Warren Laird, vice president of business development, ACOs. 
RANCHO CORDOVA—VSP Vision Care has named Warren Laird vice president of accountable care organizations (ACOs) business development. A managed vision care veteran with over 20 years sales experience at VSP, Laird will lead the company’s efforts to expand relationships with ACOs and independent practice associations (IPAs). This will allow VSP’s network of 32,000 independent optometrists to more closely collaborate with other medical providers in the delivery of coordinated care to patients.

Laird is based in Greenville, S.C., and he will report to GE Hiatt, VP of health plan sales for VSP Vision Care, a VSP spokesperson told VMail.

“In addition to providing a wide range of vision and medical eyecare services, optometrists are perfectly positioned to play a key role in the increasingly integrated health care system by providing early detection of chronic diseases and other medical conditions,” said Kate Renwick-Espinosa, incoming president of VSP Vision Care. “VSP has long recognized the importance of building a strong bridge between optometrists and their medical counterparts to more efficiently co-manage patient care and deliver better health outcomes. Warren’s rich experience and understanding of these issues make him uniquely qualified to lead this critical effort.”

Laird, who has held a variety of sales roles at VSP, most recently served as a managed care market director for health plans and state health insurance exchanges. He was a member of U.S. Congressman Bob Inglis’ Committee on Health Care from 1993 to 1996 and currently sits on the board for Prevent Blindness Georgia.

With 45 million of VSP’s 70 million members in the U.S. covered under its medical eyecare product portfolio, the company covers eyecare services for conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and macular degeneration, allowing for both routine and subsequent medical eyecare from their VSP doctor. Additionally, more than 200 health plans currently contract with VSP to provide nearly 15 million Americans with vision benefits through the utilization of the VSP network and health plan channel.