Tampa primary care firm names new CEO

Primary care platform MaxHealth, which focuses on Medicare-eligible patients, has named Dr. Prakash Patel CEO, a veteran health care executive who the company says has “been an innovator at the intersection of the payer, provider and technology landscapes” in health care for several years.

Patel succeeds Michael Bernstein, who was interim CEO of MaxHealth for the past year, according to a statement. Bernstein will retain his current role as executive chair of the company, which cares for some 66,000 patients, the release adds.

Prior to joining MaxHealth, Patel was executive vice president of health insurance giant Anthem, where he was also president of the diversified business group, where he launched and led DBG’s strategic direction and its multibillion-dollar growth. Patel, the release states, was responsible for delivering new sources of growth by “advancing integrated in-person and virtual behavioral, medical and pharmacy care models and developing innovative solutions to improve quality and health outcomes for its members.”

“Over the past 18 months, MaxHealth has undergone a period of explosive growth and is now well positioned to bring on a CEO with the widely recognized industry leadership and deep experience of Prakash Patel,” Bernstein says in the statement. "We are very excited to welcome Prakash into the MaxHealth family and are eager for him to continue to lead the organization in its mission to become the nation’s leading provider of high-quality, patient-centered, primary care services.”

Founded in 2006, MaxHealth is a leading primary care platform dedicated to simplifying health care and ensuring healthier futures. The company’s value-based primary care platform is focused on Medicare, Medicare Advantage and Managed Medicaid patients throughout Central and South Florida, with more than 66,000 value-based-care members. The 526-member team includes 93 primary care providers and 15 specialists across 54 owned clinics and 15 affiliated clinics.