Dr. James A. Yost, is a physician, executive and transformational healthcare leader with over seventeen years of executive and clinical leadership experience spanning outpatient clinic operations, value based care, quality and safety, and workforce strategy. He served as Chief Medical Officer at CRH Healthcare since 2015, following CRH’s acquisition of Physicians Immediate Med, where he had been Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner. In his role as CMO with CRH Healthcare, Dr. Yost oversaw the day-to-day clinical operations of 100 clinics across four states (Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Maryland) with 350 providers and approximately 1,600 staff, which also includes telemedicine services. He leads the full employment lifecycle for physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, including recruitment, training, performance evaluation, and clinical professional development.
At CRH Healthcare, Dr. Yost designed and implemented enterprise quality systems that strengthen outcomes, experience, and safety. These include a formal Peer Review Committee and a post-graduate residency program for nurse practitioners and physician assistants, each aligned with evidence-based standards and continuous feedback mechanisms. He has championed value-based care initiatives, gap closure programs, and advanced analytics, using Power BI and responsible applications of large language models and generative AI to drive data-informed improvements across access, throughput, documentation quality, and coding accuracy. His strategic portfolio also includes mergers and acquisitions, with contributions to 50+ transactions (acquisitions and de novos), and the formation of clinically integrated and value-based networks, including CIN/ACO partnerships with Emory Healthcare and Adventist Healthcare that support outpatient clinic integration, referral optimization, and population health objectives. He has represented CRH in broadcast media interviews, communicating organizational clinical priorities and public health guidance.
Dr. Yost’s clinical and leadership perspective is grounded in a decade of front-line prehospital service as a paramedic in Metro Atlanta prior to medical school, followed by hospital-based acute and episodic care. Prior to entering executive leadership, he served Veterans at the Atlanta VA Medical Center as an Emergency Department and Urgent Care Physician, providing rapid assessment, stabilization, and multidisciplinary coordination for medically complex presentations. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and holds subspecialty training and certifications in Hyperbaric and Wound Care Medicine, bringing a comprehensive approach to tissue viability, infection control, and advanced modalities for chronic and radiation-related wounds.
A committed educator, Dr. Yost holds multiple academic appointments. He is an Adjunct Instructor of Medicine at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, a Clinical Preceptor with the Emory Family Medicine Residency Program, an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Mercer University (Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant programs), and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM). He has been recognized for excellence in teaching and mentorship, including Preceptor of the Year (Mercer University) and selection as Alumni of the Year by the Emory Family Medicine Residency Program for the graduating class of 2025. Beyond his executive responsibilities, Dr. Yost serves the community as Medical Director for the Emergency Medical Responder Course for the Fulton County Board of Education, and has held governance and committee roles at Emory Johns Creek Hospital (Medical Executive Committee, Credentials Committee, Peer Review Committee, Department Chair for Graduate Medical Education, Vice Chair, Family Medicine) and on the Board of Directors for the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce. He also serves as a non-voting member of the Board of Directors at CRH Healthcare.
Professional Memberships
- American Academy of Family Physicians
- Georgia Academy of Family Physicians
- American College of Healthcare Executives
- American Board of Family Medicine
Awards and Honors
- Voted Most Studious by the Medical School Class of 2006
- Preceptor of the Year, Mercer College of Pharmacology and Health Sciences Physician Assistant Program (2011)
- Most Compassionate Physician (2011)
- Atlanta’s Best Doctors Top 10 List (2018)
- Who’s Who (2022)
- Alumni of the Year, Emory Family Medicine Residency Program (2024 - 2025)
