Sarah Ernst Lead - Enterprise Integration

Florida Blue

Sarah Ernst leads an the Enterprise Integration team at Florida Blue.  In this role she is accountable for working across divisions and corporate entities to ensure successful implementation of enterprise-wide processes and technology while maintaining adherence to applicable state, federal, accreditation and industry requirements. Sarah and her team serve as a trusted partner to Florida Blue among other entities under the GuideWell family of companies to assess impacts of legislation on operations and mitigate disruption associated with complex implementations affecting multiple areas of the Company.  Her passion includes sharing her knowledge to build and develop skillsets within her team and business partners across the Company.  In her 16+ years at Florida Blue, Sarah has served in a variety of roles and accumulated deep and broad knowledge of business operations, enabling technologies and regulatory compliance.  Sarah’s brings a unique perspective as well as a service-oriented and customer-centric approach that enable her to work with the business to design thoughtful solutions that mitigate risk and minimize negative impacts to Florida Blue’s members and providers. 

Tracy Jones Senior Compliance Coordinator

SummaCare

Tracy is a Senior Compliance Coordinator at SummaCare Health Plan, where she has worked for the past 20 years.  Tracy specializes in the development and creation of compliance tools to better assist in the over-sight of the Compliance program.  A strong believer in the power of curiosity in the workplace, Tracy campaigns to assists employees with the art of questioning and leadership influence skills.

Angela M. Lloyd, MPH, CHC Director, Medicare Audit & Corrective Action

Health Partners Plans

Angela Lloyd, MPH is the director of Medicare audit and corrective action at Health Partners Plans of Philadelphia (HPP). Angela is responsible for the oversight of Medicare audit program, which includes operations and processes, analyzing data, reviewing Policies and Procedures, documenting work and drafting audit reports. She also works collaboratively with leadership of operational units, and partners with vendors to ensure corrective action plans are developed and manages them through implementation.

Angela has worked at HPP for 13 years and has over twenty years of product, compliance and operations experience in Medicaid and Medicare programs.  Angela’s creative and result focused program has proven successful in driving compliance throughout the organization.  Her expertise in the execution of regulatory contractual requirements with the understanding of policy in various channels has improved the companies understanding and awareness of the products offered under the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services especially the Special Needs product.   Angela truly strives for excellence in everything she does keeping the HPP communities and membership in mind.  Angela received a bachelor’s degree in business law, graduate degree in public health from Drexel University and is Certified in HealthCare Compliance.

Deepti Loharikar, J.D. Director, Regulatory Affairs

Association for Behavior Health and Wellness

Deepti A. Loharikar is the Director of Regulatory Affairs for the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW). She joined the organization in January 2020. ABHW is the national voice for specialty behavioral health and wellness companies. ABHW member companies provide services to over 200 million people in both the public and private sectors to treat mental health, substance use and other behaviors that impact health and wellness.

Deepti brings over 12 years of legal and policy experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining ABHW, Deepti was the Director of Federal and State Public Policy at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and also previously worked on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act at HHS. Before shifting her focus to health policy, Deepti practiced law, focused on civil litigation, insurance defense, and health law.

Deepti received a B.A. in Genetics and Philosophy from Rutgers College in New Jersey and a J.D. from University of Maryland with a concentration in Healthcare Law and Policy.

Deborah Marine Compliance Officer

SummaCare

Deborah Marine – Chief Compliance Officer Deborah joined SummaCare as the Medicare Compliance Officer in January 2015, and became the Chief Compliance Officer for the insurance arm of Summa Health (SummaCare and Summa Insurance Company) later that year. She is responsible for the health plan compliance program, encompassing all lines of business with an emphasis on Medicare Advantage, Part D, and Marketplace products. Deborah became the health plan Privacy Officer in 2017. Prior to joining SummaCare, Deborah served as the Compliance & Privacy Officer for Health Alliance Plan in Detroit, Michigan for 12 years. She was in-house counsel, focusing on regulatory compliance, for Univera Healthcare in Buffalo, NY from 1996 to July 2002. Qualifications and Credentials Deborah earned a law degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio in 1995 and is licensed to practice in Ohio (inactive status), New York (retired status), and Michigan (active status). She received her certification in healthcare compliance (CHC) in 2009.

JoAnn McDaniel-Chinn Medicaid Compliance Officer

Simply Healthcare Plans

JoAnn McDaniel-Chinn is the Medicaid Compliance Officer for Simply Healthcare in Miami, Florida. She oversees the Compliance team and the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).  Before her current role, she held the Compliance Officer role for Community Care Plan and led the Privacy, Compliance, and SIU. Before making her way to the Sunshine State, 4 ½ years ago, she worked at Gateway Health Plan in Pittsburgh, PA, for 7 ½ years in various roles.  She holds a Bachelor's degree and Master's degree from Point Park University in Criminal Justice Administration. In her first semester at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, she is currently obtaining a Doctorate in Law and Policy. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Health Care Compliance Association. In her free time, she spends her time volunteering for local foster care agencies and mentoring young women through various organizations.

Gina Melli Director of Compliance

Commonwealth Care Alliance

Gina Meili, MPA/H, CHC has over 20 years of experience in health care (both on provider and payer industries, dual eligible population and consulting).  She has proven success in designing, implementing, managing and continuously enhancing compliance programs designed specifically to meet the needs of the business in context of these highly-regulated industries. She currently serves as Director of Compliance and Regulatory Reporting at Commonwealth Care Alliance based on Boston, Massachusetts.  You can reach her at gmeili@commonwealthcare.org  or 617-426-0600.

