Katherine A. Schneider, MD, has been named President and CEO of the Delaware Valley Accountable Care Organization (DV-ACO). Dr. Schneider will provide leadership, strategic direction and ongoing administration and management for all aspects of the DV-ACO. She was selected for this role after an exhaustive search by a committee with representation from each of the organization’s five owners — Main Line Health, Jefferson Health System, Holy Redeemer Health System, Magee Rehab and Doylestown Hospital. Dr. Schneider succeeds David F. Simon who has served as CEO of the DV-ACO since its inception. Her appointment was planned to coincide with the conclusion of Simon’s responsibilities as JHS Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, which resulted from the JHS restructuring earlier this year. Simon’s future endeavors include returning to full time law practice in 2015, as well as continuing as Chairman of the Pennsylvania eHealth Partnership Authority.
DV-ACO Board Co-Chairs, Jack Lynch, President and CEO of Main Line Health, and Stephen Klasko, MD, President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health System, expressed their excitement regarding the future of the organization: “We are incredibly grateful to David for his work in successfully positioning the DV-ACO for the future, and we are confident that Dr. Schneider’s clinical experience and business ingenuity will situate the DV-ACO as a pioneering model of care delivery as we partner with our physicians to deliver exceptional patient care while lowering health care costs.”
“I am honored to be chosen as the new leader tasked with ensuring the continued growth and success of the Delaware Valley Accountable Care Organization,” said Dr. Schneider. “As our nation undergoes a fundamental shift in the design and delivery of health care, I believe that DV-ACO will lead the way in population health improvement by streamlining clinical integration while enhancing the quality and personalization of patient care.”
The DV-ACO is the region’s largest Medicare Accountable Care Organization with more than 400 primary care physicians. DV-ACO began participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program in January 2014, and since that time, 32,000 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries have been assigned to the DV-ACO.
Dr. Schneider comes to DV-ACO from Medecision, where she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. The company is the leading provider of health care management and care coordination software solutions serving national, regional and local health plans, insurers and provider-based organizations. Prior to her role at Medecision, Dr. Schneider served as Senior Vice President, Health Engagement, for the southeastern New Jersey health system AtlantiCare, where she held numerous leadership roles, including founding Board Chair of the Accountable Care Organization and co-designer of a value-based health insurance benefit for 10,000 employees and dependents. Before joining AtlantiCare, Dr. Schneider worked at Middlesex Health System in Connecticut where she held various roles with increasing responsibility, ultimately serving as Chief Medical Officer of the clinically integrated entity. In this role, she led the system’s participation in CMS’s Physician Group Practice Demonstration Project, the pilot precursor to the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
After graduating magna cum laude from Smith College with a degree in biochemistry, Dr. Schneider went on to receive her Master of Philosophy in Epidemiology and medical degree from Columbia University. She completed her medical residency in Family Medicine at Middlesex Health System. She is a Diplomate for both the American Board of Family Medicine and for Clinical Informatics subspecialty, American Board of Preventive Medicine. From 2010 to 2012, Dr. Schneider was appointed by United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius to serve on the National Advisory Council, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the US Department of HHS.
A mother and stepmother of four young adult children, Dr. Schneider resides in Philadelphia with her husband, William R. Petricone, Jr., JD, MD.