Cathy Lipton, M.D., CMD

Cathy Lipton, M.D., CMD, is on the Corporate Medical Director team for Optum Complex Care Management (CCM), and has been affiliated with UnitedHealth Group since the original Evercare demonstration program expanded to Atlanta, Georgia, in the 1990’s. Optum’s clinical models of care support UnitedHealthcare’s Institutional (nursing home) and Dual (community-based) Special Needs Plans (SNPs) as well as the Post Acute care needs for other Medicare and private health plans. Optum’s programs focus on strong collaboration between Advanced Practice Clinicians (APCs) and Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) to enhance primary care for vulnerable populations. Dr. Lipton has lived in Atlanta, Georgia, since the time she attended Medical School at Emory University as well as completing both her Internal Medicine Residency and Geriatric Fellowship programs there. Following training she worked at Emory’s Geriatric campus for a number of years in the clinical and academic arenas, including providing the medical direction for Emory’s skilled and intermediate care nursing facilities. Dr. Lipton has been a Certified Medical Director since 1997. She moved into an Adjunct Clinical capacity with Emory once she formally affiliated with UnitedHealth Group. Prior to her regional role, Dr. Lipton served as the Optum Market Medical Director for Georgia for many years, during which time the market provided clinical expertise in a variety of health plans including Institutional, Dual, and Chronic SNPs, as well as an End Stage Renal Disease pilot with CMS. She earned an innovation award for a telepsychiatry pilot program in 2013. Dr. Lipton has twice been President, and is presently a long-standing Board member, of the Georgia Medical Directors Association, Georgia’s chapter of the Society for Post-Acute and Long Term Care (formerly AMDA). She sits on the Georgia Medical Care Foundation Nursing Home Quality Initiative Advisory Board, and has served on the American Health Care Association’s Clinical Practice Committee and Professional Development Workgroup. Dr. Lipton’s interests include improved access to quality behavioral health care for under served populations, medical-behavioral integration, telemedicine, and remote monitoring technologies.