Rise

Kal Achanta Associate Principal, Health Plan & Providers

ZS

Kal Achanta is an Associate Principal and a leader in the Health Plan and Provider practice at ZS. He advises national and regional health plans on a broad range of issues across driving growth and improving value.

Kal has 15+ years of consulting experience across all stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem – Lifesciences companies, providers, and payers, with specific focus on go-to-market strategy, commercial excellence, and leveraging advanced analytics for data driven decision making.

Kal has managed and worked in several global teams with engagements in Slovenia, Denmark, Ireland, Mexico and The Netherlands. Kal holds an MBA from the Georgetown University and an MSEE from Missouri University of Science & Technology

Laura Aiello Sr Director Business Development and Strategic Partnerships

LifeStation

Laura Aiello is the Senior Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at LifeStation, a leading provider of medical alert and senior care services. Laura has been in the life safety industry for more than 15 years with experience in Marketing, Product Management, Business Development and Account Management.  Laura is the foremost expert in the industry on providing medical alert systems through Medicaid, Medicare, and other government-funded programs.

She has partnered with the most innovative insurance companies, hospitals, and healthcare providers to improve outcomes for seniors and their loved ones. With a focus on safety from falls, reducing readmissions and connecting loved ones through modern technology, Laura spends her time customizing solutions for every need on the healthcare spectrum.

Laura is widely recognized as a leading voice in the medical alert industry and has presented at numerous tradeshows and conferences.

In addition to her work with LifeStation, Laura has been a Senior Advisor to the Medical Alert Monitoring Association (MAMA) since its founding in 2007, responsible for organizing the annual meeting and tradeshow.

Larry Baca Director, Medicare Sales, California

Providence Health Plans

With over 25 years in sales leadership, Larry is an expert on sales, marketing & retention in the Medicare field. He has worked for both large state-wide plans as well as smaller regional plans. He takes pride in helping others reach their goals and enjoys working in an industry that assists people access health care. 

Larry is married with three daughters who have all received their bachelor’s degrees. Larry is a UCLA graduate who loves college athletics and eating. He is a self-certified grill master. 

Stephanie C. Battista Managing Director, Marketing & Communications

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island

As Managing Director of Marketing and Communications at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI), Stephanie is a long-time leader accountable for all marketing campaigns, including brand, Medicare, and B2B. She is directly responsible for brand awareness; acquisition and member retention marketing; content development; and member education. Her goal is to help all Rhode Islanders better understand the value of BCBSRI’s products, programs, and tools to achieve the organization’s mission: improve health and well-being by leading access to high-quality, affordable, and equitable care.

Scott Black Chief Operating Officer

Bloom Insurance Agency

Scott is a JD Power award-winning executive who has achieved 4 Star Customer Service thresholds while improving customer relationships and customer lifecycle transformations. Scott has a demonstrated track record of accomplishments and expertise in leading successful operations teams, revenue growth, improving cost structure and driving operational efficiencies. Before joining Advise, Scott previously held leadership roles at companies such as Benefytt Technologies Inc. (Chief Operating Officer), Cognizant Technology Solutions (Global Healthcare Delivery Leader), WellCare Health Plans (Vice President, Channel Communication Services) and SITEL Corporation (Global Vice President). 

Chris Bond Vice President of Sales

SCAN Health Plan

Chris is a dynamic Sales Leader with 20 years of proven results in various roles for both National and Regional health plans in the Medicare Advantage space. He is currently the Vice President of Sales for SCAN Health Plan. He is responsible for plan membership growth, forecasting, sales strategy and implementation with oversight of the employed Field and Telesales channels, Employer Group business, and EMO relationships.

In his role he works closely with Marketing, Product Development, Digital strategy, community-based Medical Groups, and partnering with Broker channel leadership to ensure that growth targets are achieved. He has been with SCAN Health Plan going on 10 years and has most recently experienced the largest membership growth spurt in the company’s history, during the 2022 AEP selling season. He’s unique background include specialties;

• Omni-Channel Sales distribution strategy
• Call Center optimization Inbound/Outbound - Sales, lead generation & retention
• Sales data analytics
• Performance management
• Sales organization architecture
• Leadership development
• Sales compensation modeling
• High impact consultative sales training for both Call Center and Field sales

Chris was born and raised in Southern California where he attended Cypress Community College. He has 2 children and enjoys sports, music and art.

