Speakers

Allison Hess

Allison Hess is the Vice President of Health Innovations for Geisinger. She has been over 20 years of experience in healthcare and is responsible for the oversight and implementation of health services programming for Geisinger patients, GHP insured members and community members. She started her career in community health education/corporate wellness and has continued to expand to include innovative community-based population health initiatives driven by data analysis and clinical outcome measurements. Most recently her work has been in the social determinants of health with a focus on SDOH screenings, resources and innovative programs to address the social needs of Geisinger patients and members targeting food insecurity, health equity and quality/prevention initiatives.

Ms. Hess has earned a Bachelor of science in Health Education and her MBA from Bloomsburg University. She has been the recipient of several awards focused in various areas of health including health equity, worksite wellness and innovative supply chain. She has also been recognized nationally for her work with the Fresh Food Farmacy program.

Angela Lynn, RN, MSN, BSN, CCM

Angela serves as the Director of Care Management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina where she has accountability for the Case Management and Condition Care programs.  Angela has been an employee with Blue Cross NC for 17 years.  She is a Registered Nurse with a BSN degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MSN  degree in Healthcare & Leadership from Western Governors University. Angela is a Certified Case Manager, dynamic leader, and passionate advocate for health equity and improving the health and well- being of the communities in which she serves.

Brian Sims

Brian Sims is the Vice President of Quality & Equity, for the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA), whose mission is to provide hospitals and health systems leadership, advocacy, and education to help them better serve their communities. Brian has more than 15 years of experience working in Maryland’s health care industry. At MHA he leads the Association’s efforts to advance health equity throughout the field and leads the hospital quality policy advocacy efforts. He works in partnership with legislators, regulatory agencies, hospital leadership and various stakeholders to understand key issues and develop appropriate strategies to advance the fields priorities. His primary focus is helping hospitals improve quality performance and identifying opportunities to reduce health disparities and improve health equity in the communities they serve. Prior to his current role, he worked with health system finance leaders on finance and reimbursement advocacy and strategy. Before joining MHA, Brian worked in strategic planning and decision support for large and medium-sized hospital systems, analyzing the financial impact of care delivery innovation and identifying opportunities to provide accessible and high- quality care to target populations. 

In addition to his daily professional experience, Brian is a Co-Chair of the National Nurse Staffing Taskforce, and President-Elect of the Maryland Chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), where he has been a member for 13 years and served on the Board of Directors for 10 years. In 2022, Brian was appointed to the Maryland Commission on Health Equity: Health Equity Policy Commission, where he will help to create health equity policy recommendations for the state.

Cameual Wright, MD, MBA

As the Vice President, Market Chief Medical Officer for CareSource Indiana, Dr. Wright oversees the development and implementation of all clinical policies, procedures and operations, ensuring adherence to regulatory and care standards. She is responsible for fostering effective relationships with healthcare providers, state agencies and community-based organizations to improve the health and well-being of both members and the community.

Prior to joining CareSource, Dr. Wright practiced obstetrics and gynecology in Indiana for 15 years and has held multiple clinical leadership positions. She continues to passionately advocate for improvements and equity in maternal and infant outcomes, serving on multiple local and national boards and committees, including the Indiana Perinatal Quality Improvement Committee, the Indiana Maternal Mortality Review Committee, the March of Dimes, as a Maternal and Infant Health Expert with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and most recently, as the Chair of the American Diabetes Association Women's Health Initiative Scientific Advisory Committee.

A vocal proponent of health equity, Dr. Wright dedicates both time and talent to efforts aimed at mitigating health disparities in Indiana and across the nation. She has spearheaded multiple equity initiatives at CareSource, including the CareSource Re-entry Program, recognized by the Indianapolis Business Journal as a “Healthcare Hero” in community achievement. Dr. Wright has steered the development of both internal and external committees focused on ensuring that every individual has an opportunity to achieve their full health potential, regardless of how they identify.

Dr. Wright has been tapped by numerous local and regional media outlets to provide expert perspective on current events that are impacting the health of CareSource members and the community, including the infant formula shortage, childhood vaccinations, women’s health, re-entry, health equity, COVID and more.

