September 25, 2018

OHCA Contact: Jo Stainsby - (405) 522-7474; Katelynn Burns - (405) 522-7266

OHCA Chief Medical Officer Appointed to PCORI Board

Oklahoma City - Dr. Michael Herndon, Chief Medical Officer for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), was recently appointed to a six-year term on the Board of Governors of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).      

The purpose of PCORI is to assist patients, clinicians, purchasers and policymakers in making informed health decisions by advancing the quality and relevance of evidence about health care prevention, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and management. PCORI is funded and was established by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to support comparative clinical effectiveness research.     

“Dr. Herndon brings tremendous value to our agency and we are so proud of him for this appointment. We know he will be a vital asset during his time on the PCORI board,” said OHCA CEO Becky Pasternik-Ikard.    

In his current role at OHCA, Herndon is responsible for the design and implementation of key initiatives in the SoonerCare (Oklahoma Medicaid) program.     

Herndon has nearly 30 years of experience in family medicine and implemented the SoonerCare Health Management Program, a full-scope care management program designed to provide an innovative case management strategy for high-risk SoonerCare members. He also initiated the SoonerCare Pain Management Program to help address the opioid crisis. It is focused on the development of a prescriber toolkit and implementing standards of care in chronic pain management. Herndon founded and volunteers at an intercity free health clinic—the Lighthouse Medical Clinic—in Oklahoma City.     

Dr. Herndon received his DO from the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Oklahoma State University.  

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) administers two health programs for the state. The first is SoonerCare, Oklahoma’s Medicaid program. SoonerCare works to improve the health of qualified Oklahomans by ensuring that medically necessary benefits and services are available. Qualifying Oklahomans include certain low-income children, seniors, the disabled, those being treated for breast or cervical cancer and those seeking family planning services. The second program OHCA operates is Insure Oklahoma, which assists qualifying adults and small business employees in obtaining health care coverage for themselves and their families. Currently, there are 821,781 Oklahomans enrolled in OHCA’s programs. The agency contracts with a network of 48,486 providers. For more information, visit www.okhca.org or www.insureoklahoma.org