us in this effort."
In a separate release, Concert announced the expansion of the
Diagnostic Benefit Program, formerly known as the Genetics Benefit
Program, which now provides policies and payment accuracy
capabilities across routine and advanced laboratory testing,
enabling health plans to provide their members with access to these
important clinical services at lower total costs, the company
announced today.
"Concert is working to align payers, providers, and labs to
enable patient access to evidence-based testing," said Dr.
Girish Putcha. "They have a
comprehensive view of the industry so they can create transparent,
scalable, and holistic solutions to structural problems in coding,
coverage, and reimbursement that hinder precision medicine. I am
excited to join this board to guide and support that work."
Following are brief bios on each member of the new clinical
advisory board, in alphabetical order by last name. More
information can be found at Concert's new website at
www.concert.co. With today's announcement, Concert Genetics will
now operate by its abbreviated name, Concert, which many customers
and partners have used for years to refer to the company.
Beth Harris, MD
Dr.
Harris is a gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary pathologist with
extensive experience in both clinical practice and managed care.
She served as a Medical Director at Humana and practiced as a
gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary and surgical pathologist for
PathGroup in Nashville, Tenn., and
Associated Pathologists of Albuquerque in New
Mexico. Today, she is a practicing pathologist at Covenant
Physician Partners and an Assistant Professor of Pathology,
Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt
University Medical Center. Dr. Harris completed her Bachelor
of Science in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and her MD at University of Maryland School of Medicine. She
completed her residency in anatomic pathology at Emory School of
Medicine, and her fellowship in gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary at
Vanderbilt.
Thomas Holland, MD,
MSc-GH
Dr. Holland is an Associate Professor of Medicine,
Division of Infectious Diseases, at Duke
University, where he practices both as a hospitalist and
infectious disease specialist. He has expertise in conducting
multidisciplinary research in antimicrobial resistance,
particularly in the design and conduct of clinical trials in
Staphylococcus aureus infections. He additionally led the clinical
response to the COVID pandemic at Duke Health, where he directed
dedicated COVID wards, cared for patients, kept clinical teams
up-to-date on rapidly evolving scientific and treatment
information, and conducted clinical trials. He was awarded the
Presidential Award for his efforts. A physician scientist with a
deep interest in global health, Dr. Holland's work overseas has
included investigating the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in
Kenya and working with a primarily
Aboriginal population in the Australian Outback. Dr. Holland
received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in Ecology & Evolutionary
Biology and his MD from Wake Forest
University. He completed Internal Medicine residency and
Infectious Diseases fellowship training at Duke, where he currently practices.
Girish Putcha, MD,
PhD
Dr. Putcha is a molecular pathologist with extensive
experience in academia, industry, the investment community, and
payer coverage and reimbursement for molecular diagnostic tests.
Recent roles include Director of Laboratory Science at Palmetto's
MolDX program, Chief Medical Officer and Clinical Laboratory
Director of Freenome, and Medicare Evidence Development &
Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) member. Today, he is an
independent advisor at Precision Medicine & Diagnostics LLC.
Dr. Putcha earned his undergraduate degree in biochemistry, medical
ethics, and health policy from Rice
University and his MD/PhD in neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his residency in
clinical pathology and fellowship in molecular genetic pathology at
Stanford University School of Medicine,
where he also served as adjunct faculty.
Michele Schoonmaker,
PhD
Dr. Schoonmaker is a recognized expert in public
policy and government affairs in the laboratory market. She spent
17 years with Cepheid, a leading molecular diagnostics company,
where her primary responsibilities were to develop and implement
global strategic reimbursement plans for Cepheid's molecular
diagnostic product. Prior, Dr. Schoonmaker worked for the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) as a regulatory policy analyst and
reviewer of diagnostic tests, and she was a Specialist in Genetics
for the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a division of the
Library of Congress. Dr. Schoonmaker earned her undergraduate
degree in molecular biology from Goucher
College and her PhD in health services research, genetics
and public policy from Johns Hopkins
University School of Hygiene and Public Health.
About Concert
Concert is a healthcare technology
company enabling cost-effective access to diagnostics and
therapeutics by harmonizing evidence, policy, and payment. Founded
in 2010 to bring transparency and efficiency to genetic testing,
Concert now offers the definitive precision health payment accuracy
platform. The company combines proprietary market data, clinical
and coding expertise, and patented technology to support diagnostic
test ordering, resulting, coding, coverage, claim editing, and
payment integrity. Concert Genetics, now operates by its
abbreviated name, Concert. For more information, visit
www.concert.co.
Contact: Nick Tazik,
ntazik@concert.co
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SOURCE Concert