CHICAGO – higi announced Thursday the formation of a cross-functional team dedicated to creating an ecosystem to advance the strategic goals of its partners and clients in a transformational way.

The move comes on the heels of higi’s announcement of Darren Singer joining the company as group vice president of Network Alliances. Singer’s deep experience with consumers, retailers and their shoppers, and patients will enable higi to develop this ecosystem across retail, payer, provider, and employer organizations with consumers at the center.

The team will be led by Vicki Harter, the newly appointed vice president of client success. Harter brings a deep history in population health and is an established leader known in the industry for building client success organizations.

“Our unique strength is in our established network of smart health stations in retailers and points of trust in communities across the country,” says Jeff Bennett, higi’s chief executive officer “and in the strategic relationships we have with each of our retail partners. By creating a more fully integrated team, led by Harter with Singer’s added expertise, we bring together the voices of customers across the ecosystem. Together we will collaborate to advance all of our strategic goals while providing critical access to healthcare programs and services on behalf of consumers.”

higi’s partner and client ecosystem leverages its vast retail footprint as a critical point of access to care for consumers – directing consumers to appropriate care resources that best meet their specific health needs. One example of this network is in Florida, where higi partners with Publix Supermarkets to offer a free health screening and program to its shoppers.

“higi acts as a strategic healthcare partner for our pharmacy business,” says Dain Rusk, vice president of pharmacy at Publix. “In collaboration with higi, we can better leverage on-site clinical resources to connect patients to care and fill needed prescriptions in our pharmacies. We’ve also been able to allow our pharmacists to support the health of a new set of patients.”

As health care organizations continue to explore how to best outreach to and engage consumers, higi’s software platform and smart health station network provide both a physical and digital means to deliver more targeted and actionable healthcare education and services.