Alexis Abramson, PhD is the global authority on Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Gen G and the Boomer consumer. She is an inspiring speaker, blogger, corporate consultant, successful author, and award-winning entrepreneur. Her commitment to multi-generations has been featured in many national publications, including TIME, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur and People. Dr. Abramson is an Emmy and Gracie award-winning journalist who has appeared frequently as an on-air expert gerontologist for NBC’s Today show, CNN, CBS, FOX, MSNBC and numerous other media outlets. In addition to her own popular blog, Dr. Alexis is a featured contributor for many top tier websites. She is also highly-sought after as a keynote speaker at industry conferences. Abramson speaks to Fortune 100/500 corporations, consumers, government agencies, and non-profits bringing awareness of the intergenerational dynamic between four distinct generations. As a proven industry consultant, Dr. Abramson has worked closely with many major organizations, including L’Oreal Paris, COMCAST, Harvard, Kroger, Northwestern Mutual, Proctor & Gamble, Humana, AIG, Kimberly-Clark, Walmart, AARP and many more. She is the author of several highly-acclaimed books. Her next two books, Gen “G”: The Generation of Growth™ and Managing Your Multi-Generational Workforce will both be published in the Fall of 2019. Her dedication to multi-generations has won Dr. Abramson a number of professional accolades, including Working Woman Magazine’s General Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, Atlanta Small Business’ Person of the Year Award, 40 Under 40 Award, American Society of Aging’s Outstanding Business Award, and many others. Dr. Abramson received her Doctorate in Gerontology from the prestigious University of Southern California’s Davis School of Gerontology.
Amy Blackledge Director of Clinical Quality Management
Blue Cross of Idaho
Amy Blackledge, MBA-HC, MSN, RN, CSSBB is the Director of Clinical Quality at Blue Cross of Idaho where she has oversight of HEDIS, NCQA accreditation, and quality improvement. Her previous experience includes leading quality reporting, population health, and value-based performance for large health systems. She has a passion for transformational work through collaboration, quality integration, and using data to drive improved outcomes.
Joy Bland AVP Quality HEDIS and Compliance Operations
Aetna
In Joy's current role, she utilizes her broad expertise in creating and managing programs that use clinical quality and metrics to increase cost-effective health care delivery to patients across all lines of business (i.e., commercial, IFP, Medicare, Medicaid and Duals).Her dual leadership roles reflect the strong partnership between clinical and operational functions that is needed in the management of health care services to improve population health management and encourage patient-centered care.
Areas of focus for her current role include, accreditation for health plans, health equity and long-term services and support across all lines of business; performance and market positions across all government programs by delivering improved health outcomes; achieving financial commitment by focusing on paying for value and optimizing quality programs; driving improved Star ratings across lines of business and exceeding quality performance incentives for Medicaid, Duals, Medicare and other LOBs.
Prior to this role, Joy was the VP of Quality for Magellan Complete Care (MCC). She led and monitored pro-active, clinical, and operational programs, driving quality and process improvements for all MCC's Medicaid and Medicare Programs including Behavioral Health.
She was also the Regional Vice President for Clinical Quality Management at Anthem Blue Cross and was responsible for all quality functions of the California health plan. She managed programs surrounding HEDIS, NCQA accreditation of Medicaid, CAHPS, and state-requested reports and projects for three regional health plans.
Joy completed a Master of Arts degree in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding from California State University, Dominguez Hills, she holds a Doctorate in Behavioral Health from Arizona State University, and she also received a Certificate in Leading with Finance from Harvard. Joy is a Certified Professional in Health Care Quality with a National Distinction and has become a Certified Case Manager. In addition, she holds a multi-state compact registered nurse license and is licensed RN in California.
Evelyn Chojnacki Senior Director, Health Plan Strategy
Sword Health
Evelyn Chojnacki brings an extensive health plan background to Sword Health with over 19 years’ experience serving clients and members. This includes client management, health care program development, vendor assessment and integrations, market deployment and strategy.
