Press Press Releases & Media Coverage about First Choice Health

McGinley-Graziosi brings deep experience as healthcare business leader and non-profit board member.

Strategic partnerships highlight First Choice Health?s work uniting health systems, employers, and communities together.

Strategic hiring of Hillary Galyean and David Agler, M.D. highlights FCH's recruitment of industry's best talent to support growth nationally.

First Choice Health is happy to announce the recent hiring of Chief Revenue Officer and VP of Operations. In their respective roles, David Kinard and Shidan Greene will continue to expand our efforts to make care more accessible and affordable through new partnerships.

FCH is excited to announce our new strategic partnership serving members in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson counties. Central Oregon Select is a new direct-to-employer, value-based risk-sharing solution that will enhance members' health care experience throughout Central Oregon.

We're pleased to announce Troy Williams as First Choice Health's new VP of Health Systems Partnerships. In his new role, Williams will help lead our efforts in creating partnerships with clinically integrated networks (CINs) aimed at making healthcare more accessible and affordable for individuals in a growing number of states.

Through a difficult year for all in the healthcare industry, First Choice Health continued to expand its member base and business into new states. Plans for the new year include further growth in direct-to-employer products after introducing several new partnerships with clinically integrated networks.

FCH is pleased to announce two new key strategic roles: Anisha Sood has been promoted to Chief Financial and Strategy Officer, who will be charged with oversight of finance, strategy and corporate development, while Shruti Singal, M.D. has been named VP of Medical Management, focusing on not just premier medical care but also innovation and strategy.

Our new strategic partnership with Embright, the clinically integrated network founded by UW Medicine, MultiCare Health System, and LifePoint Health, will increase access to affordable and quality care for Pacific Northwest employers.

FCH and Eastside Health Network, a clinically integrated network of physicians and providers, have announced a new partnership that provides self-funded employers on the Puget Sound region's Eastside direct access to healthcare providers, offering higher-quality, comprehensive care at a more affordable cost.

To help ensure people will have access to a doctor during the current COVID-19 crisis, First Choice Health will be covering the cost of telehealth and virtual care services for its self-funded employer customers, via on-demand primary care service 98point6.

Our company is excited to enter 2020 on a high note, after a year of significant growth in the employee assistance program (EAP), telehealth and navigation advancements, and launching an innovative chronic opioid abuse program for employers.

Rightway's team of navigators will provide First Choice Health members with expert guidance, decision-support, and scheduled appointments with high-value providers in the Pacific Northwest.

We're pleased to announce the integration of 98point6, an on-demand primary care service that conveniently delivers personalized consultation, diagnosis and treatment to patients. The virtual platform provides self-funded employer customers with unparalleled access to immediate, high-quality care, allowing the company to meet members exactly where they are.

FCH is excited to announce we will offer a prescription opioid use report free of charge to employers in the Central OR area, including Bend, Redmond, Prineville, and Madras. The report will help identify high rates of opioid use which can be associated with potential misuse and addiction among employees. No personally identifiable information will be used.

First Choice Health is very excited to announce a refreshed version of the First Choice Health logo, which we feel strikes the best balance between the old and the new. You can see the new logo on our website and social media channels today, and we will be phasing out the old logo over the next several months.

We're pleased to announce Dan Brown as the new Chief Technology Officer for First Choice Health. Brown will use his extensive experience in information technology to lead efforts that include software engineering, enterprise architecture and technology strategy development.

FCH is excited to announce we will offer a prescription opioid use report free of charge to employers in the Puget Sound area. The report will help identify high rates of opioid use which can be associated with potential misuse and addiction among employees. No personally identifiable information will be used.

FCH has launched a new program to reduce opioid misuse and abuse in the workplace. This is one of the most comprehensive programs in the country to offer data analysis and outreach on an ongoing basis, providing much-needed support and education for our clients and their workforces who are struggling with chronic opioid use.

FCH is pleased to announce the hires of two key strategic roles: Anisha Sood has been named Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development, who will be charged with identifying, developing and maintaining external partnerships, while Gordon Thomson has been named Strategic Program Director, tasked with helping FCH increase its cost advantage and dramatically improving the pace and receptivity to change.

FCH announces a new innovative telehealth technology that will greatly improve behavioral health access for the more than 600 clients using the standalone Employee Assistance Program, as we continue to focus on addressing behavioral health in the workplace.

