By 
Dr. Edith A. Perez didn’t simply accept a new executive position when she became Chief Medical Officer of Cornerstone Specialty Network. She joined a carefully orchestrated platform supporting over 1,500 specialty providers across 41 states—a network that Reeve Waud assembled through the strategic combination of four complementary healthcare companies over an 18-month period.
The Provider Network Holdings platform represents more than traditional private equity roll-up strategy. Waud Capital Partners created an integrated ecosystem where independent specialty practices can access resources and capabilities typically available only to large health systems while maintaining their clinical autonomy and patient relationships.
Strategic Combination Creates Comprehensive Platform
Waud Capital Partners assembled Provider Network Holdings through the combination of Altus Biologics, Remedy GPO, Cornerstone Specialty Network, and Health Coalition Inc. Each acquisition addressed specific gaps in the specialty care value chain rather than pursuing opportunistic deals.
According to the press release, “Altus is a leading provider of comprehensive supply chain services for biologic and specialty medication management, as well as in-office infusion management services. Remedy operates a group purchasing organization and offers value-added services that are responsive to both specialty providers and pharmaceutical partners’ needs. Cornerstone is the largest independent community oncology network, delivering aggregated value-based offerings, educational resources, research, and data services. Health Coalition is a specialty and biologic pharmaceutical distributor with value-added capabilities serving manufacturers and providers.”
The systematic nature of these acquisitions reflects Waud’s experience completing more than 480 transactions over three decades. Rather than random consolidation activity, each addition strengthened the platform’s ability to serve specialty practices across multiple touchpoints: purchasing, distribution, clinical support, and revenue cycle management.
Operational Synergies Generate Network Advantages
The combined platform creates opportunities that individual companies could not achieve independently. Provider Network Holdings now spans oncology, neurology, rheumatology, gastroenterology, allergy, immunology, pulmonary, and infectious disease practices—enabling cross-specialty collaboration and data sharing that enhances patient care quality.
This breadth generates significant purchasing power with pharmaceutical manufacturers and medical device companies. Individual practices struggle to negotiate favorable terms, but a 1,500-provider network commands attention from suppliers seeking market access. The platform also creates opportunities for pharmaceutical companies launching specialty drugs to efficiently reach targeted physician audiences across multiple therapeutic areas.
Dr. Perez’s appointment as Chief Medical Officer positions her to leverage these synergies for clinical improvement initiatives. Her role involves overseeing clinical programs and driving evidence-based practices across the entire network—opportunities that wouldn’t exist within individual practices or single-specialty organizations.
Scale Creates Competitive Moats
The 1,500-provider network accomplishes objectives that individual practices cannot achieve alone: sophisticated data analytics capabilities, comprehensive clinical research programs, and negotiated pharmaceutical pricing that rivals large health systems. These advantages create sustainable competitive moats that protect the platform from both hospital consolidation pressures and competitor private equity platforms.
The press release notes that “Provider Network Holdings supports a deep network of over 1,500 provider partners across multiple physician specialties with a comprehensive suite of practice management, supply chain, group purchasing, and pharmaceutical solutions for specialty and biologic drug needs.”
Dr. Perez’s decision to join this platform validates Reeve Waud’s network effect strategy—proving that systematic combination can create healthcare platforms attractive to the industry’s most accomplished leaders.
Related: https://www.wsj.com/articles/waud-capital-seeks-up-to-2-billion-for-fund-v-11556140995
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