Riverside Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, announced today that its portfolio company, UnisLink, has appointed David R. Strand as CEO. UnisLink is a national leader in revenue cycle and population health management services for independent physician practices. Mr. Strand has been serving as the company’s Executive Chairman since April of 2022. This appointment reflects UnisLink’s commitment to assembling a world-class leadership team focused on exceptional quality and aggressive growth both organically and through acquisitions.
Mr. Strand has spent more than 30 years providing executive leadership to some of the nation’s leading health care institutions, including serving as COO of the Cleveland Clinic, COO of Allina Health System and President of Medica. Mr. Strand began his career as outside general counsel to then start-up United HealthCare, serving from its formation through its IPO and the creation of its national network of health plans. From his earliest days with United, Mr. Strand has been a passionate proponent of leveraging technology to strengthen physician practices, improving patient health, and advancing care delivery throughout the country. Mr. Strand has also served as CEO of four early-stage companies.
“Revenue cycle and population health management has become increasingly complex for all providers, and the demand for sophisticated outsourced revenue cycle and analytics solutions is growing,” Mr. Strand said. “I have been truly impressed with UnisLink’s proprietary and differentiated workflow technology, financial and population health analytics software, and skilled teams in the US and India that together bring enhanced clinical and financial outcomes to physician practices. UnisLink is also far ahead of the curve in helping practices navigate the continued evolution to value-based care. UnisLink’s co-founders, Amit Lal, Kannan Ramachandran and Shaun Kanaka, have established an excellent foundation and I see an enormous potential to build on what they have created.”
UnisLink’s co-founders, Amit Lal and Kannan Ramachandran, will remain in significant leadership positions at the company and work closely with Mr. Strand. Mr. Lal will become Chief Innovation Officer, focusing his efforts on product development and the infusion of additional automation and AI into UnisLink’s leading proprietary technologies to enable best-in-class service for UnisLink’s customers. Mr. Ramachandran will become Chief Corporate Development Officer where he will lead UnisLink’s acquisition efforts, an area where the company anticipates significant continued activity. Mr. Ramachandran has overseen seven UnisLink acquisitions over the last four years, including two within the last two months.
Mr. Lal and Mr. Ramachandran remarked, “We are thrilled to have David’s continued leadership at UnisLink. He has had a significant positive impact on UnisLink as Executive Chairman and he has a track record of successfully leading both small and large healthcare businesses. His experience and guidance will increase our leading position serving small-to-medium physician groups and accelerate our growing footprint with large outpatient and hospital-affiliated physician groups.”
“We are very excited to have David Strand provide leadership and guidance to the rest of the UnisLink executive team as the company enters a new phase of accelerated growth,” said Max Osofsky, a General Partner at Riverside Partners, a Boston-based healthcare and technology private equity firm that invested in UnisLink in April 2022. “David Strand has been a long-time member of Riverside Partners’ Healthcare Advisory Board and we are very confident he will accelerate bringing UnisLink’s unique technology and service solution to the market.”
David Belluck, a General Partner at Riverside Partners added, “Amit, Kannan and Shaun built UnisLink from its inception to what it has become today – a company that has grown to serve more than 3,000 independent physicians across 37 states. They have built a great partnership with David Strand and our expanding UnisLink team, and we are excited for them to work together as we continue to aggressively grow UnisLink organically and through acquisitions.”
About UnisLink
UnisLink leverages its proprietary software solutions to provide end-to-end revenue cycle management and population health management services to independent physician groups, ACOs, and value-based care groups across the United States. Headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, the company deploys unique technology, analytics, and skilled teams to enhance clinical outcomes while improving the financial performance of its customers. For more information, visit www.unislink.com.
About Riverside Partners
Founded in 1989, Riverside Partners is a middle market private equity firm with total capital commitments of $1.6 billion raised since inception. The firm focuses on growth-oriented companies in the technology and healthcare industries. Riverside Partners is particularly experienced at partnering with founders, owners and management teams, and it brings substantial domain expertise and operating experience to its portfolio companies. For more information, visit www.riversidepartners.com