Evelyn joined Sword in early 2021 and remains focused on advocating for the needs of health plan partners while supporting the advancement of virtual care across the industry. This means promoting solutions positioned to deliver impactful clinical results and equitable member access to convenient care - all while tackling escalating healthcare costs.
Outside of work, Evelyn is an active outdoor and travel enthusiast.
His background is in management and operational processes for 15 years and begun working in the Risk Adjustment arena 15+ years ago. Ryan has proven himself by helping Medical Groups and Health Plans to accurately improve their documentation with a solid track record of provider engagement. Ryan uses a unique blend of comedy, and deep risk adjustment knowledge to get buy-ins from providers to improve their documentation. His track record of results of improving documentation and thus improving revenue streams and patient care brings value to any group he works with. Having worked on the provider, payer, and now the vendor side Ryan is able to bring a unique perspective to the conversation and develop out of the box ideas to help any size group. In 2020 Ryan co-founded New Vision Healthcare Solutions to fill a niche in the market on providing provider education with data stemming from analytics, and provider chart data. Ryan is a Certified Risk Adjustment Coder (CRC) credential through the AAPC.
Julianne Eckert is the Senior Director of Clinical Quality Programs at Clover Health, a physician enablement company focused on seniors who have historically lacked access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. She is responsible for creating an innovative data driven strategy that breaks the traditional model of healthcare to make it easier for providers and patients to deliver and receive healthcare.
She has spent her life using her personal and clinical career experiences to help drive her mission as a patient advocate by leading health plan quality improvement strategies to prevent vulnerable populations from falling through the cracks with data stories and forward thinking programs which enable patients to easily navigate the complex matrices of healthcare and insurance. She has sweeping subject matter experience in CMS Innovation models, Stars QI programming, NCQA HEDIS/CAHPS/HOS, health equity, as well as, national and international leadership in driving laser focused strategies to improve health plan performance and member outcomes/experience.
She has held multiple Board Advisory roles and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for curriculum development for Pace University’s Design Thinking Executive Program which meets high academic standards, with a challenging interdisciplinary curriculum designed to prepare top executives to solve real-world challenges in designing innovative practices. She holds multiple certifications in Organizational Change Management, Case Management and also Managed Care. She is an avid mentor and career coach believing it is her mission to develop our next generation of leaders.
Rhonda Farrar HEDIS & Quality Principal Program Manager
Advantmed
Rhonda is the Senior Manager of Data Analytics working with Elevate Quality Insights at Advantmed. Her clinical nursing experience includes critical care nursing in the ICU and ED, home health nursing, and Chronic Care Management. Recognizing the increasing frequency of ED and Home Health Care utilization by the same patients, Rhonda shifted to a healthcare quality focus. Rhonda has spent the last 8 years supporting patients, providers and health plans with significant experience in HEDIS and Quality Improvement. Rhonda’s health plan experience as the manager of HEDIS and Risk Adjustment departments on the payer side helps bring the clinical perspective to the technical needs of Quality. She joined the Advantmed team to use that experience to help clients balance clinical, clinical documentation, and data requirements to ultimately provide the best care possible for every patient. She is currently based in Marion County, FL and spends her free time with her husband, family, and their precious dogs Creek and River.
My name is Priscilla Franco, Pharmacy Supervisor at SCAN Health Plan. I graduated from NSU College of Pharmacy in South Florida, where I was first exposed to the inequities faced by the diverse (mostly senior) population there. I saw first-hand the value of bridging the gap in knowledge by educating patients in their native language and gained valuable experience working with the underserved. Years later I moved to California, where I got to continue my work with seniors, with a focus on Spanish-speakers. I currently lead a passionate team of pharmacists and care navigators who are relentless in their pursuit of equitable care for our members.
