RISE Association Board

Kevin Mowll is responsible for building and driving the RISE association and the RISE Institute, creating a better value for members, creating education and training, industry collaboration, as well as business development.

Prior to joining RISE, Kevin was Vice President for Senior Products with the Tufts Health Plan in Boston. He was responsible for sales, marketing, product development, business performance and strategic planning for the strategic business unit that had annual revenues of $1 B. Kevin has a diverse background and an expertise in Medicare health plans.

Earlier, Kevin was the Vice President, Medicare Products, for Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan in Albany, New York, when the Medicare Advantage membership grew from 12,000 to 30,000, including both individual and group retiree business.  Kevin previously also held leadership roles at both PacifiCare Health Plans and CIGNA Healthplans in California.

Kevin is married and has three adult children and two grandchildren, and now lives with his wife in the Santa Barbara area in California.

Ana Handshuh, Vice President of Managed Care Services at Ultimate Health Plans in

Florida, and 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 sits on both the
Executive Committee as well as chairs the Advisory Board for the Provider Transition
from Volume to Value for RISE.

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.

Nathan Goldstein leads Signify Health’s integrated product, corporate development, and government affairs strategies. The mission to transform the health care delivery system is a personal one for Goldstein; one that must begin and end with the need of the patient and their family. Prior to Signify Health, he was the Chief Executive Officer of a leading software and professional services company serving managed care and at-risk health systems operating in government health programs. Goldstein also has previous experience in national politics and corporate communications. He is a graduate of Drew University. Nathan is married with three children and enjoys playing music in his spare time.

As Managing Director of Wilmington FRA, Ellen Wofford is responsible for the executive leadership of Wilmington FRA and its subsidiaries, FRA, Healthcare Education Associates and the RISE Association. She is dedicated to constantly improving the quality of conferences and deliver HEA’s products and services as well as strategic direction for RISE. Based in the North Carolina office she manages all aspects of the business, including business planning, strategy, operations, human resources and IT infrastructure. She has over 18 years’ tenure in the conference industry.

Ellen holds a M.A. in International Business from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

As Chief of Sales and Marketing for Aspire Health Plan, Cyndie O’Brien provides strategic direction, as well as establishes objectives to increase visibility and membership for a new Medicare Advantage Plan in Monterey County. Cyndie joined Aspire in May of 2017 and is working to increase market share for the new MA Plan.

Prior to joining Aspire, Cyndie was Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Member Service for Inter Valley Health Plan, one of Southern California’s regional MA plans. As part of the Inter Valley Health Plan team for 25 years, Cyndie rose through the ranks starting as creative media planner to director of marketing and communications and finally to the role of Vice President when she left the organization.

Cyndie was a Board member for Visiting Nurse Association of Southern California and Chairman of the Board for the Pomona Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Association. She received a bachelor’s degree in business from California State University – Long Beach, and currently resides in Carmel with her husband.

Jonathan has developed knowledge of the member experience over a 20 plus year career in marketing, sales and product development in health insurance and financial services. Jonathan worked with stellar organizations like Excellus BlueCross BlueShield in upstate New York where he managed the company’s first suite of Medicare Advantage PPO products, Coventry Healthcare serving as National Director of Medicare Marketing, and as a Director with Geisinger Health Plan working in Product Development, Marketing and Sales.  Throughout the course of his career, Jonathan’s experience ranges from

• Moving Medicare Advantage products from bid to inception
• Managing products on all MA platforms (HMO, PPO, POS, PFFS & MSA) and Medicare Supplement
• Pioneering sound, profitable marketing, growth and product strategies
• Managing individuals across multiple disciplines in matrixed environments
• Developing and socializing mission, vision and values while managing organizational change

 Currently, Jonathan is President and Managing Director of GuideUP Health, which provides proprietary, omni-channel member and patient engagement platforms to drive behavior throughout their life-cycle, from pre-enrollment through maturity. Jonathan is also a Chief Revenue Officer of Incept, a boutique digital marketing agency specializing in strategy development and execution for customer/member acquisition and retention in healthcare.

Strong leader with 14+ years of experience in Revenue and Clinical Outcomes Program Development
and Management in various healthcare environments (Plans, MG/IPA, Academic, and Consulting).
Proven record of success in optimizing Operations, PE / Investor Meetings, Maintaining Compliance,
Recovering / Maximizing Revenue, Enhancing Clinical Quality and Developing Software and Custom
Analytics.