Brandon Brooks Data Scientist - Business Lab

Advantasure

Brandon Brooks is an expert in human communications and engagement in digital ecosystems using data and behavioral sciences. He’s worked in several industries including healthcare, energy, environmental, education and information technology. With an appreciation for details and analytics, Brandon is highly skilled at telling stories with data and enjoys working on complex problems without a clear solution. He’s published multiple thought-leadership articles in peer-reviewed, academic journals on topics ranging from social media use for information seeking, online banking preferences of seniors and civic engagement through social media.

He holds a PhD in Media and Information Studies from Michigan State University as well as an MA in Sociology from Ohio University and BA in Sociology from Cedarville University.

Brandon is married with a daughter and together, they love hiking and exploring the beaches and wilderness of Michigan. He enjoys all kinds of fishing from fly fishing in Montana, charter fishing on Lake Superior or river fishing in mid-Michigan. Don’t expect him to be humming a song though! “I could listen to a song hundreds of times, and still not remember a single line from the song!” he said.

Bingcan Chen Executive Director, Data Science

CVS

Bingcan is an Executive Director of Data Science within CVS Health, focusing on creating data science tools and solutions to accelerate business growth. This includes strategic analytics, business intelligence, and artificial intelligence etc. Bingcan has been a data science practitioner for his whole career and spent years in Analytics consulting before joining CVS Health.

Dan Clark Founder and CEO of an International Leadership Development Company, High-Performance Business Coach, New York Times Best Selling Author, professor, Gold Record Songwriter; and Award-Winning Athlete

Dan is an alumnus of the University of Utah (psychology); a University Professor; Podcast Host; New York Times Best Selling Author of 35 books and a primary contributing author to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. One of Dan’s famous stories ‘Puppies For Sale’ was made into a film at Paramount Studios starring Jack Lemmon.

As a master storyteller Dan has been published in over 50 million books in 40 languages worldwide; has appeared on over 500 TV and radio programs including Oprah, Glenn Beck, NPR and Voices of America/Radio Free Europe. Dan teaches to focus on what matters most, which is what lasts the longest – knowing the goal is not to live forever, but to create something that will.  

Jotham Cortez AVP, New Market Sales, Broker Strategy & Sales Operations

Essence Healthcare

Jotham’s journey in Health Insurance began over 20 years ago where he worked for a Brokerage in Mid-Missouri. He later moved to the carrier side working for companies such as Anthem BCBS and United Healthcare. He joined Essence Healthcare/Lumeris in 2013 working with Independent Brokers managing that production channel. In his latest role with the company, he leads all the Sales Operations that supports 5 carrier plans across the nation. His current responsibilities include overseeing application processing, commission processing, the producer support call center, all sales systems and the producer portal as well as continuing to drive production in the external broker distribution channel. When he is not working his day job, Jotham can be found at the baseball field watching his son throw a filthy curveball, at a convention center watching his daughter flip across the stage as a competitive cheerleader or on a mountain hiking a back-country trail. Jotham has had the opportunity to speak coast to coast on various topics, which include Medicare Advantage, and brings humor and excitement to the platform to keep the audience engaged and included in the conversation.

Kristy Croom Tucker Director of Member Experience & Acquisition

BayCare Health Plans

Kristy Croom Tucker is the Director of Member Experience & Acquisition for BayCare Health Plans, a subsidiary of BayCare Health System—the largest health system in the Tampa Bay area. BayCare Health Plans’ first insurance plan, BayCarePlus Medicare Advantage, began in January 2019, currently serves about 12,000 Medicare beneficiaries across four counties and is rated Five Stars by CMS for the 2022 plan year.

Kristy started at BayCare in 2011 as a hospital marketing manager and oversaw the marketing of four hospitals and the system-wide marketing of several key service lines, including cardiovascular services and neurosciences. In 2014, Kristy moved on to become the System Marketing Manager for Consumers for BayCare. In that role, she oversaw the marketing of BayCare’s extensive ambulatory division and the development and marketing of several mobile applications. Kristy also oversaw the development and launch of BayCare’s first brand campaign—Humanity at Work.  Kristy transitioned to the health plan with the launch of  BayCarePlus Medicare Advantage.

Prior to her role at BayCare, Kristy was Director of Communication for Rasmussen College. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas. Rock chalk Jayhawk! 

When she’s not thinking about branding, member experience and cost-per-acquisition, Kristy enjoys being the mom of two perfect angels, Gabriella and Sebastian. The Tucker family enjoys going on adventures, being outdoors, craft beers and traveling. 

Kortney Cruz Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Medicare

Independence Blue Cross

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.