Nick Groch, is an accomplished professional with a robust background in clinical nutrition and product development. Holding a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from Northern Illinois University and completing his dietetic internship at Indiana University, he has continually demonstrated his dedication to advancing the field of nutrition. With certifications as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist (LDN), he has excelled in various roles, including his current position as Product Manager-Clinical Nutrition at Medline, where he oversees multiple nutrition product categories, drives business development, and spearheaded the launch of the Medline Food Benefit Solution. Prior to this, he served in numerous clinical nutrition leadership roles, most recently as Director, Nutrition Systems at UChicago Medicine. Food as Medicine is a passion that first arose while he was clinical nutrition manager at a hospital in Chicago, caring for an underserved community. During that time, he sought and received multiple federal grant to implement a hospital based farmers market to improve local consumption of fruits and vegetable for food insecure individuals, with the ultimate goal of improving long-term healthy eating habits and health outcomes. Nick’s dedication to advancing clinical nutrition practices and improving patient care exemplifies his commitment to the field and his ongoing contributions to the healthcare industry.
Bryan Hall has been involved with HEDIS as part of a major benefits consulting firm, a health plan underwriting and data manager, a HEDIS programmer, an auditor, a troubleshooter for a HEDIS vendor, a project manager, and as a consultant.
As a HEDIS programmer, he twice helped a small, non-profit health plan make the U.S. News & World Report list of America's Best Health Plans.
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.
Katharine is the President of Healthy People, an NCQA-licensed HEDIS audit firm and CMS Data Validation firm. She is a member of NCQA’s Audit Methodology Panel and NCQA’s HEDIS Data Collection Advisory Panel. Katharine has been a Certified HEDIS® Compliance Auditor since 1998 and has directed more than two thousand HEDIS audits.
Previously, as CEO of the company Acumetrics, Katharine provided consultancy services to NCQA which helped their initial development and eventual launch of the NCQA Measure Certification Program.
Katharine is a frequent speaker at HEDIS conferences, including NCQA’s most recent Healthcare Quality Congress. She is featured on an NCQA podcast, discussing the HEDIS Electronic Clinical Data System Measures: https://blog.ncqa.org/inside-h...
She received her BA from Columbia University and her MPH from UC Berkeley School of Public Health. She is a member of the National Association for Healthcare Quality and is published in the fields of healthcare and public health.
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.
David L. Larsen has been the Director of Quality Improvement for SelectHealth in Salt La¬ke City, Utah for the past 31 years and has worked for Intermountain Healthcare for 38 years. SelectHealth is a mixed model HMO with more than 900,000 members in Utah, Idaho and Nevada. Intermountain Healthcare is an integrated health care delivery system with 23 hospitals and over 1500 employed physicians.
As the Director of Quality Improvement, David has responsibilities for oversight of the Medicare Advantage Stars program for which SelectHealth received a 4.5 Star rating in 2020 and 4 Star rating in 2021, maintaining NCQA accreditation; HEDIS performance measurement; CAHPS measurement and reporting, public reporting (transparency) and population health.
David has also been responsible for the oversight and development of chronic disease registries, performance measurement and web based reporting systems, quality improvement pay for performance incentives for providers, and direct patient improvement interventions related to chronic illnesses including patient adherence monitoring, reminders and incentive programs.
Nate Lucena is the Chief Strategy & Analytics Officer for Rex Wallace Consulting, where he specializes in helping health plans achieve their Quality Improvement performance goals through data-driven and equity-focused strategies. He began his career spending over a decade in academic research, specializing in the neural bases of schizophrenia, brain aging, Alzheimer’s Disease and human cognition. Nate has been published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology and Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, and regularly presented research findings at industry conferences.
Nate shifted into a managed care career at Centene Corporation, where he built and led an Enterprise Quality Analytics and Data Science team specializing in data strategy, QI initiative outcomes studies, member-level predictive modeling of experience and clinical outcomes, and performance forecasting. Additionally, he was the key analytics lead in the development of an award-winning QI Health Equity Analysis Model, incorporating stratified reporting and advanced statistical modeling to help health plans identify health disparities and drivers in HEDIS and CAHPS. He went on to lead Ratings Improvement Strategy, National Vendor Management, and Quality RFP/Business Development for Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace lines of business.
