R1 RCM Inc., a Murray-based patient experience and financial performance platform for healthcare providers, has announced that its board of directors has appointed Lee Rivas to succeed Joseph Flanagan as CEO, effective Jan. 1. Rivas will also become a member of the board, the company said. Flanagan will step down after 10 years at the helm and will continue to serve as a member of the board. As part of a planned succession process, Flanagan will also be an executive advisor to Rivas.
In addition, John Sparby, who joined the company in 2004 and currently serves as chief operating officer, has been appointed to succeed Rivas as president.
“With the integration of Cloudmed nearing a successful completion, this is the right time for an orderly leadership transition,” said Flanagan. “Lee and I have worked closely together over the past year and his leadership, experience, skills and passion make him the ideal person to lead our company. I am confident Lee and our team will continue to build upon R1’s long track record of delivering results to our provider partners, transforming the patient experience, supporting our global employees and driving shareholder value.”
“After almost 10 years with the company, Joe has been transparent about his desire to transition from the CEO role in order to spend more time with his family,” said Anthony J. Speranzo, chair of the R1 board. “The board and Joe have regularly discussed succession planning, and today’s announcement is the culmination of that work. On behalf of the board and the entire R1 team, we thank Joe for his steadfast vision and leadership that have shaped R1 into a global leader and created tremendous value for our customers and shareholders.”
“I am honored to lead a company with such a strong mission, team members and track record of delivering results for providers,” said Rivas. “I look forward to building on this mission and delivering great value to our customers and other stakeholders.”
Rivas joined R1 in June after more than 20 years of leadership experience in technology and healthcare. Prior to joining R1, he served as the CEO of Cloudmed. He also served as a senior leader at RELX, a global provider of information analytics solutions, and as CEO of its healthcare division, where he was instrumental in building the healthcare technology business for LexisNexis Risk Solutions. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and has an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Sparby joined R1 in January 2004 and has served as executive vice president and chief operating officer since January 2021. He is the operational leader of the company’s revenue cycle customer engagements. He has a B.A. in healthcare administration and political science from Concordia College.