Chief Medical Officer

Job Description

Job Description

About Catalyst Health Group

Catalyst Health Group (CHG) is a privately held, nationally recognized leader in primary care innovation and delivery. As the largest clinically integrated network for primary care providers in Texas, we support value-based care initiatives for more than 1,000 primary care physicians and serve more than 1.5 million lives across North and East Texas, and the Panhandle. Catalyst Care Connect is an MSO serving as the extension of each primary care provider's practice and focuses on the health of patients, practices and primary care physicians.

To fulfill our purpose of Helping Communities Thrive, in 2024 Catalyst launched Catalyst Physician Group, comprised of independent physician practices who have a long-standing, trusted relationship with Catalyst. Together, Catalyst and the physician practices have merged to create the 2nd largest physician group in the Southwest.

At Catalyst Health Group, we believe primary care has the power to strengthen communities - and the Chief Medical Officer plays a pivotal role in bringing our purpose to life. This role is central to CHG's vision to be the best in primary care by 2030. The CMO will directly influence whether Catalyst can scale its model across markets while maintaining clinical excellence, cost discipline, and physician alignment.

The CMO is a critical enterprise leader responsible for advancing clinical performance, physician engagement, and value-based outcomes across Catalyst Health Group. This role provides clinical oversight for the Catalyst Health Network (CHN), MSO, and Risk-Bearing Entities (RBE), ensuring consistent delivery of high-quality, cost-effective care aligned to CHG's strategy.

This position will operate at the intersection of clinical leadership, financial performance, and physician engagement and influence-driving measurable improvements in Total Cost of Care, Medical Loss Ratio (MLR), and clinical variability reduction to achieve desired patient outcomes.

This is a strategic leadership role with meaningful tactical engagement, requiring deep credibility with physicians and the ability to influence behavior change through peer-to-peer leadership, not hierarchy.

Enterprise Clinical Leadership & Oversight

• Provide clinical leadership across CHN, MSO, and RBE to ensure alignment to CHG's value-based care strategy
• Establish and enforce evidence-based clinical standards, pathways, and care models
• Partner with executive leadership to align clinical strategy with enterprise growth and strategic priorities
• Serve as the senior clinical voice in enterprise decision-making, balancing quality, access and cost

Total Cost of Care & MLR Accountability

• Own enterprise performance for Total Cost of Care (TCOC) and Medical Loss Ratio (MLR)
• Translate financial and actuarial insights into actionable clinical interventions
• Drive physician adoption of cost-conscious, outcomes-driven clinical practices
• Partner with VBC leadership and Finance to ensure alignment between clinical decisions leading to desired patient outcomes and financial outcomes

Variability Reduction

• Lead enterprise efforts to reduce unwarranted clinical variability across providers, practices, and regions
• Standardize care delivery through protocols, pathways, and decision support
• Identify outliers and implement targeted interventions to improve consistency and achieve desired patient outcomes
• Embed accountability mechanisms to ensure adherence to standards

Physician Engagement & Influence

• Quickly build credibility with physicians as a trusted peer and clinical leader
• Lead through influence by educating, evangelizing, aligning and motivating physicians to adopt enterprise priorities
• Translate complex value-based strategies into practical, actionable clinical expectations
• Serve as the primary "seller of the plan," ensuring that physicians understand, buy-in, and execute

Partnership with Value-Based Care (VBC) Leadership

• Collaborate closely with the VBC leader who identifies opportunities, develops strategies, and builds the plan
• Ensure clinical alignment and physician adoption of VBC strategies and initiatives
• Validate clinical appropriateness of VBC strategies and interventions
• Co-own outcomes related to quality, cost, and utilization

Risk Management at Scale

• Identify and mitigate clinical, regulatory, and operational risks across a multi-site environment
• Ensure compliance with clinical standards, payer requirements, and regulatory compliance
• Balance innovation and growth with disciplined clinical governance

Tactical Leadership & Practice-Level Engagement

• Maintain visible, consistent presence with physicians and clinical teams in clinics and regions
• Lead targeted interventions to address performance gaps in patient outcomes, quality, cost, and utilization
• Support execution of enterprise initiatives through direct physician engagement
• Reinforce expectations through real-time coaching and feedback

• Measurable improvement in MLR and Total Cost of Care
• Reduction in clinical variability across key conditions and markets
• Increased physician alignment and adoption of enterprise standards
• Material improvement in quality metrics and value-based outcomes
• Strong partnership effectiveness with VBC, Finance and Operations
• Established credibility and influence across the physician community

Experience & Background

• MD and Board certification required
• 10+ years of clinical practice experience, with leadership in multi-site or networked environments
• Proven experience in value-based care, population health, or risk-bearing models
• Demonstrated success in improving MLR, utilization and Total Cost of Care
• Experience working across MSOs, provider networks, or integrated systems

Capabilities & Leadership Behaviors

Physician Engagement & Influence

• Earns respect as a peer with the ability to influence without authority
• Skilled at navigating physician dynamics and driving behavior change consistent with CHG's Core Values

Business & Financial Acumen

• Deep understanding of the relationship between clinical decisions and financial outcomes
• Comfortable translating data into clinical action to achieve desired patient outcomes

Variability Reduction Discipline

• Relentless focus on standardization and consistency
• Uses data, transparency, and accountability to drive change

Strategic & Tactical

• Thinks at the enterprise level while engaging directly in execution
• Enjoys being in the field, interacting with physicians

Change Leadership

• Able to "sell the plan" and mobilize physicians around a shared vision
• Drives adoption through clarity, persistence, and trust

Decision-Making

• Balances growth mindset with clinical integrity and compliance
• Anticipates and mitigates risk at scale

Leadership Presence

• Peer first, not hierarchical
• Data-driven and clinically grounded
• Direct, clear, and accountable
• Sets high expectations and provides strong support
• Visible, engaged, and credible in the field