SAN FRANCISCO (August 26, 2019) — Cricket Health, a comprehensive kidney care provider with a personalized, evidence-based approach to managing care, today announced new additions to the company’s senior leadership team. Former health plan leader Colleen Reitan was appointed to the company’s board of directors and veteran health care executive Adam Hameed will be joining Cricket Health as chief development officer.

“Health care providers and health plans are seeking care that drives better health outcomes and reduced costs in an industry rapidly shifting to a values-based care approach. Kidney care presents one of the greatest opportunities for improvement having seen skyrocketing costs and underwhelming care for too long,” said Reitan. “I’m honored to bring my experience to the table to help advance a patient-centered kidney care through value-based payer arrangements.”

Reitan is a former health plan executive whose career spans 36 years in senior leadership positions with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBS of MN), and Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC). Most recently, she served as executive vice president with HCSC, where she oversaw Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan operations in five states covering more than 16 million members. Prior to that, Reitan served as president and chief operating officer of BCBS of MN, the state’s largest health insurer. She also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Prime Therapeutics, Availity, and the Federal Employee Program Board. Reitan is currently an independent director for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY).

Hameed previously served as chief revenue officer with three innovative technology and heath care companies, including PlanSource, Alegeus Technologies, and Silverlink Communications. Before that, he helped launch the data and analytics business within Emdeon which later became Change Healthcare. Finally, he served as the senior vice president of the payer go-to-market team within Optum, the technology and services-focused arm of UnitedHealth Group. In his new role as chief development officer, Hameed will be responsible for developing and executing the company’s go-to-market strategy, including all sales and marketing activities.

“Throughout my career I’ve witnessed firsthand how the health care system can fail patients, payers, and providers alike. There’s no better example than the status quo of today’s kidney care model,” said Adam Hameed, chief development officer of Cricket Health. “I’m thrilled to join the team’s ambitious mission to relieve the overwhelming personal and financial burden of kidney disease by partnering with health plans and systems to deliver the best possible care.“

“No slice of health care is more broken — and in need of more innovation — than kidney care,” said Arvind Rajan, CEO and co-founder of Cricket Health. “We’re proud to have Adam and Colleen, some of the best minds and veterans of the health care industry, join us in expanding our totally new approach to kidney care that puts patients at the center of their care.”

Cricket is a new kind of kidney care provider that works with payers and health systems to improve outcomes and reduce costs by identifying patients with kidney disease early, then deploying personalized care teams to slow its progression, and, if it does progress to kidney failure, helping patients select the ESRD care that’s right for them. Instead of being left alone to manage this complex disease, Cricket empowers patients to live their best possible lives with CKD or ESRD.

About Cricket Health
Cricket Health is a comprehensive kidney care provider with a personalized, evidence-based approach to managing chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Cricket works with payers and providers to identify patients who are at risk, acts early to slow progression of the disease, and delivers patient-centered, personalized kidney care through a multidisciplinary care team. If a patient progresses to ESRD, Cricket educates them about their treatment options and delivers patient-centered care, whether it is transplant support, home dialysis, conservative care, or in-center dialysis. Founded in 2014 and based in San Francisco, the company’s leadership includes some of the leading experts in nephrology, health care, and technology. Learn more at www.crickethealth.com or follow us @crickethealth.