Ventra Health Appoints Richard Saxon, MD as Strategic Advisor for Radiology

Nationally Recognized Physician to Enhance Ventra's Deep RCM Capabilities in Radiology

, /PRNewswire/ -- Ventra Health ("Ventra"), a leading business solutions provider for facility-based physicians, announced today that it has named Richard R. Saxon, MD, Fellow of the Society of Interventional Radiology, as a Strategic Advisor for Radiology. He joins a team led by Sarah Herzog, President of Radiology and a respected Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) executive, as Ventra continues to invest in and grow and expand its Radiology business services. As a reimbursement advocate, Dr. Saxon will represent radiologists as Ventra works to navigate a challenging and dynamic payer landscape and address the specific needs of radiology practices.

Ventra is one of the nation's largest, most sophisticated technology-enabled providers of end-to-end RCM services, offering clients access to industry-leading technology, data and analytics, provider education, and payer strategy and contracting. 

Steven Huddleston, CEO of Ventra, said, "Dr. Saxon brings a unique combination of physician and payer knowledge and has a detailed understanding of the challenges facing radiologists today. His skills and experience provide critical insights as we continue to build out our Client Success engagement structure with advanced technology and performance surveillance features, making it a valuable touchpoint for clients who need help negotiating market forces. We are excited to welcome Richard and are confident he will enhance the national advocacy and white-glove service we are proud to provide to our clients."

Dr. Saxon has been a clinician, researcher, teacher, and innovator in the field of Interventional Radiology. Having lectured extensively worldwide, he will continue to practice medicine alongside his Ventra strategic advisor role, in which he will act as a trusted advocate and resource for radiologists.

"I am looking forward to working with Ventra's radiology physician providers to create more predictable outcomes and help improve their practices' financial results so they can focus on what matters – providing high-quality patient care," commented Dr. Saxon.

Ventra is a portfolio company of Varsity Healthcare Partners, a leading healthcare-focused private equity firm.

More on Dr. Richard Saxon
Dr. Saxon holds an AB in Molecular Biology from the University of California at Berkeley, graduating with distinction, and an MD from UCLA School of Medicine, graduating AOA. After completing his Radiology residency at UCSF, Dr. Saxon started his career in Academics at the Dotter Institute at OHSU in Portland, Oregon, where he stayed for five years pioneering new IR techniques (such as TIPS stent-grafting). He then left for the challenging private practice environment of San Diego over 25 years ago, practicing at hospital systems throughout the county and teaching as a Clinical Associate Professor at UCSD. He helped found and served as the Director of Research at San Diego Cardiac and Vascular Institute, performing pioneering peripheral arterial device research in his clinical practice from 1997 until 2014. He and his colleagues developed an endovascular stroke treatment program that performs over one-third of the stroke thrombectomies in San Diego County, obtaining respected JCAHO thrombectomy designations for both health care districts in the North County.

Dr. Saxon has experienced practice mergers and dissolutions with in-house billing as well as RCM outsourcing. He served as CFO of North County Radiology Medical Group, starting at Tri City Medical Center in Oceanside, CA, having joined the group when it employed only 10 radiologists. The practice expanded over the years to cover the Palomar health care district in Escondido and Poway, CA. His group merged with San Diego Imaging Medical Group in 2011, creating a practice of over 55 Radiologists with five imaging centers (the largest private group in San Diego for 12 years). The Covid health crisis and its financial stresses led to the dissolution of the large group in 2023, and Dr. Saxon once again served as CFO during the re-creation of his previous medical group (North County Radiology Associates) in 2024. He helped develop entirely new models of radiology reimbursement with the health care districts in the North County that have successfully stabilized the provision of both diagnostic and interventional Radiology services in the area. 

About Ventra Health
Ventra is a leading business solutions provider for facility-based physicians practicing anesthesia, emergency medicine, hospital medicine, pathology, and radiology. Focused on Revenue Cycle Management, Ventra partners with private practices, hospitals, health systems, and ambulatory surgery centers to deliver transparent and data-driven solutions that solve the most complex revenue and reimbursement issues, enabling clinicians to focus on providing outstanding care to their patients and communities. 

Media Contact
Jenifer Bush
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Ventra Health
[email protected]

SOURCE Ventra Health