Specialties: RA / HCC, Pay for Performance (P4P), CMS Stars Program, NCQA HEDIS, Off-shore
Software Product Development, HOS, CAS, NCQA Accreditation, Physician Profiling, Encounter
Programs, Contract and Claims Analytics.

Previously, Dave served as an independent consultant to healthplans, was Corporate VP, Operations
(Revenue and Quality) at InnovaCare Health. He has also performed as Sr. Consultant, Risk Adjustment
and Health Plan Operations for Dynamic Healthcare Systems, and in other roles with healthplans.

As Managing Director of Wilmington FRA, Ellen Wofford is responsible for the executive leadership of Wilmington FRA and its subsidiaries, FRA, Healthcare Education Associates and the RISE Association. She is dedicated to constantly improving the quality of conferences and deliver HEA’s products and services as well as strategic direction for RISE. Based in the North Carolina office she manages all aspects of the business, including business planning, strategy, operations, human resources and IT infrastructure. She has over 18 years’ tenure in the conference industry.

Ellen holds a M.A. in International Business from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Kevin is responsible for building up the RISE association, creating a better value for our members, enhancing member education and content, as well as expanding and enhancing our conference offerings.

Prior to joining RISE, Kevin was Vice President for Senior Products with the Tufts Health Plan in Boston, responsible for sales, marketing, product development, business performance and strategic planning for the senior products business unit. Kevin has a diverse background and an expertise in Medicare health plans. His expertise focuses on:

• Consumer-driven product design and value segmentation
• Growth-oriented product development and implementation
• Market-based sales team development and execution
• Strategic and business planning
• Financial performance management and business plan execution
• Optimization of sales channel distribution models

Kevin was previously Vice President for Senior Products with the Tufts Health Plan in Boston. He was responsible for sales, marketing, product development, business performance and strategic planning for the strategic business unit. Kevin has a diverse background and an expertise in Medicare health plans.

Earlier, Kevin was the Vice President, Medicare Products, for Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan in Albany, New York, when the Medicare Advantage membership grew from 12,000 to 30,000, including both individual and group retiree business.

Originally, from Southern California, Kevin worked for PacifiCare Health Systems and CIGNA Healthplans. At PacifiCare (which was acquired in 2005 by United Healthcare) Kevin led the development and launch of multiple products and conducted service area expansions for health plans, led a multi-functional franchise team for start-up Medicare health plans, and ran provider network management.

A speaker at national conferences on Medicare Advantage business themes, Kevin has also chaired several events. He founded a professional social networking group on LinkedIn called Medicare Advantage Healthplan Colleagues, focused on educating and sharing best practices by developing a virtual community with shared interests and concerns. The group attracted over 11,000 members from across the country.

Kevin is married and has three adult children, and now lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Hovannes Daniels is vice president and Kaiser Permanente’s Chief Data Officer (CDO). As CDO, he is primarily responsible for setting the overall data governance strategy for the organization to manage data as a strategic business asset, and for delivering business insights by leveraging and promoting the use of the organization’s information assets in a manner that is secure and comply with other regulatory requirements of our industry.

Hovannes joined Kaiser Permanente in September 2011 as vice president of national medicare finance risk adjustment, and with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act rapidly expanded this work to include commercial risk adjustment, reinsurance and cost share reduction programs ($20B+ revenue). Through his tenure at Kaiser Permanente, Hovannes was promoted to vice president of information management where he oversaw strategy for coordinating and aligning operational, clinical decision support, membership and financial information and oversaw Kaiser Permanente’s enterprise analytic information systems, risk adjustment for government and commercial payers, utilization and delivery system planning, forecasting reporting and analysis, management accounting and analysis, and Medicare analysis, reporting and submissions. In these roles, he partnered with the Permanente Medical Groups and numerous functional areas within the analytic and business community.

Before Kaiser Permanente, Hovannes served as general manager for the Senior Markets group and director of revenue management at Blue Shield of California, where he was ultimately accountable for strategy, business process and P&L results ($1B revenue).

