Healthworx Welcomes New Director of Innovation
Arianne Graham joined the company September 28
Baltimore and Washington, D.C. — Healthworx, the corporate development and innovation arm of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst), announced today the appointment of a new Director of Innovation. Arianne Graham, who joined the company on September 28, brings nearly 20 years of healthcare experience to this role. This new role establishes an important milestone for CareFirst and Healthworx as they look to use innovation to drive necessary changes in the healthcare industry, ultimately making quality healthcare more accessible and affordable to the communities they serve.
Before joining CareFirst, Graham co-founded Samara Collective, a strategic media and communications agency, where she remains an advisor to connect communities with grassroots activism movements. As Director of Innovation at Healthworx, Graham will serve as a leader to a growing team dedicated to creating innovating strategies that will help to change and improve current healthcare models. As part of the Healthworx team, Graham will be well positioned to push forward innovation strategies that will shape the CareFirst business. Graham’s team will challenge the status quo and push to anticipate member needs, provide members with positive experiences, increase access to care, improve quality of care, and reduce overall costs.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Arianne to Healthworx,” said Ricardo R. Johnson, Vice President, Healthworx. “Her experience and passion for healthcare and health equity, combined with her ability to mold concepts into solutions is a rare find. Arianne brings a versatile skillset to her role at Healthworx which is going to give us the ability to move CareFirst forward in significant ways. She is building an engine that will engage all CareFirst associates in innovation–- allowing all 5,000+ of us to be innovators for the sake of improving healthcare convenience, affordability and quality.”
Graham shared, “as the child of two physicians, I’ve spent my life and career immersed in healthcare. I’ve always been attracted to its immensity, complexity and integration with so many aspects of our lives. Being able to help shape the future of healthcare for the better, for all of us—especially those who need it the most—is an exciting opportunity. One that I’m proud to be part of.”
An experienced entrepreneur in healthcare and innovation, Graham is adept at understanding and integrating multiple stakeholder perspectives. She has an extensive portfolio that illustrates her experience working with non-profit health innovation organizations. Graham co-founded Not One More Life, Inc., a non-profit that focuses on health partnerships and education in the inner-city of Atlanta. She has previously served as Interim Head of Program Innovations at March of Dimes and was Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Growth at Peer Health Exchange. Additionally, Graham has held leadership positions at Quartet Health, Kyruus, patientslikeme, Novartis, Genentech, and Navigant.
Graham received a master’s degree in business administration and general management from the Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
About Healthworx
Founded in 2017, Healthworx is the venture capital, corporate development, and commercialization arm of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Healthworx enables CareFirst to partner with a wide range of organizations to bring breakthrough healthcare solutions to its members and communities. Through strategic investments and partnerships, Healthworx furthers CareFirst’s mission to improve healthcare quality, increase access to care and reduce costs for its stakeholders.
About CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
In its 83rd year of service, CareFirst, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a not-for-profit healthcare company which, through its affiliates and subsidiaries, offers a comprehensive portfolio of health insurance products and administrative services to 3.4 million individuals and employers in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. In 2019, CareFirst invested $43 million to improve overall health, and increase the accessibility, affordability, safety and quality of healthcare throughout its market areas. To learn more about CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, visit our website at www.carefirst.com and our transforming healthcare page at www.carefirst.com/transformation, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.