Today, we announced the appointment of Brett Hickman as Head of Partnerships at Waymark. As a seasoned growth leader with previous experience at Modivcare, Cityblock, Optum, and Aetna, Brett will help build partnerships with forward-thinking Medicaid plans and providers to improve access to community-based care in neighborhoods across the country. We couldn’t be more excited to have him on the team. 

In this short Q&A, Brett discusses his background, what brought him to Waymark, and how a partnerships-driven approach can improve health equity. 

Can you share a bit about your background? 

I’ve been fortunate to have worked with some amazing organizations in my career — from starting out as a CPA and US deals leader at E&Y and PwC, to building the largest payer-provider joint venture at Aetna, scaling value-based care at Optum and working with Medicaid populations at Cityblock and Modivcare. These experiences gave me a deep understanding and appreciation of how our current care delivery system isn’t meeting the needs of our communities, and what it takes to fix it.  

What brought you to Waymark?  

I’m hyperfocused on spending the balance of my career improving care delivery for communities who’ve been historically disadvantaged and marginalized by the existing system. I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t in my career — and what works is value-based care. What works is integrating community-based care teams with primary care providers. What works are evidence-based interventions that keep patients healthy.

I was excited when I heard about what the team at Waymark is building and their focus on scaling what we know works with payers and providers. We’re building a nationally-scaled, technology-enabled model for delivering community-based care and I’m thrilled to be a part of the journey. 

How can a partnerships-driven approach improve outcomes for our communities?   

We know the current care delivery system for people enrolled in Medicaid is broken. The only way we can materially improve care delivery is through a collaborative approach. We can’t positively change such a large and complex system without bringing the key constituents together and aligning their missions, operations and financial goals. At Waymark, we’re building a system of care that seeks to partner with payers and providers — not replace them — in service of reducing costs and improving outcomes for our communities. I see this value-based, partnerships-driven approach as the only way to achieve more equitable access to high-quality care for patients. I’m excited to partner with Medicaid managed care plans and primary care providers to solve this important challenge.

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