AArete signals next phase of growth with key leadership appointments. New leaders strengthen strategy, corporate development and clinical intelligence capabilities to deliver additional value for clients CHICAGO-(BUSINESS WIRE)-AArete, a leading global tech-forward consulting firm, today announced the appointments of Jeff Berger as vice president, strategy and corporate development, and Dr. Danielle Smith as vice president, clinical intelligence. These strategic additions reflect AArete's continued investment in leadership, innovation and specialized expertise as the firm advances its next phase of growth. "Jeff and Danielle will be great additions to the leadership of our growing firm," said Loren Trimble, chief executive officer of AArete. "They are accomplished leaders with proven track records of driving transformation, accelerating growth and delivering results. Their appointments reinforce our commitment to serving clients at the highest level with healthcare innovation as we position the firm for continued success." Jeff and Danielle's appointments reinforce our commitment to serving clients at the highest level with healthcare innovation as we position the firm for continued success. Loren Trimble, CEO Advancing firm strategy and growth. As vice president, strategy and corporate development, Berger serves as a strategic partner to AArete's executive leadership team, helping define firm-wide priorities and translate strategy into action. He leads the firm's corporate development initiatives, including merger and acquisition strategy, due diligence and post-merger integration. Berger brings more than 20 years of experience in strategy, corporate development and operational excellence. Prior to joining AArete, he spent two decades at Protiviti, where he partnered with executive leadership to advance enterprise strategy, organizational effectiveness and growth initiatives. Berger holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor's degree in accounting from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He is a certified public accountant (CPA) and a Six Sigma Green Belt certified by the American Society for Quality. Expanding clinical intelligence capabilities. As vice president, clinical intelligence, Smith helps expand AArete's clinical intelligence capabilities across several strategic solution areas. Her expertise spans clinical operations, medical management, utilization management, clinical policy and government-sponsored healthcare programs. With more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and managed care, Smith has deep expertise in advancing healthcare quality, patient safety, clinical efficiency and value-based outcomes. Throughout her career, Smith has served as a transformational leader focused on quality improvement, operational excellence and healthcare innovation. Her previous leadership roles include vice president at Redwood Management Inc., national medical director for clinical policy at Molina Healthcare and program medical director/chief hospitalist at Sound Physicians. Smith earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, a medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She also holds a Lean Six Sigma certification and Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University. "We are fortunate to have Danielle and Jeff join our team. These leadership appointments represent another important milestone in AArete's growth journey," added Trimble. "As organizations face increasing complexity and pressure to transform, we are investing in the talent and capabilities required to help them navigate change, unlock value and achieve results."

AArete expands executive team with Jeff Berger and Dr. Danielle Smith. July 20, 2026 Jeff Berger and Dr. Danielle Smith AArete has strengthened its executive leadership team with the appointments of Jeff Berger as vice president of strategy and corporate development and Dr. Danielle Smith as vice president of clinical intelligence, expanding capabilities as the consulting firm accelerates growth and deepens its healthcare advisory services. The additions support AArete's strategy of investing in leadership and specialized expertise to meet growing demand for consulting services focused on healthcare transformation, digital innovation and operational performance. "Jeff and Danielle will be great additions to the leadership of our growing firm," said Loren Trimble, chief executive officer of AArete. He said both executives bring proven records of driving organizational transformation and will help the firm expand its healthcare innovation capabilities while supporting its long-term growth strategy. In his new role, Berger will work closely with AArete's executive leadership team to help define enterprise priorities and execute strategic initiatives. He will also lead the firm's corporate development activities, including merger and acquisition strategy, due diligence and post-acquisition integration. Berger joins AArete with more than 20 years of experience in corporate strategy, business development and operational improvement. He previously spent two decades at Protiviti, where he partnered with senior executives on enterprise strategy, organizational effectiveness and growth initiatives. His background includes expertise in corporate finance and process improvement. Berger holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a bachelor's degree in accounting from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, and is both a certified public accountant and Six Sigma Green Belt. Smith will lead the expansion of AArete's clinical intelligence capabilities, supporting consulting engagements across healthcare operations, medical management, utilization management, clinical policy and government-sponsored healthcare programs. She brings more than 20 years of healthcare leadership experience spanning clinical operations, quality improvement and managed care. Throughout her career, Smith has focused on advancing patient safety, improving clinical efficiency and supporting value-based care initiatives. Before joining AArete, she served as vice president at Redwood Management Inc., national medical director for clinical policy at Molina Healthcare, and program medical director and chief hospitalist at Sound Physicians. Smith earned an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, a medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She also holds Lean Six Sigma certification and a Six Sigma Black Belt credential from Villanova University. Trimble said the appointments represent another step in the firm's broader expansion strategy as clients seek guidance on increasingly complex operational and technology challenges. "We are fortunate to have Danielle and Jeff join our team," he said. "As organizations face increasing complexity and pressure to transform, we are investing in the talent and capabilities required to help them navigate change, unlock value and achieve results." AArete is a global consulting firm that advises organizations on profitability improvement, digital transformation, strategy and organizational change. The firm combines data analytics, market intelligence and technology-driven solutions to help clients improve operational performance, accelerate transformation initiatives and support long-term business growth.