A healthcare aficionado, Hovannes also spent 10 years at UnitedHealth Group (5 of those years were with PacifiCare), where he held a variety of leadership roles in finance, product management, sales/marketing, billing and enrollment, audit, project management, strategic planning and internal consulting.

Outside of healthcare, Hovannes has held leadership roles in the treasury department of the Walt Disney Company and at City National Bank in the area of interest rate and liquidity risk management.

Jennifer Pereur is the Director of Government Programs for Hill Physicians Medical Group, an independent practice association (IPA) in Northern California. The group consists of over 3,000 contracted physicians who provide care to 300,000 managed care members. Jennifer oversees both the Medicare and Medicaid lines of business. Her primary focus since establishing the department in 2011, has been improving the accuracy of Medicare Advantage risk scores. Jennifer has 10 years of prior experience in Network Management at Hill Physicians. She has an extensive background in value-based physician payments, including the development of physician profiles and reporting metrics. Jennifer took time away from her work at Hill Physicians to lead the client support team at MedeAnalytics. In her role there as the Director of Payer Services, she worked with health plans to integrate analytics into their utilization management and cost containment decision making process. Using the MedeAnalytics platform, she developed dashboards that helped payers and providers collaborate on their shared performance goals. Jennifer has an MBA from St. Mary’s College and currently sits on the Practice Improvement Program (PIP) Advisor’s Committee for the San Francisco Health Plan.

Dr Kenneth Persaud has dedicated his career building and leading vertically integrated healthcare delivery models; focusing on re-design, equitable care, physician compensation, global capitation and population management.  Dr Persaud is the CEO of Visualize Health, based in Franklin, Tennessee.  Visualize Health is a healthcare management and population health technology company, which supports best practices of medicine, using our reach, scale and stability to transform healthcare.  Visualize Health delivers solutions to physician networks and payers, helping foster self-sufficiency by creating sustainable revenue models while transitioning to value-based programs, and preparing for risk based reimbursement. Visualize Health enables value-based adoption, and the improvement of health outcomes. Over his career Dr Persaud has held leadership positions in healthcare organizations which accelerate performance and create value for patients, health plans, physicians, hospital systems and investors.  Dr Persaud earned a Bachelor’s of Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology, NY and completed his post graduate training at the University of Mexico, School of Medicine.

Scott Filiault is the Co-President and Chief Revenue Officer of Pulse8, a cutting-edge healthcare technology and
data analytics company focused on delivering the highest financial impact by providing an
unprecedented view into risk adjustment for health plans with Commercial, Medicare Advantage
and Long-Term Care populations. Scott leads Pulse8’s sales efforts by focusing on new business
development, and assists in the company’s business strategy and future channel opportunities.
 
Prior to joining Pulse8, Scott served as Vice President of Sales for Matrix Medical Network, the
nation’s leader in prospective assessments. He was instrumental in the company’s growth and
is recognized as one of the Industry’s leading executives.
 
In addition to his Managed care experience, he has led and developed sales and marketing
strategies for the Medical Device field and the Institutional/Hospital markets. He is also
credited with improving health plan performance and profitability through effective, state of-
the-art care management programs, risk adjustment services, and data-driven strategies.
 
Scott has served as National Director of Sales, working with both HIX and Medicare
Advantage plans. He helped develop and deliver the marketing strategy for a predictive
modeling company and the identification and stratification of members for case and disease
management. In addition, Scott planned and implemented the Managed Care Training
Program for the New York City Managed Medicaid initiative.
 
Scott has international experience where he helped develop and market software programs that
measure cognitive function for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
diseases, MS, and schizophrenia.

Recently serving as the SVP of Business Development for Integra ServiceConnect, Patrick joined COBX as the new Chief Growth Officer where he leads Tessellate & Visiant’s sales efforts. Patrick has 20+ years of executive healthcare experience leading business development segments in Medicare Advantage, Managed Medicaid, disease management and provider industries. He also has expertise with start-up organizations, new product launches, C-level new business sales and sales force recruitment and management. Patrick is familiar with Visiant technology and possesses expertise in the Risk Adjustment and Quality space.