Benton Davis President

Bloom Insurance Agency

Benton has over 30 years of experience in healthcare. In his 30 years working in healthcare, he has managed a variety of teams and efforts, including population health efforts, process digitization, and network development. Prior to becoming President of Advise Insurance, Benton was CEO of Western States at UnitedHealthCare, and CEO of Payer Services and Solutions at Optum.

Aaron Davis Product Director

ConnectureDRX

Aaron Davis is a technology leader with extensive experience in patient centric healthcare technology. He is the Product Director for ConnectureDRX's Plan Compare ONE, a Medicare shopping, quoting, enrollment, and retention platform. Aaron comes from a background in consumer research and product experimentation, running rapid research projects for Fortune 500s such as AARP, Cigna, Experian, and Intuit. Previously, he has served in an innovation role to build a patient engagement platform for individuals with rare diseases. He has a BA in finance and was a University Innovation Fellow at Stanford University's d.school.

Dr. Shannon Decker, M.Ed., MBA, PhD. Principal

VBC One

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

Archie Dey Director Consumer Experience and Insight

SCAN Health Plan

Archie Dey leads the Consumer Experience and Insights efforts at SCAN. In his current role, Archie leads the strategic planning, design and implementation of initiatives which drives Member Satisfaction, Net Promoter Score and Retention. In addition, Archie leads the Consumer Insights function which uses qualitative and advanced analytic approaches to understand user’s unmet latent needs

Archie has extensive healthcare strategy, Operations and Analytics experience with both Health Plan and Provider groups. Prior to SCAN, Archie has been a management consultant specializing in Strategy and Operations in the Healthcare Industry. Archie did his undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering and earned his MBA from USC Marshall School of Business.

Kacey Dugan Director - Policy & Regulatory Affairs

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

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.

Wendy Edwards Director of Internal Operations

BluePeak Advisors

Wendy is Director of Internal Operations at BluePeak Advisors, a division of Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc.  Wendy is a seasoned healthcare executive with over twenty years of experience working in commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, and self-funded insurance arenas.  Prior to becoming a consultant, Wendy was the President and Chief Executive Officer of a commercial and Medicare Advantage plan in Oregon and oversaw expansion applications to move to the national stage. She maintained oversight over all executive duties and collaborated with board members and stakeholders alike to ensure that best practices are not only adhered to but also proactively sought out through an organizational culture of continuous improvement. Prior to this role Wendy was the company’s Chief Compliance Officer and HIPAA Privacy Officer and developed Fraud, Waste and Abuse (FWA) and Special Investigation Unit (SIU) teams. Since then, she served in several roles, including Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President. Wendy oversaw all compliance activity and exceeded financial and operational goals as the health plan leader.  Wendy also served as the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance officer for a regional health plan that operated Medicare, Medicaid, commercial and self-funded products. 

Wendy started her career as a Critical Access Hospital Program Manager with the Office of Rural Health.  Wendy then worked for the state of Oregon, first as Quality Improvement Coordinator and Medicaid Contract Administrator for all contracts. Wendy then served as the Actuarial Services Administrator where she was responsible for the biennial rate setting for the Oregon Health Plan, covering all Oregonians eligible for Medicaid. Wendy spent years as the Public Employees' Benefit Board Director of Operations, where she served a diverse board made up of management and union representatives, to ensure the highest quality, lowest cost insurance for all State and University system employees.

Wendy earned her master’s degree in Public Administration: Health Administration from Portland State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Administration from Oregon State University, Wendy is a certified Healthcare Privacy Compliance (CHPC) and Healthcare Compliance (CHC) professional.

Jim Egan Vice President, Sales

WEX Health

Kathleen Ellmore Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Engagys

Kathleen is a pioneer in bringing the best of consumer marketing and data-driven methodologies to healthcare to motivate better health decisions. As Co-Founder and Managing Director of Engagys, Kathleen leverages the best of behavioral economics, the latest in evidence-based communications combined with the insights from over a billion consumer interactions in health to help healthcare organizations close the last mile of consumer engagement. She consults on all topics related to consumer engagement and experience for the top healthcare organizations in the country.

Kathleen has been recently named as a consultant to the first ever FDA Patient Engagement Advisory Committee (PEAC). She received Stevie awards for highlighting opportunities for improving the lives of people with chronic conditions. She speaks regularly on the national stage on many topics including: driving consumer health engagement, creating better consumer experience in healthcare, and using data to drive consumer behavior.