Chris Peterson

Chris Peterson is a Principal at the consulting firm Health Policy Alternatives (HPA) in Washington, DC.  He joined the firm in 2022 after more than 23 years providing health care policy analysis and advice in the areas of alternative payment models, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), private health insurance, and tax ​policy. Chris served four years as Acting Executive Director and Principal Deputy Director of Maryland’s Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC), where he helped negotiate Maryland’s agreement with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and led the team developing the state’s latest value-based payment innovations and obtaining CMMI approval. Most recently, he served two years for MITRE, a private-sector consulting firm, where he provided strategic, policy and operational consulting services to the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) and CMMI. ​His experience as a nonpartisan health care policy advisor to the United States Congress includes nine years at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and six years at the then newly created Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). In those roles, he provided technical insights on major health reform policy legislation, authored reports, and testified before congressional committees. He has also worked for the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. Chris earned an M.P.P. from Georgetown University and a B.S. in mathematics from Missouri Western State University and is a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional and Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Dan Paoletti

Dan Paoletti is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ohio Health Information Partnership. Previously he served as a Vice President with the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) and Chief Operating Officer of OHA Solutions. Dan also serves on the Board and Committees of the following organizations:

• DirectTrust, Washington D.C., 2017-Present, Treasurer & Board Member
• Health Policy Institute of Ohio, 2017-Present, Board Member
• Healthcare Collaborative of Greater Columbus, 2018-Present, Board Member
• CIVITAS, October 2020 to Present, Board Member
• Event Notifications via the Direct Standard™, Standards Body Committee Member: November 2020 to Present

Erica Anderson, MPA, MPH

Erica Anderson is a Population Health Strategy Leader supporting Humana’s mission to help improve the health of the communities it serves by making it easier for people to achieve their best health. Erica drives integration across diverse lines of business, to create a seamless continuum of care while consulting with community & internal stakeholders on strategic policy, systems & environmental interventions that lead to better health outcomes. Her work includes co-leading strategy & vision for population health leaders in the Bold Goal Health Equity markets to support social needs work streams, including: business integration & engagement, communications, interventions, & thought leadership. Erica has over fifteen years of professional experience engaging key stakeholders through national, statewide, and local efforts focusing on tobacco, chronic conditions, and determinants of health with a majority of the experience focused on policy, system, and environmental change to improve the health of communities. Erica has a Master’s in Public Affairs with a concentration in Health Policy, a Master’s in Public Health and is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Health. Erica is a University of Missouri Fellow for the Healthcare Institute for Innovation in Quality, serves on the Quality Value Innovation Consortium Strategic Advisory Board, and serves on the CDC Arthritis Expert Advisory Panel & Design Team.

Erin Brigham, MPH, CPHQ

Erin Brigham is an experienced leader in the health care industry with more than 20 years of health care experience. More than 10 years have been focused in managed health care with experience in government and commercial products with an emphasis on quality improvement, population health, and data analysis. She has been with CareSource for 10 years and is currently the Sr. Director of Population Health & Quality Improvement within the Ohio Market managing strategies for over 1.4 million Medicaid lives and 50k Marketplace lives.

Erin is currently responsible for Accreditation (NCQA), Quality Improvement, Development and Monitoring of VBR quality activities, and Quality gaps in care outreach. Prior to this role, Erin was responsible for CareSource managed care research activities and coordinated health disparities research at Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine where she earned her Masters in Public Health. She is currently working on her Doctor of Healthcare Administration at Franklin University.

Jack E. Turman, Jr., Ph.D.

Dr. Turman is dedicated to growing education, research and outreach programs that optimize maternal and child health. After graduating with his bachelor’s degree from Washington University, St. Louis, he earned his Ph.D. from UCLA doing neuroscience research, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in the division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. He was a faculty member for 15 years at the University of Southern California, where he directed the perinatal neuroscience laboratory and founded and directed the Center for Premature Infant Health and Development. In this capacity, he received recognition from the California Legislative bodies for his community engagement efforts to improve birth outcomes. As a program director at the University of Nebraska Medical Center he built The Connections Project, a community-based program to improve birth outcomes and infant development in Omaha’s African American community. During his tenure as dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Indiana State University, he was the academic lead of the Wabash Valley Healthy Moms and Babies Initiative to improve birth outcomes in rural Indiana. In 2016, he received a Fulbright Specialist Award in Global Public Health, through which he worked to develop the first MPH program in Morocco. Currently, he is the founder and director the Grassroots MCH Initative at Indiana University, Indianapolis. This community engagement research works to change inequitable systems that results in poor maternal and child health outcomes. His Grassroots MCH Initiative has been recognized by the US Dept. of State for its approach to building the social and economic empowerment of marginalized women, and he was selected as a 2022 thought leader by the American Public Health Association for his grassroots approach to improving maternal and child health.

