Aetna announced today the appointment of Ron Inge, DDS, as chief dental officer, reporting to Scott Schnuckle, head of Aetna Dental. Inge will be responsible for setting clinical policies and overseeing the utilization and quality management programs for the dental unit.
Dr. Inge joins Aetna Dental from PMI Dental Health Plan, the managed dental care division of Delta of California, where he was vice president of professional services and chief dental officer. Prior to that, Inge was the senior vice president of provider relations for DentiCare of California.
"We are very excited that Ron has joined our team," said Schnuckle. "He has an extremely well rounded dental business background. Ron has successfully led clinical and network operations areas, while working closely with the sales and underwriting functions. His past experiences will enable him to make an immediate impact to the dental organization and to Aetna."
Inge has 14 years of private practice experience and holds a doctor of dental surgery degree from UCLA and a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University. He is also on the board of directors of the California Association of Dental Plans.
"I am very excited about the opportunity to be directly involved in change and progress at a company like Aetna," said Inge. "I will be in a unique position as the chief dental officer to make positive changes in how dentistry is delivered to members all over the country. I'll also be able to represent Aetna as both a dentist and an executive to help our clients maximize the value of their dental benefits."
Aetna is one of the nation's leading providers of health, dental, group life, disability and long-term care benefits, serving 14.4 million health care members, 11.9 million dental members and 12 million group insurance customers as of June 30, 2002. Information about Aetna is available at www.aetna.com.