Renée is Executive Vice President, Client Services at DMW Direct, where she brings over 30 years of experience in direct response marketing.  Renee has been responsible for driving the strategy for DMW’s leading health insurance clients including many new-to-market plan launches.  She also oversees the planning and implementation of DMW’s year-round multi-media campaigns from program design and creative development to fulfillment.
Health plans appreciate not only her decade-plus involvement in health insurance, but perspectives from Renée’s experiences consulting in various industries, including financial services, telecom, and B2B.
A member of the DMA and the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association, Renée was named one of the top Women in Advertising by the Philadelphia in 2017.

Jameson has over 18 years’ experience in Sales, and over 13 years working with insurance carriers in Medicare, Medicaid, and Individual Health insurance. While finishing his Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management, Jameson began his Medicare career as a sales rep for PacifiCare Health Systems prior to their acquisition by United Healthcare, where he quickly found a passion for serving seniors in the health insurance world. He advanced quickly in the industry with many opportunities for cross departmental collaboration. He has been primarily focused on sales leadership, but has been heavily involved in Compliance, Marketing, Product Development, Strategy, and Training.

Jameson is currently leading Strategic Development and Acquisition at AgencyRM, a regional FMO. He is focused on changing the FMO world to be more in partnership with carriers and agents to achieve greater results for all stakeholders while remaining focused on “taking care of Grandma”. Prior to joining AgencyRM, Jameson has served in a variety of leadership roles at regional and national Medicare carriers in Oregon, Washington, and Texas.

Jameson is married and has two children, and now lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Jim has over 20 years of experience supporting health plans acquire, engage, and retain members. Industry specific work experience has included business development roles at Teleperformance USA and Wunderman Health where he currently leads business development with a primary focus on supporting payer clients. Jim’s background and exposure to numerous clients brings tremendous insight into varied approaches to solve common business problems. Jim’s role at Wunderman is to create new, and grow existing, relationships by delivering innovation and improved client results tied to Wunderman assets and capabilities.

Kristy Croom Tucker is Director of Member Experience and Acquisition for BayCare Health Plans, a provider-sponsored health plan in the Tampa Bay area. Kristy is responsible for leading the marketing, sales and member experience strategy for the health plan, which was created by the largest not-for-profit health system in west/central Florida—BayCare Health System. BayCare Health Plans launched in October 2018 with two Medicare Advantage plans under the BayCarePlus Medicare Advantage name, serving four counties. In its first year, BayCarePlus garnered nearly 5,000 members and continues to grow. Kristy oversees the member acquisition strategy, which includes branding, advertising, lead generation, sales and strategic planning.

Kristy started her tenure at BayCare in 2011 as a hospital and service line marketing manager. In addition to overseeing the marketing of four hospitals, Kristy specialized in cardiovascular, neuroscience and behavioral health marketing. In 2014, she moved into System Marketing and oversaw BayCare’s first system-wide branding campaign. In her role as System Marketing Manager for BayCare, Kristy also managed the marketing for BayCare’s ambulatory division, several new mobile applications, and special projects within the health system. Prior to her work at BayCare, Kristy was Director of Communication for Rasmussen College, a private, national, career-focused college.

Kristy as been the recipient of several awards for her marketing campaigns, including two Telly awards for her work at Rasmussen College and the 2016 Tampa Bay Advertising Association’s Marketer of the Year award for Traditional Marketing for BayCare Urgent Care and the 2017 Marketer of the Year award for her work on the BayCare brand campaign.

Kristy received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She also completed the mini-MBA program in digital marketing at Rutgers University and has received certification from the Director Marketing Institute. She resides in Palm Harbor, FL with her husband, daughter and son.

Sion Hughes - Sion Hughes has over 15 years of healthcare experience with time spent in both the provider and payer space.  He has worked for payers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and HealthPlus of Michigan primarily focused on Medicare Advantage.  Sion's Medicare Advantage experience includes product development/management, compliance/program oversight, and marketing/sales.  During Sion’s career on the provider side, he worked for Trinity Health as the Director of Regulated Products.  His responsibilities included organic growth of lives in the system for Medicare and Medicaid lines of business.  Additionally, Sion was responsible for analyzing and negotiating alternative payment model arrangements with payers. Currently, Sion works for Wakely Consulting where he provides consulting services for market and provider strategy, benefit designs, contract negotiation support, and is the co-architect of Wakely Analytics Health Operations Optimization (WAHOO) program that drives profitable growth for plans and providers.