Kathleen also participates in various healthcare advisory boards, including HealthComp’s Consumer Experience Advisory Board, Linkwell Health’s Marketing Advisory Board and RISE’s Consumer Engagement Advisory Board

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

Craig Fisher Manager, Cross Segment Strategy & Roadmap

Highmark BCBS

Craig is the manager of the Cross Segment Strategy & Roadmap team with the Product & Health Experience division. Craig has expertise regarding Highmark’s Medicare Advantage product offerings, which incorporate developing and implementing benefit offerings. These innovated and unique benefits aid in driving member engagement and satisfaction. Craig has over 12 years experience working in healthcare, including 7 years working in the Product & Healthcare Experience space.

Ken Gammon SVP, Healthcare Solutions

RRD

Ken is the leader of RRD’s Healthcare Practice which is a focus on sales, strategy and solutions to help Provider, Payers and Life Sciences companies achieve their communication objectives.  Ken has spent the last 17 years developing innovative solutions that help Payers communicate more effectively with their members throughout the member journey; acquisition, onboarding, service and health & wellness.

Brandon Goldman VP Sales

Regal.io

Jessica Gonzalez-Arias Principal, Markets Growth Lifestyle Medicine Marketing & PR - MindBody Medicine

Blue Shield of CA

Jessica is a born storyteller with 12+ years of strategic creative marketing experience. She is a champion for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, who infuses DE&I into the DNA of every campaign, project, and teams that she touches. She has served as a thought-leader for multicultural creative strategy for Healthcare, Entertainment and CPG, brands.

Jessica currently serves as the Principle, Lifestyle Medicine Marketing & PR in the MindBody Medicine Markets Growth team for Blue Shield of California. As a thought-leader for diverse marketing, she is driving strategic cross-company multicultural initiatives, and culturally relevant audience activations with the goal of achieving health equity.

Maureen Grier Marketing Director

Mass Advantage

A Marketing professional at Mass Advantage, with over 24 years of Medicare marketing experience.  Skilled at planning and developing marketing strategies and initiatives that support the membership growth of Medicare products. Proven track record of creating and executing successful, measurable campaigns for Medicare customer acquisition and retention, including offline and online campaigns.

Ana Handshuh, CHC Principal

CAT5 Strategies

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

Jennifer Harper Senior Products Marketing, Sales, and Retention

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama

Josh Hoover National Business Development Executive

Amplifon Hearing Health Care

Josh Hoover, CEBS, is a National Business Development Executive at Amplifon Hearing Health Care. One of his primary areas of focus is helping health plans transition their hearing coverage from manufacturer-driven “check-the-box” plans to plans that address hearing loss comorbidities and drive member satisfaction. Before joining Amplifon, Josh spent seven years at EPIC Hearing Healthcare, now United Hearing Benefits, as Director of Sales. He earned a BA degree in marketing management from the University of St. Thomas and his Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) designation from the Wharton School of Business. A resident of the Minneapolis area, Josh currently serves as Vice President of the Twin Cities Chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS).

Scott Hopkins Chief Growth Officer

Anderson

As a recognized growth leader in the direct and digital marketing industry, Scott has overseen the strategy, development, and execution for thousands of successful D2C marketing programs for some of the nation’s leading brands, including Anthem, Cigna, Crystal Cruises, AAA, Union Bank and Fed Ex Office.

Scott is known for strategic thought leadership and being the “teller of the truth”, which has led to the development and execution of truly integrated campaigns long before they were the norm. He has helped create some of the industry’s best performing marketing programs powered by data driven creative strategies and flawless execution. His constant focus for the past 33 years has been maximizing his clients’ ROI and making their working lives easier.

Rory Hume Senior Marketing Manager

Providence

Nikki Hungate, MS, MHA Director, Medicare & Gov’t Programs Product Strategy

MVP Health Care

Nikki Hungate, a long-time resident of the Western New York region, currently serves as the Director of Medicare & Government Programs Product Strategy at MVP Health Care. Utilizing the 17 years of experience in the health plan industry she is accountable for leading a team of product strategists that create and deliver a suite of high-quality government products that address the needs of the community in a customer-centric fashion, placing emphasis on those populations that are most vulnerable and underserved.

Nikki holds a Bachelor and Master of Science in Health Administration from Roberts Wesleyan University. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Charleston in the Executive Leadership program. Nikki has a passion for sharing knowledge, and also serves as an adjunct professor in the health administration degree programs at Roberts Wesleyan University. In her free time, she volunteers as fundraising coordinator for the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter in Rochester, NY

Naomi Irvin Chief of Staff – Government Markets

Blue Cross NC

Naomi Irvin is a California native who began calling North Carolina home in 2006. She earned her BSBA with a Management concentration and MBA with a Marketing certificate from East Carolina University (ECU). With nearly 15 years of health insurance experience, Naomi supports Government Markets at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina as Chief of Staff.  In that role she is focused on providing strategic alignment, accountability, communications, and enablement.

