Rise

Dr. Sarika Aggarwal Chief Medical Officer

Fast Pace Health

Dr. Aggarwal is a board-certified internist with extensive strategic and operational leadership experience in multiple and diverse institutions, including provider, payor, and for-profit consulting organizations. She offers extensive expertise in the technology, infrastructure supports, clinical program and culture necessary for success in risk-based reimbursement models. Dr. Aggarwal joined Fast Pace Health in July 2022 as Chief Medical Officer. 

Prior to Fast Pace Dr Aggarwal was Chief Population Health Officer at Southern New England Health(SoNE Health), a clinically integrated network in Southern New England. In her role as CPHO, Dr. Aggarwal was tasked with leading and driving the population health efforts and programs, clinical and continuum integration, physician performance improvement and education, and SoNE HEALTH’s overall strategic direction toward clinical and regional integration and superior value-based performance. 

Prior to joining SoNE HEALTH Dr. Aggarwal served as Chief Medical Officer for Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization (BIDCO), an Accountable Care Organization in Massachusetts with providers and hospital affiliated with Harvard University where she provided oversight, expertise, and leadership to ensure BIDCO delivered high-quality health care services and innovative medical management programs including care models for the Medicare shared savings, Medicare Advantage, Commercial, and Medicaid risk contracts. 

Previously she served as SVP, Population Health and Chief Medical Officer at xG Health Solutions, a subsidiary of Geisinger Health Systems in Pennsylvania, where she led a team of clinicians working with organizations nationally on ambulatory, acute and post-acute clinical care redesign. She also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Fallon Health plan, Massachusetts. Dr. Aggarwal is a practicing primary care physician with over 20 years in private and employed group practice at UMass Memorial. She is an instructor at Harvard T Chan school of Public Health and serves on multiple state quality committees. 

Mario Albert Revenue Operations Manager

Independent Health

Mario Albert serves as a Sr. Manager in Government Programs, managing outsourced vendor partnerships. He is responsible to develop and ensure effective execution of strategic and operational plans in support of risk adjustment performance and accuracy. Albert also leads all aspects of contracting and relationship management for several critical vendor partnerships.

Albert joined Independent Health in 2010 after earning a master’s in business administration from the University of Rochester Simon Business School. Prior to joining Independent Health, Albert worked for a publicly traded software and services firm to advise healthcare institutions throughout the US on revenue cycle management, workflow, process improvement, and integrating acquired assets. Additional certifications include Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Reporting to Independent Health’s Senior Vice President for Government Programs and in collaboration with C-level executives on the development of strategic initiatives, he leads internal and external teams to coordinate operations, monitors vendor performance, and manages relationships. On behalf of the organization, he manages large and small teams to achieve optimal performance.

Albert has a 25-year track record of directing and leading diverse teams for publicly traded, private, and non-profit organizations locally and nationally, to stabilize financial operations, achieve revenue growth, and turnaround operational inefficiency.

His core competencies include organizational leadership, strategic planning, financial controls, performance metrics, lean six sigma, quantitative analysis, plus mergers and acquisitions. He is also committed to philanthropy and community service, enabling healthcare delivery and education equality at all levels.

A passionate alumnus committed to continuous learning, he stays active as a contributor to these institutions, often serving as a mentor to students. Albert has served as director and officer on multiple charitable foundation boards.

Kathleen Aller Director of Market Strategy, Healthcare

InterSystems

Kathleen Aller leads global market strategy and product marketing for InterSystems healthcare solutions. She has a long history in healthcare and health IT, with expertise in connected health, patient engagement, enterprise intelligence, electronic health records, and quality and performance measurement.  She spent many years with McKesson Provider Technologies (now Change Health). Aller holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Isenberg School of Management. 

Jordan Anderson MD, MBA, SVP, Clinical Programs

Belong Health

Jordan Anderson, MD, is responsible for design and implementation of Belong Health’s clinical programming, including care management and care delivery solutions. Dr. Anderson is a Harvard-trained physician in internal medicine, he completed his residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Prior to joining Belong Health, Dr. Anderson served as a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School and performed health services research focused on care delivery transformation, payment reform, and improving health outcomes for underserved patient populations. Dr. Anderson also has experience working in population health for Mass General Brigham and Ascension Health.

Dr. Anderson’s research in health policy, clinical medicine, and value-based care is published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Health Affairs Blog. Dr. Anderson is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Vanderbilt University where he practices clinically.

Dr. Anderson earned his undergraduate degree from Auburn University, his master’s degree from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, his MD from Harvard Medical School and his MBA at Harvard Business School.

Matthew Baird Consumer Experience Partner

Intermountain Healthcare

Matthew Baird has served as the Consumer Experience Partner for Intermountain Healthcare since 2021, specializing in human-centered design and innovation in healthcare experience. Prior to joining Intermountain Healthcare, Matthew was the Vice President of Service and Experience Designs for Worrell, which partners with organizations from all corners of the healthcare ecosystem to imagine and build a better future for patients in need. Matthew received his Doctor of Law from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and his master of business administration from Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Jennifer Barnhart Public Health Consultant

National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD)

Jennifer Newman Barnhart brings over twenty years of senior leadership to diverse public health challenges; spanning government, health system, payer, research and academic institutions, and non-profit.  Jen is the President of LUMA Health Consulting, a Baltimore-area based public health management and consulting firm, and also serves as a public health consultant with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD), leading public payer coverage efforts, inclusive of Medicaid and Medicare, for the National Diabetes Prevention Program, through support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Prior to launching her firm, Jen directed a Community Health Worker-centric model that enabled the provision of clinical, social, and behavioral health services to high need Medicare beneficiaries in Baltimore City. Prior to her community-based work, Jen was the Maryland Department of Health’s Population Health Director, Public Health Services Chief of Staff, and Maryland Public Health Laboratory Deputy Director.  Prior to her tenure at State service, Jen managed academic, clinical, and research program portfolios in cognitive sciences and Alzheimer’s Disease at Johns Hopkins University. Jen has worked in scientific industry and non-profit research grant administration. She has a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a certificate in Public Mental Health Research, and undergraduate degrees in Biology and Biochemistry.

Derek Beenfeldt Chief Medical Officer

Hometown Health

Dr. Derek Beenfeldt, MD is board-certified in Family Medicine and currently serves a dual role at Renown Health as Chief Medical Officer for Hometown Health, as well as the clinical lead for the System Population Health Services Organization. Prior to his role as CMO of Hometown Health, he has served as Chair of Primary and Urgent Care, where he led the clinical and operational aspects of 20 locations and 140 providers across the Renown Medical Group. As the chief clinical lead for the health plan, Dr. Beenfeldt oversees the risk adjustment, quality, pharmacy, utilization management and credentialing departments. Dr. Derek Beenfeldt also holds a law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno, where he was also the student body president. In his free time, Dr. Beenfeldt is an avid ultra-runner, having completed the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, and enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, and playing golf with friends. 

Jeff Bennett Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer

Matrix Medical Network

Jeff Bennett is a subject matter expert and former CEO of Higi. With a strong passion and a personal connection to the power of preventative healthcare and smart management of chronic diseases, Jeff Bennett leads a team committed to providing members with a seamless and integrated experience of supportive care. Previously, as former CEO of Higi, Jeff led the company through its 2023 acquisition by Modivcare (Nasdaq: MODV). Bennett has been involved with the Higi business from the beginning, serving on the Board of Managers from inception.  In 2013, Jeff Bennett joined as CEO to scale Higi’s pharmacy retail and community network, making it easier for all people to understand their health risks and receive the care and support needed to address them.

His focus as a subject matter expert is to drive health equity and scale access to care where members are, leveraging unique service lines to engage members in their care. From essential data capture to inform supportive care needs to non-emergency medical rides provided to millions of members across the US, to virtual and remote care management to support those living with chronic disease, to in-home and personal care to assist with activities of daily living. As the healthcare system continues to move toward a consumer-centric model that demands that care organizations meet members where they already are, collect actionable and relevant health data and make it easier for members to address their health needs, ultimately driving positive health outcomes.

Prior to Higi, Bennett served as the Managing Director of Merrick Ventures, where he led and managed the day-to-day operations of the firm and played a strategic advisor role for portfolio companies, including the turnaround of Merge Healthcare prior to the $1 billion acquisition by IBM.  He also served as strategic advisor and then CFO to Wrapports – a hybrid consumer and print media holding company.  Prior to Merrick, he served as Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Investments at Ygomi, a technology-focused holding company led by founder of Navteq.  Prior to Ygomi, Mr. Bennett held executive positions at BridgePort Networks and PrairieComm, both venture-backed organizations in the mobile/telecommunications industry which were sold to public companies.  

Bennett received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and has a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg Business School at Northwestern. He resides in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and three sons who are all die-hard Green Bay Packer fans. When he’s not chasing around his kids, Bennett loves to run and has completed 42 marathons, including 5 Boston marathons.

Vandna Bhrany Vice President, HEDIS Strategy & Analytics

AmeriHealth Caritas

Vandna Bhrany, MPH is the Vice President of HEDIS® Strategy and Analytics for the AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies [ACFC].  In her role, Vandna is leverages her experience in quality and risk adjustment operations to support members and providers as it relates to performance reporting and the member and provider experience.  Her area of influence spans analytics, plan operations and digital integration of data and processes in the transition to interoperability. 

Prior to AmeriHealth, Vandna has worked for several national health plans, including Aetna, several Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Centene.  She has successfully led several health plans through NCQA Accreditation, managed HEDIS® reporting, improvement and outreach, and helped develop and implement a successful provider profiling and performance measurement program.  In addition to her health plan experience, Vandna managed Risk Adjustment Client Operations for Evolent Health, is a former certified HEDIS® Compliance Auditor and led project management and client solutions for a retrieval, abstraction/coding and analytics vendor supporting health plans and provider groups in their efforts to optimize revenue and improve quality within their populations.

Vandna attended the University of California at Berkeley as an undergraduate and received her Master’s in Public Health from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Vandna has moved from coast to coast, spending the better part of the last 25 years working on her southern drawl in Atlanta, Georgia.  These days you can find her running the streets of Atlanta, cooking for friends or working on her newest hobby, making wobbly pottery. 

Jodi Biller DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, Director of Clinical Improvement for MHC ACO

Marshall Health Network

Jodi Biller, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, is a Marshall University alumna and has a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from West Virginia University. She has been a nurse practitioner since 2013 in the field of pulmonary medicine and has clinical experience in pulmonary/critical care and long-term acute care.

In addition to her clinical practice, she is the director of clinical improvement for MHC ACO at Marshall Health Network in Huntington, WV. She works closely with healthcare leaders and clinical providers to analyze, develop, and implement programs that promote population health and leverage value-based care agreements.

Dr. Biller has a passion for population health and healthcare policy. In West Virginia, she has had three bills sponsored that have become state law. These include no managed care organization can deny payment to APRNs based on having a collaborative agreement, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners are now able to provide counseling to patients with substance use disorder, and APRNs and Physician Assistants can prescribe all medications except Schedule I and three days of narcotics while following the Opioid Reduction Act. Through team building and continued relationships, she works closely with legislative leaders in West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Dr. Biller finds gaps in care and creates workable solutions that improve patient outcomes and access to care.  

Currently, she is the West Virginia State Liaison for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and chair of the Health Policy and Legislation Committee for the West Virginia Nurses Association.

Alex Blackstock VP, Product Management

Signify Health

Alex Blackstock (VP Product Technology and Design @Signfy Health) has been building technology solutions to delight customers and frontline operators for nearly 20 years. A practitioner of human centered design, Alex is passionate about leveraging the latest advancements in technology to deliver memorable experiences for customers, by enabling the frontline operators/providers for success. At Signify his team is responsible for building the systems and applications that empowers Signify's network of Providers to operate efficiently while delivering a best in class member experience (with an NPS score of +75!). Prior to Signify, Alex founded and advised start-ups, and led product and technology teams at Amazon, Taco Bell, and McKinsey. Prior to his life in technology Alex was a high school teacher for almost 10 years! He has an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business. 

Cara Broich VP of Quality

Longevity Health Plan

Cara Broich is the Vice President of Clinical Quality at Longevity Health Plan.  She has been with the company since January 2024.  Prior to joining Longevity, she worked in various roles in Quality at Medica Health Plans for over 30 years.  She is an empathetic and strategic healthcare leader with expertise in quality.  Cara started her career at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis as a Cardiovascular ICU nurse. 

Cale Browning Director - CDE Performance Management

Ochsner Health Network

Cale Browning, MBA, CPC, CRC is the Director of CDE Performance Management for Ochsner Health Network, the Value-Based Care division of Ochsner. Cale has nearly 10 years of experience in Risk Adjustment in various roles such as Risk Adjustment Coder, MRA Frontline Lead, Manager of Risk Adjustment Education, and Director of Revenue Cycle on both the payer and provider side of healthcare. Cale started at Ochsner in October of 2020 as a Risk Adjustment Performance Improvement Manager tasked with building out the necessary Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), dashboards, and educational material for Executive Leadership then absorbed the Clinical Documentation Excellence Team in February of 2022. Since that time, Cale and the CDE Leadership Team have designed and implemented a state-of-the-art Ambulatory / Outpatient CDI Program that supports Primary Care and Specialty service lines with proven success within the first year, subsequently presenting their vision at several conferences and work groups since.

Stephanie Burdick Community Leader & Patient Advocate

Camden Coalition

Stephanie Burdick is a vocal advocate and survivor of traumatic brain injury in Salt Lake City, Utah. With a public health degree from Brigham Young University, Stephanie uses both her education and lived experience to add capacity to the movement for health equity. Through collaboration with community health workers and other advocates in Utah, she has been able to see the impact of community-centered decision making. Other areas of advocacy include: improving the value of Medicaid and making social service programs widely accessible; reframing the narrative about social service beneficiaries; and most recently identifying and addressing causes of mistrust. Stephanie finds purpose through channeling her pain into systems change; she finds solace in her faith, and she finds joy in hiking Utah’s beautiful mountains with family and friends.

Steve Buslovich VP, Senior Care VBC

PointClickCare

Jennifer Callahan Chief Operating Officer

ATRIO Health Plans

Jen Callahan is the Chief Operating Officer of ATRIO Health Plans.  For the past 19 years, Jen has established herself as a trusted thought leader and helped shape the managed care industry with her innovative ideas and expertise.  Jen has dedicated her career almost exclusively to managed care and is an industry leading expert in all areas of Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement programs.

Prior to joining ATRIO, she co-founded a field management organization, Keen Insurance Services, Inc. to create a provider-centric Medicare focused sales and distribution organization from the ground up.  Prior to that, she held the position of Vice President, Medicare Product at Aetna, a CVS Health company where she oversaw the product development and implementation Aetna’s entire Medicare portfolio, contributing over $24 billion to Aetna’s revenue.  Throughout her career, Jen has also held various leadership positions at Healthfirst, Inc. and Anthem, Inc. focused exclusively on Government sponsored business.