Newly announced joint project between First Choice Health and Mentor Creative Group, a full-service digital agency based in Seattle, will work to identify needs of employers, leveraging data-driven insights to deliver an innovative platform for the fast-growing number of employers using First Choice Health.

FCH enters the new year celebrating a momentous 2018, which included notable growth in members and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) usage, and a strategic expansion of our presence in Alaska, North Dakota and South Dakota. In addition to growth, we've increased focus on smart, practical data and advanced population health metrics to supply employers with the tools and metrics they need to inform decision-making. With more exciting programs, partnerships and hires on deck, we're on track for an even bigger 2019, and look forward to working towards an improved health outlook for all of our members.

We're pleased to welcome Ron Cornell as the director of product innovation and James Cassel as the director of Oregon sales. Both directors join First Choice Health with an array of departmental expertise and were strategically hired to drive forward CEO Jaja Okigwe's vision for innovation at the company.

First Choice Health has named Wendy Walker as Director of Account Management. Since joining the company in 2014, Wendy has worked hard to build strong and trusted relationships both internally and externally. Congratulations, Wendy!

We're excited to both celebrate Ken Hamm's career and contribution to First Choice Health, as well as welcome Jaja Okigwe as our new President and CEO. "I wanted to work on initiatives that had a more direct impact on people's health," said Jaja. "What attracted me to First Choice Health is the ability I have here to make larger-scale changes that can drive growth and serve our customers far into the future." Read more about Ken's 12 - year tenure and Jaja's 20-year career in healthcare.

Puget Sound High-Value Network (PSHVN) unites premier health care organizations throughout the region to provide high-quality, cost-effective, and comprehensive care at a reduced cost to employers. Participating providers share a strong commitment to embracing a new approach to health care delivery.

First Choice Health and MultiCare Connected Care (MCC) coordinate to create access to MCC's clinically integrated network for First Choice Health clients, with a focus on improving the patient experience and providing high-quality, cost-effective care.

In this era of necessary digital and data transformation, strategic CIOs and CTOs are joined at the hip to their CEO. StrategicCIO360 recently spoke with FCH CEO Jaja Okigwe and CTO Dan Brown about their relationship, corporate initiatives, technology, and the evolution of the CTO/CIO role.

As increasing numbers of finance leaders look for ways to ease their company's workforce pain points - one issue more than others has been capturing their attention: EMPLOYEE RETENTION. In their recent podcast, CFO Thought Leader brought together four executives, including Chief Financial and Strategy Officer Anisha Sood, to discuss the changing talent equation within their companies.

CFO Thought Leader recently featured Chief Financial and Strategy Officer Anisha Sood on their weekly podcast episode. She explains how a multi-chapter finance career has taught why finance must always be the canary in the coal mine - and the importance of asking the tough questions when peril draws near.

Anisha Sood, Chief Financial and Strategy Officer, recently joined Becker's podcast to discuss opportunities to improve care and care outcomes through accountability in patient-provider relationships. Current healthcare benefits have really fragmented that relationship, and FCH is working with provider partners to develop Direct to Employer products and remove the insurer from the middle. Benefits include meeting patients' custom needs, aligning performance and financial incentives, improved management of healthcare cost trends, and a focus on tools and services for population health management.

The transition from IT help desks to employee self-service solutions is liberating IT staff to provide value-added big-picture guidance. StrategicCIO360 recently spoke with Dan Brown, FCH Chief Technology Officer, about his thoughts on IT moving beyond structured requirements and into more strategic business scenarios, while staying on top of every new technological iteration.

Employer-sponsored healthcare spending is at an all-time high, begging the question: Does all this money equal high-quality, high-value care? In the HLTH convention panel on Oct. 18 in Boston, which included FCH CEO Jaja Okigwe, industry innovators discussed how to align incentives across the system and reduce the inefficiencies that have plagued healthcare for decades.

First Choice Health's Vice President of Health System Partnerships, Troy W. Williams, recently authored an article for Chief Healthcare Executive. In the article, Troy outlines ways hospitals and health systems can succeed in launching and growing Direct-to-Employer (D2E) products while still focusing on high quality care delivery, outcomes improvement, and providing a great patient experience.

President and CEO Jaja Okigwe explains when it comes to healthcare options quality versus quantity will be more beneficial to employers and employees alike. First Choice Health is determined to reimagine health insurance plans with a critical eye to the traditional insurance system, which favors wider networks as a solution to cost-effective healthcare, and as healthcare becomes an increasingly vital issue for millions of Americans, there will be added pressure to move away from the status quo.

