Mark McClellan Joins Castlight Health’s Advisory Board
Apr 9, 2012
Health Care Reform Advocate to Help Drive Awareness of the Need for Price Transparency and Information on Provider Quality
San Francisco, CA – April 9, 2012 – Castlight Health, developer of a personalized health care shopping portal offering unbiased information about health care cost and quality, has announced that Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution, has joined its advisory board. McClellan brings decades of experience advocating high-quality, innovative and affordable health care to his role as an advisor to Castlight Health.
“Mark is one of the leading authorities on health care reform in this country,” said Giovanni Colella, M.D., Castlight Health co-founder, president and CEO. “His unrivaled experience will prove invaluable in our mission to transform the health care industry by providing Americans with the vital transparency into cost and quality they deserve.”
McClellan has a distinguished history of positively impacting the direction of health care reform in the U.S. Currently the director of Brookings Institution’s Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform; he previously served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. With broad research addressing health care quality, economics, technology and policy to improve the quality and affordability of health care in the U.S., he is a two-time recipient of the Kenneth J. Arrow Award for Outstanding Research in Health Economics. In addition, he served in the Bush Administration as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, where he advised on domestic economic issues.
“To promote better care now and in the future, it is imperative that consumers have access to information that helps them make thoughtful decisions involving quality and cost,” said McClellan. “Through its innovative and pragmatic approach, Castlight Health is taking clear ownership in making true health care transparency a reality, and I am very pleased to partner with this innovative company as an advisor.”
McClellan joins a distinguished group of formal advisors to Castlight Health, including Alan M. Garber, M.D., Ph.D., Provost of Harvard University, Mallinckrodt professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, professor of economics in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and former CHP/PCOR director; Peter Hayes, principal at Healthcare Solutions; David G. Knott, Ph.D., director at McKinsey & Company; David Joyner, SVP at Blue Shield of California; Arnold Milstein, M.D., professor of medicine at Stanford University; and Kenneth L. Sperling, global health & benefits practice leader at Aon Hewitt. As do all Castlight Health Advisory Board members, McClellan represents himself and not his employer.
The appointment further reinforces the company’s strong momentum. Today, leading organizations including Life Technologies, Esterline Corporation and Delhaize Group are leveraging the power of Castlight Health to reduce costs while enabling employees to take better control of their health care services and spending. Castlight Health was also recently named number one in The Wall Street Journal’s prestigious 2011 list of the “Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies” and one of Dow Jones’ 50 Most Investment-Worthy Technology Start-Ups.
About Castlight Health
Castlight Health enables employers, their employees, and health plans to take control of health care costs and improve care. Named #1 on The Wall Street Journal’s list of “The Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies” for 2011 and one of Dow Jones’ 50 Most Investment-Worthy Technology Start-Ups, Castlight Health helps the country’s self-insured employers and health plans empower consumers to shop for health care. Castlight Health is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by prominent investors including Venrock, Oak Investment Partners, Maverick Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Wellcome Trust, Cleveland Clinic, and U.S. Venture Partners. For more information, please visit our web site at http//:castlightstg2.wpengine.com or call (415) 829-1400.
Press Contact:
Kristin Reeves
Blanc & Otus for Castlight Health
415.856.5145
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