Tennessee Entrepreneur to Head HHS Office on Value-Based Care

Brad Smith, co-founder of palliative care provider Aspire Health, is the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services’ health innovation center, the agency announced Jan. 6.

Smith will head HHS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and will be charged with carrying out the Trump administration’s efforts to send taxpayer dollars toward paying for patient outcomes rather than individual procedures. Smith will also serve as senior adviser to the secretary for value-based transformation and innovation.

The CMMI has expansive authority to create and test health-care payment systems without congressional approval. As health costs continue to rise, ...