After CEO Richard Poulton’s departure last Friday, Shih-Yin Ho, the Veradigm board chairman, will step in as the interim CEO. Meanwhile, Lee Westerfield, the current chief financial officer at Clearsense, is being considered to replace CFO Leah Jones, who resigned at the board’s request. Greg Garrison and Carol Zierhoffer have been appointed as the new executive chairman and separate directors, respectively, on the Veradigm board.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHANGES
Poulton and Jones were requested to step down by Veradigm’s board of directors due to concerns regarding financial monitoring and internal controls over economic reporting. The company faced issues with compliance, leading Nasdaq to notify Veradigm earlier this year about its non-cooperation with listing rules. Veradigm expressed its commitment to regaining Nasdaq Listing Rule compliance.
Garrison, a seasoned leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, emphasized the importance of strengthening the company’s financial power culture and enhancing financial reporting policies. The recent leadership changes underscore the accountability required to achieve this goal.
Ho, the current interim CEO, highlighted Veradigm’s strong operational foundation, data analytics capabilities, and customer value proposition. Garrison expressed confidence in Langan and the new leadership team’s ability to navigate the organization through this transition.
In response to the management reshuffle, Veradigm has initiated the search for a permanent CEO and CFO, enlisting an executive search agency to assess both internal and external candidates.
INDUSTRY IMPACT
Veradigm recently introduced a new conversational artificial intelligence agent for its Practice Fusion Billing Services solution through a collaboration with Microsoft and Zammo’s Azure-based program. This AI agent, Ai, offers software as a service and leverages data from the Practice Fusion Electronic Health Records system to address inquiries and resolve billing issues.
Tyler Bryson, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for U.S. health and public sector businesses, emphasized the transformative impact of this collaboration on how clinicians within the Veradigm Network access information and tackle billing challenges.
Veradigm, formerly known as Allscripts, has undergone significant business transformations and leadership changes over the past five years. Allscripts acquired Practice Fusion in 2018 for $100 million and subsequently settled anti-kickback allegations. The company divested various business segments, including 2bPrecise, and saw the resignation of long-time CEO Paul Black in May.
Under Poulton’s leadership, the rebranded Veradigm reportedly contributed around 95% of Allscripts’ consolidated revenue, which amounted to \(136 million, marking a \)10 million increase from the previous year.
THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
Ho, in the announcement of Veradigm’s management changes on December 8, emphasized the organization’s commitment to enhancing analytical capabilities to meet clients’ evolving needs for high-quality data supporting patient care, value delivery, and research. Veradigm is poised to influence the future of service providers, payors, and life science clients significantly.