Jen holds her MBA from North Carolina State University and earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University. Jen currently resides in Waxhaw, a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, their three kids.

Mike Cantor CMO

Matrix Medical Network

Dr. Mike Cantor is a geriatrician and attorney with extensive experience making house calls and designing and implementing value-based care, quality improvement, home care, post-acute, and care management programs for healthcare providers and health plans. As Chief Medical Officer (CMO) he plays a pivotal role in advancing Matrix Health Network’s strategic initiatives, and previously was CMO for Bright Health Plan, CareCentrix, and for the physician network affiliated with Tufts Medical Center.  He has degrees in law and medicine from the University of Illinois and completed a residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and a geriatrics fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Anna Carley Senior Director, Client Relations

GeBBS Healthcare Solutions

With nearly a decade of dedicated experience in risk adjustment and quality improvement, Anna Carley, RHIT, stands as a seasoned professional in the healthcare industry. Currently serving as the Senior Director of Client Relations at GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, a leading risk adjustment service and technology partner, Anna plays a pivotal role as the primary liaison between clients and GeBBS.

Anna's expertise extends across various facets of risk adjustment, showcasing her comprehensive understanding of both payer and provider perspectives. During her tenure at UnitedHealthcare, she contributed significantly to the development of risk adjustment strategies. On the provider side, Anna made impactful contributions at Stanford Health Care, where she played a key role in establishing robust risk adjustment, quality, and pharmacy programs.

Residing in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three daughters—Penelope, Valerie, and Felicity—Anna Carley, RHIT, is not only a dedicated professional but also a loving family person. Beyond her commitments at GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, she values quality time with her family and two dogs, Sampson and Dodger.

Kate Casaday Head of Product

On Belay Health ACO Reach

Kate Casaday joins us from On Belay where she works as SVP, Head of Product. Kate brings unique operational experience spanning market operations, value-based care, and population health at industry giants such as Optum, CareMount Medical - now part of Optum Health - and EmblemHealth. Her diverse background spans healthcare delivery; public health at New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and completing her Masters of Public Health at Columbia; and business, holding an MBA from The Wharton School.

Gerri Cash VP, Medicare Quality & Stars

Molina

Gerri Cash is the Vice President Medicare Quality and Stars at Molina Healthcare, bringing 25 years of healthcare experience to her role.  With a focused expertise on Stars/Quality and Member Experience, Gerri is getting members the care they need and making it easy.  Whether member or provider facing activities, the member is always the center of the decision-making process. 

Prior to her role at Molina, she held several roles supporting Medicare Stars turnaround plans and supporting Quality Program development across multiple states and lines of business. 

Born and raised in MI, Gerri relocated to Arizona a few years ago and is enjoying the change in weather allowing outdoor time year-round.  When not working, she enjoys exploring Arizona’s many hiking trails & traveling with her husband and keeps busy with 3 high energy dogs at home. 

Brant Castellow Senior Vice President, Head of Sales and Marketing

Reveleer

Brant has 20+ years of sales leadership experience from various healthcare technology companies including Cerner Corporation, MedeAnalytics, PatientSafe and most recently TractManager.

Previously serving as the Senior Vice President of Sales for TractManager, he helped create an unified enterprise sales organization from a conglomeration of five different smaller companies that came together under one company.

Brant earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at The University of West Florida.

Richard Charles Chief Medical Officer

General Physician PC

Richard Charles, MD is a distinguished physician and healthcare leader with a relentless commitment to elevating patient care and optimizing healthcare systems. As the chief medical officer/chief medical informatics officer at General Physician, PC and chairman of the Physician Leadership Board for Great Lakes Integrated Network (GLIN), his impact resonates through decades of service and expertise.
Dr. Charles is an American Board of Internal Medicine-certified practitioner with over 20 years of experience. His journey began at the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy where he graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Pharmacy in 1992. He went on to graduate summa cum laude with a medical degree from the University at Buffalo in 1996.
Dr. Charles began his medical career at Buffalo Medical Group where he spent 16 years as an attending physician in Internal Medicine and Pharmacy. In 2015 he joined General Physician, PC, one of the largest and most respected multi-specialty medical groups serving Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania, as an Internal Medicine physician and chief medical officer/chief medical informatics officer.
Throughout his career, Dr. Charles has been a pioneer in preventive medicine and chronic care management, tirelessly seeking out innovative practices. His approach involves collaborative engagement with specialty providers, nutrition experts, and pharmacy services, culminating in comprehensive patient care. Within General Physician, PC, he has spearheaded numerous organizational growth initiatives and quality improvement endeavors, emphasizing the enhancement of care delivery efficiency for the betterment of his patients and the broader healthcare ecosystem.
Dr. Charles’ contributions have been recognized through various accolades, including being named to Who’s Who in Healthcare and the Power 250 most influential people in Western New York by Buffalo Business First, Buffalo Spree Top Doctors, Castle Connolly Top Doctors and securing.

Jason Christ, JD Attorney

Epstein Becker Green

Health care regulatory attorney Jason Christ extends his successful defense strategies in False Claims Act (FCA) actions by the government to safeguard clients’ Medicare Part C plan risk adjustment payment programs.

As one of the first and few attorneys focused on risk adjustment in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, Jason has transformed how clients organize, monitor, and ultimately defend their programs. He creates new business opportunities and best practices for risk-bearing provider groups, plans, and vendors.
As enforcement and regulation of risk adjustment and the FCA escalates, Jason anticipates threats. He devises balanced and compliant approaches that address his clients’ greatest exposures: coding fidelity, clinical effectiveness, oversight, and consistency in best industry practices. From program assessment to testing and corrective actions, Jason shows clients how to close the compliance gap.

Should government investigations, audits, or litigation arise, Jason reduces the damage clients face. He has negotiated scores of settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) involving anti-kickback, false billing, civil monetary penalties, and other fraud and abuse laws. Jason’s all-in commitment has helped clients avoid program exclusions, corporate integrity agreements, penalties, and disclosures.

Jason’s range of health care clients spans from new entrants to MA and established regional and Fortune 500 payors to multi-specialty physician groups, private equity, lenders, hospitals, vendors, and providers of vision care, dermatology, and other medical specialties. Committed to keeping clients ahead of health care regulations, Jason speaks about fraud and abuse issues to law students and industry groups.

Jessica Collins Hill Director of Medicare Market Segment

BlueCross NC

10+ years of diverse private payer Medicare experience. Responsible for developing and leading key components of the Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and PDP product, benefit, and pricing strategy. Providing support and leadership to teams charged with implementing strategic priorities related to STARs, Drivers of Health, and the impact of regulatory, policy, and legislative changes related to the current and future state of the Medicare program.

Laura Cooley Editor-in-Chief

Journal of Patient Experience

As a mission-driven professional, Laura aims to drive value by improving communication and patient experience across healthcare contexts. She accomplishes this through thought-leadership, business and program development, and academic scholarship.

In her role as Editor-in-Chief at The Journal of Patient Experience, an open-access peer-reviewed academic publication, she leads a team dedicated to creating influential content focused on patient experience research and education. During her tenure, she led a significant increase in article submissions and readership, a testament to her growing influence in the field.

During her 12-year service to The Academy of Communication in Healthcare, she consistently formed strategic alliances, generated new business opportunities, and managed a robust portfolio of enterprise affiliates. Her program leadership empowered healthcare leaders across many health systems to implement evidence-based communication skills training programs, designed to improve outcomes and experiences for patients.

Additionally, she is Co-Editor for “Communication Rx: Transforming Healthcare through Communication and Relationships”, a popular book in the McGraw-Hill Professional Series.

In addition to these roles, she’s had the privilege to speak at high-profile conferences and be recognized as a subject matter expert in media outlets. This has allowed her to build credibility in the field, network and sustain executive-level relationships, manage external collaborations, and convene industry events.

Stacy Cooper Manager of Quality Improvement- Experience

BAYLOR Scott and White Health

Stacy D. Cooper has been a Registered Nurse for 26 years in various areas of healthcare. In addition, I have been with Baylor Scott and White for 9 years in various leadership positions in Central Texas. Most recent in the Patient Experience under the Quality Department for the system. She has a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in Leadership for "Utilizing virtual huddle boards to improve team communications and improve patient satisfaction" from Grand Canyon University; Master’s Degree is in Nursing Education; Nurse Executive Advanced Certification in 2021. Stacy is a member of the 2022/2023 Baylor Scott and White Nursing Institute Nurse Scholars Program and just completed a Research Project on the Perceived Organizational Support: Identifying the Gaps between Staff and Leadership. Stacy has presented at American Academy of Nursing Colleges (AACN), International Medical Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH), Simulation Users Network (SUN- Conference) and Sigma Nursing Research Conference in Scotland. Serves on the American College of Surgeons Curriculum Committee; Baylor Scott and White Health Women’s Health Council and Peer Reviewer for various journals and conference abstracts. Stacy is passionate about the importance of communication and education.  There is always room for growth and change, and a positive attitude goes a long way. 

John Criswell Founder, CEO, Chairman

Porter

John has over 25 years of entrepreneurial and executive experience in the healthcare space, building relationships across major, national health plans and large regional healthcare systems. John’s newest venture, Porter, designed to reach beyond standard home interventions, is the only quality stars and risk adjustment-focused care coordination program. John previously founded Pulse8, a healthcare analytics and technology company delivering complete visibility into the efficacy of risk adjustment and quality management programs, and led them to a successful acquisition by a publicly traded health IT company. John was recently granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a method and apparatus for risk adjustment.

Mac Davis Partner

Centerboard Health

Mr. Davis has over 12-years of experience in provider and managed care analytics for risk-bearing organizations. He served as Belong Health’s VP of Digital Product and Data, supporting the organization in building tools to support member and provider engagement. He served as a Director at Rowdmap (acquired by Cotiviti), where he was responsible for client success and adoption of the design of value-based, network, population health, and actuarial solutions.  He worked closely with operations and provider leadership to create and optimize strategies to increase the delivery of high-value care and optimize care delivery networks for high-risk and underserved populations.  

He also served as a client success leader at Epic Systems, where he was responsible for the success of Epic’s implementations in the Middle East, for large US health systems, and for the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration, and other Federal Health entities.  

He earned a B.A. from Washington & Lee University. Mac resides in the Louisville, KY area. 

Dr. Shannon Decker Principal

VBC One

Dr. Shannon Decker is principal at VBC One, a consulting firm assisting physician groups, health plans and vendors maximize the performance of their value based contracts and offerings.  Dr. Decker has more than 20 years experience in health care and most recently led teams in risk, quality, data and analytics, telehealth, COVID response and delegation compliance.  Of her more than 20 years of experience in healthcare--15 include working with risk adjustment, quality and Medicare. Dr. Decker has a PhD. in Interdisciplinary Studies, dual MBA degrees--in Finance and in Marketing, as well as an M.Ed. in Secondary Education and a M.Ed. in Administration and Leadership. Dr. Decker is on the faculty at Arizona State University and is also an associate professor of Higher Education & Adult Learning (HEAL) and chief methodologist for Walden and Capella Universities where she chairs and oversees the dissertations of doctoral students. An author of two books and several peer-reviewed articles, and a prolific national public speaker, her interests include the study of human behavior and how theories on motivation and learning may be brought to bear on population health management. 

Dave DeHommel Director, Risk Adjustment Accuracy & Risk Mitigation

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

David DeHommel, Managing Director of Risk Adjustment for Senior Health Services, division of Emergent Holdings for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.    

I have a passion for serving our seniors and vulnerable populations supported by my 19 years in healthcare on the health plan side where I focused on risk adjustment, government programs revenue cycles, operations, stars, quality, analytics, and finance.  14 of my 19 years, I had direct accountability for Risk Adjustment performance for Medicare Advantage, Affordable Care Act and Medicaid Populations.  Although my emphasis has been Medicare Advantage, I’ve carried my learnings over to the ACA and Medicaid populations, with a goal to develop programs and tools to support our clinicians for all patient populations.  My focus is working with all partners that are willing to own the cost of healthcare and be the best steward of healthcare dollars to ensure members and patients receive the benefits and the care they need and deserve.  

Dr. Kumar Dharmarajan Associate Chief Medical Officer

Clover Health

Dr. Kumar Dharmarajan is a practicing physician and experienced healthcare executive and leader of value-based clinical programs, including home-based strategies to improve outcomes and lower costs for the sickest patients, as well as Medicare Advantage and ACO organizations. He currently serves as Associate Chief Medical Officer of Clover Health, Chief Clinician of the Clover Health Partners ACO REACH entity, and Chief Medical Officer of Clover Assistant, Clover Health’s proprietary technology platform. 

Prior to these roles, Dr. Dharmarajan was an accomplished health services researcher with publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Health Affairs, and other journals. He is an expert in health care quality, with experiences building quality measures in use by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for quality reporting and payment, and has served on the National Quality Forum Standing Cardiovascular Committee and the Payor Communications Task Force of the FDA Center for Devices & Radiological Health.  

AJ Diamontopoulos Integrated Heath Manager

Denver Regional Council of Governments

AJ Diamantopoulos is the Integrated Health Manager at the Denver Regional Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging (AAA). In this role AJ is implementing a Community Care Hub based on the network of 33 community-based organizations currently contracted with the AAA to provide services to people with identified health-related social needs. Prior to his work on integrated health, AJ was the project Director for the CMMI Accountable Health Communities model in Denver. In that role he led the team that worked with multiple clinical and community providers to demonstrate the value of the link between better health outcomes and increased access to community-based services. Before joining DRCOG in 2013, AJ worked as a small business owner and then as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, followed by a role as a Service Coordinator with older adults in subsidized housing. AJ holds a bachelor’s degree in humanities and a master’s degree in healthcare policy.

Joanna DiBenedetto Public Health Consultant

National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD)

Joanna DiBenedetto has been a subject matter expert in diabetes prevention for over 14 years and has been working as a public health consultant at the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD).  In her role with NACDD, Joanna provides technical assistance on scaling the CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) and more specifically, the CMS covered benefit, the Medicare Diabetes Prevention program (MDPP).

Joanna provides guidance directly to states health departments, health systems and community-based organizations on best practices for program implementation, billing and reimbursement. In her work, Joanna collaborates and consults with CDC, CMS, State Health Department and other stakeholders to focus on gleaning and dissemination of best practices and hunting for elements that can be synthesized for efficiencies. Joanna has worked closely with all payers, both public payers (Medicare and Medicaid) and private payers (employers and commercial insurers) as they work toward coverage of the MDPP and the National DPP lifestyle change program.

Laurin Dixon Lead Executive of Medicare Product

Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield

Laurin Dixon is the Lead Executive, Medicare Products at Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In this role, she has day-to-day responsibility for all aspects of the Medicare lines, including Medicare Advantage, Medicare Prescription Drug and Medicare Supplement. This includes accountability for strategic direction in product administration/operations, network development, revenue optimization, value-based contracting, risk adjustment, vendor management, pharmacy and medical trend results, and clinical quality/Stars. In addition to leading the Medicare Product, Laurin also has responsibility for leading the strategy and implementation of quality programs within the Arkansas Medicaid (ARHOME) program.

