Cerdá Promoted to Chief Medical Officer of Independence Blue Cross

Rodrigo Cerdá, M.D., M.P.H., a member of the Managed Healthcare Executive® editorial advisory board, has been named chief medical officer of Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia.

Cerdá is succeeding Richard Snyder, M.D., who has been the chief medical officer of the Blues plan since 2010. Snyder will continue with IBX as executive vice president of the facility health networks division of the organization, which focuses on working with health systems and providers.

The company also announced on Wednesday that it had named Victor Caraballo, M.D.,to be the vice president of the quality management and its first chief safety officer, In the same announcement, Diana Lehman, B.S.N., R.N., was named the vice president of case and condition management.

“Independence has the opportunity to help redefine care delivery and promote equitable, whole-person health, and Rodrigo, Vic, and Diana are critical to those efforts,” said Snyder said in the press release.

IBX bills itself as the leading insurer in the Philadelphia region and, counting its affiliates, says it serves more than eight million people. Independence Health Group, the parent company, reported total revenues of $21.8 billion in 2020.

The leadership at the IBX has turned over recently. CEO Gregory E. Deavens, CPA, CGMA, succeeded long-time Dan Hilferty at the beginning of 2021. Hilferty led the insurer for 10 years and is a prominent civic leader in the Philadelphia region. Juan Lopez, CPA, was named CFO in April 2021, and Crystal E. Ashby, the executive vice president and chief people officer, in July 2021.

Cerdá started with IBX in 2019. As president of clinical care transformation, he has led collaborative efforts with providers focused on value-based care. He also led Independence’s population health, case and condition management, and provider experience teams.

The news release says that in his new role, Cerdá will continue “this important work and take on accountability for medical management and medical policy, market-facing solutions and support, and health value optimization at Independence.”

Before joining IBX, Cerdá was a managing director for Integrated Health Services at PA Consulting and Aetna International in the United Kingdom and prior to that, worked for McKinsey and Company, the consulting firm. Cerdá earned his M.D. from University of Pennsylvania and his M.PH. from Harvard and was a resident in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Cerdá joined the MHE editorial advisory board in November 2020.