Claire Horton, MD, MPH

Claire Horton MD, MPH joined KP as Executive Vice President, Associate Chief Medical Officer, National Medicaid in November 2024. She serves as a national leader responsible for supporting the development and oversight of the national quality agenda to ensure that all members and patients receive superior and equitable care and service. Her role also serves as Medical Director for the Medicaid line of business, with a dotted line reporting relationship to Toby Douglas, Senior Vice President, Medicaid, and oversees the administration of all regulatory requirements impacting the care delivery and health plan operations of the Medicaid line of business, with a primary focus on California as the largest market. This includes ensuring the development and implementation of strategies, programs, policies, and procedures in alignment with Medicaid regulatory requirements and KP’s strategic goals. Claire also works in consultation and collaboration with regional Medicaid medical directors and program office Medicaid leaders, Permanente Medical Groups (PMG) executive leadership and KFH/HP market operations leaders. Claire is a board-certified internist and brings a wealth of experience in quality improvement, equity and Medicaid and community focused programs. Prior to coming to Kaiser Permanente, she served as Chief Medical Officer for the San Francisco Health Network and as Professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. Her role at San Francisco Health Network focused on systems improvement, primary care transformation, social determinants of health, homelessness and health, and health policy and advocacy. She is active on multiple quality-improvement focused committees, including at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, within the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and at a statewide level. Claire obtained her medical degree from the Duke University and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco. She also holds a master’s degree in public health from University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill School of Public Health with a focus on maternal/child health. There is an extensive list of accolades, awards and publications that also make up Claire’s amazing career promoting quality and equity in healthcare and underserved communities. Claire lives in San Francisco with her husband and 2 kids (16 and 19) She’s been an enthusiastic Kaiser patient for 22 years and her kids are born and raised in the Kaiser system. She started her career in Oakland, at La Clinica de la Raza, and is looking forward to returning to the city for her professional home base. In her free time, Claire likes backpacking, hiking, theater, travel, and revisiting her roots in her home state of Missouri.