CEO Jaja Okigwe: "In some ways, we set up our hospital systems for the perfect storm. When Covid hit and the focus turned to emergencies only, many providers awoke to the reality that they were only getting money when people were in the office seeing them. Now that we may be rounding the bend, how do you bring back facilities that aren?t there anymore?"

FCH's Jaja Okigwe recently authored an article for Fierce Healthcare explaining a new opportunity for forward-thinking employers. Direct-to-employer contracting is a promising model with the potential to make healthcare work better. Care should be centered around the place that it is received-at the provider-not by how it is paid for, around insurance companies. Unfortunately, the system has been designed this way, with misaligned incentives and hospitals at the mercy of the rate negotiation table.

First Choice Health plans to expand its 'hospital-centric' model of healthcare by partnering directly with different health systems and offering plans through them. This model provides a 'simplified means' for the patient to figure out their healthcare, said Jaja Okigwe, president and CEO of First Choice Health.

First Choice Health's CEO Jaja Okigwe recently authored an article for Seattle Business Magazine detailing his thoughts on the presence of virtual medicine after the pandemic passes. As large healthcare institutions face huge losses, telehealth could be the "silver lining". Covid-19 may be the wake-up call for the entire healthcare industry to do something entirely different and create something that is less confusing and more effective.

Employee Assistance Programs look at the issue of behavioral health holistically and offer an affordable, seamless solution to addressing the shifting mental health care landscape. Heather Ford, director of FCH EAP, recently authored an article for Puget Sound Business Journal addressing mental health in the workplace, and how can we help employers step up to build and support the mental health and resilience of their employees.

Heather Ford, director of FCH EAP, recently authored an article on benefitspro.com addressing mental health in the workplace, and how can we help employers step up to build and support the mental health and resilience of their employees. EAPs look at the issue of behavioral health holistically and offer an affordable, seamless solution to addressing the shifting mental health care landscape.

EAPs and training can provide workplace support for the pervasive issue of suicide. EHS Today recently spoke with Heather Ford, FCH EAP Director, about her thoughts on companies recognizing warning signs, and offering resources to employees.

FCH's Jaja Okigwe recently authored an article for Puget Sound Business Journal exploring the financial crisis facing Washington hospitals, from rural locations to large, urban health systems. Hospitals already stretched thin financially are being pushed over the edge by the COVID-19 crisis. So, what happens next?

As the opioid crisis grows, more employers are pivoting toward connecting workers to treatment and, ultimately, keeping them on the job. Dr. John Robinson, chief medical officer at First Choice Health, says a computer code targeting opioid prescriptions and related claims "produced some eye-opening data" that's helped create benchmarks to determine which companies have a problem.

As the new CEO of a healthcare provider-owned benefits company, Jaja Okigwe believed he was in the right position to address a common barrier to healthcare: Accessibility. His solution? Stop relying on brick and mortar appointments, and switch to digital.

FCH's John Robinson, MD, recently authored an article for Fierce Healthcare detailing how employers are increasingly concerned about this crisis and are seeking to identify whether their workforce has problems with prescription opioid addiction and abuse. The time is now, for healthcare providers, provider networks, employers and employee assistance programs to get involved.

FCH announced on Dec. 11 its partnership with 98point6, a text and chat-based telehealth platform, according to a news release emailed to Becker's Hospital Review. Through the partnership, FCH will offer its self-funded employer customers access to 98point6's 24/7 virtual primary care services. FCH's independent preferred provider network spans eight states, with more than 110,000 providers, 2,400 facilities and 362 hospitals in the network.

The integration, part of a growing movement to meet patients' demand for services that work within their daily lives, will give First Choice Health customers easy access to primary care from their phones beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

First Choice Health's CEO Jaja Okigwe presented with David LaMarche from the Eastside Health Network at last week's employer healthcare event hosted by Bellevue Chamber. Employers convened to hear about and discuss direct contracting models that many employers, including Microsoft, are beginning to launch.

Heather Alder, director of FCH EAP, recently authored an article on benefitspro.com addressing mental health in the workplace, and what employers need to know about employee assistance programs. EAPs look at the issue of behavioral health holistically and offer an affordable, seamless solution to addressing the shifting mental health care landscape.

