Healthwise Announces Robert Kyte as CEO

BOISE, ID--(Marketwired - March 01, 2016) -  The Healthwise board of directors today named Robert (Bob) Kyte to be the next Healthwise CEO effective July 1, 2016. Kyte will succeed founder and CEO Donald W. Kemper upon his retirement. Kemper founded the Boise-headquartered nonprofit in 1975 based on the idea that the consumer is the greatest untapped resource in health care. Under Kemper's direction, Healthwise has grown to become the world's leading nonprofit provider of consumer health education and decision support.

To ensure a seamless transition, Kyte will join Healthwise on June 1, 2016, and assume the CEO position on July 1 when Kemper retires. Current Healthwise senior leadership will stay on board to maintain continuity and a strategic focus on its mission to help people make better health decisions.

People have turned to Healthwise information more than 1.75 billion times. In 2014, Healthwise merged with the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation (now a division of Healthwise) with its rich history in shared decision making advocacy, implementation and research. The combined nonprofit has $39 million in annual revenues with 270 employees in Boise, Boston, and throughout the U.S.

"The board-appointed search committee undertook a national search to identify the right person to lead Healthwise," said Margaret O'Kane, chair of the Healthwise board. "Bob's experience in leading market-serving nonprofits, his vision for what lies ahead, and his passion for helping people make better health decisions combined to make him the winning candidate. Under Bob Kyte's leadership, Healthwise will continue its exceptional service to clients while advancing thought leadership for a health care system that fully values the voice of the patient," added O'Kane.

Kyte returns to Healthwise after spending the last six years as president of the nonprofit Adventist Risk Management, a risk-management insurance broker and administrator. He was also president and CEO of GENCON Insurance Company, an affiliate of Adventist Risk Management. While with Adventist Risk Management, he led the organization to improved performance and reduced costs, while significantly increasing revenue growth. Prior to that, Kyte served Healthwise as general counsel and other key roles from 1990‒2009.

"The Healthwise formula for success combines equal parts of passion for the mission, commitment to our unique culture, and deep desire to help every client succeed," said Kemper. "Bob is drawn to the Healthwise mission, he has helped to champion our culture, and he knows how to both lead and serve our clients. With Bob at the wheel, the future of Healthwise is in good hands."

"I'm honored to follow in the footsteps of Don, the founder and visionary of Healthwise for so many years," said Kyte. "He's done an excellent job of handing off the visionary zeal to everyone at Healthwise, and I'm lucky to join an organization that cares deeply for our mission and our clients' success. We'll continue down the path of combining the most innovative thinking with the most current medical evidence to develop solutions that empower organizations, care teams and consumers in creating health care experiences and outcomes, that matter to them."

Kyte holds a law degree from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Walla Walla University in Washington. Kyte was co-organizer and presenter for the Quest for Quality program for hospitals in many countries, which put a focus on improving quality and enhancing the patient experience. Kyte has also taught and advised on risk management topics in hospitals and health care settings in countries around the world.

About Healthwise
Healthwise is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make better health decisions. In 2014, Healthwise merged with the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation to further advance the mission. People have turned to Healthwise information more than 1.5 billion times to learn how to do more for themselves, ask for the care they need, and say "no" to the care they don't need. Healthwise partners with hospitals, electronic medical record (EMR) providers, health plans, care management companies, and health websites to provide up-to-date, evidence-based information to the people they serve. www.healthwise.org. 1.800.706.9646.

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