She previously held healthcare and pharmacy quality roles at Arkansas Blue Cross, Humana, and the Pharmacy Quality Alliance. Laurin completed an Executive Fellowship at the Pharmacy Quality Alliance. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Mississippi: School of Pharmacy.

Hemanth Doma AVP, Product

Inovalon

Hemanth Doma is a healthcare technology professional with a strong commitment to improving patient outcomes. Currently serving as AVP of Product for Converged Outreach and Converged Vaccine Adherence, he oversees all product management aspects. He led the successful launch of Inovalon's value-based care reporting platform, now known as Converged Provider Enablement, and developed key components for Converged Data Insights and Healthcare Data Lake. Hemanth began his journey at Inovalon in 2010, specializing in healthcare data analytics for Quality Improvement. Prior to Inovalon, he gained experience at tech giants like IBM and RedHat. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina and a bachelor's in Computer Science from Bangalore University. With a passion for healthcare technology innovation, Hemanth is dedicated to enhancing healthcare delivery through data-driven solutions.

Dona Doran Assistant Director Risk Adjustment

Cambia Health Solutions

Michael Dulin Chief Medical Officer

Gray Matter Analytics

Dr. Michael Dulin is a nationally recognized leader in the field of health information technology and application of analytics and outcomes research to improve care delivery and advance population health.

As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Dulin directs Gray Matter Analytics’ growth and success by leading the clinical activities throughout the organization. He drives overall clinical strategy and design for Gray Matters’ CoreTechs® analytics platform and Dynamic VBC Analytics Solutions. He also educates the customer base on how to leverage healthcare data analytics to advance their clinical, operational and financial outcomes.

Prior to joining Gray Matter, Dr. Dulin led the development and implementation of an analytics center of excellence for one of the largest non-profit health systems in the Southeast. He is currently a professor at UNC Charlotte in the Department of Public Health Sciences where he directs the Academy for Population Health Innovation.

Dr. Dulin has led population health initiatives and related research projects funded by AHRQ, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Duke Endowment and NIH. He started his career as an electrical and biomedical engineer and received his PhD in Neurophysiology prior to becoming a primary care physician.

Rebecca Elhassid Senior Vice President, Enterprise Solutions

Centauri Health Solutions

Rebecca leads Centauri’s Secure Exchange Solutions strategic enterprise partnerships team. Under her leadership, the enterprise team drives collaboration with health plans, providers, and health information technology leaders striving to improve meaningful health information exchange. Rebecca is an experienced, mission-driven healthcare executive committed to helping health plans unlock the value of holistic patient data while maximizing providers’ health IT investments so that they can focus on what they do best – caring for patients.

Randy Englert Section Head – Consultative Cardiology / CDE Cardiology MD Lead

Ochsner Health Network

Randy Englert, MD, FACC is a non-invasive cardiologist and section head for the Consultative Cardiology Department at Ochsner Health. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2015 and fellowship training in cardiovascular disease at Ochsner Health in 2018. Dr Englert is an Associate Program Director for the cardiovascular disease fellowship and is the cardiology lead for population health. Since 2020, Dr Englert has served as the clinical lead for cardiology and the medical sub-specialties in Clinical Documentation Excellence & Risk Adjustment for the Ochsner Health Network.

Dr. Eirinn Erny VP / Medical Director – Clinical Documentation Excellence

Ochsner Health Network

Dr. Eirinn Erny, M.D. joined Ochsner Health in August 2019 with the Medvantage Clinic in Primary Care and Wellness at Ochsner Jefferson Hwy.  In January 2022, she transitioned to the Ochsner 65+ Clinic while working as a Physician Lead in Population Health. Prior to joining Ochsner Health, she was a Medical Director at a risk-based clinic. As of August 2022, Dr. Erny joined the OHN Clinical Documentation Excellence team as Medical Director while continuing to see patients at the Ochsner 65+ Clinic. She has worked with the CDE team to expand suspecting of HCCs, education of clinicians, and understanding of the BPA and metrics in practice.

Kate Eshelman, M.D., M.P.H Vice President, Medical Informatics

Inovalon

Dr. Eshelman serves as Vice President of Medical Informatics at Inovalon. In this role, Dr. Eshelman oversees the development of Inovalon’s clinical toolsets, delivering provider-decision solutions that are patient specific at the point of care. Dr. Eshelman is board-certified in Internal Medicine and in Clinical Informatics.

Mary Feliz Manager, Risk Adjustment Consulting

Pareto Intelligence

Mary brings over 14 years of healthcare experience and over 9 years of experience focusing on the risk adjustment space. She is an MD by training with a broad medical background as well as a certified risk adjustment coder.

Mary worked closely with Clinical Documentation Improvement programs focusing on the implementation, provider education, chart reviews ensuring the overall success of these programs across hundreds of independent practices and hospitals in NYC. In addition, Mary has developed materials and implemented training programs for providers focusing on the importance of proper documentation for prospective capture of chronic conditions in the Medicare Advantage population.

In her current role, Mary is an integral member of the Risk Adjustment Consulting team at Pareto Intelligence. She focuses on providing guidance on prospective programs, coding guidelines, HCC compliance, and developing provider training materials.

Chris Gage Director, Experience Strategy

Healthmine

Experienced Senior Marketer with a demonstrated history of developing and managing Health Care programs/solutions that drive consumer engagement, improve quality, decrease costs and improve retention. Deep understanding of the Health Care ecosystem including consumer, payer, and provider. Acutely aware of the nuances and dynamics that make Health Care exciting, challenging, and dynamic. Practical experience across strategy, consumer engagement, multi-channel and integrated marketing, customer acquisition, loyalty and market planning.

Jerry Gauchat Executive Vice President

Cognisight

Jerry is a client-focused executive with 25+ years of experience in the Technology and Health Care sectors previously employed by several Fortune 500 companies including UnitedHealth Group (Optum), McKesson, and Compuware.

Prior to assuming the EVP role at Cognisight, Jerry’s enjoyed over 15 years in leveraging his leadership skills, project management, product management, consulting, and data analysis background in progressively responsible risk adjustment positions leading Capstone's PACE risk adjustment operations teams and supporting Optum’s payer client’s enablement of various prospective and retrospective products/services for their Medicare, ACA, or Medicaid membership.

As a pragmatic and engaged leader, Jerry is known for understanding the “big picture” while ensuring my tactical, detail-oriented mindset provides laser-focused execution of scope of services while achieving exemplary client satisfaction leading to improved retention and organic growth opportunities.

Jerry believes hard work and adversity provides opportunities for resolve and self-improvement.  Jerry is a humble servant leader who entrusts others to do the right thing on behalf of our customers.  Jerry believes diversity and inclusion allows for a 360-degree approach to process improvement, cross-functional collaboration, and problem resolution.

Jerry enjoys spending quality time with his wife of 26 years, Rachel, and their two daughters, Brenna (21), a senior Journalism major at Arizona State University, and Milena (18), a freshman Film & TV Production major at the University of Arizona and their 3 year-old Golden Retriever/Beagle dog, Cody.

Colleen Gianatasio Clinical Documentation Integrity and Coding Compliance

Capital District Physician’s Health Plan (CDPHP)

Colleen Gianatasio CPC, CPCO, CRC, CDEO, CPC-P, CPMA, CPPM, CCS, CCDS-O, and AAPC Approved Instructor has over 20 years of experience in the health insurance field. She has experience in customer service, claims, quality, and coding. As Director, Clinical Documentation Integrity and Coding Compliance, Colleen’s primary responsibilities are provider engagement and clinical documentation improvement for accurate coding and reimbursement. Colleen specializes in developing innovative coding curriculum and instruction to support compliance with federal guidelines and appropriate reimbursement processes. She is a certified AAPC instructor and enjoys teaching a variety of coding, documentation, and auditing classes. Colleen serves as President of the AAPC National Advisory Board.

Eric Glazer Executive Producer & Host

Bright Spots in Healthcare Podcast

Eric Glazer is the founder and CEO of Shared Purpose Connect, the company that hosts and produces the Bright Spots in Healthcare podcast and live events, as well as the Innovation Showcase. Eric has over two decades of experience producing leading healthcare events and collaborative projects, launching new telehealth services, and running executive councils for the industry. Eric also leads product solutions for primary care, mental health and expert medical consultants for Teladoc Health. He holds a masters of business administration in health care from Union College in Schenectady, New York.

Amy Gleason Chief of Product

Main Street Health

Amy Gleason is the Chief Product Officer at Main Street Health where she is responsible for the team building internal technology and data products. Previously, she served as part of the United States Digital Service (USDS), a start-up within the White House dedicated to bringing technical talent into government to improve the delivery of government services, where she led the creation of the national COVID database and products that used that data to drive the federal COVID response. She also led the Data at the Point of Care Project at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Amy began her career in nursing and has spent her career advancing healthcare through technology, including building and implementing EMR, Practice Management, and supply chain products for provider practices, health systems and inpatient facilities, and laboratories and cofounded CareSync that focused on care coordination for patients with chronic conditions. She is also a fierce patient advocate based on her firsthand caregiver experiences after her then 11 year old daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease in 2010.

Jeffrey Gleason MD, MBA, Physician Executive

Independent Consultant on Value-based Care

Dr. Jeff Gleason is a senior physician executive with 30 years of healthcare leadership experience at the board, clinically integrated network, health system, and multi-specialty medical group level. He spent 20 years as a private practice OB/GYN, served on the hospital board, and became hospital system CMO. He was a founding board member of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network and subsequently was CMO for both a CIN and an ACO. Dr. Gleason held the position of National CMO for PHSO Operations at Lumeris where he worked to implement and deliver value-based care solutions. Most recently, he has provided consulting services at Guidehouse and H2V Advisors delivering projects including CIN design and implementation, ACO performance and optimization, population health solutions, medical practice optimization; MA plan JV; and hospital throughput.

Savannah Gonsalves Director of Quality

Hometown Health

Savannah Gonsalves, RN, BSN, MHA is the Director of Quality for Hometown Health. Savannah specializes is regulatory quality programs, including MIPS, ACO, and HEDIS and has a passion for population health.  She has an extensive background in clinical informatics as well and uses this to integrate quality into clinician workflows effectively and efficiently. In her role at Hometown Health, she oversees the Stars and Accreditation Programs. She enjoys hiking and camping with her family in the paradise that is Lake Tahoe.  

“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it” George Bernard Shaw.

Casey Granack Innovations

WakeMed Health and Hospitals

Casey Granack is the manager of Innovations at WakeMed Health & Hospitals, focusing on the development and implementation of new approaches to address unmet needs within the healthcare industry. Casey has a diverse healthcare background with experience as a strategic advisor and consultant in health insurance, hospital system consulting and national accreditation. She holds a bachelor's degree in Health Care Management; Accounting minor from Appalachian State University and a master's in Healthcare Administration from UNC – Chapel Hill.   

Christi A. Grimm Inspector General

Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services

The Honorable Christi A. Grimm was sworn in as the sixth Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on February 22, 2022, following her nomination by the President and confirmation by the U.S. Senate. As the head of the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), she leads an independent and objective organization of more than 1,600 auditors, evaluators, investigators, data analysts, attorneys, and management professionals who carry out OIG’s mission to protect the integrity of HHS programs as well as the health and welfare of the people they serve. Ms. Grimm is responsible for the oversight of more than 100 programs administered by HHS agencies such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and National Institutes of Health. Collectively, taxpayers usually devote approximately $1.5 trillion a year to these programs. In 2021, including COVID-19 relief funding, HHS was responsible for a total of $2.4 trillion in spending. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, HHS-OIG is responsible for oversight of the HHS-COVID-19 response and relief efforts. Ms. Grimm represents HHS-OIG on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) and leads PRAC’s Health Care Subgroup.

Beginning in January 2020 until her appointment as Inspector General, Ms. Grimm served as Principal Deputy Inspector General Performing Duties of the Inspector General.

Ms. Grimm brings two decades of leadership and expertise in providing oversight of health and human services programs. She is a leading expert in program integrity issues related to HHS programs, with particular emphasis on health and safety in care provided in home and community-based settings, in hospitals and nursing homes, and in facilities serving unaccompanied children under HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. Ms. Grimm regularly engages with Government partners, national professional associations, and the private sector. She elevates accessibility and understanding of OIG work through articles on a range of topics, including medical identity theft, deleterious effects of elevated risk scores in Medicare managed care, and commercial influences on electronic health records. Ms. Grimm is a frequent speaker at educational programs and before Congress and the media.

Ms. Grimm began her career with OIG in 1999 as an evaluator in OIG’s Office of Evaluation and Inspections and later served in a variety of management roles, including Chief of Staff and Deputy Inspector General for the Immediate Office. As an evaluator, she designed and conducted groundbreaking work to improve quality and safety in hospitals, stop unqualified providers from enrolling in Medicare and Medicaid, and improve the process for appealing Medicare payment decisions.

Ms. Grimm holds a Master of Public Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado, Denver. She is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Senior Managers in Government. Ms. Grimm has received the Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Management and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency Award for Excellence in Management
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Jon Hamdorf Market President, Former Kansas Medicaid Director

UCare

Jon Hamdorf is currently serving as Market President at UCare, a regional non-profit health plan based in Minnesota. He leads business development efforts in states where UCare is looking to serve Medicaid, Medicare and/or the individual health insurance market.

Jon holds bachelor’s degrees in sociology and management information systems from the University of Iowa, has an M.B.A from Baker University, and did his doctoral (PhD) work at the University of Kansas Medical School in the department of Health Policy and Management.

Jon recently served as the Director of the Division of Health Care Finance and State Medicaid Director for the state of Kansas where Jon managed a team administering the state Medicaid program and state employee health plan. In that position, he successfully completed the procurement of managed care contracts for the next 5 years of the KanCare program and successfully negotiated a 5-year extension on Kansas’s 1115 waiver with CMS. KanCare is the Kansas’s Medicaid managed care program which serves roughly 400,000 members with an annual budget more than $4 billion dollars.

