Birches Health has brought on Dr. Doug Nemecek, former Cigna-Evernorth Health Services Chief Medical Officer of Behavior Health, to join the organization’s Advisory Board and help support clinical strategy and payor engagement.
"Dr. Nemecek has spent his career at the center of how behavioral health care is delivered and scaled in the US,” Birches Health Founder and CEO Elliott Rapaport said.
"He understands how payors evaluate new categories of care and what it takes to bring them into the mainstream healthcare system. As gambling addiction becomes a growing focus for health plans, his perspective will be critical in helping us align our clinical model, outcomes and partnerships with how care is actually delivered and paid for at scale."
Dr. Nemecek will serve as a Senior Advisor with Birches Health, offering perspective on how different health plans evaluate and scale specialty behavioral health solutions.
With Cigna-Evernorth, Dr. Nemecek led clinical strategy, quality control and operations, while also overseeing efforts in utilization management, provider network design and clinical program development.
Addressing his new role with Birches Health, Dr. Nemecek said: "Behavioral addictions like gambling are becoming more visible, but the care system has not kept pace with the level of need.
"Birches is building a model that brings structure, quality and accessibility to a category that has historically lacked all three, while aligning with how payors think about clinical validation, outcomes and total cost of care. It's a privilege to support the team as they scale a clinical approach designed for both patients and the broader healthcare system."
Birches Health also unveiled the appointment of Cynthia Grant as its new VP of Clinical on February 12, part of an effort to expand its addiction treatment department.
As part of her new role, Grant will oversee all clinical strategy and execution at Birches Health, as the organization looks to further broaden its outreach and treatment access across the US.
Penn Entertainment formed a partnership with Birches Health on March 31 to expand access to responsible gaming support, as US operators continue to face increased scrutiny around player protection