Jim Milanowski

Jim Milanowski has over 30 years’ experience in the management of mental health, substance abuse, behavioral health managed care and medical care coverage programs. Jim currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Genesee Health Plan. Previously, Jim served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Genesee, Saginaw, and Bay Health Plans, administering community based indigent health care plans and subsidized employer plan (1/3 Share Plan). Together, the health plans have covered over 125,000 residents in the three counties.

During his leadership, Genesee Health Plan has received the national quality award from URAC for Best Practices in Patient Empowerment and Protection, the Greater Flint Labor Council’s Community Partnership Award, the Robert M. Pestronk Excellence in Public Health Award and the Michigan Association of Health Plans Pinnacle Award for Best Business Practices. He is a limited-licensed psychologist in the state of Michigan, and has extensive counseling experience with adult, child, and adolescent populations. As a strong advocate and community partner, his expertise includes working to reduce racial disparities, uncompensated care, and the impact of social determinants on health access.

Mr. Milanowski received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Spring Arbor University and his Master’s of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from Eastern Michigan University. He is the President of the Michigan Oral Health Coalition and the Flint Sunrise Rotary Club and is a Board of Director’s member for the Shelter of Flint. He is community co-chair of the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions.

Jonathan Dayton

Jonathan Dayton is a Western Maryland native and Resident living with his wife, Addison. Jonathan has an extensive background in healthcare delivery systems, value- based care models, rural community healthcare development, program development and administration, rural underserved community enhancement, and non-profit marketing. Jonathan served as the Community Relations and Population Health Manager for Mountain Laurel Medical Center, a federally qualified health center located in Oakland, MD.

Jonathan serves his community in various roles, including as a volunteer firefighter/EMT with the Potomac Volunteer Fire Company and Baltimore Pike Volunteer Fire Company. Jonathan brings legislative experience and formerly served two terms on the Maryland Youth Advisory Council. In addition to his extensive volunteer work, Jonathan proudly serves on the Maryland Governor’s Emergency Management Advisory Council, State Advisory Council on Health and Wellness (Chapter 40, Acts of 2017), and Health Equity Resource Community (HERC) Advisory Committee.

Jonathan earned his Associates in Fire Science from Columbia Southern University, BS in Psychology Pre-Medicine from Frostburg State University, and M.S. in Management and Leadership from Western Governor’s University and currently attend Capella University, pursuing his Doctorate in Public Health. He is a Maryland Licensed Emergency Medical Technician.

John Gorman

John is the Founder and Chairman of Nightingale Partners, the first venture fund to invest in early- stage companies in the social determinants of health (SDOH) ecosystem, and which structures tailored interventions with health insurers, local government, and provider organizations. His work focuses on Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and Accountable Care Act strategy, governance, and health equity.

John serves on the Board of Directors of Henry Ford Health System’s Health Alliance Plan in his birthplace of Detroit; on the Board of Edenbridge Health, a groundbreaking company in the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE); and on the Board of RoundTrip, an innovative Non- Emergent Medical Transport company. He serves on the Advisory Board for NationsBenefits, the nation's leading supplemental benefits provider, and on the Medicaid Advisory Board for Icario Health, a leading member engagement and communications firm.

John is the Founder and Former Chairman at Gorman Health Group (GHG). For 22 years he led the development of the industry's leading consulting practice and several entrepreneurial ventures in government health programs.

John speak at two dozen industry conferences each year, and am regularly quoted in the trade press and national media. I serve on the editorial advisory boards of several industry publications. Prior to founding Gorman Health Group in 1996, I was appointed by President Clinton as the first Assistant to the Director of Health Care Financing Administration’s (HCFA, now CMS) Office of Managed Care, where I provided day-to-day management, and served as the external liaison for the Medicare and Medicaid managed care programs. During the 1993 debate on national health care reform, I was chief lobbyist on health care financing issues for the National Association of Community Health Centers, an organization of Federally-funded primary care clinics for the medically underserved. My career in Washington began as Press Secretary and Staff Director for U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), then-Chairman of the Government Operations Committee.

