Rhonda Willingham is a Partner in TechCXO’s Revenue Growth Practice and is focused on serving Healthcare clients as an interim and fractional Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Revenue Officer, and Chief Growth Officer. She is an expert in designing and positioning effective population health sales and marketing product execution plans and go-to-market launches. During her 25-plus-year career in healthcare, Rhonda has partnered with healthcare providers and health plans to drive clinical and financial results while improving the health and lives of patients.
Her senior leadership roles led the identification, analysis, and implementation of strategic population health and value-driven solutions for health plans, employers, and providers. She has successfully executed enterprise growth strategies that drove profitable revenue. Rhonda led teams in the areas of business development, marketing, client management, product development, and operations.
During her distinguished career, her leadership roles have included:
Executive Vice President, Marketing and Product Development, Avalon Healthcare Solutions – This private equity-backed Lab Values Management company provides unique insights into the $82B+ lab testing industry to ensure patients are getting the appropriate lab tests while driving significant financial savings for health plans to over 33 million lives nationwide. As the head of marketing and product development, Rhonda led product innovation that leveraged the company’s lab science expertise to be the first company to digitize near-real-time lab results values and apply proprietary analytics to deliver actionable results to health plans and providers to ensure evidence-based treatment. The result assists health plans to proactively inform appropriate care, improve clinical outcomes and reduce healthcare costs through Lab Values Management. She also created and executed the new product go-to-market strategy, creating a pipeline of $50M+.
As a result of Rhonda’s rebranding and repositioning efforts, new sales close rate increased by over 50%, with predictable pipeline growth and decreased sales cycle.
Vice President, Business Development, New Century Health (NCH) — This provider of oncology and cardiology specialty care managed over 5 million cancer and cardiac members with over 9,000 specialty providers. Rhonda developed strategic and financial risk partnerships with health plans to drive improved clinical results and financial savings for their oncology and cardiology members. She expanded the pipeline by 200% by driving market presence, leveraging existing relationships, and developing compelling financial value propositions for regional and national health plans. NCH is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Evolent Health.
Vice President, Digital Health and Innovation, Medecision – Medecision is the largest independent provider of care management platforms and applications in the US, supporting over 50 million lives for nearly 100 of the nation’s leading health plans and care delivery organizations. As VP, Rhonda was responsible for driving the company’s digital health strategy and the development and execution of strategic partnerships to drive Triple-Aim measurable results for jumbo, at-risk healthcare clients by integrating a meaningful SaaS care management platform with value-driven workflow and analytic applications.
SVP, Sales & Marketing, VRI – For this private-equity-backed company providing personal emergency response, fall detection, and remote patient monitoring, Rhonda led sales, account, implementation, and marketing teams. She delivered recurring monthly revenue (RMR) growth and developed, defined, and launched “go-to-market strategies,” analysis, sales processes & lead generation in four distinct growth markets – population accounts (health plans), integrated channel partners, referral sources, and dealers.
In addition, Rhonda served as EVP for Alere Health (now Optum), a multi-billion-dollar health management company and analytics company, in which she consistently exceeded revenue targets. She was also SVP of Sales & Marketing for Gordian Health Solutions (now Onlife), and VP of Sales for CorSolutions Medical (now Optum). She began her career as an Emory University Hospital Registered Nurse, where she provided direct primary patient care and charge nurse responsibilities on a hematology-oncology and bone marrow transplant unit.
Rhonda earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Florida. She has been a member of the Women Business Leaders of the US Health Care Industry Foundation (WBL), Break into the Boardroom, Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), and Care Continuum Alliance (CCA). Rhonda also served as a mentor for the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech (ATDC).
Speaking Engagements & Publications
“Digitized Lab Results Accelerate the Success of Value-Based Care,” Today’s Clinical Lab. April 2022
“Asthma: Maximizing Technology to Address Compliance and Control,” Medicaid Health Plans of America, Weekly Webinars. May 2016
“The Best is Yet to Come: Ecosystem Members Share their Success Models,” Connect 2015, Qualcomm Life annual Connected Health Ecosystem Conference. August 2015
“Enabling Connected Health to Meet the Needs of Vulnerable Populations at the State Level,” Medicaid Health Plans of America, Washington, D.C. October 2013.
“Communicating Value: A Strategic Business Imperative,” Care Continuum Alliance, Phoenix, AZ. October 2013.
“Workplace Wellness and the Use of Financial Incentives,” American Cancer Society Corporate Impact Conference, Denver, CO. June 2013.
“Next Generation Incentive Design: Are Outcomes the Measurement of the Future?” Keynote, World Congress, Employee Health and Human Capital Strategy Congress, Orlando, FL. February 2013.
“Guidance for a Reasonably Designed, Employer-Sponsored Wellness Program Using Outcomes-Based Incentives,” published in JOEM, July 2012.