Allegheny Health Network tapped West Penn Hospital’s top official Monday to lead a regional affiliation of doctors and their practices.
Dr. Brian Johnson, who’s been president of West Penn Hospital since 2020, was named medical director and chief population health officer at Physician Partners of Western PA.
He succeeds Dr. William Johnjulio, who is returning to the network’s primary care institute to focus on treating patients.
Allegheny Health Network launched the group in 2017 to promote collaboration between doctors, insurers and hospital systems. It has roughly 3,500 members — a mix of Allegheny Health Network and independent doctors.
One of its main functions is to negotiate value-based care contracts, which factor quality and cost of care into the reimbursements insurers give to doctors.
“This is a nationwide trend,” Johnson told TribLive on Monday. “We’re further ahead than most.”
The idea is to reward doctors who prioritize preventative care and lower the amount of expensive, complex treatment insurance companies have to pay for — and patients have to endure.
Physician Partners has value-based agreements with six insurers, including Allegheny Health Network’s integrated health plan, Highmark.
These deals do not entirely replace fee-for-service payments.
Primary care doctors in the group have about 30% of their reimbursements dictated by value metrics, with the remainder made up by fixed rates, according to Johnson. Value is weighted less for specialists.
With Johnson in his new role, Allegheny Health Network Chief Operating Officer Lou Baverso will pull double duty as West Penn’s interim president.
Allegheny Health Network announced three other leadership changes Monday:
• Dr. Saad Mahmood will replace Dr. Allan Philp Jr. as chief medical officer at Allegheny General Hospital. Philp will remain on staff at the hospital and transition back to a full-time clinical role.
• Dr. Alan Murdock, who has served as director of Allegheny Health Network’s general surgery residency program since 2017, will become interim network director of trauma.
• Dr. Giath Shari has been appointed chief medical officer at Forbes Hospital. Shari has led the hospital’s medicine department since 2022. He succeeds Dr. Ezz-Eldin Moukamal, who was promoted last year from Forbes’ chief medical officer to chief quality officer for the whole network.