Ana Handshuh Principal

CAT5 Strategies

Ana Handshuh, Principal at CAT5 Strategies, is a government programs executive with expertise in creating and implementing corporate programs for the healthcare industry. Her background includes Quality, Core Measures, Care Management, Benefit Design and Bid Submission, Accreditation, Regulatory Compliance, Revenue Management, Communications, Community-based Care Management Programs and Technology Integration. Ms. Handshuh currently serves on the Board of the Resource Initiative and Society for Education (RISE), the preeminent national professional association dedicated to managed and accountable care financing and delivery. She is a sought after speaker on the national healthcare circuit in the areas of Quality, Star Ratings, Care Management, Member and Provider Engagement, and Revenue Management. Her recent consultancy roles have included assisting organizations create programs to address the unmet care management needs in the highest risk strata of membership, document their processes and procedures, achieve accreditation status, design and submit government program bids, institute corporate-wide programs and create communications strategies and materials. She possesses sophisticated business acumen with the ability to build consensus with cross-functional groups to accomplish corporate goals. Ms. Handshuh served as the Vice President of Managed Care Services at Central Florida Inpatient Medicine (CFIM). In this role, she provided leadership and strategy on CFIM projects and collaborations with physicians, risk entities, hospital health care systems, and health plans. CFIM is the largest Hospitalist group in Central Florida, with 70 providers discharging over 50,000 patients annually from multiple hospitals across two health care delivery systems and 24 skilled nursing facilities. At CFIM Ms. Handshuh previously served as the Vice President of Operations. Prior to those assignments, she worked with Precision Healthcare Systems as their Vice President of Quality Improvement. In that capacity, she led the IPA’s Quality efforts and collaborated with payers on implementing programs to move the needle on Quality and Star Rating initiatives. Ms. Handshuh also served as the Director of Corporate Program Development at Physicians United Plan. In this role, she led the Quality Management and Corporate Communications departments and spearheaded the development of innovative integrated technology solutions to drive business excellence and Star Rating achievement initiatives. For the past fifteen years Ms. Handshuh has taken an active role in redefining and implementing changes that have led to improvements and greater efficiency within Government programs and healthcare delivery. Prior to joining Physicians United Plan Ms. Handshuh was the founder of I-Six Creative. Under Ms. Handshuh’s vision and leadership, I-Six Creative provided expertise in the areas of managed Medicare benefit design, MSO/IPA operations, provider network strategy, new market launches, technology integration, corporate communications and quality improvement.

Leah Hannum Director of Government Funding Operations

Blue Cross of Idaho

Approaching 20 years of experience in healthcare, Leah Hannum has played a pivotal role in the planning, oversight, and strategy development for risk adjustment programs in Medicare Advantage and Affordable Care Act products. Leah is enthusiastic about discovering innovative, collaborative solutions across risk adjustment , quality, and Stars. Her favorite moments at work are the ad hoc brainstorming sessions that lead to improvements in the status quo today and for the future. She leads a team of analysts, program managers and engagement specialists who work hard every day to ensure members and healthcare providers have access to the information needed for high quality, affordable healthcare

Mitch Harper Director of Network Performance

Hometown Health

Merrill Hausenfluck CFO

HAP

Merrill Hausenfluck was named senior vice president and chief financial officer of HAP in 2022, bringing more than 20 years of comprehensive leadership experience in the health care industry.

His wealth of experience includes leading finance, clinical and operations teams, with a strong emphasis on government programs.  He also has a solid track record of revitalizing financial and operational processes, ensuring compliance across government programs while optimizing return on investment.

Before joining HAP, Merrill served as CFO of Envolve Pharmacy Solutions, part of Centene’s specialty services division.  Prior to Centene’s acquisition of WellCare in 2020, he spent 15 years at WellCare, Inc. where he held a variety of leadership positions, including chief operating officer of health plan integration and population health solutions, vice president of finance, and senior director of prescription drug program.  During his time at WellCare, the company increased its revenues by more than 500%, exceeding $28 billion in 2020.  Earlier in his career, he held leadership positions at Aetna and PacifiCare Health Systems.

Merrill holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Radford University in Virginia and serves on the board of directors of Northwest YMCA in Tampa, Fla.

Liz Haynes MSN, RN, CCM, DVP, Risk Adjustment & Stars Government Programs

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City

Liz Haynes is the DVP of Risk Adjustment & Stars- Government Programs at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC). In this role, Liz leads provider engagement and the operations, oversight, strategic direction of Risk Adjustment and Star functions for Blue KC’s Medicare Advantage and Affordable Care Act health plans. These government-sponsored lines of business contribute significantly to Blue KC’s mission to provide affordable access to healthcare.  Liz has an extensive background in healthcare with experience ranging from bedside nursing to provider engagement on behalf of national payers. Prior to joining Blue KC in 2018, Liz served for seven years in Risk & Quality at Optum Insight and eleven years with BJC HealthCare. Liz is a respected expert in Government Programs Provider Engagement, Stars and Risk Adjustment.  She manages comprehensive solutions for overall contract performance and is actively involved in several healthcare initiatives bridging health care and health insurance.  She has experience with taking several Medicare Advantage contracts to 4 Star. Liz was named as the 2023 recipient of RISE’s prestigious quality award for advancing the lives of America's seniors through clinical leadership and policy vision. Liz earned both a Bachelor & Master of Nursing from Chamberlain University with an emphasis in Informatics.

Kent Holdcroft Chief Growth Officer

Healthmine

Kent Holdcroft is the Chief Growth Officer at HealthMine, bringing over 15 years of operational, consulting, and business development experience with healthcare technology vendors to our team. Prior to HealthMine, Kent was Executive Vice President at AdhereHealth where he installed the teams and processes that led to record growth and innovation in product strategy. Before that, Kent had multiple successes with AIM Healthcare (now a part of Optum, a United Health Group, Inc. company), rising to National Director as it expanded into new markets. Kent received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Miami University and Master’s in Counseling from the University of Toledo. In his free time, Kent serves on the Board of Directors at BrightStone, Inc., as well as with the Tennessee Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.  

Jennifer Holman LPN, CRC, Director Risk Adjustment

Centene Corporation

Ms. Holman is a Director of Risk Adjustment Programs on the SI3 (Strategic Innovation, Implementation, and Integration) team with Centene Corporation. For the past 8 years, Jennifer has demonstrated a proven track record for increasing provider engagement and performance . Currently, she leads a team responsible for supporting risk adjustment initiatives with bidirectional data exchange.  She manages the relationship with Centene health plans, vendors, and providers.

Kaleb Holt Medicare Program Director

Select Health

Kaleb began his career in health insurance in 1999 when he first joined the Select Health customer service team. He has worked in claims, provider relations, coverage policy management, product management, product development, and pretty much anything else they would let him get his hands on. In 2011, while Kaleb was working in Product Development, he had the opportunity to lead the feasibility analysis for Select Health to enter the Medicare Advantage space. When the decision was made for Select Health to launch an MA plan, Kaleb enthusiastically joined the team and has never looked back. Medicare Advantage has been an incredibly challenging and rewarding field and he isn’t sure he could ever leave it. Kaleb has been described by himself and work colleagues as a true Medicare Advantage nerd, which essentially just means he is really fun at parties.

The only thing better than Kaleb’s work life is his personal life that he is fortunate to share with his wife and best friend, Sarah Jean. They will celebrate their second anniversary this coming June, and yes Sarah Jean was very understanding that they could not get married in May because you can’t work in Medicare Advantage and go on a honeymoon right before the bids are due. They have four children in total. Two have moved out of the house and launched their own exciting lives, and two are shared part time with their other parents. All four are very funny, smart, and kind. None yet show any inclination for Medicare Advantage, but there is still time. They like to watch movies, go on picnics, and take the occasional road trip when they can get everyone together.

Holly Howat Founder and Executive Director

Beacon Community Connections

Dr. Holly Howat is the Founder and Executive Director of Beacon Community Connections.  Holly has had a long and varied career path, beginning her professional career as a speech-language therapist. Her work focuses on using collaboration, communication, and connections to develop cross-system policies, processes, and programs to improve outcomes for marginalized populations. She previously worked as the first Executive Director of the Lafayette  Parish Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee and, before that, as a Project Director at the  Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning. She is the author of multiple community-focused grants that brought over $7 million to South Louisiana. She holds a Bachelor of  Science from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Arts from Our Lady of the Lake  University in San Antonio, and a Philosophical Doctorate from University of Louisiana at  Lafayette. Holly was appointed to serve as the Louisiana State Public Defender  Board member in 2021 and currently serves as Chair. She is also a graduate of Leadership Lafayette (2017) and remains active in the organization. She is a graduate of the 2023 Cohort of Leadership Louisiana. In 2020, Holly was honored as a Woman Who Means Business. Holly is passionate about lifelong learning and community collaboration. 

Britni Hoyt MPH, MBA, Director of Quality Operations and Care Management

Community Quality Alliance

Britni Hoyt, MPH, MBA has nearly 6 years of experience in the value-based health space. She currently serves as the Director of Quality Operations and Care Management for a clinically integrated network encompassing over 500 providers. In her role, Britni spearheads initiatives in quality improvement, provider engagement, and the strategic design of programs aimed at enhancing performance. Her proficiency extends to in-depth data analysis, identifying areas of focus for effective cost and patient management. Britni's leadership is integral to the success and efficiency of the network's healthcare delivery.

Eugene Hsu MD, MBA, RVP II, Senior Clinical Officer, Medicare

Elevance

Dr. Hsu is a versatile and accomplished physician executive with over 10 years of progressive healthcare leadership experience. Currently, Dr. Hsu is the Chief Medical Officer and Regional Vice President in Medicare overseeing all aspects of clinical operations including clinical innovation design and execution, care management, medical management, and population health for over 1,000,000 Elevance Health Medicare Dual Eligible, HMO and Group Retiree PPO members. As an independent practicing pain anesthesiologist in Northern California, he blends executive leadership at a Fortune 25 company with hands-on patient care.

His career is focused on enabling the delivery of high quality, affordable whole-person healthcare through value-based care collaboration between payers and providers.

Prior to Elevance Health, Dr. Hsu distinguished himself as a fellow then faculty member at the Clinical Excellence Research Center at Stanford where he ran the largest randomized clinical trial in high value musculoskeletal care delivery showing positive outcomes in cost and quality published in JAMA. He also founded several startups in biotech, medical devices, and health technology. Notably, he was the founding Chief Medical Officer for Vim, a pioneering payer-provider data interoperability firm with backing from Sequoia Capital and Optum Ventures. 

Dr. Hsu began his healthcare career at Johns Hopkins Medicine where he spearheaded national and local quality improvement programs and played a pivotal role in CMMI initiatives. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University and joint MD and MBA degrees from Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the Tuck School of Business, Dr. Hsu is dual board certified in anesthesiology and chronic pain medicine.

Nikki Hungate MS, MHA

Health Plan Product Strategy Expert

Nikki is an accomplished professional with over 17 years of experience in the healthcare industry, specializing in Medicare and Medicaid product strategy. With extensive knowledge and expertise in the field, Nikki is a trusted leader who has consistently contributed to the growth and success of various organizations.

Nikki holds a Master's degree in Health Administration. Additionally, she has pursued a Doctorate in Executive Leadership. 

As a passionate advocate for accessible and affordable healthcare, Nikki remains dedicated to driving innovation in the Medicare and Medicaid sectors.

Tim Husted SVP & GM, Provider & Home Care

Sharecare

Tim Husted serves as senior vice president and general manager of Sharecare’s Provider and CareLinx businesses.

In his role supporting Sharecare’s Provider division, Tim leads sales and operations, collaborating closely with his colleague Darragh Wright in driving strategy. Leveraging his robust relationships in the industry, this business segment primarily addresses mid-revenue cycle needs, including Release of Information for health systems and caters to requestors such as payors. Tim brings five years of experience as a leader in the chart retrieval business, overseeing the sector’s most significant growth phase.

Tim’s leadership also extends to the management of CareLinx, Sharecare’s tech-enabled home care business which comprehensively blends clinical and non-clinical services, anchored in the trusted relationship between in-home caregivers and patients. With CareLinx representing a growth segment of Sharecare’s overall business and product offerings across employers, health plans, and health systems, Tim focuses on building on the offering’s current capabilities in Activities of Daily Living. (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) to improve health outcomes and life experiences to those in need from the comfort and in the trust of their home.

Before joining Sharecare, Tim had a progressive career at Ciox, culminating in the role of executive vice president, where he managed the relationships with UnitedHealthcare and Optum. This followed a decade at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, where Tim’s purview included over 30 countries, including handling various global operations facets including Workforce Management, Process Transformation, and Crisis Management. He was recognized for developing a global footprint optimization strategy, opening shared service operations in North America, South America, Asia, and Europe, and received numerous accolades for his role in overseeing large transformational revenue growth and cost savings project successes.  Tim started his career at Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, IL, and is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Outside of his professional endeavors, Tim has dedicated 20 years to running a premier girls’ softball organization. Currently, he remains an active mentor and advocate for purpose-driven, positivity-based youth sports environments that nurture holistic female leaders.

Residing in Phoenix, AZ, with two children, Rory and Webb, and dog, Palmer, Tim continues to balance a successful career with a passion for community and family.

Prakash Jayakumar M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care, Director, Clinical Research and Outcome Measurement

Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care

Prakash Jayakumar MD, PhD is an orthopaedic surgeon, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Perioperative Care and Director of Value-Based Health Care and Outcome Measurement at the University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School, and Visiting Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University and The Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. Prakash is dedicated to the value based transformation of health systems and leading change through the fields of health systems and outcomes research, digital health innovations, and health care policy and practice transformation. His research is focused on advancement in decision science and patient generated health data to improve management of capability, mindsets, circumstances, and health behaviours, technology enabled point-of-care solutions including digital phenotyping, applied A.I for shared decision-making and clinical decision support, predictive analytics leveraging genetic and population level data, real time location systems tracking technology for optimizing team functions and financial modelling, and the development and implementation of integrated, patient-centered, 360o whole-person models of care. Jayakumar achieved his medical degree from Kings College London, a PhD from Balliol College, Oxford University, a Master’s in Health Care and Design from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London, executive certification in Artificial Intelligence in Health Care from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy and Practice Innovation.

Jaye Johnston Vice President of Stars Operations

Clover Health

Jaye Johnston is a transformative and accomplished healthcare executive currently serving as the Vice President of Stars Operations at Clover Health, a physician enablement company focused on seniors who have historically lacked access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. 

With a healthcare career spanning over two decades, she has leveraged her early experience at the frontlines of patient care and transitioned to roles driving systemic change. Over the years, she has developed deep expertise in elevating the quality of care through initiatives that make a meaningful impact and continue to reshape the healthcare landscape, leaving an indelible mark on the industry and improving lives. 

Michael Jones President & General Manager, Payer

Inovalon

Mike Jones serves as President & General Manager of the payer division at Inovalon. With over 29 years of experience in the industry, he maintains a strong commitment to the improvement of healthcare economics and outcomes and leads with a unique blend of strategic vision and operational expertise.

Prior to Inovalon, Mike was Vice President and General Manager at Nuance, a healthcare AI provider that was acquired by Microsoft in 2022. Before Nuance, he served as CEO of Cantata Health LLC, a Revenue Cycle Management and Electronic Medical Records software provider that was successfully spun out from NTTDATA.

Uday Joshi Assistant Vice President

Healthfirst

Experienced Associate Vice President with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry. Skilled in Medicaid, Regulatory Analysis, Managed Care, Healthcare Management, and Leadership. Strong professional with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) focused in Health/Health Care Administration/Management and Finance from Boston University - School of Management.

