Dr. Steve Ondra Joins physIQ as Chief Medical Officer

Medical visionary to help further adoption of physIQ’s innovative AI-based analytics platform for improved patient outcomes

NAPERVILLE – February 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Dr. Stephen L. Ondra, one of the nation's most accomplished leaders in technology-driven health care improvement, has joined physIQ as Chief Medical Officer. Recognized as a visionary and accomplished clinician, Ondra has led both public sector and private healthcare organizations in the adoption of technology to improve patient outcomes and accelerate value-based care delivery.  In his role at physIQ, Ondra will help drive the deployment of physIQ’s unique artificial intelligence-based analytics platform to health systems and provider groups worldwide.

Ondra brings an extensive history of health system leadership in both the public and private sectors to physIQ.  Most recently, he held the position of Enterprise Chief Medical Officer for Health Care Service Corporation, the parent company of five Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans and the fourth largest health insurer in the United States.  Prior to that, he served as Chief Medical Officer of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the interim Chair of Neurological Surgery for Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Ondra's service to the public is multi-faceted.  At the White House, he was Co-Chair for Health Information Technology at the National Science and Technology Council and was one of the implementation deputies for the Affordable Care Act. He also served as the Senior Health Policy Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  A decorated Army Veteran, he served in Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield, receiving the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal.

"Steve is one of those rare individuals who understands healthcare from the perspective of a practicing physician, corporate executive, policy maker, and innovator,” said Gary Conkright, physIQ’s CEO and co-founder.  "As someone who has been instrumental in shaping care delivery models at multiple levels, Dr. Ondra knows exactly what’s involved with succeeding in today’s healthcare environment.  We are honored by the fact he sees such promise in the role physIQ will play in transforming patient outcomes and economics in healthcare.”

PhysIQ’s go-to-market strategy, which is focused on helping health systems and provider groups better manage their at-risk ambulatory population, will leverage Dr. Ondra’s deep experience in transforming care delivery to improve outcomes while lowering costs.  As an advanced physiology analytics company, physIQ’s FDA-cleared analytics engine uniquely enables highly-scalable physiological insight across large populations.  This technology, when coupled with Dr. Ondra’s unparalleled experience in implementing change across massive systems, will usher in a new world of proactive, personalized care delivery for many millions of patients. 

Said Ondra, "Rarely do you see a truly transformational product in healthcare.  I am confident physIQ’s highly sophisticated and elegant approach to decoding physiological parameters to detect health deterioration will help improve care quality and lower the cost of care episodes. Even as healthcare continues to undergo dramatic change, the shift to value-based care is here to stay.  Innovative technology, like physIQ’s, is necessary to succeed in this transition.  That is why I am excited to join the physIQ team and work with them to maximize the impact of this innovative product."

About physIQ:

PhysIQ is a company dedicated to enabling proactive care delivery models through its proprietary, FDA-cleared Personalized Physiology Analytics technology. PhysIQ is a proven, first-of-its-kind data analytics platform designed to process multiple vital signs from wearable sensors to create a personalized dynamic baseline for each individual. By mapping vital sign relationships this way, physIQ’s analytics detect subtle deviations that may be a precursor to disease exacerbation or change in health. With applications in both healthcare and wellness, physIQ is transforming continuous physiological data into insight for providers, health systems, payers, and pharmaceutical companies. For more information, please visit www.physiq.com.