Concert Announces Clinical Advisory Board, New Medical Policies

Drs. Beth Harris, Thomas Holland, Girish Putcha, and Michele Schoonmaker join board to advise Concert on clinical policy content

NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its commitment to provide transparent, evidence-based medical policy and enable accurate reimbursement for a broader set of diagnostic services, Concert today announced the establishment of an advisory board of experts in clinical laboratory medicine and the release of policies for an expanded scope of routine and advanced laboratory testing.

The newly formed board will advise Concert on its clinical laboratory content. Members include Drs. Beth Harris, Thomas Holland, Girish Putcha, and Michele Schoonmaker. Details on each board member appear below.

"Expanding the expertise that informs our content means Concert can bring transparency and efficiency to a broader set of health services, while keeping our solutions tightly linked to the latest evidence and guidelines," said Gillian Hooker, Concert's Chief Scientific Officer. "We are thrilled Drs. Harris, Holland, Putcha, and Schoonmaker have decided to join us in this effort."

In a separate release, Concert announced the expansion of the Diagnostic Benefit Program, formerly known as the Genetics Benefit Program, which now provides policies and payment accuracy capabilities across routine and advanced laboratory testing, enabling health plans to provide their members with access to these important clinical services at lower total costs, the company announced today.

"Concert is working to align payers, providers, and labs to enable patient access to evidence-based testing," said Dr. Girish Putcha. "They have a comprehensive view of the industry so they can create transparent, scalable, and holistic solutions to structural problems in coding, coverage, and reimbursement that hinder precision medicine. I am excited to join this board to guide and support that work."

Following are brief bios on each member of the new clinical advisory board, in alphabetical order by last name. More information can be found at Concert's new website at www.concert.co. With today's announcement, Concert Genetics will now operate by its abbreviated name, Concert, which many customers and partners have used for years to refer to the company.

Beth Harris, MD
Dr. Harris is a gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary pathologist with extensive experience in both clinical practice and managed care. She served as a Medical Director at Humana and practiced as a gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary and surgical pathologist for PathGroup in Nashville, Tenn., and Associated Pathologists of Albuquerque in New Mexico. Today, she is a practicing pathologist at Covenant Physician Partners and an Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Harris completed her Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and her MD at University of Maryland School of Medicine. She completed her residency in anatomic pathology at Emory School of Medicine, and her fellowship in gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary at Vanderbilt.

Thomas Holland, MD, MSc-GH
Dr. Holland is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, at Duke University, where he practices both as a hospitalist and infectious disease specialist. He has expertise in conducting multidisciplinary research in antimicrobial resistance, particularly in the design and conduct of clinical trials in Staphylococcus aureus infections. He additionally led the clinical response to the COVID pandemic at Duke Health, where he directed dedicated COVID wards, cared for patients, kept clinical teams up-to-date on rapidly evolving scientific and treatment information, and conducted clinical trials. He was awarded the Presidential Award for his efforts. A physician scientist with a deep interest in global health, Dr. Holland's work overseas has included investigating the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease in Kenya and working with a primarily Aboriginal population in the Australian Outback. Dr. Holland received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and his MD from Wake Forest University. He completed Internal Medicine residency and Infectious Diseases fellowship training at Duke, where he currently practices.

Girish Putcha, MD, PhD
Dr. Putcha is a molecular pathologist with extensive experience in academia, industry, the investment community, and payer coverage and reimbursement for molecular diagnostic tests. Recent roles include Director of Laboratory Science at Palmetto's MolDX program, Chief Medical Officer and Clinical Laboratory Director of Freenome, and Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) member. Today, he is an independent advisor at Precision Medicine & Diagnostics LLC. Dr. Putcha earned his undergraduate degree in biochemistry, medical ethics, and health policy from Rice University and his MD/PhD in neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his residency in clinical pathology and fellowship in molecular genetic pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he also served as adjunct faculty.

Michele Schoonmaker, PhD 
Dr. Schoonmaker is a recognized expert in public policy and government affairs in the laboratory market. She spent 17 years with Cepheid, a leading molecular diagnostics company, where her primary responsibilities were to develop and implement global strategic reimbursement plans for Cepheid's molecular diagnostic product. Prior, Dr. Schoonmaker worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a regulatory policy analyst and reviewer of diagnostic tests, and she was a Specialist in Genetics for the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a division of the Library of Congress. Dr. Schoonmaker earned her undergraduate degree in molecular biology from Goucher College and her PhD in health services research, genetics and public policy from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.

About Concert
Concert is a healthcare technology company enabling cost-effective access to diagnostics and therapeutics by harmonizing evidence, policy, and payment. Founded in 2010 to bring transparency and efficiency to genetic testing, Concert now offers the definitive precision health payment accuracy platform. The company combines proprietary market data, clinical and coding expertise, and patented technology to support diagnostic test ordering, resulting, coding, coverage, claim editing, and payment integrity. Concert Genetics, now operates by its abbreviated name, Concert. For more information, visit www.concert.co. 

Contact: Nick Tazik, [email protected]

SOURCE Concert