While it waits for final approval of its planned $67 billion purchase of pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Holding Co., Cigna Corp. is bringing in a new chief data officer to help figure out the health insurer’s future approach to big data and analytics.

Cigna, based in Bloomfield, Connecticut, has hired Gina Papush to fill the newly created role of global chief data and analytics officer. In her new role, Papush will oversee Cigna’s enterprise data and analytics program and staff, which includes such specialty areas as decision analytics, data science, machine learning, predictive modeling and business intelligence.

Gina Papush

She will report to Cigna president of strategy, segments and solutions Chris Hocevar. “Embedding insights and analytics across the enterprise will enhance Cigna’s ability to more rapidly deliver simplified, affordable, personalized and integrated experiences for our customers and clients,” Hocevar says.

Prior to joining Cigna, Papush worked as global chief data and analytics officer at QBE Insurance Group, Australia’s largest global insurer, with previous stints as head of decision management, global and NA mortgages at Citigroup and head of customer analytics and marketing services at Fulcrum Analytics.

Cigna is already a big user of data, processing more than 168 million medical claims annually, and has more than 1 million relationships with health care professionals, clinics and facilities, the company says. When the planned acquisition of St. Louis-based Express Scripts is complete, Cigna will add nearly 1 billion annual pharmacy claims processed by Express Scripts to its data and information technology infrastructure.

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