Ascend Medical Welcomes Former WebMD Chief Medical Director as New CMO
Dr. Michael W. Smith has joined the Ascend Medical team after more than 22 years with WebMD.
ATLANTA, (December 06, 2021) – Former WebMD Chief Medical Director and internal medicine physician, Dr. Michael Smith, has joined the Ascend Medical team as their Chief Medical Officer. With more than two decades of experience, Dr. Smith became a trailblazer at WebMD in 1999 where he made significant contributions to the growth of the popular healthcare information platform.
Dr. Smith joined Ascend Medical in January to improve the lives of patients by forming trusting relationships with them and creating treatment decisions together based on their goals and needs. He emphasizes the importance of integrating holistic and lifestyle medicine into the lives of his patients, as he understands that both food and exercise can minimize the need for medication.
The Atlanta-based healthcare company provides both telehealth and home-visit offerings for chronic conditions, everyday urgent care, general wellness, pediatric care, vaccinations and immunizations, mobile imaging, bloodwork and sexual health.
“When I joined WebMD, I soon realized we were changing the face of health information,” Dr. Smith said. “Then, when I learned about Ascend Medical, I realized it’s poised to make an even bigger impact, changing the face of healthcare for both patients and physicians.”
A 2019 study performed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information shows that patients were most likely to choose a house call over a doctor’s office visit due to convenience and availability, and 94.2% of them said they would do it again.
Dr. Smith has appeared on CBS’ The Early Show, MSNBC, Fox News, The Weather Channel, along with multiple publications including Men’s Health, Newsweek, Forbes and Reader’s Digest. He is also a regular expert on national and local broadcast media, including Fox 5 News in New York to discuss the latest health headlines.
“We are grateful to have secured such a prominent and experienced industry leader as our CMO,” said Jason Madsen, CEO of Ascend Medical. “We are confident that Dr. Smith will bring a significant amount of expertise that will benefit patients across the country.”