Babylon Hires Former White House Health Official as New Chief Medical Officer

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Babylon today announced the hiring of Darshak Sanghavi, MD as the company's new Global Chief Medical Officer. Sanghavi joins Babylon's C-suite team from UnitedHealthcare (Medicare & Retirement), the largest commercial Medicare program in the United States.

As Babylon continues its rapid U.S. expansion, Sanghavi will lead the company's growing network of global clinicians and clinical efforts, spearhead innovation in care delivery, and ensure best-in-class care quality delivery across the world. Leveraging Babylon 360 (B360) -- Babylon's digital-first, value based care platform that already delivers end-to-end healthcare to nearly 100,000 Americans -- Sanghavi will lead a team of hundreds of in-house global providers alongside thousands more clinical partners around the world who use the platform to care for patients.

"We are thrilled to welcome Darshak and his incredible medical expertise to Babylon," said Babylon CEO Dr. Ali Parsa. "Our mission is one that will take a strong clinical team to achieve, and I know that Darshak is the perfect person to lead in the growth and advancement of our high quality, digital-frst healthcare."

"High quality, affordable, and accessible health care should be available to everyone in the world," Sanghavi said. "Babylon's technology and clinical expertise is ideally poised to bring preventive and chronic healthcare to the palm of one's hand no matter where they live. Babylon's intense focus on care quality, supported by engaging, continuously improving technology, can help people all over the world live healthier and happier lives. I am thrilled to join a team working tirelessly to bring best-in-class digital health equitably and responsibly to all who could benefit."

As CMO at UnitedHealthcare (Medicare & Retirement), Darshak successfully built and executed large-scale programs aimed at improving cost and quality of care, and supervised national clinical and strategy teams. Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Darshak was the first permanent Director of Prevention and Population Health for the Obama Administration at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, where he led a number of impactful initiatives.

Darshak joins several other new faces on Babylon's U.S.-based C-suite team who were recently hired to lead the quick expansion and extension of the company's digital-first healthcare services globally. Babylon covers approximately 24 million people around the globe, and has a presence in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Notes to Editor

Darshak Sanghavi Bio

Darshak joins Babylon from UnitedHealthcare (Medicare & Retirement), where he successfully executed dozens of programs aimed at improving cost and quality of care, and supervised national clinical and strategy teams. Darshak's distinguished career also includes serving in the Obama Administration, where he held the role of Director of Preventive and Population Health at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. In this role, Darshak was the architect of numerous initiatives including the $157m Accountable Health Communities model, Million Hearts Cardiovascular Risk Reduction model, and the $1bn Medicare Diabetes Prevention program. In addition, as CMO at OptumLabs, Darshak addressed health priorities including the opioid crisis, health care affordability, artificial intelligence and big data, maternal mortality, dementia, diabetes, and numerous other collaborative clinical programs. Darshak also worked for several years as a US Indian Health Service Pediatrician on a Navajo reservation.

Educated at Harvard College and Johns Hopkins Medical School, Darshak completed his pediatrics residency and cardiology fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston. A fellow and managing director of the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, Darshak directed efforts to better engage clinicians in health care payment and delivery reform. He is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and was Chief of Pediatric Cardiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

Darshak has published dozens of scientific papers on topics ranging from the molecular biology of cell death to tuberculosis transmission patterns in Peruvian slums. A frequent guest on NBC's Today as a commentator and healthcare columnist, Darshak has regularly written about healthcare for the New York Times Magazine, Boston Globe, and Washington Post. His best–seller, "A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body,' was named best health book of the year by the Wall Street Journal. 

About Babylon

Babylon is one of the leading global, digital-first, value-based care companies whose mission is to make high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone on Earth.

Babylon is re-engineering healthcare, shifting the main focus from sick to preventative care resulting in better health and reduced costs. This is achieved by leveraging a highly scalable, digital-first platform combined with best-in-class, virtual clinical operations to provide all-in-one, personalized healthcare. Babylon's AI platform is designed around a doctor's brain and helps to predict potential health issues and can be used to diagnose diseases. Babylon keeps patients at the peak of health and get them back on their feet as quickly as possible, all from their devices, so that they can live longer, healthier lives. For sick patients, Babylon provides assistance to navigate the health system, connecting patients digitally to the right clinician 24/7, at no additional cost.

Founded in 2013, Babylon has delivered more than 8 million virtual consultations and AI interactions to date. Babylon works with governments, health providers and insurers across the globe, and supports healthcare facilities from small local practices to large hospitals. For more information, please visit www.babylonhealth.com.

About Babylon 360

Babylon is creating a better model of healthcare for everyone. Unlike traditional healthcare providers, Babylon 360 (B360) is digital-first care that's always there - in sickness and good health. Babylon combines cutting-edge AI-powered technology with human medical expertise to help members stay out of the hospital and in control of their health. Using data, B360 gives members personalized insights and information about their wellbeing, and by understanding their specific needs helps them set personalized health goals. B360 then provides patients with actions to help them achieve those goals. To help manage progress, B360 allows members to monitor their health and rewards them for making healthy choices to stay motivated and celebrate their progress. And if there's a problem, B360 gives 24/7 access to a dedicated personal care team, so patients can get the right care, medication and treatment as soon as needed. A dedicated personal care team delivers a clear clinical care plan for treatment and recovery, and then once a patient is back on their feet, the personal care team goes back to helping to monitor their health continuously.

SOURCE Babylon