Ashish Kachru CEO

DataLink Software

Ashish is an industry visionary with more than 20 years of healthcare technology and executive leadership experience. As the Chief Executive Officer of DataLink, he leads the strategic direction of the organization and drives future innovation to enable high-quality, cost-effective, value-based care. Previously, Ashish was the Chief Executive Officer of Altruista Health, a leading healthcare technology company he founded to provide care management solutions to payers impacting better health outcomes for millions of members. 

Ashish has been widely recognized for his entrepreneurship and leadership in healthcare and most recently was voted Best Tech Leader in Washington, DC in the 2021 Timmy Awards. He was named a Top 25 CEO by the Northern Virginia Technology Council two years in a row (2020 and 2019) and one of the Top 10 Emerging Healthcare Leaders in 2018 by Managed Healthcare Executive magazine. He also received the prestigious EY Entrepreneur of The Year® Award in the health category in the Mid-Atlantic region in 2017. 

Ashish serves on the board of the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the agency that administers Medicaid programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. Ashish earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from NIT Bhopal in India, a master’s degree in nanotechnology from the University of North Carolina and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Summerpal Kahlon Chief Medical Officer

Edifecs

BK Kajopaiye Program Manager Risk Adjustment, STARS, and Quality

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield

Biodun Kajopaiye better known as BK is a health care and fitness enthusiast, with over  20 years of experience as both a health care professional and a fitness and lifestyle coach. Born in Nigeria but raised in the Bay Area of Northern California BK has been guided by the wisdom of his father who always reminded him, "you make a living by what you receive, you make a life by what you give." These words have inspired BK to focus his education, and professional experiences to expose him to environments where he could nurture his love for health, fitness, medicine, care delivery so that he can contribute to the lives of others. BK received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University as a double major in Sociology and Community Health, received his master’s degree in health service administration from George Washington University. BK is a certified risk adjustment coder and has worked in various health professional spaces including Children's national medical center, Inova Health Systems, George Washington Medical faculty Associates, and Evolent Health. Currently BK is a Program Manager at CF Blue Cross Blue shield where he is the lead manager for Risk Adjustment on the Quality, STARS, and Risk Adjustment team.

Evelyne Kane Senior Program Manager, Community Engagement & Capacity Building

Camden Coalition

Evelyne Kane currently serves as the Senior Program Manager for Community Engagement & Capacity Building at the Camden Coalition. In this role, she is focused on ensuring that people with lived experience are equal partners in the work of improving systems and services designed for those navigating complex health and social needs. She is honored to work alongside community leaders from across the U.S. through the National Consumer Scholars and to support partnerships between complex care organizations and people with lived experience through Amplify: A consumer voices bureau. Prior to joining the Camden Coalition, Evelyne worked on improving access to public benefits at Benefits Data Trust and supported community-driven social care at the Penn Center for Community Health Workers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Rider University and a Master of Public Health from Temple University. Outside of work, Evelyne enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, and volunteering.

Jenn Kerfoot Chief Strategy & Growth Officer

DUOS

Jenn brings her deep understanding of the complexities and nuances within the Medicare Advantage & Value-Based Care landscape to their work at DUOS, where they lead business development, go-to-market strategy, and marketing. By leveraging data-driven insights and market intelligence, they spearhead the development of tailored products and services that cater to the unique needs of Medicare Advantage plans and deliver unparalleled value to clients and beneficiaries alike; previous leadership roles include FarmboxRx, Excelera Health, and NationsBenefits. Beyond her role at DUOS, Jenn actively contributes to the industry's progress as a thought leader leveraging expertise and advocacy for innovative healthcare practices to enhance healthcare accessibility and quality.

Michael Keyes VP, Health Plan Sales

PointClickCare

Dr. Mansoor Khan Sc.D., CEO

Persivia Inc.

Sophia Kim Chief Commercial Officer

Matrix Medical Network

Sophia joins us with a long history of strong execution and delivery in retrospective and prospective risk adjustment strategies, eligibility and enrollment solutions in both Medicare and Medicaid markets as well as other revenue cycle and claims management solutions. At Matrix, Sophia will be responsible for driving enterprise growth, creating and enhancing customer-centric partnerships, transforming end-to-end sales and account management, and ensuring Matrix continues to offer differentiated services and capabilities to maintain its market leader position. Prior to joining Matrix, Sophia served as Chief Revenue Officer at Centauri Health Solutions, Vice President, Strategic Accounts at MHK (formerly MedHOK, Inc.), Senior Vice President, Sales Operations & Enablement at Change Healthcare (formerly Emdeon/Altegra Health/The Coding Source, LLC), and Director, National Medicare Marketing, Sales & Operations at Kaiser Permanente Health Plans. Sophia received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College of Columbia University.

Erica Krieger Vice President, Quality

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Erica Krieger, Senior Health Services Vice President, Quality for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.    

Erica Krieger is the Vice President of Quality for Senior Health Services, within Emerging Markets. In her current role, Erica holds responsibility for achieving Star rating targets for HEDIS measures, oversight of HEDIS operations for Medicare Advantage products and clinical analytics to support the Medicare Advantage segment. Erica has held a variety of roles within the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan enterprise for 20+ year, all of which have been heavily data, reporting and analytic-driven.  

Erica holds a Bachelor of Science and Engineering in Industrial & Operations Engineering, a Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering, and a Master of Business Administration – all from University of Michigan.  

Andy Kumar Vice President, Product and Strategy

EXL Health

Andy Kumar currently serves as Vice President of Product at EXL. In this position, he leads a cross-company team focused on planning and developing EXL risk adjustment products at all stages of the product life cycle with the ultimate goal of driving innovation and improving customer outcomes. Before joining EXL, Andy led Product and Strategy at Ciox driving growth for $300M+ payer business, delivering 10% YOY growth via new products. Before this, he worked at numerous startups specializing in NLP-based risk adjustment solutions, was involved in McKesson’s lead market initiative around interoperability, and was one of the founding product leaders for the CommonWell Health Alliance initiative. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Computer Engineering degree from the University of Arizona.

Gregory LeGrow Executive Director Payer Product Strategy

athenahealth

Greg LeGrow leads payer product strategy at athenahealth. He is a seasoned professional with over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry with demonstrated success in strategy development, program leadership, operations and technology deployment.

He is passionate about enabling innovation and supporting the collaboration and data exchange among payers and providers required for successful value-based care.

Jimmy Liu VP Analytics and MRR Solutions

Advantmed

Jimmy Liu is Vice President of Analytics and MRR Solutions at Advantmed. He has been helping health plans with their risk adjustment strategy across all lines of business for more than 15 years. Jimmy is a risk adjustment thought leader, conference speaker, and author of numerous white papers and articles. Jimmy started in consulting doing 10 years of application design and development for the financial services industry. He then spent the next 6 years at Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia working on HIPAA EDI and eBusiness initiatives. He has designed and developed more than 20 large scale applications in his career, several of which became risk adjustment products. Jimmy has also spent more than 10 years doing risk analytics and developing suspecting algorithms that are used to create prospective and retrospective chase lists. Jimmy is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and lives in the greater Philadelphia area.

Shea Long Managing Partner

L4 Growth Partners LLC

With more than 32 years’ experience in healthcare and Technology, Shea is adept in Healthcare Innovation, Product Management and Go-to-Market Strategies for clients in the healthcare space.  He helps companies grow through the assessment, articulation and execution of growth strategies that resonate with clients, members, and providers.  As the former Head of Commercial Innovation at Centene, he worked with their health plans to deliver technology-based solutions to drive healthier outcomes, more efficient use of plan personnel, and better NPS scores. 

As the Head of Product Management for companies like Papa, EmpowerMe Wellness and ModivCare, he was able to implement successful Product and Go-to-Market strategies to deliver exceptional growth.  His passion for senior care is evident in the commitment that he has shown for finding solution to help seniors live at home with dignity and quality.

Shea lives at the intersection of healthcare and technology and believes that the two need to be combined to support our growing and dynamic population of seniors retiring in the next 15 years.

As an officer of the United States Air Force, Shea saw active duty as a developer of classified satellite systems for the Department of Defense at Space Systems Division.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.  He’s also extended his education at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business with a certificate in Commercial Innovation. 

Donna Malone CPC, CRC, AAPC Approved Instructor, AHCCA, RAP  Director Risk Capture – Population Health

Mass General Brigham

Donna Malone, CPC, CRC, CRC-I, AHCCA, RAP: Director Ambulatory Clinical Documentation Quality Improvement (CDQI) with Mount Sinai Health System, Adjunct Professor with MassBay Community College, Chair of the RISE Risk Adjustment Academy HCC Coding Faculty Advisory Group and President of the Watertown AAPC Chapter 

Previously, she worked for Tufts Health Plan in their enterprise risk adjustment division for seven years with as Director Enterprise Risk Adjustment Coding and Provider Education, and was responsible for audit and coding review management, development and implementation of department and vendor policies and procedures, development of provider and coding training materials, implementation of provider system education and process review, government audits (CMS RADV, HHS RADV, OIG), coding team performance management. 

Additionally, Donna serves at the MassBay Community College in Framingham, where she has been an advisor and adjunct professor currently in her 17th year. Her specialty area is the Medical Coding and Medical Office Administration Programs. Prior to Tufts Health Plan, Donna worked for ENJOIN as the Director of Ambulatory CDI – Risk Adjustment, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts as an HCC Professional Audit III for four years. Earlier, she worked for AM B Care for 9 years and other healthcare settings previously. Donna also has served as Education Officer (2016) and President (2017 – current) for the AAPC chapter in Watertown, MA. 

Donna speaks nationally for RISE, AAPC and AHIMA

Emma Martin Chief of Staff

Nymbl Science

Gabriel Medley Vice President, Risk Adjustment

BCBS-MI

Gabe Medley brings over 22 years of progressive healthcare experience leading diverse multidisciplinary teams and projects to successful outcomes.  Gabe’s background includes a combination of healthcare, business, military, and data analytic leadership roles with his most recent prior role serving as Vice President, Provider Network and Population Health.  In this role, Gabe managed full risk Value Based Contracts for large health systems in the greater New York and Connecticut markets.

Gabe’s education includes the following: Master of Science in Healthcare Administration (MHA) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Maryland Global Campus in Adelphi, Maryland; Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Military Science from Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana.  In his spare time, Gabe enjoys working out, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

David Meyer

EBG Advisors

Annie Miyazaki-Grant Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer

VNS Health

Annie Miyazaki‐Grant is the Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer for VNS Health, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit home and community-based health care organizations. Innovating in health care for more than 130 years, VNS Health helps people live, age, and heal where they feel most comfortable, in their own homes, connected to their loved ones and community. The organization offers home health, hospice, care management, and behavioral health services, as well as Medicaid Managed Long Term Care, Medicaid Special Needs, Medicare Dual-Eligible Special Needs, and Medicare Advantage Plans designed to simplify the health care experience and meet the diverse and complex needs of those we serve in New York and beyond.

Annie oversees VNS Health’s Compliance, Regulatory Affairs & Privacy programs, as well as the Internal Audit, Risk & Insurance departments. She leads a large team that provides strategic advice and collaborative partnership to drive a strong culture of ethics. With extensive experience implementing agile and effective programs, Annie and her teams prioritize meaningful proactive efforts, while balancing external audit/investigational demands and internal strategic priorities. They take pride in being practical innovators and problem-solvers, who help enable VNS Health to provide the highest quality services and maintain the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and regulatory adherence. Prior to joining VNS Health, Annie was an associate at a national law firm, where she advised long-term care and post-acute providers on state and federal regulatory, enforcement, and compliance matters.

Namita Seth Mohta M.D., Executive Director

NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery

Namita Seth Mohta is a physician executive with expertise in health care delivery transformation. As the Executive Editor for NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery, she is part of the founding leadership team and has responsibility for content strategy and quality. Most recently, Dr. Mohta served as the Director of the Serious Illness Care Program (SICP) at Ariadne Labs, a health system innovation center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Mohta has been part of the founding Population Health and ACO leadership teams as Medical Director, Mass General Brigham and the New England Quality Care Alliance, both in Boston. Dr Mohta has worked with multiple start-ups, including PatientPing (now Bamboo Health), a digital health company, as their Physician Lead. She worked as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group prior to medical training. 

Dr. Mohta practices internal medicine as a Hospitalist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is Associate Faculty at Ariadne Labs and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She completed her Internal Medicine and Primary Care residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Mohta is a graduate of Yale College and Yale School of Medicine.

Colleen Morley Associate Chief Clinical Operations Officer

UIHealth

Dr. Colleen Morley DNP RN CCM CMAC CMCN ACM-RN FCM is the current President 2022-24, of the Case Management Society of America National Board of Directors. 

She is the recipient of the CMSA Foundation Practice Improvement Award (2020) and ANA Illinois Practice Improvement Award (2020), the AAMCN Managed Care Nurse Leader of the Year in 2010 and the CMSA Fellow of Case Management designation in 2022.

Jessica Muratore Chief Operating Officer

Rex Wallace Consulting, LLC

Jessica Muratore has a master’s degree in public administration and bachelor’s degrees in political science and psychology.  She spent the first half of her career in the legal field focused on civil litigation where she became skilled in the interpretation of federal and state laws before entering managed care. Currently, she is the Chief Operating Officer with Rex Wallace Consulting, LLC (RWC) focusing on quality improvement across all lines of business with both health plan and vendor clients.  Before joining RWC, Jessica spent 10 years on the payer side.  Jessica worked for MVP Health Care and Centene Corporation in executive leadership positions.  She was responsible for national market performance and execution, governance, quality improvement organizational structure, NCQA health plan accreditation, delegation oversight, quality compliance and program operations, federal and state audits, quality improvement strategy, and quality Medicaid RFPs and new health plan implementations.  She has extensive experience working with the Medicare, Medicaid, Marketplace, Commercial and the Basic Health Program populations.  In 2014, she also started as an adjunct professor at SUNY Brockport’s Public Administration Master’s Program teaching classes on healthcare focusing on government programs, global health care systems and the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act.  Jessica enjoys serving her community through board leadership positions and spending time with her husband and daughter, traveling, reading and being outdoors. 

Brian Murtha Director, Risk Adjustment Digital Strategy

Centene

Brian is Director, Digital Strategy for Centene’s Risk Adjustment organization. His vision has helped to reshape Centene’s approach to clinical data exchange and establish a framework to execute at scale and with purpose. Today, his team leads all bidirectional EMR integration and clinical data management efforts, and contributes over 5m electronic charts to Centene’s medical record retrieval initiatives. Prior to working on interoperability, he engineered WellCare’s prospective program infrastructure.

He is a co-lead of the DaVinci Risk Adjustment IG, member of Apixio’s executive advisory council, and frequent collaborator with the industry’s largest EMRs to improve and expand their payer solutions.

When he’s not working, you may find him on the Gulf of Mexico chasing fish and catching a sunburn.

Krishan Nagda MD, CEO & President

Central Florida Inpatient Medicine

Michael Nemeth Associate Vice President                

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

Mike Nemeth offers three decades of extraordinary success in a series of high level roles at top tier companies that include Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Florida Blue, and SS&C Health.