Sean Creighton, Vice President, is a dynamic healthcare leader who has translated more than 17 years of federal reimbursement policy development and research experience into providing consulting services on Parts C and D risk adjustment and payment policy for the private sector. 

Prior to Humana, Sean was a Managing Director at Avalere Health, where he lead the advisory services work tied to Medicare Advantage (MA), risk adjustment, and related issues. Sean also spent approximately 15 years at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), leading the policy development and implementation of major public programs.

Sean holds graduate degrees in Sociology and Statistics from the London School of Economics and Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland and a BA from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Jana Perry began her duties as Vice President of Strategy and Growth in January 2015. Jana has been with Health Alliance since 1986, serving in a variety of leadership roles for claims, operations, member retention, customer service and Consumer and Employer Group sales and service. In her current role, Jana has overall responsibility for new business growth, net growth within and retention of existing clients, and development of a sustainable distribution system. Jana is accountable for development of a sales strategy that is aligned with the organization’s short-term and long-term strategic plans; and supports the market growth objectives of health system partners. Further responsibilities include assessing market trends and new product developments, applying these findings to the business of Health Alliance and overall responsibility for construction and implementation of product line adjustments. This position includes product line oversight for commercial employer group, Medicare, Exchange marketplace and Third Party Administrative Services.

Alicia Kelley joined Capital District Physicians' Health Plan, Inc. (CDPHP^®) in 2005 and currently serves as director of Medicare sales. In this role, Alicia is responsible for the growth, retention and oversight of operations of the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplemental lines of business for one of the Capital Region’s leading not-for-profit health plans.

With more than 15 years of experience in the health care industry, Alicia has worked in marketing, communications, product development, sales and operations. During that time Alicia has worked with a large number Senior Centers, Office’s for the Aging, and Senior focused community organizations to generate programs geared towards social and physical enrichment.

Prior to joining CDPHP, Alicia worked as a facilitated enrollment specialist for Healthy Capital District Initiative, a local not-for-profit, assisting community members in obtaining access to Medicaid, Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus. Alicia earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Siena College, with concentrations in political science and sociology.

Margaret Mood is a Director of Sales in the Senior Programs Department at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.  In this role she is involved in the development of long and short term marketing strategies and is responsible for development and implementation of sales strategies for Harvard Pilgrim’s Medicare Products (nongroup). She oversees all sales channels responsible for growth of Medicare nongroup options (internal sales, call center, brokers and exchanges).    As a member of the Senior Programs Leadership Team, she also lends her expertise to product development and retention strategies. 

Margaret has been involved with direct selling to the senior population since 1994 working for Fallon Health Plan, before joining Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in 1997.

Ms. Mood is a graduate of Assumption College (Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management) located in Worcester, MA and received her MBA from Anna Maria College, Paxton MA.

Her strengths are:

• Industry knowledge
• Passion to succeed
• Entrepreneurial spirit that drives business growth
• Business development
• Strategic management
• Creativity
• Collaboration

Lori Rund, VP, Product Management and Market Intelligence at Health Alliance Plan, a managed care organization owned by the Henry Ford Health System,. Lori has over 25 years of health care experience. In her current position, Lori is responsible for the identification, concept building, researching and business case developments for new products, services and markets as well as management of HAP’s product portfolio. She develops and leads comprehensive market intelligence functions to help the organization better understand industry trends and identify business opportunities. Prior to joining Health Alliance Plan, Lori was Director of Product Development and Market Intelligence at Health Alliance Medical Plans in Illinois and Director of Market Research and Strategy at Carle Health System, also in Illinois.

As Managing Director of Engagys, Kathleen brings the best of consumer marketing and data-driven methodologies to healthcare to motivate better health decisions.   Prior to founding Engagys, Kathleen led the Consumer Engagement consulting practice for Silverlink for 12 years leveraging Silverlink's data repository of over a billion consumer health interactions, the best of behavioral economics and the latest in clinical research to help health plans and PBMs close the last mile of consumer engagement.

Kathleen is an award-winning, high energy, engagement expert with over twenty-five years of experience. She speaks regularly on the national stage on many topics including: driving consumer health engagement, creating better consumer experience in healthcare, motivating and inspiring consumers, and using data to drive consumer behavior. She has been recently named as a consultant to the first ever FDA Patient Engagement Advisory Committee (PEAC).

