Tennessean picked to lead Trump administration’s federal health care innovation center

A former Rhodes scholar and Nashville-based entrepreneur has been named a top health care official in President Donald Trump’s administration. 

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Monday that Brad Smith, 37, will take over as director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. The office falls under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

The position is largely focused on driving value-based care transformation across the country, Smith said an interview with The Tennessean.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity,” he said. “I feel honored to have the opportunity to go to D.C. and work on these problems for a few years. I am excited to get advice and feedback from folks all across the country on the things we can do to make a difference.”

The office works to create and test models that seek to lower the cost of the health care system and improve the quality of care.

“The design of CMMI is intended to be around innovation,” he said.

Smith noted when Medicare and Medicaid were created in the 1960s, procedures such as surgeries or MRIs are paid on a fee for service basis.

“The more MRIs you do, the more a provider gets paid,” he said. “The incentives that creates is just to do a lot more.”

Such a system means some providers are focused on quantity over quality, with a lack of focus on the outcome.

Smith said the innovation center seeks to change the way providers, including hospitals and doctors, give individuals choices while ensuring better outcomes. 

With the creation of the CMMI, the federal government initially appropriated $10 billion over 10 years into testing new models. 

Smith said the multi-billion investment is aimed at creating models that will ultimately save money. 

“The goal is to really figure out how do we set up the right set of incentives for providers to do the right thing for patients and to empower patients to get better care,” he said.

Bipartisan support for CMMI 

With the new position, Smith will oversee roughly 600 employees who, he said, will be tasked with developing different models. 

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation was created by the Affordable Care Act. And although the ACA has been controversial, the innovation office has received bipartisan support.

“I think this is a great part of what the ACA did,” he said.

Smith’s managerial experience includes overseeing roughly 750 people while at Aspire Health, a Nashville-based company he co-founded with former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist that offers in-home health care treatment. When Aspire was sold to insurance giant Anthem, Smith stayed on as CEO and oversaw 400 employees. 

Smith, who grew up in Knoxville, attended Harvard University, where he initially planned on being a trauma surgeon. Instead Smith focused on public policy and returned to Tennessee after graduation.

Beyond his work in the private sector, Smith’s portfolio also working in Tennessee’s economic and community development office during former Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration.

Prior to that, he was a personal driver to then-Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker, when he was running for the U.S. Senate in 2006. 

Smith considers Frist, Corker and Haslam mentors. 

Discussing Smith’s latest position in the Trump administration, Frist told The Tennessean his former colleague was someone who aggregates talent and smart people while inspiring others through hard work. He called Smith a visionary who makes things happen.

“He listens very carefully, he executes smartly and fairly and it’s always with a disciplined focus on outcomes,” said Frist, who worked with Smith at the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education. 

Smith is taking over a post that was previously filled by Adam Boehler, who earlier this year was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead the International Development Finance Corporation. 

While making the announcement of Smith’s addition, CMS administrator Seema Verma said the Tennessean would bring out of the box thinking to improve health care. 

“I am excited that we have selected Brad to join the ranks of CMS and help us build on the important work the Trump Administration has undertaken to transform our healthcare system to deliver better value to patients,” Verma said in a news release.

Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services, said Smith had “impressive experience with innovative care delivery and paying for value, and he will help expand Administrator Verma’s and CMS’s efforts to ensure Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries are getting better care, and better health, at a lower cost.”

Want to read more stories like this? A subscription to one of our Tennessee publications gets you unlimited access to all the latest politics news, podcasts like Grand Divisions, plus newsletters, a personalized mobile experience and the ability to tap into stories, photos and videos from throughout the USA TODAY Network’s 261 daily sites.

Reach Joel Ebert at [email protected] or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.