Vitality has appointed Dr Rishi Patel as clinical operations director.
Patel, who was previously at Bupa, joins the leadership team at Vitality’s health insurance business to lead the clinical operations function. In this role, he will focus on delivering clinical excellence and improving the efficiency of the claims journey for Vitality members.
During his time at Bupa, he held several senior roles across UK and Group functions, including clinical innovation lead, head of clinical transformation and head of health services proposition. He most recently led Bupa’s UK genomics programme. He played a key role in developing new products, services, and care pathways between the insurance and healthcare delivery arms of the business.
Patel also worked as a public health doctor in the NHS and has wide-ranging global experience in both clinical and non-clinical healthcare roles across public, private and academic sectors.
VitalityHealth CEO Dr Arun Thiyagarajan says: “We are pleased to welcome Rishi to the Vitality team. His extensive experience within the insurance industry, together with his clinical expertise, will play a pivotal role as we continue to challenge ourselves to develop new and exciting products and propositions, that help all our members live longer in better health and give them access to the right high quality clinical care when they need it.”
Patel says: “I am delighted to be joining the Vitality team with its relentless focus on driving sustainable behaviour change to improve the health of its members, aligning perfectly with my passion for preventative and personalised healthcare. Their unique Shared Value Model, benefitting individuals, healthcare systems and wider society is a unique ‘triple win’ scenario that I believe is the right approach to drive long term positive health outcomes for all.”