JPMorgan Chase on May 20 unveiled its new healthcare company, dubbed Morgan Health, which its top executive told Becker's Hospital Review can be viewed as a continuation of Haven, an ambitious healthcare venture that recently disbanded.
"We learned a lot from the Haven experience,” Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, said. "The Haven experience focused us on primary care, digital medicine and specific populations. … You can see this as a continuation of the work that was started at Haven."
However, Mr. Mendelson said there are several key differences between Morgan Health and Haven, the healthcare venture launched by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase in 2018. For one, it has a much more simplified business structure, as it is a unit of JPMorgan Chase. Second, it has a philosophy of striking partnerships to meet its goals rather than working from the ground up.
"We don't want to create things from scratch," Mr. Mendelson said. "We are going to be collaborating with outstanding healthcare organizations nationally to accomplish our objectives. That's another piece that differentiates this effort from the prior one."
Morgan Health said its new business is focused on improving employer-sponsored healthcare in the U.S. and bringing meaningful innovation into the industry by targeting insurance and keeping populations healthy. Success for the company will be measured by whether it improves the Triple Aim: quality of care, access to care and cost to deliver care, Mr. Mendelson said. Morgan Health initially will focus its efforts on improving care for JPMorgan Chase employees, but its long-term goals are to become a leader at improving healthcare in the U.S. and to create a successful model other employers can adopt.
"We come at this with the benefit of having 285,000 employees and dependents," Mr. Mendelson said. "We have a very strong interest in driving quality improvements for them and also creating models that are reproducible across organizations. We are looking to take a leadership role to improve care in the United States."
Morgan Health said it has three core focus areas at its launch: improving healthcare by investing $250 million into organizations that are improving employer-sponsored healthcare; piloting new benefits for employees; and promoting healthcare equity for its employees and the broader community.
One employee benefit Morgan Health will be piloting is advanced primary care, Mr. Mendelson said. Morgan Health said it is working to create improved primary care capacity to enable employees to better navigate the healthcare system. One example of this is instead of having employees see just a primary care physician, they would be directed to a clinic that leverages more healthcare talent, such as pharmacists and nurses, to improve health outcomes.
Morgan Health said it will work with a range of partners, including provider groups, health plans and other employers. One such organization is CVS Health/Aetna, which is one of JPMorgan Chase's insurance carriers, Mr. Mendelson said.
"CVS Health has a lot of innovation within the organization that we are not currently tapping into," Mr. Mendelson said. "It's a great example of a great American company that is ripe for further partnership and innovation in this effort."
Morgan Health initially will have 20 dedicated employees, but Mr. Mendelson said the healthcare unit is tapping talent from other existing departments at JPMorgan Chase, including its legal, communications and benefits departments.
"This is a company that is very passionate about leading; there's a very deep reservoir of support from the organization to accomplish the objectives," Mr. Mendelson said. "These are objectives that are hard — it will take us time to accomplish and to show meaningful improvement. But there's a sense that this is so important that there's going to be a sustained effort in this regard and that we will achieve our objectives together."
Prior to joining Morgan Health, Mr. Mendelson served as an operating partner at private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. He also is the founder and former CEO of healthcare advisory firm Avalere Health and worked in the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration.
Mr. Mendelson said his passion for establishing collaborative partnerships in healthcare will help him succeed in his new role.