Core to Nate’s work across the academic and corporate sectors is a deep commitment to creating diverse workplaces rooted in equity and inclusion through measurable action. His commitment is evidenced by leadership roles in the Washington University LGBT Advisory Board, co-creator and leader of the SafeZones training program for faculty and staff departments, co-Presidency of Centene’s cPRIDE employee inclusion group, and participation in numerous equity-focused community groups. This equity focus is the primary lens through which he helps managed care organizations bring disparity reduction to the forefront of their QI strategic focus.
Nate has Master’s degrees in Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience/Aging from the College of William & Mary and Washington University in St. Louis.
Katie Martin (she/her) received her Masters of Healthcare Informatics from the University of San Diego. She is currently Vice President, Quality and Clinical Analytics with Baylor Scott & White Health Plan. Katie is passionate about developing integrated quality programs; collaborating with population health, wellness, care management, member engagement and analytics to drive improvement. Some of her achievements involve leading plans to achieving CMS 5 Stars, improved overall quality ratings, and focused programs to guide member engagement and satisfaction.
Marie has over twenty years of experience in the healthcare industry with in-depth knowledge on risk adjustment and quality improvement programs. She is passionate about working alongside healthcare leaders supporting the implementation of diabetes eye exam solutions specifically designed for health plans that enhance patient outcomes, improve access to care, lower total cost of care, and address SDOH for both health plans and providers.
Amanda Rees is co-founder and CEO of Bold, a digital health company focused on disease prevention and healthy aging. Bold partners with Medicare plans and provider groups to offer older adults personalized and science-based exercise programs that prevent falls, reduce musculoskeletal pain and disability, and increase physical activity levels. Before Bold, Amanda worked in energy and environmental justice, managing the renewable energy portfolio at The 11th Hour Project, a program of The Schmidt Family Foundation. Prior to that, she was a Dalai Lama Fellow, and she has conducted research at Stanford, Princeton and UCLA. Amanda has a BSE in Chemical & Biological Engineering from Princeton University. She has been a fitness instructor for over a decade, teaching dance, yoga, indoor cycling, and community tai chi for fall prevention.
Heidi has deep expertise in helping health plans improve their Member Experience. Prior to joining RWC, she led the CAHPS and HOS national strategy for Cigna.
Amy Schuler is the HEDIS Process Manager at Devoted Health, Inc., working to build a lean, system-approach to the maturing HEDIS function in a fast-growing organization. Prior to Devoted Health, Inc. she was a proven leader in a hospital system both in Illinois and Missouri, leading quality, regulatory, patient experience and performance improvement teams. She has provided consulting services to Penn State Health to establish a foundation for a daily Operating System. Amy is a 1998 graduate of St. Louis University, where she earned a degree in Physical Therapy. Since then, she has obtained her MBA from Webster University and prides herself in using her Six Sigma and Lean mindset and skills to establish sustainable and standardized processes in complex work-streams, such as HEDIS.
Jason Sloan
Vice President, Medicare Advantage Stars and Risk Programs
Jason Sloan Vice President, Medicare Advantage Stars and Risk Programs
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina
At BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Jason leads the strategic vision and implementation for Medicare Advantage quality improvement activities, risk adjustment procedures and value-based provider partnerships. Under Jason’s leadership the MA program has markedly increased quality outcomes by helping beneficiaries navigate the healthcare system and by establishing strong partnerships with local healthcare providers.
Jason has spent his career managing local and national Medicare Advantage quality programs along with experience in medical research and physical therapy health programs. He earned an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters in Biomedical Science from Midwestern University in Chicago. To stay well rounded Jason enjoys fishing with his kids and playing golf as often as possible.
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.
Elizabeth Strachota Benz Vice President of Quality and Clinical Integration
Network Health
Respected, results oriented senior executive with nearly 20 years industry experience. An employee and customer-centric leader who collaboratively executes strategic tactics.
