WILMINGTON, DE – Nemours Children’s Health, one of the nation’s largest multistate pediatric health systems, welcomes Karen Marie Wilding as Chief Value Officer. Wilding will lead the Nemours value journey, which includes the growth of value-based care initiatives that accelerate clinical and business transformation, supporting the organization’s vision of creating the healthiest generations of children. She will also provide oversight for the Delaware Children’s Health Network, Nemours’ clinically integrated primary care network which facilitates partnerships with community practices and payers providing holistic, equitable, and high-quality care for children.
As Chief Value Officer, she will lead the Value-Based Service Organization (VBSO) built on more than a decade of promising practices in population health and investment in value-based payment models, leveraging the extensive data capabilities of a fully integrated electronic health record system. The VBSO represents a cross-functional team across medical management, care coordination, data analytics and technology support for practice transformation throughout primary care, population health management and social determinants of health interventions. The evolution of Nemours Children’s VBSO continues with the hiring of Wilding, expanding its dedication to improving children’s well-being and in support of its health, value, and equity goals.
“Karen Wilding is a recognized leader in value-based care and the alignment of alternative payment models,” said Nemours Children’s Health Executive Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer Kara Odom Walker, MD, MPH, MSHS. “I look forward to working with her and the team to grow the partnerships necessary to implement our recently announced long-term goals for health, value, and equity. Together we will go well beyond medicine to improve health outcomes for children.”
“I am excited to embark on this next chapter at Nemours Children’s Health because I wholeheartedly believe the focus on “well beyond” will make an enduring impact on children and families,” said Nemours Children’s Health Chief Value Officer Karen Wilding. “Value-based care plays a critical role inside and outside the walls of hospitals and physician offices, enabling models of care that support the 80 percent of nonmedical factors that impact overall health. The Nemours’ value journey will be realized by the continued promise of high-quality care, support provided to surrounding communities, and its commitment to care team well-being. I am proud to join a forward-thinking institution that serves as an anchor for so many communities and is at the helm of innovative, transformational work.”
Previously, Wilding served for more than a decade at the University of Maryland Medical System as the system senior director of quality and value-based care. During her tenure, she facilitated workstreams and process improvement efforts for more than 300K lives and $2 billion in accountable care for multiple acute facilities and several hundred practice locations. In addition to her system-wide responsibilities, she led significant operating divisions for the University of Maryland Quality Care Network and Transform Health MD. Prior to the University of Maryland, Wilding was a senior leader in health IT, as well as a clinical research coordinator for a heart and vascular institute. She brings nearly twenty years of healthcare experience from rural to academic medicine.
Wilding holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the Community College of Baltimore County and serves on the National Association of Accountable Care Organization board of directors. She also serves on the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives public policy steering committee. Wilding is the former president of the board of directors for the Maryland Chapter of Health Information Management Systems Society and inducted as one of its fellows.
Wilding attended George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, located in Washington D.C. She holds a Bachelor of Science in health administration from Capella University and completed a master’s certificate in value-based care from Johns Hopkins University and Normandale Community College.
About Nemours Children’s Health
Nemours Children’s Health is one of the nation’s largest multistate pediatric health systems, which includes two free-standing children's hospitals and a network of nearly 75 primary and specialty care practices. Nemours seeks to transform the health of children by adopting a holistic health model that utilizes innovative, safe, and high-quality care while also caring for the health of the whole child beyond medicine. Nemours also powers the world’s most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, Nemours KidsHealth.org.
The Nemours Foundation, established through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to the children, families and communities it serves. For more information, visit Nemours.org.
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