Kacey B. Dugan

Kacey Dugan is an experienced health policy analyst with deep knowledge of CMS rules and insurance programs. As a director at Faegre Drinker Consulting, she works primarily with health plans, providers, and vendors to provide strategic advice and help navigate regulatory and compliance issues regarding the Medicare, Medicaid, and ACA markets. Prior to joining Faegre Drinker, Kacey served as a senior analyst at the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission — Congress's advisory agency on Medicaid and CHIP issues – where she led numerous qualitative research projects and policy discussions on a wide range of issues affecting access to care for Medicaid and Medicare-Medicaid dually eligible beneficiaries.

Kate Tullio, MPH, MS

Kate has dedicated her career to improving the health of populations in Ohio. She is currently the Director of Health Equity for the Ohio market at CareSource, Ohio’s largest Medicaid Managed Care company. In her role, Kate oversees the strategic design, implementation, and evaluation of health equity efforts into quality, clinical, and population health initiatives. She also partners to inform population health strategy and target quality improvement areas, including the design of clinical programs that improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities. She helps inform decision-making around best payer practices related to disparity reductions, including the provision of health equity and social determinant of health resources and research to leadership and programmatic areas. In her role she supports the CareSource mission by helping the most people possible.

Kate joined CareSource in June 2021. Prior to joining CareSource, She also has held positions at Cleveland Clinic, The James Cancer Center at Ohio State University and Ohio Department of Health investigating health disparities in cancer, diabetes, depression, and infectious disease. Kate also serves as the Co-Chair for the Ohio Partners for Cancer Control (OPCC), where she also helped initiate the OPCC Health Equity subgroup. An author of more than 50 scientific publications and frequent speaker at conferences and events, Kate earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from John Carroll University and master’s degrees in public health (epidemiology) and health information management from Ohio State University.

Kate resides in Cleveland with her husband, daughter, and dog. In her free time, she enjoys running, teaching fitness classes, traveling, and cooking.

Mindi S. Knebel

Mindi Knebel is the Founder & CEO of Kaizen Health, as well as Chair of the company’s Board of Directors. A startup junkie who is passionate about social entrepreneurship, Mindi has worked across several industries and has seen companies from inception through successful exit.   

Mindi was on the founding team at MATTER, a healthcare technology incubator formed through a public-private partnership in the city of Chicago. Prior to her time at MATTER, she led sales operations, accounting/finance, human resources and corporate development initiatives for growth stage companies in service, veterinary, and technology industries..  

Mindi holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and a master’s in business from Colorado Technical University. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, yoga, reading and is an avid Packers, Iowa Hawkeyes, Cubs, Bulls and Blackhawks fan.

Martha Shenkenberg, BSN, MBA

Martha Shenkenberg, RN, BSN, MBA, has more than thirty years of experience improving clinical operations.  In her current role, Director, Medi-Cal for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, she’s responsible for implementing Community Supports.  Community Supports are non-medical services designed to issue social determinants of health needs.  Getting these services up and running has been challenging and rewarding! Martha earned both her BSN and MBA from the University of Virginia.

Melissa Blum

Melissa Blum is the Market Leader for Humana’s Population Health strategy in South Florida. She has over 25 years of combined experience in population health, healthcare marketing and public relations, previously serving as the Public Information Officer for Broward Health Medical Center, one of Broward counties level one trauma centers. Since October of 2015, Melissa has led Humana’s mission to improve the health related social needs of the communities it serves.

In her role she develops and executes the population health strategic plan, engages with providers and community partners and executes well-being initiatives, pilots and sponsorships.

In May of 2021, Humana was named Healthiest Employer in South Florida for the fifth time under Melissa's leadership. Prior to taking on the role of Population Health Strategy lead, Melissa, a sixteen year Humana associate, served as the Marketing Manager for Florida’s Medicare, Medicaid and Long-Term Care divisions and as the national expert on provider marketing. A South Florida native, Melissa has a Bachelor’s degree in Health Services Administration from Florida International University.

She is actively involved with the Feeding South Florida, The United Way of Broward County and the YMCAs of South Florida.In 2018 she has recognized by the Boys and Girls Club as one of the top women in Broward and is a recent graduate of Leadership Broward. On the weekends you can find her participating in walks for her favorite charities and causes, attending Broadway shows and concerts, entertaining her 4 year old son and husband and baking delicious treats.

Nicki Venem, CPC, MSML

Nicki Venem, currently is a Manager of Value Based Programs/Managed Service Offering (MSO) Services for Blue Cross of Idaho.  Nicki has been with Blue Cross for five years, prior to that she worked with a local health system in Boise, Idaho for 19 years where she held positions in billing and coding, clinic management in primary care and area management of urgent care services.  Nicki holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Management and a Master’s of Science degree in Management and Leadership from Western Governor’s University.   Nicki was born and raised in Idaho, where she currently resides with her husband of 25 years and 2 of her 3 children.  In her downtime Nicki loves to read, travel abroad with her family and spend time with her two year old grandson and her two crazy dogs Jager and Lila.