Kathleen is frequently quoted in both national and trade press. Her bylines have appeared in Executive Insights, Predictive Modeling News, and AHIP Smart Brief. She recently received two Stevie awards, Maverick of the Year, Silver 2015 and Innovator of the Year, Bronze, 2016, for highlighting the greatest challenges and opportunities for improving the lives of people who are afflicted with chronic conditions.

Kathleen spent the first twenty years of her career in brand marketing at leading consumer marketing organizations, including General Mills and P&G.   Additionally, Kathleen was a Vice President at Digitas, one of the leading direct marketing firms in the country.   She also spent many years in marketing at various consumer, technology and media companies throughout the Boston area.   Kathleen has an undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellmore. Twitter handle: @kellmore1

John has more than 35 years of marketing experience, 18 of which in leadership roles in the health insurance space. Today, John consults with clients that are bringing dynamic and creative solutions to the health care market.  He most recently served as the vice president of Medicare programs for Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan where he was responsible for developing strategy and managing the Medicare line of business. John joined CDPHP in 2007.

Prior to joining CDPHP, John was the vice president of corporate communications at GHI and then EmblemHealth where he was responsible for communications, marketing technology, advertising, direct marketing, corporate giving, and events.  

CDPHP is a physician-founded, member-focused and community-based not-for-profit health plan that offers high-quality affordable health insurance to more than 400,000 commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid members in 24 counties throughout New York.

Kyal has spent the last 30 years working in the Medicare space.  For the past 8 years, Kyal has been the principal for HealthCompare, a 50 state, multi-channel Medicare agency.  HealthCompare was recently acquired by the National General Insurance Company where he also serves as the Senior Vice President of Medicare Programs.   Prior to HealthCompare, Kyal was as a founding partner and Chief Information Officer at Joppel, a revolutionary web-based decision support tool for Medicare consumers.  Joppel’s technology and toolset became the foundation for what is now HealthCompare. 

Kyal’s leadership and involvement in the Medicare marketspace includes his role as Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations for Connextions Health, where he provided oversight and leadership to the on-boarding and implementation of several health plans for Telesales, Retention, Member Education, Customer Service and Broker Sales teams.  Earlier in his career, Kyal spent 17 years at PacifiCare/SecureHorizons where he held multiple roles including Vice President of Telesales & Retention, Director of Operations for SecureHorizons USA, and Director of Customer Service and Member Education.

Sam Diederich is the Vice President of Strategy, Growth, and Partnerships for Optum.  In his role, he leads the strategy, delivery, and execution of innovative solutions for Payers & Providers in the areas of risk adjustment, performance management, provider interoperability, and quality of care programs.  Through his efforts in developing strategic partnerships across the industry, Sam has been able to ensure Optum clients are the beneficiaries of industry leading products and services to help them achieve their business goals and objectives.

Sam began his career at Optum designing and launching Optum’s Quality Management business. He was responsible for developing solutions to help Payers achieve excellence in CMS’ Star Ratings program, and NCQA’s HEDIS program. Prior to joining Optum, Sam held roles at Verisk Health (now known as Cotiviti) managing quality programs and at IBM in finance, managing BPO services.   

Sam holds degrees in Finance and Economics from the University of St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business.   Sam and his wife currently reside in Minnesota with their two children.

Dr. Allysceaeioun D. Britt is a public health practitioner with more than 21 years of public service in local and state government with a focus on population health engagement to address social determinants health for Medicaid populations. She has led initiatives for State Medicaid expansion and continuous enrollment (Oklahoma), state enrollment assistance program for pregnant Medicaid eligible women within local rural and metropolitan health departments and a statewide expansion, integration and sustainability of an evidence-based smoking cessation program targeted for pregnant women (Tennessee).

Dr. Britt currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Faculty Affairs and Development and Assistant Professor in School of Graduate Studies and Research at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Trevecca Nazarene University Skinner School of Business Education and Technology -Health Care Leadership Program. She is the founder of IMPAACT Health which provides support to community-based organizations by creating innovative models that promote, advocate and advance a community’s health for tomorrow.