Hiring managers predicted that within the next few years, over one-third (38 percent) of employees will spend most of their time working remotely. Chief Executive Magazine spoke with FCH CEO Jaja Okigwe about his thoughts on creating unity in a remote workforce.

After a whirlwind decade, the regional hospital industry has consolidated into a handful of clusters with the hospitals themselves being the nucleus of a healthcare network. Now the question is: What's next? CEO Jaja Okigwe, along with other healthcare executives, offers insight on what's to come in Seattle's healthcare industry.

Seattle-based First Choice Health will offer free de-identified prescription opioid use reports to employers in the Puget Sound area. "This workforce prescription opioid use report helps to identify if there is a problem, which is the first step in fighting the opioid epidemic," says John Robinson, chief medical officer at First Choice Health.

"We wanted to offer this report as a public service to the local community that is so important to what we do at First Choice Health," Jaja Okigwe, CEO and president of First Choice Health, said in a press release. "This data will not only provide insight to our local businesses about how this growing epidemic might be impacting their employees, but it provides a pathway to addressing it head-on."

First Choice Health (FCH) is aiming to make opioid use data available to employers - even those that don't contract with it for health coverage. The reports can be used to identify high rates of opioid use among the workforce, information that can then be adapted into initiatives to mitigate the problem, John Robinson, M.D., chief medical officer at FCH, told FierceHealthcare.

More than 130 people in the U.S. die of an opioid overdose every day, and First Choice Health is trying to help employers address the crisis head on by using data to create practical solutions. Dr. John Robinson, FCH's chief medical officer, spoke with Puget Sound Business Journal to share how this company is using pharmacy claims data to identify opioid abuse in the workplace.

Chief Medical Officer John Robinson: "The problem has been employers really haven't known if they have [an opioid misuse or abuse] problem. They may occasionally find an employee with a problem but they don't really know the scope of it."

Opioid abuse and addiction continue to be one of the biggest health epidemics facing employers and employees today. CEO Jaja Okigwe spoke with Seattle Business Magazine about First Choice Health's new program aimed at preventing opioid misuse and abuse in the workplace.

More than 130 people in the U.S. die of an opioid overdose every day, and First Choice Health is trying to help employers address the crisis head on by using data to create practical solutions. Dr. John Robinson, FCH's chief medical officer, spoke with Fast Company publication to share how this company is using pharmacy claims data to identify opioid abuse in the workplace.

With healthcare costs soaring, cutting those costs is the elusive white whale for many businesses. FCH CEO Jaja Okigwe and other leading healthcare experts offer their thoughts on four prevailing myths to cutting employer health expenses. Read the full article in the March/April issue of Workforce Magazine.

CEO Jaja Okigwe recently spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about First Choice Health's past year, which included adding 20,000 new members in the fourth quarter of 2018 alone. He talks about challenges adding new providers to the FCH PPO network, developments in the Opioid Prescribing Metrics program, and more.

First Choice Health CEO Jaja Okigwe: "Seattle is such a leader, not just in the country but in the world, in terms of ideas. I'm excited about seeing what new things we'll come up with. I was really excited about the announcement from Microsoft (pledging $500 million to fund construction loans for affordable housing). I think for us, confronting the challenges both from a business standpoint but also from an environment standpoint is really interesting.?

The top priority for many business leaders in 2019 is finding, keeping, training and deploying workers and managers who can succeed in the digital era. Chief Executive Magazine spoke with FCH CEO Jaja Okigwe about his thoughts on creating unity in a remote workforce.

FCH's Jaja Okigwe recently authored an article on benefitspro.com exploring how health care data can help identify countless risk factors and warning signs, reduce patient readmission, and lower costs and stress for patients, employers, and providers alike.

According to a new study, the prescription opioid crisis caused almost one million people to be absent from their jobs in 2015. Over a 15-year period, absences resulted in a $700 billion loss in economic output. In Seattle Business magazine, FCH's CEO Jaja Okigwe discusses ways for organizations to determine if they have an opioid problem among their staff, and effective strategies to address the problem.

Healthline Media explores the rise in employee drug overdoses on the job in a new article. Five factors for a successful, modern drug-free workplace program are identified, including information on employee assistance programs like the First Choice Health EAP.

First Choice Health CEO Jaja Okigwe spoke with Puget Sound Business Journal about his plans to simplify healthcare. Learn more about his vision for growth and the changes happening in the healthcare industry.