Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Appoints Dr. Minal Patel as Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) announced today that Dr. Minal Patel will be rejoining Horizon BCBSNJ as Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. In this newly-created position, Dr. Patel will focus his entrepreneurial skills on Horizon BCBSNJ’s corporate strategy and the development of new business opportunities to meet the needs of its members. In addition, he will lead the informatics functions for the company. "Minal is a health care entrepreneur and an innovator," said Robert A. Marino, chairman and CEO of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. "He will lead the development of new strategic opportunities to satisfy the evolving needs of our members as our industry continues to go through dynamic changes. We are delighted he has rejoined Horizon." Dr. Patel received his doctorate in medicine from Boston University. He completed his medical residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and then joined the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the medical staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. While continuing to maintain his clinical affiliation with these organizations, Dr. Patel joined McKinsey & Company as a strategy consultant where he served many pharmaceutical and other health care clients in developing overall corporate strategy. During this time, he also completed his Masters in Public Health at Harvard School of Public Health. Following his time at McKinsey, he held the position of President and COO of Horizon Healthcare Insurance Company of New York. Most recently, Dr. Patel served as founder and CEO of Care Management International and then as Executive Vice President at iHealth Technologies. About Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health services corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, and prescription insurance products and services. Horizon BCBSNJ is leading the transformation of health care in New Jersey by working with doctors and hospitals to deliver innovative, patient-centered programs that reward the quality, not quantity, of care patients receive. Learn more at www.HorizonBlue.com. Horizon BCBSNJ is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association serving more than 3.7 million members.