VALINDA RUTLEDGE

Senior Vice President of Federal Affairs, America’s Physician Groups

Valinda Rutledge is the Senior Vice President of Federal Affairs at America’s Physician Groups. She is responsible for analyzing and advocating for APG’s positions on government initiatives such as bundled payments, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid pilots, Dual Eligible, PCMH, and ACOs. She previously worked as a member of the leadership team (Senior Advisor and Group Director) at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation (CMMI) where she helped build the Innovation Center from its startup phase and managed the design and launch of several of the Center’s models. In particular, she led the development and rollout of the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Initiative, Strong Start and other national programs related to care transformation.
Before joining CMS, Ms. Rutledge served as the Chief Executive Officer of several systems including Bon Secours, SSM Health, and CaroMont Health in Gastonia, North Carolina where she led the development of a 210-day bundled knee payment arrangement between CaroMont Health and North Carolina’s largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Ms. Rutledge received the 2013 Becker’s Healthcare Leadership Award, which is given to the top 30 individuals in the nation who demonstrate leadership and impact to the industry on a national level. She currently serves on several National Scientific Advisory Boards including NaviHealth and as a Subject Matter Expert for Sg2 (part of Vizient) where she is responsible for assisting in the development of Sg2’s national thought leadership regarding payment transformation.

Ms. Rutledge holds two advanced degrees: a Master of Business Administration degree from Butler University in Indianapolis and a Master of Science degree in nursing from Wayne State University in Detroit. She is frequently sought as a national speaker in the area of payment, clinical innovation, and population health.