CHICAGO (August 31, 2021) --Zing Health, a physician-led, tech-enabled Medicare Advantage plan focused on underserved communities, has named Vrajesh Shah as its new chief information officer. Shah will shape Zing Health’s technology and data architectures to strengthen the health plan’s commitment to information management and population health analytics.
A 25-year innovator in managed care health IT, Shah comes to Zing Health after a seven-year stint at AmeriHealth Caritas. As a chief technology officer and data strategist, he created a holistic vision and path forward for digital transformation, building next generation technology platforms to support cost-saving, whole-person models of care.
“Adding Vrajesh to the team is another step in Zing’s growth and maturity in healthcare information technology,” said Zing Health Founder and CEO Dr. Eric E. Whitaker. “His compassion and persistence will propel our purpose to account for social determinants of health and make better real-time decisions to improve members’ well-being.”
Health Data Brings Resources to Underserved Communities
Shah will report to Dr. Whitaker and work with the entire leadership team, including Zing Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Garfield Collins, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Trent Haywood, on creating innovative population health analytics solutions.
“I’ve always had a purpose in my life to serve the people who really need the most, and that’s exactly the reason I chose to join Zing Health,” Shah said. “There is a health equity issue with minority populations and nobody’s solving it. Actionable data is critical to providing affordable health care to chronically ignored and underserved communities.”
Shah brings with him a unique understanding of Medicare, Medicaid, and long-term managed care products. As senior IT director for UnitedHealthcare, he formulated a comprehensive strategy that streamlined data and enabled population health management, clinical data exchange, pharmacy, and telehealth teams. Shah also served in key IT roles at Merck and Alembic Pharmaceuticals. He studied in Wharton’s executive development program and earned engineering and physics degrees at India’s acclaimed Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
“Information management provides a place to start when starting might feel overwhelming or impossible,” Shah said. “When we capture social determinants of health data in the right way, in the field and from the members, we can work creatively around clinicians’ pain points to create innovative solutions that improve population health.”