Rushika Fernandopulle
Rushika Fernandopulle, M.D., M.P.P. is an American physician and Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Iora Health, Inc, a value-based primary care provider headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Early life and education
Fernandopulle was born in Sri Lanka in 1967, and immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 2. He was raised in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Gilman School.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College, a degree in medicine from Harvard Medical School, and a master’s in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. For his postgraduate clinical training, he served as a surgical intern at University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and as a resident at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Career
After completing his education, Fernandopulle worked as a physician and health care consultant with a focus on devising innovative ways to provide high-quality, cost-effective care.
In 2001, he became executive director of the Harvard University Interfaculty Program for Health Systems improvement, which sought to “find collective ways to improve how health care is delivered.”
In 2004, he co-founded Renaissance Health, LLC, which offered a “relationship-centered” approach to primary care and allowed Fernandopulle to put his ideas into practice.
In 2007, Renaissance Health partnered with AtlantiCare Health System to open the Special Care Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Fernandopulle served as the interim medical director. His efforts were highlighted in a 2011 Atul Gawande feature in The New Yorker, “The Hot Spotters,” which claimed that the Special Care Center “reinvented the idea of a primary-care clinic in almost every way.”
In 2011, Fernandopulle co-founded Iora Health with Christopher McKown, building on what he learned from his experience with Renaissance Health. Iora Health provides high-impact, relationship-based care in which teams of doctors, nurses, and health coaches treat patients holistically. In 2016, the company raised $75 million from investors including Temasek, .406 Ventures,Flare Capital Partners, F-Prime Capital, GE Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Polaris Partners, and Rice Management Company. As of December 2016, Iora Health operates 34 clinics in 11 cities. According to a 2015 profile in The New York Times, Iora Health clinics boast an average net promoter score over 90.
In addition to his work as Iora Health’s CEO, Fernandopulle continues to work as a physician and an educator. Since 2002, he has served on the staff of Massachusetts General Hospital and on the faculty of Harvard Medical School.
He is the author Uninsured in America: Life and Death in the Land of Opportunity (with Susan Sered).
Accolades
In 1993, Fernandopulle was included in the inaugural class of Albert Schweitzer Fellows in Boston. During this fellowship, he collaborated with the Alliance for the Homeless and created an orientation manual for volunteers working with homeless shelters.
In 2012, Fernandopulle was named an Ashoka Global Fellow, an honor bestowed upon the world’s leading social entrepreneurs.
In 2015, Fernandopulle was named Entrepreneur of the Year in health care by the New England Venture Capital Association.
Under Fernandopulle’s leadership, Iora Health won the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Inclusive Innovation Competition in the New Models Category in 2016.
Board Memberships
* The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Health Care
* Families USA
Selected publications
* Fernandopulle R, Patel N, “”How the Electronic Health Record Did Not Measure Up To The Demands of Our Medical Home,” Health Affairs, vol. 29, no. 4, April 2010, pp. 622-8.
* Fernandopulle R, “Restoring Humanity to Healthcare,” J Ambul Care Manage. 2014 Apr-Jun;37(2):189-91.
* Fernandopulle R, “Learning to fly: building de novo medical home practices to improve experience, outcomes, and affordability.”, J Ambul Care Manage. 2013 Apr-Jun;36(2):121-5.
* Schutzbank A, Fernandopulle R., “Doubling down: Lessons learned from building a new electronic health record as part of primary care practice redesign.” Healthcare. 2014 Mar;2(1):14-8.
*
Personal life
Fernandopulle lives in Milton, MA with his wife Maria and his three daughters. His father, Dr. Gregory C. Fernandopulle, served as Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland for 26 years.
Early life and education
Fernandopulle was born in Sri Lanka in 1967, and immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 2. He was raised in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Gilman School.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College, a degree in medicine from Harvard Medical School, and a master’s in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. For his postgraduate clinical training, he served as a surgical intern at University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and as a resident at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Career
After completing his education, Fernandopulle worked as a physician and health care consultant with a focus on devising innovative ways to provide high-quality, cost-effective care.
In 2001, he became executive director of the Harvard University Interfaculty Program for Health Systems improvement, which sought to “find collective ways to improve how health care is delivered.”
In 2004, he co-founded Renaissance Health, LLC, which offered a “relationship-centered” approach to primary care and allowed Fernandopulle to put his ideas into practice.
In 2007, Renaissance Health partnered with AtlantiCare Health System to open the Special Care Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Fernandopulle served as the interim medical director. His efforts were highlighted in a 2011 Atul Gawande feature in The New Yorker, “The Hot Spotters,” which claimed that the Special Care Center “reinvented the idea of a primary-care clinic in almost every way.”
In 2011, Fernandopulle co-founded Iora Health with Christopher McKown, building on what he learned from his experience with Renaissance Health. Iora Health provides high-impact, relationship-based care in which teams of doctors, nurses, and health coaches treat patients holistically. In 2016, the company raised $75 million from investors including Temasek, .406 Ventures,Flare Capital Partners, F-Prime Capital, GE Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Polaris Partners, and Rice Management Company. As of December 2016, Iora Health operates 34 clinics in 11 cities. According to a 2015 profile in The New York Times, Iora Health clinics boast an average net promoter score over 90.
In addition to his work as Iora Health’s CEO, Fernandopulle continues to work as a physician and an educator. Since 2002, he has served on the staff of Massachusetts General Hospital and on the faculty of Harvard Medical School.
He is the author Uninsured in America: Life and Death in the Land of Opportunity (with Susan Sered).
Accolades
In 1993, Fernandopulle was included in the inaugural class of Albert Schweitzer Fellows in Boston. During this fellowship, he collaborated with the Alliance for the Homeless and created an orientation manual for volunteers working with homeless shelters.
In 2012, Fernandopulle was named an Ashoka Global Fellow, an honor bestowed upon the world’s leading social entrepreneurs.
In 2015, Fernandopulle was named Entrepreneur of the Year in health care by the New England Venture Capital Association.
Under Fernandopulle’s leadership, Iora Health won the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Inclusive Innovation Competition in the New Models Category in 2016.
Board Memberships
* The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Health Care
* Families USA
Selected publications
* Fernandopulle R, Patel N, “”How the Electronic Health Record Did Not Measure Up To The Demands of Our Medical Home,” Health Affairs, vol. 29, no. 4, April 2010, pp. 622-8.
* Fernandopulle R, “Restoring Humanity to Healthcare,” J Ambul Care Manage. 2014 Apr-Jun;37(2):189-91.
* Fernandopulle R, “Learning to fly: building de novo medical home practices to improve experience, outcomes, and affordability.”, J Ambul Care Manage. 2013 Apr-Jun;36(2):121-5.
* Schutzbank A, Fernandopulle R., “Doubling down: Lessons learned from building a new electronic health record as part of primary care practice redesign.” Healthcare. 2014 Mar;2(1):14-8.
*
Personal life
Fernandopulle lives in Milton, MA with his wife Maria and his three daughters. His father, Dr. Gregory C. Fernandopulle, served as Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland for 26 years.
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