Pearl Health Releases 2026 Top 50 Value-Based Care Thinkers Report

NEW YORK, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearl Health today announced the release of its fifth annual Top 50 Value-Based Care Thinkers Report, recognizing the leaders driving measurable impact across healthcare's transition to value-based care.

This year's report represents the largest and most competitive cohort to date, with over 200 nominees spanning providers, health system executives, policymakers, operators, investors, academics, and infrastructure builders. The expanded pool reflects a maturing market where expectations for performance, scalability, and accountability continue to rise — trends Pearl Health explores in depth in a recent analysis of the nominee pool.

The 2026 report underscores a clear shift in what defines leadership in value-based care: execution and outcomes now outweigh visibility and narrative alone. Leaders recognized in this year's Top 50 are those delivering measurable improvements in cost, quality, and patient outcomes - at scale.

"The bar for leadership in value-based care has fundamentally changed," said Steven Duque, Chief Business Officer at Pearl Health. "Value-based care is no longer a future state — it's a present-day reality. This year's Top 50 reflects thinkers who have moved beyond experimentation into execution, building credibility through outcomes, scalable infrastructure, and the policy fluency to stay ahead of where the industry is heading."

Voices from this year's Top 50 reflect both urgency and progress in the field:

"Fee-for-service is a business model that profits from sick people staying sick. We have the data. We have AI. We have no more excuses. Value-based care isn't idealism, it's an obligation we can finally meet. Patients deserve nothing less."
— Michael Meucci, Chief Executive Officer, Arcadia

"In the first innings of value-based care, we've shown that better care quality, better patient experiences and more joy in practice are not just theoretical, they're real. As we look toward the seventh inning stretch, our opportunity now is the demonstration of true, durable and effective clinical stabilization."
— Ali Khan, Chief Medical Officer, Medicare, Aetna (a CVS Health company)

"This report marks a defining shift in what leadership in value-based care looks like. The next era will belong to those who can do more than navigate policy or advocate for reform — it will belong to leaders who translate complexity into execution and make performance repeatable across organizations, markets, and populations."

About Pearl Health
Pearl Health enables clinicians and care organizations to deliver more proactive, cost-effective care through AI-powered predictive insights, financial risk modeling, and streamlined workflows. The company is building the operating system for value-based care, identifying at-risk patients so providers can intervene before issues become emergencies. Founded in 2020, Pearl supports 3,000 primary care facilities and leading health systems across 40+ states. Learn more at www.pearlhealth.com.

Media Contact
Kuhuk Shroff, Senior Director of Strategy and Operations
[email protected]

SOURCE Pearl Health