Mike’s invaluable expertise and broad business range have powered a history of developing successful process improvements that drive productivity, reliability, and client satisfaction. Such traits have consistently enabled Mike to achieve an impressive command of the skills needed to manage ongoing business planning processes
while developing strategies to meet future challenges.

Upon being named as Associate Vice President of Revenue Management for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Mike builds the risk adjustment strategy and leads the Risk Revenue Program to strengthen the organization’s market competitiveness within Medicare Advantage HMO/PPO, Experience Health HMO, D-SNP, ACA u65, and ACA small groups. Mr. Nemeth has dedicated himself and his vision as a leader who engages in projects with an “All-In” attitude.

Prior to assuming the role of Associate Vice President of Revenue Management for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Mike achieved over two decades of experience driving positive outcomes across Operations Management, Risk Adjustment Programs, Team Management, Product Development, and Process Improvement in multiple roles with Florida Blue and SS&C Health.

Combining his proven business instinct with an unprecedented disciplinary work ethic, Mike has continuously exceeded expectations in high stake environments within Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Florida Blue and SS&C Health positioning himself as a key member of each company and a driving force for growth.

Mike holds a Master of Science Degree in Risk Management and Insurance from Florida State University as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Development and Leadership from Jacksonville University.

Zeev Neuwirth M.D., Author

“Beyond the Walls” and “Reframing Healthcare”

Dr. Zeev Neuwirth is a healthcare executive whose most recent role was Chief Clinical Executive for Care Transformation at Atrium Health.

He has over 15 years of clinical practice experience and another 15 years in clinical operations, population health and strategic services.

In 2017, Zeev launched the award-winning 'Creating a New Healthcare' podcast which is now in its 8th consecutive year. 

In 2019 he published his first book, Reframing Healthcare - a Roadmap for Creating Disruptive Change.

This past September 2023, he published a second book, Beyond the Walls - the Megatrends, Movements & Market Disruptions Transforming American Healthcare. 

Dr. Neuwirth attended Tufts University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

He obtained a Masters of Healthcare Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, where his most recent book, Beyond The Walls, is now a required part of the curriculum.

He also lectures at the Yale School of Public Health.

Nana Ofori VP, Product

Apixio

Ernest Nana Ofori has extensive experience in the healthcare industry, particularly in risk consulting, analytics, and actuarial functions. Ernest Nana has held various leadership positions including Vice President at Optum, where they oversaw risk adjustment analytics and revenue projections for Medicare and Medicaid. Ernest Nana also served as Director at Optum, leading strategic, financial analytics, and actuarial functions for Medicaid health plans. Prior to that, Ernest worked as an Actuarial Consultant at Mercer, where they led data and financial analysis projects related to state fee-for-service and managed healthcare capitation rate development. Ernest Nana also served as a Regional Actuary at Humana, providing leadership in pricing and product performance for Medicare Advantage products. Ernest's expertise includes risk assessment, financial analysis, and developing mitigating strategies to positively impact company performance.

Ernest Nana Ofori holds a BSBA degree in Actuarial Science and Information Systems from Drake University. Ernest Nana also has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Risk Management and Finance from Georgia State University - J. Mack Robinson College of Business. Additionally, they have obtained certifications such as Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA) and Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA), both in 2008.

David Olson Vice President

Molina Healthcare

David Olson is the Vice President of Risk Adjustment at Molina Healthcare.  He has extensive experience leading all phases of risk adjustment for Medicare Advantage and Marketplace plans, with an emphasis on consumer/member segmentation and stratification. Prior to Molina, Olson was held executive roles at Bright HealthGroup, Optum and United HealthGroup R&D. He also has deep experience in consumer segmentation and performance management in non-healthcare sectors including financial services and consumer products.

Jennie Ossentjuk Market Lead – Commercial Health Plans

Noridian Healthcare Solutions

Jennie ML Ossentjuk is the market lead for health plan payers at Noridian Healthcare Solutions, a company dedicated to providing effective and efficient administration solutions for health care programs. As market lead, she performs health care market forecasting and develops strategic plans that promote growth for Noridian and its customers. Ossentjuk builds and maintains long-lasting, strong relationships with key customers and influencers, including executive teams, external stakeholders and operating leaders. She has more than 30 years of health care experience across diverse sectors, including leadership roles at healthcare technology and management organizations.  

Ossentjuk strives to stay curious and adventurous, as those values are key to growth. She lives by the motto “What got you here won’t get you there,” which drives her to discover and execute the best solution possible for her customers.  

In previous positions, Ossentjuk worked with large provider organizations as well as commercial and government-sponsored health plans across the country. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Master of Science in Health Care Management, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She currently resides in Orange County, New York where she serves on several non-profit boards in the community.  

Erika Paquette Manager of Risk Adjustment

Hometown Health

Erika Paquette is the Manager of Risk Adjustment for Hometown Health, a Regional Northern Nevada health plan offering MA, ACA, QHP, and ASO products. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in Economics and is currently pursuing an MBA. Her professional background has focuses on data analytics.  Her expertise is utilized to identify and maximize opportunities across Quality, Pharmacy, Utilization Management and Risk Adjustment. In her free time, Erika enjoys spending time with her family, painting, and sculpting.

Margaret Paroski M.D., CEO

Catholic Medical Partners

Dr. Paroski is the is the President & CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Catholic Medical Partners, an independent practice association with almost 900 physician members. A board certified neurologist, Dr. Paroski has held various administrative positions including Medical Director at Erie County Medical Center; Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs & Admissions and Interim Vice President of Health Affairs and Interim Dean at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo; and Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Kaleida Health.

She began her medical career at the Buffalo VA Medical Center and held hospital appointments at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Kaleida Health, and Erie County Medical Center. In addition to her clinical and leadership roles, Dr. Paroski has been a faculty member in the Neurology department at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences for the past 40 years.

As President & CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Catholic Medical Partners, Dr. Paroski leads clinical integration and standardization efforts and physician relations among the organization’s medical and specialty practices. She is also responsible for engaging physician members in population health initiatives and value based payment model adaptation. 

Ashwin Patel Chief Medical Officer

Pyx Health

Ashwin brings a wealth of medical and business expertise to the Pyx Health team. He received an MD from Weill-Cornell Medical College and a PhD in health economics from the Wharton Business School. As he worked to integrate these disparate fields, he collaborated extensively with Cornell and Penn faculty to better understand healthcare quality, the factors driving patient choice of health plan, and the financial impact of integrating technology into our healthcare system.   

During his training, Ashwin was introduced to the positive impact of peer-to-peer mentoring on chronic disease clinical outcomes validated through multiple randomized clinical trials; at the same time, he realized the tremendous gap between such strong evidence-based insights and their actual implementation in the real world.  

Given the large cost burden associated with diabetes and similar chronic conditions, he was inspired to dedicate himself to finding a way to segue these findings into a solution that would alleviate costs and improve patient outcomes. Together with Brijesh Patel in 2012, Ashwin co-founded InquisitHealth to help health plans and health systems utilize peer-to-peer mentoring to engage and help individuals struggling with chronic conditions and underlying social determinants of health. 

Ashwin served as the primary investigator for multiple NIH-funded research programs to develop and deploy these evidence-based peer-delivered interventions for diabetes, pre-diabetes, HIV, pediatric asthma, and hypertension. InquisitHealth’s programs have since been deployed with public hospital systems like NYC Health + Hospitals and health insurers like MetroPlus, Healthfirst, and Cigna. This work has been recognized by both the American Diabetes Association and the CDC, as well as published in peer-reviewed journals. Researchers and clinicians at Duke University and the University of South Carolina have been utilizing InquisitHealth’s technology platform to power their NIH-funded R01 randomized clinical trials to rigorously evaluate new peer interventions for youth health and cancer.  

Ashwin received his B.A. in Economics and Biology from Cornell University. He earned a Ph.D. in Health Care Economics from the Wharton School and holds an M.D. from Weill-Cornell Medical College. 

Over the past decade, Ashwin has served on the board of the American Diabetes Association in New York and as a peer reviewer for the NIH and multiple medical journals. 

Kenneth Persaud MD | CEO

White-Wilson Medical Center

Tam Pham Chief Product Officer

Chirok Health

Over the last decade, Tam has emerged as a subject matter expert in risk adjustment and has taken on leadership roles at health plans, medical groups, and technology companies. She enjoys a successful track record of building practice management systems, risk adjustment AI models, new risk adjusted compensation models, health & wellness centers, and software & quality teams from scratch. She is recognized as an industry expert in pay-for-performance, risk adjustment and value-based payment systems 

Andrea Purjue Director, Enterprise Partnerships

Arcadia

Andrea Purjue is Director of Enterprise Partnerships at Arcadia, a healthcare technology company that provides a leading data platform and analytics tool to providers and payers. By fostering relationships with key partners and industry leaders, she helps Arcadia customers drive impactful outcomes in population health and value-based care using data analytics. Andrea brings more than two decades of experience within the data technology and healthcare sectors and drives innovative and transformative programs that support the strategic initiatives of Arcadia’s customers.

Sara Ratner President, Government Programs

Nomi Health 

Sara is currently the President of Government Programs at Nomi Health. Previously, she was the Senior Vice President, Government Markets and Strategic Initiatives at Icario. Sara has held senior executive roles throughout her career, helping venture-backed organizations develop Medicare and Medicaid program strategies for emerging markets to drive growth and expansion. Sara has also served in various executive team roles at Virgin Pulse (formerly RedBrick Health) and CVS Health (MinuteClinic division).

Sara serves on several Boards of Directors, including both for-profit and nonprofit Boards. Throughout her career Sara has received notable awards such as the Business Journal Top 25 Women to Watch, Top 40 under 40, and was named part of Twin Cities Business Real Power 50. She has also spoken and written extensively at the national level on government programs, SDoH and health equity.

Ben Reed Clinical Engineering

WakeMed Health and Hospitals

Ben is currently a technician for WakeMed Health & Hospitals; primarily working to repair and maintain equipment and records. He also works with staff to design and implement the ideas produced by the innovations process. Ben received his BS in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Philosophy from Gannon University in 2019. The program he attended focused on 3D design, technical reviews, and medical device testing.

Hassan Rifaat Chief Executive Officer

Vatica Health

Hassan Rifaat, MD, is chief executive officer at Vatica Health and has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Dr. Rifaat was previously chief executive officer of Windsor Health Group, a Medicare Advantage and supplemental insurance carrier based in Nashville, Tenn., with over 300,000 covered members. He served as chief operating officer at Outcomes Health Information Solutions and was senior vice president, eastern region, for Coventry Health Care. At Coventry, he managed seven health plans serving more than 1.5 million commercial, Medicare and Medicaid members in 11 states. He held senior executive positions at Humana, Inc., including regional CEO for Illinois and the southeast region and market president for Louisiana. Dr. Rifaat is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Harvard University, where he was an All-American player on the national rugby team.  

Dr. Francesca Rinaldo SVP, Clinical Product & Innovation

Sharecare

Francesca Rinaldo, MD, PhD, is SVP of Clinical Product and Innovation at Sharecare. She is a physician-scientist with expertise in clinical research and healthcare delivery innovation. Her role at Sharecare focuses on creating, implementing and scaling care models and technology for healthcare delivery and research. She is a subject matter expert in Aging and Late Life, and her clinical interests are strongly rooted in health services and technology aimed at improving the health of the rapidly aging global population.

John Robertson M.D., Family Medicine

Family Medical Clinic of Harrogate

John M. Robertson, MD, is a board-certified family medicine provider offering comprehensive health care to patients of all ages at Family Medical Clinic in Tazewell and Harrogate, Tennessee. Family Medical Clinic focuses on rural and preventive health care. Dr. Robertson completed residency training at the esteemed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Following his residency, he returned back home to East Tennessee to work alongside his mentor, George L. Day, MD. He now specializes in using innovative technology to give his patients exceptional health care outcomes and work toward a healthier community​.

Cian Robinson Fractional Business Development Officer

Robinson Ventures and Beacon Community Connections

With 30+ years of experience in management, strategy, investment, innovation, and leadership within both large, complex corporations as well as small, entrepreneurial companies, Cian Robinson is a decades long entrepreneur in the healthcare, information technology and management consulting fields. His specialties include implementation of strategies that take concepts from idea to implementation, to goal achievement, and finally organizational impact. An entrepreneurial leader, he is an expert at building and nurturing teams, partnerships, and coalitions.

Cian is the President of Robinson Ventures, LLC, a management consulting, and venture capital firm. Most recently Cian was the Vice President and Executive Director of Innovation at McLeod Health, as well as the Chief Administrative Officer of McLeod Health Innovation Corporation, having joined the system in October 2020. Prior to McLeod, he was the Executive Director of Innovation, Research and Real Estate Investments for Ochsner Lafayette General. Prior to Ochsner Lafayette General, he was a director of two computer science-based research centers at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Cian has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Saint Vincent College (Latrobe, PA) and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Administration (finance concentration) from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College (Pittsburgh, PA). Cian has his EdD-ABD in Leadership from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He has been recognized for his entrepreneurial and community work with several awards including: Silicon Bayou 100 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020); Leadership Louisiana (2017), LEAD Virginia (Class of 2008), Amherst N.Y. Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Champion Award (2006), Western New York’s 40 Under 40 Award (2005), Niagara Frontier Industry Education Council’s Pathfinder Award (2004), National Science Foundation’s Entrepreneur Next Wave Award (2003), as well as Leadership Buffalo’s Class of 2000.

John Romans Co-Founder and CEO

Biomedix

John has pursued his goal of improving healthcare through collaboration. In 2006, John led Biomedix as a founding member of the national P.A.D. Coalition and sponsoring partner of the American Podiatric Medical Association. In 2010, John Romans was invited by CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to participate in the California P.A.D. Task Force and was named E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in the Upper Midwest Region. John received the APMA Executive Director's Award as well as an honorary degree from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine in recognition of his dedication to the advancement of podiatric medicine. John currently serves on the board of the Heart Health Foundation and Dare to C.A.R.E., a nonprofit organization that promotes awareness of vascular disease, and is a past board member the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC), an organization that strives to reduce disparities in cardiovascular health, as well as the Science Museum of Minnesota.

John received his BA from Williams College and MBA from Wharton. He has been a founding principal in several technology-based ventures with a track record of developing and implementing innovative business models in emerging telecom, energy and healthcare markets. John and his wife live in Saint Paul and are the proud parents of four children.

Marc Rosen System Director, Community Impact and Partnerships

CommonSpirit Health

Marc Rosen is the System Director of Community Impact and Partnerships at CommonSpirit Health, a non-profit health system with care sites in 24 states. At CommonSpirit Health, he leads strategies that address the social needs of older adults through community-based partnerships. Through community-based, vendor, and health system roles, Marc has spent the past 15 years working on clinic-to-community partnerships focused on patient’s chronic diseases and social needs. While in the SDoH vendor field, Marc led efforts to establish performance measurement frameworks for social care networks as well as efforts to evaluate the impact of those networks. His time in the community-based sector includes nearly seven years at YMCA of the USA, where as Director of Healthcare Integration he helped broker cross-sector partnerships that integrated Y’s into care pathways and reimbursement models. Marc volunteers as a Spanish language medical interpreter at a free healthcare clinic in Chicago and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Latin American Studies and Spanish, and a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Administration from the University of Illinois-Chicago. 