Jordan B. Muhlestein Compliance & Ethics Director

Intermountain Healthcare

Jordan Muhlestein has worked in healthcare Compliance since 2012, and is currently a Compliance and Ethics Director for Intermountain Healthcare. His portfolio oversees the program elements of Intermountain Healthcare’s Compliance program, and he also has an emphasis on compliant physician financial relationships (e.g., Stark, AKS, Conflict of Interest). A licensed attorney and former newspaper reporter, Jordan enjoys teaching complicated topics in simple and entertaining ways. Jordan received his BA from Brigham Young University and his JD and MHA degrees from The Ohio State University.

Michelle O'Neill Vice President, Corporate Compliance & Privacy

Summit Medical Group

Michelle O’Neill is responsible for the development, implementation and management of Summit Health Management, Summit Medical Group, Summit Medical Group in Oregon, and City MD’s Corporate Compliance and Privacy Program. Ms. O’Neill monitors compliance with federal, state and local regulatory requirements on a national level. She has spoken at several seminars and conferences, most recently lecturing at the National Compliance Institute in Las Vegas, NV and several virtual conferences. Additionally, Ms. O’Neill has been interviewed for and authored several articles related to privacy and security of patient information. 

Prior to joining Summit Health Management in 2012, she was employed by Saint Barnabas Medical Center for 14 years, working in the areas of health care management, physician contracting, and corporate compliance.  Ms. O’Neill is a graduate of Saint Peter’s College, with a BS in Health Care Management and Seton Hall Law School with a Master’s of Science in Jurisprudence, specializing in Health Law. 

Joseph A. Piccolo Vice President, Corporate Compliance & Ethics, Corporate Compliance and Privacy Officer

Inspira Health Network

Joe has over thirty years of experience in Healthcare Administration and is currently the Vice President of Corporate Compliance and Ethics Compliance Officer for Inspira Health in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, a position he has held since 2015. Joe has served as a Compliance Officer at various organizations since 1996 and was a member of the first group of individuals to receive Certification in Healthcare Compliance as granted by the Healthcare Compliance Certification Board.

In addition to Compliance, Joe has held leadership positions overseeing Specialty and Primary Care physician practices as well as leadership positions in Hospital Administration at academic, specialty, and community hospitals.

Joe has lectured and published extensively on various topics including Compliance, HIPAA, Enterprise Risk Management, and Physician Practice Management, He has served on the advisory boards of various professional organizations

Joe is a native of Philadelphia and is active in various civic associations. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Business Administration from LaSalle University.

David Reid Senior Director, Operational Performance & Regulatory Support

Florida Blue

David Reid is the Senior Director of Operational Performance at Florida Blue with over 17 years of experience in the insurance industry.  A Certified Information

David Reid is the Senior Director of Operational Performance at Florida Blue with over 17 years of experience in the insurance industry.  A Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), he is accountable for ensuring business processes across multiple divisions are operationally effective and adhere to regulatory and industry requirements for Commercial and Government market segments at Florida Blue as well as other entities under the GuideWell Mutual Insurance Holding Company.  David’s background is in internal auditing, process improvement, operations management, regulatory/accreditation compliance, systems development and database administration. 

Systems Auditor (CISA), he is accountable for ensuring business processes across multiple divisions are operationally effective and adhere to regulatory and industry requirements for Commercial and Government market segments at Florida Blue as well as other entities under the GuideWell Mutual Insurance Holding Company.  David’s background is in internal auditing, process improvement, operations management, regulatory/accreditation compliance, systems development and database administration. 

Melissa Rusk Director Claims & BPO Operations

SummaCare

Melissa Rusk is the Director Claims and BPO Operations at SummaCare in Akron Ohio. In this role, Melissa is responsible for leading Claims, Claims Recovery, and Document Management Services.  She leads and oversees multiple internal efforts to ensure compliance with federal and state regulatory requirements and plan performance guarantees. This includes: Fraud Waste and Abuse, FDR management, payment integrity, implementation of new plans and plan changes, weekly and monthly performance monitoring, system upgrades and new system implementation, encounter submissions, and plan audits.  She oversees business decisions associated with coverage and payment policies.

Melissa has over 30 years’ experience working within the insurance industry in customer service, compliance and operations.

She is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and is certified in Lean by the University of Akron.

Sarah Simmerson, CIA, CRMA FBM Optimization

Florida Blue

Sarah is a Consultant at Florida Blue with the Florida Blue Medicare Optimization team. She has worked with internal and external business partners to monitor and evaluate delegated entities' adherence to CMS and State regulations.

She is a graduate of Clemson University, a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and has a Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA). Sarah's background is in internal auditing, regulatory compliance, process improvement, and risk management.

Jessica Vander Zanden, CHC Vice President, Compliance and Audit

Network Health Insurance Corporation

Jessica Vander Zanden leads Network Health’s efforts in compliance and member privacy, internal audit, human resources and appeals and grievances. She has over a decade of leadership experience in the areas of compliance, privacy, corporate integrity, human resources and organization development.

Jessica is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and a Masters in Organizational Business and Business Leadership from Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, WI. She holds certifications in Health Care Compliance from the Health Care Compliance Association, Strategic Decision and Risk Management from Stanford University and Gerontology from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She holds a current Wisconsin license as an Advance Practice Social Worker and is also a Six Sigma Green Belt and a certified Gallup Strengths Coach.