Patient Engagement Startup Attracts Former Cigna Senior Director

Patient engagement service provider Conversa Health has hired Cameron Ough as its chief technology officer. Conversa, founded in 2014, is an intelligent, automated conversation platform that drives patient engagement through a comprehensive, coordinated care approach, the company reports.

Ough will develop and implement a strategy to address opportunities in the provider, payer and pharmaceutical markets. He will establish and grow the company’s technology roadmap, and lead all technical initiatives with a heavy focus on customer/end-user satisfaction, and value metrics for clients and partners.

Ough comes from Cigna, where he was a senior director in IT. During his 10 years at Cigna, was responsible for clinical data interoperability and consumer and digital health.

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 “…Cam is considered to be one of the top healthcare technology leaders in the country, and has done some fantastic work at Cigna. He has the proven ability to disrupt, innovate, and will help us drive the evolution of our capabilities,” says West Shell III, Conversa Health CEO and co-founder.

According to a representative of Conversa, the industry is seeing an HR shift of notable staff and execs from major, established healthcare organizations to startups and smaller health-tech companies.

“It signals two trends: one, newer health-tech companies are realizing that even if their idea is good, they won't succeed if they can't navigate the space-from regulations to relationships,” says Ough. “On the other hand, there are employees within large, established organizations who want to move a little faster, and feel that they can help innovate faster at more agile companies. So, we expect to see some real pick up from emerging health-tech companies that manage to lure the best talent from the ‘old guard’ companies.”

Conversa was co-founded by entrepreneur West Shell III and Phil Marshall, a medical doctor who previously led product management for WebMD Health Services and Press Ganey Associates.