Ria Paul

Ria Paul, MD Dr. Ria Paul is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Associate Chief Quality Officer of Population Health, and Chief Medical Officer—Stanford Health Care Alliance. She is a

practicing geriatrician and is passionate about patient care and developing strategies to provide high-quality cost- effective care. She has spearheaded and laid the groundwork for Population Health at Stanford and is leading the spread of Value Based Care across the Stanford enterprise. In her leadership role with Stanford (Medicare) Advantage, she was instrumental in transitioning from a 3-Star to a 4-Star health plan, working diligently with Stanford Faculty, UHA and Sutter Medical groups.

As CMO of Stanford Healthcare Alliance she works closely with multiple employer groups and ensures that members receive high quality accessible care. She is also actively involved in the Safety Net care delivery system in Santa Clara County. She is the Quality Improvement (QI) chair and a Board member of Santa Clara Family Health plan.

Dr. Paul is a member of American College of Physicians, American Board of Internal Medicine, American Geriatrics Society, California Primary Care Association; and is board certified and re-certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine. She is a graduate of both UCSF/California Healthcare Foundation leadership fellowship and Harvard School of Public Health Leadership fellowship. Dr. Paul completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Temple University and her geriatric fellowship at Stanford University.

Mike Rhoades, MBA,

Mike is CEO and Founder of Alera Health (formerly Blaze Advisors), the largest population health manager of clinically integrated behavioral health networks in the US.  As CEO of Alera Health, Mike oversees the assemblage, governance, technology, analytics, and APM contracting departments supporting more than 13 ONEcare networks supporting over 3M patients.  Prior to Alera Health, Mike led efforts to commercialize Accountable Care Organizations in support of Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial contracts in over 15 states.  Mike began his career as direct care staff on an ACT team and has been humbled to work with the brightest minds in behavioral health, primary, acute, and long-term care.

Shannon O’Neill

Shannon has four years of healthcare consulting experience and currently is supporting Kaiser Permanente’s Direct Contract initiative with the Department of Health Care Services. Prior to this role, she supported the implementation of the care delivery changes associated with CalAIM.  
 
Shannon joined the Kaiser Permanente Medi-Cal team as a Graduate Intern in the summer of 2019 where she supported the implementation of the Health Homes Program and the Whole Child Model.    
 
Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Shannon worked as a revenue cycle management consultant with Triage Consulting Group in San Francisco.   
 
Shannon earned her Bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College and her Master's in Public Health from UCLA.

Stina Redford

Stina Redford, Director- Payment Innovation- Blue Cross of Idaho Stina has been with Blue Cross of Idaho since 2006, where she has served in various roles working with providers on fee-for-service contracts, alternative payment models, and new value-based program designs. She currently leads Blue Cross’ provider value-based payment team, and their efforts to shift from a fee-for-service provider payment model to value-based payments. He and her team work with provider partners to ensure members have easy access to top-quality care at an affordable price.

Stacey Silver

Stacey is a registered dietitian and Manager of Healthcare Partnerships for Mom's Meals. She is passionate about nutrition and the Medicare and Medicaid patient populations. In her role at Mom's Meals, Stacey works closely with healthcare organizations to support their efforts to improve health outcomes through home-delivered meals

Veatrice Futch

Veatrice Parker Futch, LCSW is the Southeast and Northeast Division leader for Social Determinants of Health Medicaid Product at Aetna. Her oversight includes the states of: FL, LA, KY, MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA and WV. Veatrice has over 15 years of experience in managed care and social work. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance and Marketing from Clark Atlanta University and her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and also earned her certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida. Her social work interests include interpersonal practices that focus on the emotional and mental health of children, youth and families as well as organizing, assisting, and stabilizing vulnerable communities.

Zarrina Bobokalonova, RN, MSN, BEc, CPHQ

As Executive Director of Ambulatory Quality and Population Health, Zarrina Bobokalonova has responsibility over strategic direction and improvement in the clinical management of value-based programs like the Merit- based Incentive Payment System under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, Primary Care First, SHC Alliance, and Essence as well as promote the adoption of system-level quality measures and improvement in the outpatient arena.