AArete's Behavioral Health IntelliScan(TM) wins 2026 MedTech Breakthrough Award. AI-Powered analytics engine addresses persistent blind spots in Behavioral Health cost management, identifying root causes of cost leakage. LOS ANGELES, May 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - AArete, a leading global management and technology consulting firm, announced today that AArete's Behavioral Health IntelliScan(TM) solution has been selected as the winner of the "Best Data Visualization Solution" in the 10th annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards. The recognition highlights AArete's leadership in addressing behavioral health, one of the fastest-growing and least-managed areas of healthcare spend, where payers require a unified view across payment integrity, policy, utilization management and network performance. The 2026 MedTech Breakthrough Award recognizes the innovation of AArete's Behavioral Health IntelliScan(TM), an AI-powered analytics engine designed to uncover and address payment inaccuracies, utilization outliers, network anomalies and policy gaps in behavioral health - an area where traditional payment integrity approaches often fall short. Behavioral Health IntelliScan(TM) by AArete was conceived and designed by AArete Managing Director Gina Hedstrom to address persistent blind spots. By connecting claims data with policy, coding and market benchmarks, as well as provider- and network-level insights, the solution enables health plans to identify root causes of cost leakage and drive sustainable improvement in both financial performance and member outcomes. "We are honored to be recognized as the 'Best Data Visualization Solution' by MedTech Breakthrough," said Erica Wegielewski, managing director at AArete. "Behavioral health is an area often overlooked by traditional medical cost management solutions. AArete's Behavioral Health IntelliScan(TM) reflects our broader Payment Intelligence(R) approach, helping clients not only identify issues, but address the underlying drivers of cost, compliance risk and care variation and network performance through systemic fixes." AArete's Behavioral Health IntelliScan(TM) combines proprietary analytics with clinical and market expertise to detect overpayments, coding errors and policy misalignment and provider-network outliers at the plan, provider and member level. The solution also supports compliance with CMS and state regulations, including Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requirements, while improving authorization, denial and network oversight workflows. "In real-world deployments, Behavioral Health IntelliScan(TM) by AArete uncovers behavioral health overpayments, provider outliers, network variations and policy gaps that drive recurring errors," Hedstrom said. "By connecting claims data with policy, coding and market benchmarks, the solution enables payers to move beyond recovery and address root causes through more durable, compliant reimbursement controls." Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the MedTech Breakthrough Awards program recognizes the companies driving meaningful progress and improving patient care across the global health and medical technology industry. The program spans a wide range of categories - including Telehealth, Clinical Administration, Patient Engagement, Electronic Health Records (EHR), Virtual Care, Medical Devices and beyond - honoring the innovations reshaping how care is delivered worldwide. This year's program drew a record-breaking number of nominations from leading companies and startups across more than 20 countries, reflecting the growing global impact and momentum of the digital healthcare industry. "AArete's solution balances cost control with access to care in behavioral health," said Steve Johansson, managing director at MedTech Breakthrough. "By unifying payment integrity, compliance readiness and behavioral health expertise in a single platform, AArete's Behavioral Health IntelliScan(TM) delivers measurable cost reduction, regulatory confidence and stronger provider accountability, advancing both financial performance and member care. Congratulations to the entire AArete team for their well-deserved 2026 MedTech Breakthrough Award win." About AArete AArete is a global management and technology consulting firm specializing in driving profitability improvement, digital transformation, and strategy & change for clients. AArete's solutions are powered by a digital-first mindset, market intelligence and data-driven approach to deliver purposeful change, actionable insights and guaranteed results. AArete humanizes data by translating numbers into actionable insights, helping clients make better decisions and standing by their side to foster change with confidence, empathy and purpose. For more information, visit aarete.com. About MedTech Breakthrough Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the MedTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence and innovation in medical & health technology companies, products, services and people. The MedTech Breakthrough Awards provides a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough healthcare and medical companies and products in categories that include Patient Experience & Engagement, Health & Fitness, Medical Devices, Clinical Administration, Connected Healthcare, Medical Data, Healthcare Cybersecurity and more. For more information visit MedTechBreakthrough.com. Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.