Prior to Network Health, Elizabeth on Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin’s senior leadership team and as vice president of sales at Universal American.
Elizabeth has a B.S. in marketing and B.S. in international relations from Syracuse University. An avid runner and has a passion for health equity.
Elissa Toder VP Quality Improvement Strategy & Solutions, Product Development
Reveleer
Elissa Toder, Vice President of Quality Improvement Strategy and Solutions has worked in managed care for over 16 years as a former Staff Vice President of Quality Improvement.
Mick Twomey is the founding Chief Operating Officer (COO) and current Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) of Hyperlift Logic, Inc. Coming from a management consulting background, Mick set his vision on redefining how plans approach Stars optimization. Out of that was bornStars Monitor, Hyperlift's SaaS technology platform.
Crafted by Stars professionals for their peers,Stars Monitoris the industry's leading Stars analytics solution that gives Stars teams time back while redefining how plans approach Stars optimization. Mick's dedication to creating a scalable and universally applicable model has helped establish Hyperlift's innovation-driven approach into a trusted partner in the healthcare sector.
Through a combination of leading-edge technology, Stars experts, and a year-round engagement framework, Hyperlift propels healthcare plans of all magnitudes to elevate their Stars performance management. Mick's leadership catalyzes these solutions, enabling healthcare plans to embark on a transformative Stars management journey that outperforms conventional performance management.
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.
Daniel Weaver recently became the Senior Vice President of Stars and Quality at Zing Health. With over 25 years of experience in Operations and Star Ratings strategy, Daniel has previously served as VP, Government Quality Programs at Gateway Health and Director of Stars Programs at Highmark Health, helping both organizations achieve and maintain their first 4.5 Star Ratings. In his career, Dan has overseen the development and implementation of many analytics-driven and customer-focused programs, and he advocates for continuous improvement and operational excellence philosophies for sustained success. In his new role with Zing Health, Daniel will focus on implementing a high-performing Stars infrastructure to support the organization’s rapid growth with a focus on servicing special needs members in several states.
Andy received his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Minnesota School of Pharmacy-Twin Cities College of Pharmacy and his MBA from Lakeland University. After graduation, he was a retail pharmacy manager at a national chain for 11 years. During this time, he also worked with various companies in workers’ compensation case reviews/consultations, long-term care and Medication Therapy Management (MTM).
Andy is a licensed pharmacist with 22+ years of experience in the pharmacy industry, with nearly 8 years at Network Health. His current role focuses on Medicare BID, Medicare compliance, custom formulary management, Medicare Part C and Part D Stars/Quality Initiatives and medical drug management programs.
Stephen Winn is the Senior Director for Quality at the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, a large multi-specialty medical group based in the Mid-Atlantic, and oversees Quality Program reporting, including HEDIS. With more than a decade of experience, he focuses on building programs, systems, and workflows that promote the delivery of high-quality care and accurate reporting.
Prior to working in Healthcare, he was an International Economist at the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Kate Wormington, Director Solutions Management, joined Veradigm in January of 2023 leading the Quality Analytics solutions. For the past 20 years, Kate has focused on HEDIS and quality reporting for both payers and providers. Kate spent close to 10 years managing complex operations of a quality analytics program supporting HEDIS, CMS Star, IHA AMP, QARR, QRS, and Medicaid State measurement sets for innovative healthcare organizations. She joins us with deep experience as a result of leading a multi-state Client Success Support and Implementation team, supporting 27 clients across 3 products. Additionally, Kate has led an NCQA Data Aggregator Validation (DAV) project team through Cohort 2, and was in the middle of Cohort 4, providing targeted HEDIS standard supplemental data using C-CDA files. Kate began as a software engineer specializing in software quality, with a Masters degree in IT. She embraced the business side, utilizing product, project and client management skills. Kate lives in Denver, Colorado, originally from the UK, starting her career in healthcare working for the National Health Service.
