FYI from TheStandard.com
thestandard.com
WebMD Exec Resigns
The departure of the company's chief technologist is the latest sign of co-CEO Marty Wygod's quest for control.
By Todd Woody
Jim Clark
CareInsite, Inc. (CARI)
Healtheon/WebMD Corporation (HLTH)
Medical Manager Corporation (MMGR)
WebMD to Slice Off 1,100 Workers
WebMD Nixes Site for Nurses
WebMD Closes Deal for Medical Manager
WebMD Exec Resigns
(October 4, 2000)
(October 2, 2000)
Pavan Nigam, WebMD's chief technologist and co-founder of Healtheon, has resigned, the latest sign that WebMD co-CEO Marty Wygod is consolidating his hold on the Internet health company.
Nigam will be replaced by Steven Zatz, an executive from Wygod's CareInsite (CARI) , an online medical company that merged with WebMD last month.
Nigam could not be reached to comment Wednesday afternoon. But WebMD spokeswoman Risa Fisher said Nigam's departure to "pursue other interests" was a mutual decision. "It's in the best interests of the company and for Pavan, as well," she says. "We're bringing new focus to the company. We're moving some of the development efforts to where there's relevant expertise."
That could signal a shift toward services for physicians, the focus of CareInsite and its former parent company Medical Manager (MMGR) , a medical software maker that also was acquired by WebMD. Zatz, a 43-year-old physician, had been serving as a senior VP for product development and engineering at CareInsite. He previously was CEO of Physicians' Online, an Internet service for doctors, and served as an executive at U.S. Healthcare, a managed care company.
Zatz will take the title of executive VP for Internet portals and applications services group. "There's nobody better positioned in this instance than Steve Zatz," Fisher says. "He's someone with medical training who understands the needs of physicians."
Executives from Medical Manager and CareInsite now occupy most of the key positions at WebMD, including president, CFO and co-general counsel.
"It's CareInsite with a different name," says E-Offering health analyst Caren Taylor. "It clearly demonstrates that Marty [Wygod] is consolidating control over the company."
Wygod, a health industry veteran, took over Medical Manager after selling his Medco mail-order drug business to pharmaceutical giant Merck for $6.6 billion in 1993.
Nigam co-founded Healtheon in 1996 with former Netscape Chairman Jim Clark. When Healtheon merged with WebMD in 1999, Nigam became CTO. Although the company, then known as Healtheon/WebMD (HLTH) , moved its corporate headquarters to Atlanta, its technology headquarters remained in Santa Clara, Calif.
Zatz, who currently is based in New Jersey, will move to Silicon Valley temporarily to oversee the transition. Nigam will continue to work as a consultant to WebMD until the end of the year.
In a statement, WebMD Chairman Mike Long praised Nigam for his "tremendous contributions" to the company. |
