View from the C-Suite: Andrey Ostrovsky, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Behavioral Health at Solera Health
// By Sheryl S. Jackson //
Editor’s Note: In our “View from the C-Suite” series, our goal is to share the insights of health care leaders from across the leadership spectrum — CEOs to CFOs to CMOs and more. In this article, the CMO we’re referring to is the chief medical officer.
This story profiles the head of behavioral health at Solera Health, an “integrated health network” that “connects patients, providers, and physicians to a network of partners who are preventing and managing chronic disease.” This new division will expand the company’s chronic disease management partner network to address behavioral health, in particular, the opioid epidemic.
Andrey Ostrovsky, chief medical officer and vice president, behavioral health, Solera
“There are about 2.5 million people addicted to opioids, but only 10 to 20 percent of them get help,” says Andrey Ostrovsky, MD, Solera’s chief medical officer (and former CMO of Medicaid). Added to that, only 20 percent of addiction treatment centers offer evidence-based treatment.
Health care costs related to chronic disease and mental illness represent 90 percent of the nation’s $3.3 trillion in annual health care expenditures, according to the CDC. Ostrovsky proposes that a technology platform that facilitates connections among physicians, payers, and a vetted network of community organizations can help to stem the tide.
For providers who sponsor their own health plans, participate in accountable care organizations, or engage in value-based contracting, solutions like this may be one way to control costs and improve outcomes.