Deepak Sadagopan Chief Operating Officer, Population Health

Providence

Deepak Sadagopan serves as COO of Value-Based Care & Population Health at Providence, where he leads population health initiatives across the system to transform care. This includes value-based care growth, a $50M investment in Health Equity, and Medicare/Medicaid management for quality care at more affordable prices. In addition, he serves as the CEO of Health Connect Partners, LLC, the Providence ACO serving more than 120,000 assigned members as part of CMS' MSSP program. 
 
Deepak has more than 20 years of experience in health care, serving in leadership roles at Siemens, Quest Diagnostics, McKesson, and Edifecs. Over the past eight years, he has focused on working closely with payers and providers on the use of technology to drive business decisions making the transition from volume to value-based delivery models. 
 
At Providence, Deepak has overseen the successful implementation of MACRA, Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), and other Medicare and commercial value-based care initiatives. Under his leadership the MSSP program has been ranked within the top 5 of such programs in the country. His team is developing an advanced data and analytics platform to support value-based care programs across the system. The team develops capabilities and processes that drive data-driven operational decisions.  

Deepak is a leading voice in ensuring value-based care and Health IT policy initiatives enable equitable access to health care. He serves on the Department of Health and Human Services’ ONC FAST National Steering Committee to accelerate interoperability data standards. Additionally, he is a sought-after thought leader, frequently writing for peer-reviewed publications, being interviewed by business media, and speaking at health care forums. 
 
Deepak earned his master’s degree in engineering and data science from the University of Connecticut and completed an executive management program with the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has also completed a master’s in health care delivery science from Dartmouth College.  

Dr. Heidi Schwarzwald Strategic Advisor

Signify Health

Dr. Heidi Schwarzwald is the strategic advisor to Signify Health’s Network, Clinical and Product Teams on items related to clinician network, IHE governance, and new Product development. She was honored to receive the CEO Award in 2021.

Dr. Schwarzwald is a board-certified pediatrician and a fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Schwarzwald has held several roles with Aetna, including VP CMO of Provider Network and Deputy CMO for Aetna Better Health, leading the population health team. Prior to joining Aetna in October 2019, Dr. Schwarzwald served as the Chief Medical Officer for Texas Children’s Health Plan and Associate Vice Chair for Community Pediatrics for Baylor College of Medicine.

She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University, her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed a pediatric residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas. She completed her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston Texas.

Dr. Schwarzwald lives in Houston Texas with her husband and two children.

Kacey Serrano MPA, CPC, CRC, Director, Medicare Stars and Risk Adjustment

Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield

Kacey Serrano serves as the Director for Medicare Stars and Risk Adjustment for Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield. She is accountable for the management and execution of risk adjustment and quality strategies and improvement for ABCBS Medicare Advantage plans and Value-Based Care execution. Prior to joining ABCBS, Kacey has worked for other large national plans in Medicare Advantage Stars and Risk market strategy, provider engagement, and implementation of value-based arrangements. She is well-versed in risk adjustment and stars improvement execution and market plan development for both rural and large urban markets.

Kacey has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Biology and Psychology and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Arkansas. She also has her Certified Professional Coder and Certified Risk Coder designations from AAPC.

David Shapiro Senior Vice President and General Manager of Member Experience

Press Ganey

David Shapiro is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Member Experience where he leads a team dedicated to advancing solutions, analytics, and insights aimed at enhancing the quality, experience, and retention of health plan members.

With a 25-year career marked by a focus on Health Plan Member Experience, David’s successful track record includes significantly improving consumer and provider satisfaction, Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and Star Ratings during his leadership at UnitedHealthcare as Chief Experience Officer. His broad skill set spans consumer and provider experience, managed care experience strategy, engagement marketing, consumer data, and customer relationship management.

Reva Sheehan Sr. Director, Customer Insights

mPulse

Reva has more than 15 years’ industry experience ranging from long term care and compound pharmacy management to health plan operations and quality. As an avid collaborator, Reva engages internal and external stakeholders to improve processes for optimal outcomes while keeping the member’s experience at the heart of every conversation.

Laura Sheriff, RN, MSN, CPC, CRC Vice President Operations, Risk Adjustment

Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR) 

Laura Sheriff, RN, MSN, is currently working as Vice President Operations, Risk Adjustment for Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR).  She also works as a consultant with physician groups and health plans to capitalize on risk adjustment performance and operations.  Laura is an MSN with >13 years’ experience in Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace Managed Care and has led teams in risk, quality, telehealth, and population health analytics.  Laura demonstrates effective leadership, innovative problem-solving techniques, and goal-oriented focus to execute business objectives and meet performance metrics.  Laura has designed and coordinated activities including provider education, training, auditing, data mining, and data analysis to direct program success.  Laura has a Master’s in Nursing Education and is also a certified professional coder and a certified risk coder.   Laura is also a frequent speaker for RISE, a best-in-class organization for all things related to accountable care and government healthcare reform.

Rohit Shinde Vice President

Healow Insights

Mr. Shinde founded the Payer-Provider interoperability platform, known as healow Insights, at healow, LLC. Under his guidance, healow Insights has been instrumental in facilitating a seamless transition for both Payers and Providers toward Value Based Care. Over the past 8 years, he has successfully led teams in delivering innovative data exchange solutions and services that empower Providers to reduce administrative burden while enhancing the quality of care and outcomes for Patients. Simultaneously, Payers benefit from reduced healthcare cost and improved engagement with Providers and Members.
Before embarking on the healow Insights journey, he has over 11 years of experience in bridging the gap between technology and healthcare delivery. During this time, he spearheaded various business units focused on critical areas such as Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), Clinical Registries, and Professional Services. He is also an active member of the HL7 DaVinci Project operating committee, contributing to the advancement of healthcare interoperability standards.

Victoria Smith Director of Process Improvement and Design

Beth Israel Lahey Health Performance Network (BILHPN)

Victoria Smith, Director of Process Improvement and Design at Beth Israel Lahey Health Performance Network (BILHPN), has over 12 years of experience in many facets of the health care system.   Victoria’s career started out in behavioral health and transitioned into value-based care, where she has become skilled in project and program management and informatics.  Her expertise in these facets of healthcare has driven systemic change across the Performance Network and allowed Victoria to build a successful Ambulatory CDI Program, among other duties. 

Victoria earned her Master’s in Healthcare Management and informatics and Bachelor of Art in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Keene State College, respectively.  

When they’re outside the office, Victoria loves spending time with her family and crafting.

Autumne Smith Manager of Information Governance and Data Integration

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

Autumne Smith, Manager of Information Governance and Data Integration at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (BCBSSC) has over 10 years’ experience working with all facets of health care data and technologies.  Autumne’s primary role consists of leading the HUMAN centered strategy for BCBSSC that ensures data is standardized, normalized, accessible, timely, equitable, meaningful, and safeguarded.  Autumne has led several highly technical teams that focus on delivering data insights through data visualization, integration, and automation.  Working with providers, business leaders, and IT experts, she has delivered numerous successful projects that are a blend of people, process, and technology.   Her most recent accomplishment includes building a new data exchange platform team that brings together business experts, governance analysts, and highly skilled developments to improve HEDIS® and Stars ratings, reduce manual processes, improve risk analysts, and impact the point of care delivery. 

Autumne earned her Master’s in Health Information Technology from the University of South Carolina and her Bachelor of Art in Psychology from Winthrop University. 

Melissa Smith Founder, Senior Advisor

Newton Smith Group

For more than a decade, Melissa Smith has been at the forefront of leading Medicare Advantage and Star Ratings teams. As the founder of Newton Smith Group and a Senior Advisor to Oliver Wyman, Melissa is a widely recognized thought leader and healthcare strategist. Her proven track record of success lies in developing comprehensive enterprise-wide solutions that enhance Star Ratings, quality performance, health outcomes, and the overall member experience.

Melissa excels in crafting strategic and tactical solutions to meet client needs, forging productive partnerships across internal teams and external vendors, and improving performance on various quality measures.  Her unique background in business, finance, regulatory compliance, and healthcare quality provides clients unparalleled access to healthcare strategy, quality performance, and revenue optimization.

As the former Chief Consulting Officer at Healthmine and Senior Vice President at Gorman Health Group, Melissa's leadership spans across prestigious organizations like Cigna-HealthSpring and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Graduating from Purdue University, Melissa began her career at KPMG, LLP and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Jessica Son Chief Medical Officer

Clover Health

Kathleen Spaulding Manager, Risk Adjustment Quality Assurance

CDPHP 

Kathleen Spaulding CCS, CDEO, COC, CPC, CPCO, CPMA, CRC, AAPC Approved Instructor has over 11 years of experience in both provider and payer organizations. In her role as Manager of Risk Adjustment Quality Assurance at CDPHP she oversees all aspects of the risk adjustment audit program, while also providing education to internal and external partners. Prior to her shift to risk adjustment, she held a leadership position in professional billing for a large teaching hospital system. She enjoys coaching coders and became a certified AAPC Instructor to support that endeavor. She is also the current education officer and president-elect for the Albany, NY AAPC chapter. 

Amanda Spicer Supervisor Risk Adjustment Coding Operations

CDPHP 

A versatile and accomplished leader with 15 years of experience across multiple industries, Amanda Spicer, CPC, CRC, CPB, has a proven track record of success in building and leading effective teams, both onsite and remote. A recent achievement includes successfully leading a team of 17 remote coders, demonstrating the ability to successfully navigate the unique challenges of virtual collaboration while inspiring and empowering them to achieve their goals.  

Mikal Sutton Managing Director, Medicaid 

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Mikal Sutton is Managing Director of Medicaid policy for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of thirty-four independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies. BCBSA covers 114 million lives across all lines of business in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Twenty-four of the BCBSA Plans operate a Medicaid program in twenty-nine states and Puerto Rico with more that twelve million Medicaid members.  

With almost 15 years of experience Sutton has collaborated with state and local agencies, organizations, and external stakeholders to build substantive policy solutions. Sutton oversees detailed Medicaid policy analysis and strategies to support BCBS companies, in collaboration with BCBSA’s legislative, regulatory, research and modeling teams. Since joining the Association in 2020, Sutton has worked on regulatory and policy development on a wide variety of program issue areas including maternal health, social determinants of health, long-term services and supports, expansion of Medicaid and the Public Health Emergency unwinding.  

Sutton has worked on Medicaid policy in Illinois, policy initiatives with the Illinois Department on Aging and as a director of grant operations for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant focused on growing the nursing pipeline in Illinois. Sutton has a master’s degree in political studies and a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Illinois at Springfield.  

An Illinois native, Sutton earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and master’s degree in political studies from the University of Illinois, Springfield. She enjoys outdoor activities, listening to music and traveling with her family. 

Kimberly Swanson Chief of Staff

Healthmine

Kimberly Swanson is Healthmine’s Chief of Staff. She leads administrative operations, consulting and professional services, as well as steers strategy and product design. Kimberly brings over 15 years of healthcare, health plan, and consulting experience to Healthmine.

Kimberly most recently came from Network Health Plan, where she led her MA plan to a coveted 5-star rating and ran nationally top-ranked quality programs for over 6 years. She had oversight of Stars/HEDIS®/NCQA/QRS, population health programs, clinical integration, and value-based care programs. She was responsible for the integration of quality, performance improvement and patient/member satisfaction initiatives across the Health Plan and provider systems. 

Prior to Network Health, Kimberly served in several consulting leadership positions with Valence Health, APS Healthcare, and the New York City Department of Health.

Kimberly is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and holds a Master of Public Administration from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. Kimberly has a Health Equity certification through John Hopkins University.

Ralph Tang CEO

HEALTHCARE TRANSFORMATION GROUP

Ralph Tang is a healthcare growth executive and thought leader with a track record with entrepreneurial and Fortune 500 payer, provider and digital health/IT companies. Ralph is passionate about PCP-led VBC transformation—focused on payer/provider contracting and delivery via network development and whole-person population health MSO, including episodes and digital solutions, to better serve patients, medical practices, IPAs, CINs, health systems, health plans, CMS, ACOs, MCOs and MAs.

In his current role, Ralph provides VBC consulting on payer and provider interests, such as CIN-MSO enablement, risk contracting, PCP/specialty integration, tele/digital health solutions, behavioral health and specialty bundles.

Ralph was formerly President, MD/VA IPA and MSO IPA with WellCare/UAM/Collaborative Health Systems, a $26 billion managed care plan. He spearheaded its intrapreneurial VBC strategic growth and go-to-market execution via its MSO subsidiary in partnership with PCP-led CINs, beginning in the Maryland market.

Ralph had also served as CEO & President of Partners In Care (PIC), NJ, a 650-provider multispecialty CIN/IPA (independents/health system) and population health MSO. He advanced and grew the organization in transitioning from FFS to VBC. For his leadership, PIC/Ralph was named “New Jersey Health Care 50.”

Ralph is a frequent speaker in VBC and thought leadership forums. They included Payers Transformation Assembly, Payer–Provider Partnership Summit, ACO and Payer Leadership Summit, Payments Innovations Summit, and World Health Care Congress.
Ralph holds an MBA from Harvard Business School—complemented with its VBC program “Transforming Health Care Delivery.”

Ally Thomas AVP of Quality Improvement

UPMC

Ally Thomas, Ph.D. is the Associate Vice President of Quality Improvement at UPMC Health Plan.  She oversees several teams including Medicare STARs, Quality Data and Analytics, Community-Based Quality Programs, Member Experience and Operational Excellence, and Program Development and Innovation.

Dr. Thomas joined UPMC Health Plan in 2018 to build a newly formed Medicare STARs analytic team.  One year later, in addition to the analytics, she was asked to build the overall Medicare STARs program.  This new program resulted in UPMC Health Plan earning their first 5-STAR Rating for the 2022 STAR Rating Year and maintaining that 5-STAR for the 2023 STAR Rating Year.  In 2021, Dr. Thomas was asked to expand these best practices to enhance Quality across the business as Associate Vice President of Quality Improvement. 

Dr. Thomas is also responsible for leading teams in the development of several innovative programs including the Medicare Faith & Wellness Program and partnering with Astrata (www.astrata.co) to advance the use of Natural Language Processing to enhance the development and impact of various interventions.

Prior to joining UPMC Health Plan, Dr. Thomas worked as a researcher in psychology and education.  Specializing in program design and evaluation, statistics, measurement science, survey design, social cognition, learning and instruction, and accountability programs.  During this time, she collaborated on several contracts and multi-million-dollar NSF grants with the City University of New York and the University of Pittsburgh. 

