EmployerDirect Announces Appointments to Its Medical Advisory Board

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - Sep 4, 2014) -  EmployerDirect, a leader in value-based healthcare that helps large, self-insured employers provide transparency for the quality and cost of their employees' planned medical procedures, is pleased to announce six appointments to its Medical Advisory Board, including Philip Sanger, MD, Daniel Peterson, MD, Stefan Kreuzer, MD, John Oswalt, MD, Robert Marema, MD, and Corazon Ramirez, MD. The board's objective is to establish and maintain national quality criteria by developing key performance measures to increase quality outcomes and patient satisfaction. Board members also consult on key surgical cases that involve their medical specialties. 

"We are fortunate to have medical advisory support from such a distinguished group of healthcare leaders and pioneers," said Thomas Johnston, CEO of EmployerDirect. "These select physicians have been assisting us over the last 18 months in the development of the SurgeryPlus Quality Care Rating System, and the formalization of this Board was the final step in continuing to provide superior outcomes for clients."

The Medical Advisory Board oversees EmployerDirect's physician credentialing program as well as the ambulatory surgery center and hospital acceptance criteria. The Board also participates on the Quality Assurance Committee that is responsible for quality improvement initiatives, evidence-based clinical pathways, and care analytics monitoring. It utilizes this information to develop recommendations to improve patient care for covered procedures as well as monitoring provider performance. Additionally, Advisory Board members participate in identifying prospective provider partners for the expansion of EmployerDirect's specialty network in major cities across the United States. 

Philip Sanger, MD, Chief Medical Officer for EmployerDirect, Internist, Pulmonary, Critical Care
Dr. Sanger has been a physician and healthcare entrepreneur for more than 30 years. He is an active investor and founder of multiple healthcare ventures, including the publicly traded Medicare-Advantage Health Plan. Dr. Sanger understands what it takes to build a successful healthcare company and has a firsthand understanding of the complexities and challenges of the healthcare system. His hospitalist medicine and medical management strategies have been published by Managed Healthcare Executive, Health Insurance Underwriters, The Hospitalist Magazine, and Disease Management Advisor. He received his Doctor of Medicine from Texas Tech, Internal Medicine Internship and Residency at the Baylor School of Medicine in Houston, and was Chief Pulmonary Fellow at the University of California San Francisco.

Daniel Peterson, MD, Assistant Chief Medical Officer for EmployerDirect, Neurosurgeon
Dr. Peterson has played an active role in neurological clinical research and is currently an Adjunct Clinical Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His interests in neurosurgery are broad, including brain tumors, aneurysms, pituitary surgery, and degenerative disorders of the spine, and he recently completed a clinical study for an artificial cervical disc. 

Stefan Kreuzer, MD, Orthopedics
Dr. Kreuzer is a faculty member of the University of Texas Physicians in Houston and a pioneer in the development of minimally invasive and computer-assisted hip and knee replacement surgery. He has been invited to lecture and demonstrate his surgical techniques for surgeons throughout the United States, Asia and Europe, and is actively involved in training. Dr. Kreuzer is currently on multiple design teams for the development of the next generation of knee and hip implants, and is a member of the International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty (ISTA) board and chairman of the Masters Course on Anterior Hip Replacement Surgery with the International Congress for Joint Reconstruction (ICJR). 

John Oswalt, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgery
Dr. Oswalt was the organizer and Chairman of the Cardiac Transplantation Program at Seton Medical Center Austin for 18 years. He is one of the nation's leading Ross Procedure experts and presents internationally on the procedure. He also served as president of the Texas Transplant Society, and was named Cardiac Care Provider of the Year in 1999 by the American Heart Association. 

Robert Marema, MD, Bariatrics
Dr. Marema was listed at No. 1 in Obesity Help magazine's 100 "Surgeon Rankings...Lives Transformed Score," determined from the input of 150,000 bariatric patients. He currently serves as the Director of Bariatric Surgery at Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine, Fla. Dr. Marema has performed over 7,000 bariatric procedures and has helped develop new medical devices and refined several bariatric procedures. The bariatric program he created at U.S. Bariatric is considered to be one of the best in the world. 

Corazon Ramirez, MD, Anesthesiologist
Dr. Ramirez is the founder of two physician-owned surgery centers, including Dallas-based Pine Creek Medical Center, a 100 percent physician-owned acute care facility. Her leadership has allowed the facility to grow from 11 physician owners to more than 50 of the area's most highly respected physicians. Dr. Ramirez continues to practice medicine and provide business leadership with the belief that when physicians are directly involved in every aspect of the delivery of healthcare, patients distinctly benefit.

About EmployerDirect Healthcare
EmployerDirect, a leader in value-based healthcare, transforms the way self-funded employer health plans purchase healthcare for their members, saving 30-50 percent on planned medical procedures with the potential to reduce total plan cost by 6-10 percent. The company also offers a unique medical concierge service called SurgeryPlus that assists covered members with selecting a provider, scheduling a procedure, transferring medical records, coordinating travel logistics and negotiating surgery costs BEFORE the surgery occurs. For more information about EmployerDirect, please visit www.edhc.com or call (888)241-8537.