Cognoa Appoints Michael Butler as Board Executive Chair to Further Propel Access to First FDA Authorized Diagnostic for Autism

Having served as President of Providence for over 20 years, Mike Butler's leadership experience expanding healthcare access is poised to drive the reimbursement and clinical adoption of Canvas Dx, Cognoa's groundbreaking autism and child development diagnostic

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognoa, a leading child development and behavioral health company, today announced the appointment of Mike Butler as Executive Chair of Cognoa's Board of Directors.

With more than three decades of experience in healthcare delivery, Mike Butler is renowned for his transformative leadership at Providence, one of the largest health systems in the US, where he served as President from 1998 until his retirement in 2020. Under his leadership, Providence's annual revenue increased from $2 billion to $25 billion, and Butler was instrumental in devising a unified growth strategy that expanded Providence's network of care throughout the western United States. His dedication to scaling healthcare delivery was crucial in driving clinical advancements, fostering innovation, and enhancing affordability.

"I am honored to join Cognoa as Executive Chair and to be part of a team that is at the forefront of transforming and improving pediatric healthcare," said Butler. "The work Cognoa is doing is nothing short of life-changing for patients and caregivers. The company's commitment and truly innovative approach to early, accurate, and equitable diagnosis of pediatric behavioral health conditions deeply resonates with my lifelong mission to enhance healthcare delivery and accessibility for every human being. Together with the team at Cognoa, I am dedicated to addressing critical early developmental needs in clinics worldwide."

Cognoa specializes in responsible AI-driven products for pediatric behavioral health, focusing on early diagnosis and treatment of conditions like autism. Designed for remote use within primary and specialty care settings alike, Cognoa's flagship solution, Canvas Dx, the first and only FDA authorized AI diagnostic for pediatric autism, equips healthcare professionals to act rapidly upon first developmental concern and make informed decisions for next steps, so children can begin life-changing therapies earlier. Canvas Dx is trained on a diverse dataset spanning race, gender, educational level, and socioeconomic status, ensuring an objective and equitable diagnostic experience that aims to eliminate the biases and disparities perpetuated by current standards of practice.

"We are thrilled to welcome Mike Butler as Executive Chair of our Board of Directors to support our efforts to eliminate unnecessary waitlists everywhere," said Dr. Sharief Taraman, CEO of Cognoa. "Mike's extensive and unparalleled experience in healthcare delivery and visionary leadership are a welcome addition as we expand the reach and impact of Canvas Dx. Together, we are dedicated to ensuring that every child receives timely and effective interventions, setting the stage for a much brighter future in healthcare."

Cognoa is leading the push to provide earlier, more equitable diagnosis to children with concern for developmental delay and is being rapidly adopted by healthcare systems and clinical practices nationally and internationally. The company recently announced that Highmark has become the first commercial insurer to cover the cost of Canvas Dx for its network members.

About Cognoa

Cognoa innovates solutions for healthy child development. We build breakthrough products like Canvas Dx, the first and only FDA authorized autism diagnostic for children ages 1.5 to 6 years that uses responsible AI to empower doctors to quickly, accurately, and fairly diagnose developmental risk without bias. Our digital solutions are child centric and designed to find, assess, and treat developmental concerns early, within the time windows that will yield the optimal outcomes. Our proprietary "whole child" approach to AI fuels our pipeline of diagnostic and therapeutic products for autism, speech and language, ADHD, childhood anxiety, and more. For more information, visit www.cognoa.com.

Media Contact
Terri Shapiro (on behalf of Cognoa)
terri@headline.media
+1-347-344-5316