When she is not working or teaching, she enjoys serving in her community and promoting health as the Ministry Lead of the Lake Providence Missionary Baptist Church Health Ministry; Chair of the Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention Program of Kappa Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and an active member of the Music City (TN) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated Health and Human Services Facet.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Florida State University, Masters of Public Health – Health Care Administration and Policy from University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Doctorate in Public Health – Community Health from Walden University.

In her free time, she enjoys singing in her church choir, playing the piano and traveling with her family.

As the vice president of product, marketing and community outreach, Steve Selinsky is responsible for coordinating all sales and enrollment activities for HAP’s individual and Medicare customers, as well as the development of HAP’s government and commercial products.  He is also responsible for all of HAP’s marketing and communications activities, as well as the company’s community engagement, which includes sponsorships and community partnerships in the geographic areas in which HAP does business.

Steve joined HAP in 2013, having held sales leadership positions at several major health insurers throughout his 25-year career.  He served as the president of the National Association of Health Underwriters from 2010 to 2011 and was a board member and chair for NAHU’s education foundation.  In 2017, Steve received the Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award from NAHU.  The award is NAHU’s highest honor and recognizes him as the Health Insurance Person of the Year.

Steve is a board member and past president of the Metro Detroit Association of Health Underwriters, as well as a board member and chair of the Health Underwriters Political Action Committee (HUPAC).  He also serves on the board of the Hannan Center, which is dedicated to serving the senior population, as well as RISE, an association that provides quality resources for health care professionals.  He previously served on the boards of Oakland Literacy Council and the Village School for Autistic Children.

Steve holds a bachelor's degree from Albion College in Albion, Mich.  He is also a graduate of Leadership Oakland and Leadership Detroit.

As Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Medicare at Independence Blue Cross, Kortney is a long-time leader accountable for marketing Medicare products and services to the communities we serve and helping those communities enroll in the Medicare coverage they need. She is directly responsible for acquisition and member retention marketing, product development, sales operations, and sales management at Independence in the Medicare area. Her goal is to deliver innovative and value-driven communications, and she is passionate about enriching the connection between Independence Blue Cross and our membership

Brooke Ivey joined Bloom as a phone representative in 2007. Since then, she has steadily moved up the ranks to become the leader of Bloom's Business Development team. Brooke is a natural people person who loves to make connections among her contacts and share new information and ideas. Her expertise in Medicare sales and call center campaigns make her a valuable asset to both Bloom and its clients. With a constant ear to the ground, Brooke identifies issues and needs in the health insurance industry and works to solve them. She has represented Bloom at industry events, presented numerous webinars, and written about the health insurance industry for a variety of publications and websites. Her mission is to improve lives through stronger building stronger communication networks and better tools.

Derrick Taveras is a healthcare executive with over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience growing best-in-class risk adjustment, quality, SDoH, and eligibility and enrollment programs for health plans and hospitals systems across the US. Taveras is currently the Managing Partner of Engagent Health, responsible for the firm’s sales software for agents and health plan sales operations.

Previously, Taveras served as the Senior Vice President of Business Development for Centauri Health Solutions and was instrumental in the development of its flagship SaaS platform now labeled, Centauri Advance. Taveras created opportunities for Centauri, that came as a result of the company’s acquisition of Tactical Management. Inc. (TMI), a risk adjustment firm he founded.

Taveras earned an undergraduate degree in Finance and Management Information Systems from Alfred University and an MBA from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College.

As VP, Market Strategy and Operations for HMS Population Health Management Ellen is responsible for overall strategic direction and operational excellence for multi-functional teams.  She drives the market strategy and planning for PHM Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, DM, PBM and other markets, as well as operational effectiveness in support of production, creation, and delivery of health care products and services for internal and external clients. 

Ellen joined HMS in 2016, bringing over 25 years of experience leading managed care organizations and initiatives including strategic planning, network contracts, clinical and administrative operations and consulting across Commercial, Government markets and health systems.  Prior to joining HMS, Ellen served in leadership positions for managed care organizations and health technology vendors in positions including Vice President of Medical Management for Martin’s Point Health Care;, VP, Shared Decision Making Products at Health Dialog; President, HMOs for Trigon BCBS of Virginia; and Vice President and General Manager, CIGNA Healthcare of Connecticut. 

Ellen is a registered nurse with a BS in Nursing from Syracuse University and an MBA from the University of Connecticut.  

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