Dr. Thomas received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Quantitative Methods in Education and Psychological Research from the Graduate Center, CUNY.  As well as her M.A. in Psychology from San Diego State University and her B.A. in Psychology from Biola University. 

Bonnie Thompson MSN, MBA, PMP, VP, Strategic Consulting

Press Ganey

Bonnie Thompson joined the Press Ganey team in 2019 with more than 16 years of experience in nursing, healthcare and payer leadership roles, after transitioning from direct care delivering as a Nurse and Nurse Practitioner. She has worked with a range of organizations from small, rural critical access hospitals to major healthcare systems and both small and large health plans to develop systems, processes, and the culture to support the delivery of safe, high-quality care that is the foundation of an exceptional experience.

In her role at Press Ganey, Bonnie drives improvement using data-driven strategies implemented within a framework of high reliability.

Accomplishments include:

• partnering with multiple health systems and payer organizations to improve the delivery of patient-center care across the entire healthcare journey, resulting in improved MACAHPS and patient experience scores and growing cooperation between those involved
• working with leaders to create an environment built on the principles of high reliability that fostered improved patient safety, patient experience, and easing the way for care providers
• facilitating health plan inter-departmental teams through the development and implementation of strategic plans with efforts resulting in improved H-contract CAHPS results and improved post-visit member survey scores
• working with organizations throughout the care continuum to develop robust cause analysis programs

Chris Towner Data Analytics Manager

Providence St. Joseph

Robert Tracy Senior Vice President of Government Programs

Independent Health

Robert Tracy is the Independent Health Senior Vice President of Government Programs which includes oversight of operations for Medicare Advantage, state programs and risk adjustment coding integrity. Independent Health currently serves 67,000 Medicare Advantage lives and 87,000 state product lives, accounting for $2B in annual revenue.

Independent Health is a community health plan serving the eight counties of Western New York. Independent Health is the only WNY health plan with Medicare 5 Star in all Medicare products (HMO/PPO/PDP) for 2 years running (2023 and 2024) and a Tier 1 Medicaid plan in New York State for the second consecutive year (2022 and 2023).

Bob's 36 years of experience includes the following areas:
-Medicare cost report auditing
-Provider reimbursement strategies and modeling
-Internal audit financial and operational program management
-Financial analysis and oversight of self-funded employer actuarial rating
-Provider capitation model design, build and reimbursement
-Medicare product design, bid submissions and operational compliance
-New York State Medicaid program oversight, contract adherence and compliance
-Medicare and ACA encounter submission oversight
-Medicare, State and ACA risk adjustment coding integrity programs

Bob earned a Bachelor's degree in accounting and Master's degree in finance from Canisius College of Buffalo, New York. He currently holds a New York state producer license for accident, life and health.

Kai Tsai Executive Vice President, Strategic Business Development

Centauri Health Solutions

Kai Tsai has extensive work experience in the healthcare industry. Most recently, in 2021, they became the EVP of Strategic Business Development at Centauri Health Solutions, Inc. Prior to that, they served as a Board Member at Fortes Health starting in 2020. In 2019, they worked as a Partner - Payer Leader at Guidehouse (formerly Navigant) until 2021. From 2018 to 2019, they were a Managing Director at Navigant. Before that, they held the position of Executive Vice President at RowdMap (acquired by Cotiviti) from 2017 to 2018. Kai also served as the Executive Vice President at Valence Health (acquired by Evolent Health) from 2014 to 2016. In 2012, they worked as a Director at PwC Consulting, focusing on healthcare organizations and government programs initiatives. From 2010 to 2012, they held various roles at OptumInsight, including Vice President, Senior Director, and Managing Director, where they worked with health organizations and government programs. Prior to that, they were an Associate Director at Ingenix Consulting (formerly Reden & Anders) from 2008 to 2010. Throughout their career, Kai Tsai has held key leadership and advisory roles, contributing to strategic business development and improving healthcare systems.

Kai Tsai's education history includes earning a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Biology from the University of Michigan. After completing their undergraduate studies, Kai Tsai pursued a Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) degree from the same university. However, specific start and end years for both degrees are not provided.

Karl Ulfers Co-Founder and CEO

DUOS

Karl is passionate about empowering older adults to have more freedom as they age because of his own experience helping his loved ones navigate their challenges of aging and struggling to find resources they needed to age independently. He is
leveraging his experiences as an early leader in digital health starting in 2006 at OptumHealth, part of UnitedHealth Group, and his more recent experience as the Chief Product Officer and then CEO of Rally Health to help DUOS establish a system of aging that makes it easy for older adults and caregivers to get access to the support they need. Read more about Karl’s story here. “The time is now for a company like DUOS to exist. When you put together a team that is equally skilled, compassionate, tech-savvy and deeply entrenched in the healthcare space, it truly can change the world.”

Mark Van Ert Managing Director

FTI Consulting

Mark Van Ert has over 25 years of executive leadership experience with major healthcare organizations and has led initiatives for clients including Medicare Advantage and commercial/ACA payers, health systems and provider groups including specialty providers, health services companies and investors.

Mr. Van Ert's expertise is focused on health plan operations, including leading HCC coding reviews in support of RADV audits, due diligence, or as a component of larger compliance or performance improvement initiatives; Evaluating and strengthening the effectiveness of Managed Care operations and compliance programs, including Risk Adjustment and Quality; and developing analytics and management dashboards to enable decision-making related to operational improvements, strategy-setting, and dispute resolution.

Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. Van Ert was an executive at Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group where he held several leadership positions in Quality and Risk Adjustment Operations and was responsible for approximately $40 billion in Medicare Advantage and ACA submissions to CMS and HHS. He created processes and systems to perform self-directed and government-mandated audits (e.g. RADV) to ensure accuracy of submissions and corresponding payments, implemented Process and Control framework to ensure accuracy and completeness of all work, and he was responsible for analyzing, remediating, and quantifying impacts of changes to data submissions. He also led teams of analysts and data scientists responsible for helping numerous payers and provider groups maximize the effectiveness of their quality and risk adjustment programs.

Previous to working with Optum, Mr. Van Ert’s experience includes performance improvement initiatives at multiple organizations, including corporate capital restructuring, balance sheet rationalization, and operational re-engineering to improve organizational profitability and stability. In addition, Mr. Van Ert has experience as a divisional CFO of Fortune 200 companies, he has experience leading strategy, finance and operational teams and has led investor and media relations for publicly traded corporations.

Mr. Van Ert holds his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics and his M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota.

Ariana Vanin Sr. Director Product Growth

Sanitas Medical Center

Dynamic leader with 18 years of healthcare experience and proven success in defining and executing strategies that drive revenue, improve patient/provider experience and ensure operational excellence. Analytical thinker, creative problem solver and expert relationship builder who zeros in on market gaps, customer needs and operational requirements to create executable solutions that deliver results.

Miguel Venereo MD, FACOG, CCPS, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Community Care Plan

A 36-year veteran in the healthcare industry, Dr. Venereo has held the position of  Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Community Care Plan since 2014. Before joining CCP, he practiced OB/GYN for over 15 years in Broward County. After retiring from active clinical practice, Dr. Venereo served as Medical Director for Medicaid and Medicare Health Plans, as well as Physician Liaison and Director of Medical Affairs for two of the largest hospital systems in South Florida.

Chris Wage Director, Experience Strategy

Healthmine

Rex Wallace Founder & Principal

Rex Wallace Consulting

Rex Wallace is the founder and principal of Rex Wallace Consulting, LLC, a firm that specializes in improving Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage health plans. Rex assesses plans and guides them in the development and implementation of-leading strategies to drive material Quality Improvement. Since its inception in 2017, RWC has helped multiple Medicare Advantage contracts achieve significant improvements in Star Ratings, including single-year full-Star improvements. Prior to launching RWC, Rex spent twenty-three years in strategic healthcare roles, with a strong focus on Medicare Advantage. Most recently, he led Stars for a large, multi-state plan that consistently achieved 4 and 4.5 Stars across its multiple contracts.

Ken Walters Senior Vice President, and Chief Operating Officer

Community Care Plan

Ken Walters is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Community Care Plan, the Health Plan with a Heart, and is responsible for spearheading and overseeing all daily operations for the organization. Ken plays a major role in monitoring local activities of the health plan to ensure they are in accordance with contract requirements and is responsible for ensuring that all operations are run efficiently and effectively, creating an environment where both members and providers can obtain superior customer service.

 Ken has been involved in government programs for over 20 years, delivering services to Medicare, Medicaid, and special needs populations.  His specialty in performance improvement has served to enhance services in all areas.

 Ken holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Susan Waterman Trainer, Director, Risk Adjustment

Baylor Scott & White

Susan Waterman is Director of Risk Adjustment for Baylor Scott and White Health Plan. Baylor Scott and White is an integrated healthcare system with over 50 hospitals, research centers, and 800 + patient care sites across Texas.

Susan’s primary focus is ensuring accurate risk scores by leading a team of auditors and focusing on provider engagement and education, working with other departments to achieve health plan goals, and designing and implementing affordable, high-quality health care coverage so customers, patients, and team members are empowered to live well.

Austin Weaver VP, Medicare

Hinge Health

Austin is the Vice President of Medicare at Hinge Health, where he leads and grows the digital musculoskeletal services they provide to seniors .  Prior to this, he was the Vice President of Payer Strategy and Network Innovation at OptumCare, which is the largest provider of care for Medicare beneficiaries in the US.  Additionally, Austin was a Partner at the Advisory Board Company, leading its Value Based Care consulting practice with over a decade of advising health systems, payers, and the US Congress on key strategic initiatives. 

Austin specialized in healthcare while earning his MBA from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management and graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame.

Rick Whitted CEO

U.S. Hunger

Rick Whitted is the President & Chief Executive Officer at U.S. Hunger, a global nonprofit whose mission is feeding families today and uniting them to a healthier tomorrow. In total, U.S. Hunger (USH) has provided over 150 million meals to families in need. Before his appointment as CEO in March 2020, Rick served on USH’s board of directors. Rick has overseen the launch of several of the organization’s initiatives: expanding home delivery of fresh produce into its supply chain; aligning its Full Cart® program with the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health equity framework; and, developing a cloud based SaaS solution that uses A.I. and Machine Learning to identify root causes of food insecurity in the U.S. and provide real-time actionable intelligence on social determinants of health (SDOH). Rick is a graduate of Stetson University and Nova Southern University where he received a BA in Political Sciences/American Studies, and an MBA, Business Administration and Management, respectively. Prior to joining USH, he spent 27 multi-faceted years in banking; focusing on small business, government and non-profit banking. He is also an accomplished author and speaker with expertise in leadership, workplace culture and individual and team development. 

Mark Wiacek Founder / Consultant

Vihara Health

Mark Wiacek is a 25-year veteran of the healthcare industry, providing strategic leadership as well as tactical implementation of cutting-edge, physician-enablement solutions. His experience is specifically focused on medium / large independent, physician-owned multispecialty practices.

Mark has spent years leading numerous groups through the design and implementation of many key high-profile initiatives in a variety of roles.  He joined White-Wilson Medical Center, P.A. (WWMC) (independent, physician-owned 90+ provider group) in 2011 and served as Chief Operations Officer from 2018 – 2023, where he successfully led a regeneration and expansion of the organization.  Mark helped WWMC retain their 70+ years of independence through an intense 5-year re-alignment of organizational core values, along with a technology-focused implementation of numerous value-based care (VBC) initiatives.

Mark obtained his BA with a double-major in Computer Science and Communications from Lambuth University in 1998 and received his MBA from Missouri State University in 2023.  He has a passion for enabling front-line healthcare professionals the ability to focus on the delivery of medicine and eliminate the administrate burdens that have compounded over the last 20+ years.  He founded Vihara Health in 2024 to provide VBC services and solutions in an effort to help bridge the gap that has developed between payors, providers and patient outcomes.

Marc Willard CEO

Icario

Marc Willard is CEO of Icario, responsible for the company’s overall strategy, growth, and operations. Marc has over three decades of experience leading digital transformation and technology in the digital health sector. Marc is passionate about improving lives with industry-leading, cloud-first, digital health platforms.  

Marc brings a unique and highly relevant set of abilities, operational experiences, and industry relationships to Icario at the perfect time in the company’s development. Before joining Icario, Marc was the founder of Certify, where he pioneered the first cloud-based data and interoperability platform connecting providers and payors at scale. At Humana, Marc founded Transcend Insights, the merger of three Humana acquisitions, including Certify. Transcend developed and launched an innovative cloud-based population health platform. During his time at Humana Corp, as SVP, he led all member, patient, and provider digital engagement initiatives. These initiatives were focused on data and analytics to improve care delivery, quality, and lower healthcare costs. In addition, Marc holds several board member positions. 

Marc studied Electronic Engineering at Farnborough College of Technology, and in classic entrepreneurial style, left to focus on his first start-up. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and family, collecting classic cars, and being out on the water. He also mentors entrepreneurs while supporting the start-up community, which he finds very rewarding.  

Anne Winter Senior Managing Director

FTI Consulting

Anne Winter, Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, brings 25+ years of experience in the areas of Managed Care, government policy and regulation, operational improvement, product development, and new market entry strategy. Ms. Winter has both worked in and assisted clients with developing and executing on market expansion strategies, member engagement, operational improvement/readiness and differentiation, regulatory compliance, Government Program policy analysis and strategy, and procurement strategies.  Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Ms. Winter was a Principal at Health Management Associates. Before that, at CVS Health, she led regulatory compliance activities for the PBM.

Olga Ziegler Vice President

Highmark Health

Olga Ziegler grew up in Moscow, Russia, during a time when the quality of healthcare was subpar and preventive healthcare was nonexistent. She witnessed family members delay care, which resulted in late diagnoses and limited treatment options. “The good news is healthcare has improved in Russia, but my past experiences continue to motivate me to be part of something even better,” she says.

Olga is currently Vice President of Risk Adjustment Accuracy Management at Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc., one of America’s leading health insurance organizations and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.  At Highmark, she oversees risk adjustment operations and revenue reimbursements for the company’s approximately 380,000 Medicare Advantage members, 260,000 ACA individual and small group members and 530,000 Medicaid members.

“The ultimate goal for my team is to ensure Highmark receives complete and accurate reimbursements from the government for our enrolled beneficiaries—critical to ensuring our beneficiaries have access to high-quality, affordable care and products,” Ziegler says.  She is also focused on supporting Highmark’s members by advancing point of care solutions through automation and improving access to comprehensive care. “If we can effectively partner with providers toward this objective, everyone wins,” she says.

Beth Zuehlke Chief Customer Officer

Moxe Health

Beth works closely with our customers to ensure we deliver solutions that support their strategic objectives and drive better healthcare outcomes. She brings more than 20 years of experience in healthcare technology, consulting, project management, and sales. Beth got her start in healthcare IT at Epic and has held leadership roles at Evergreen Healthcare Partners and healthfinch. An impassioned solution-oriented leader, Beth is committed to bringing our customers innovative solutions that reduce waste and enable greater access to care.