Having participated in Leadership North Carolina’s 2020-2021 cohort, Naomi has taken on the role of Program Chair for the 2021-2022 cohort and sits on the Leadership North Carolina board of Directors.

When not working, Naomi enjoys spending time with her kids (Josh, Hayley, and Milena) and pup (Juliet Bean). Josh is a senior at ECU, Hayley is a rising Junior at Elon University, and Milena is a 5th grader. One of the most rewarding things Naomi does with her family is volunteering with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and KABOOM!. A devourer and collector of books, Naomi retreats to her home office and packed bookshelves when she needs a break.

Brooke Ivey Chief Sales Officer

Bloom Insurance Agency

Christopher Javor Director of Medicare Advantage

AmeriHealth Caritas

Sam Keith Product Manager

Advantasure

Jenn Kerfoot Chief Experience Officer

FarmboxRx

As Chief Experience Officer at FarmboxRx, Jenn Kerfoot is the head of Client and Member Experience Operations. In this role, Jenn leads the strategic planning, design, and implementation of initiatives that drive Member Satisfaction & Retention. Additionally, Jenn spearheads the Member Insights function using qualitative and advanced analytic approaches to understand the gaps in care and unmet needs of populations. Jenn has helped companies articulate and achieve success across several aspects of the healthcare space. As a military veteran, Jenn brings leadership and vision to diverse audiences, and offers a unique perspective within start-ups and high-growth stage companies. With a passion for organizational mission and values, as well as the unique competitive advantage of establishing a strong culture, Jenn works with all departments to streamline processes and programs that integrate the member experience into every aspect of the business.

Sara Kloch Senior Product Marketing Manager

Nuance

Sara Kloch drives payor/PBM marketing efforts for Nuance. She has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare, pharmacy, and PBM marketing and marketing communications for companies including CVS health, United HealthCare, McKesson, and Aetna. She has worked extensively with all stakeholders in healthcare, including members, providers, pharmacists and payor customers, and for all lines of business, including commercial and Medicare.

Angela Laman Manager, National Sales

Paramount Dental

Angela Laman is the National Sales Manager for Paramount Dental. Angela joined Paramount Health Care in 2016 and has held several roles while at Paramount: Regional Community Outreach Medicaid Coordinator and Medicare Marketing Account Executive.

David L. Larsen, RN, MHA Senior Advisor Payor Solutions

Press Ganey

David L. Larsen currently works as Senior Advisor Payer Solutions at Press Ganey and prior to that he worked as an independent health care consultant working with predictive analytics, member engagement and pharma vendors to improve their offerings and sales approach to managed care plans and working with managed care plans to improve their Medicare Advantage Star ratings focusing on improvements related to CAHPS, HOS, HEDIS, medication adherence, and member experience measures.

David served as the Director of Quality Improvement for SelectHealth in Salt La­ke City, Utah for 32 years and worked for Intermountain Healthcare for 38 years. SelectHealth is a mixed model HMO with more than 950,000 members in Utah, Idaho and Nevada across all insurance product lines including, Medicare Advantage, manage Medicaid, large, small, and individual commercial plans and ACA plans. Intermountain Healthcare is an integrated health care delivery system with 23 hospitals and over 1500 employed physicians.

As the Director of Quality Improvement, David had responsibilities for oversight of the Medicare Advantage Stars program for which SelectHealth received a 5 Star rating in 2022, maintaining NCQA accreditation; HEDIS performance measurement and improvement; CAHPS and HOS measurement and improvement, 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, provider transparency programs and direct patient improvement interventions related to chronic illnesses including patient adherence monitoring, reminders and incentive programs.

Theresa Lauer Director, Gov. Markets Individual Sales

Independence Blue Cross

Meg Mananian VP Operations

Convoso

Meg Mananian is the Head of Operations at Convoso. She has several years of experience in public accounting and also the technology and healthcare industries. After joining the Convoso family, Meg has proven to be a valuable leader to her team as well as the whole company. She exemplifies the company’s core values in every aspect of her work and has acted as the “glue” that keeps us all together. Her motto is that every problem has a solution.

Christie McMullen Best-Selling Author

Learning Can Stick

Dr. Christie L. McMullen spent the last 20+ years as an educator but has spent her entire life as a learner. Christie trains adults to be better at what they do so that every interaction is memorable. She loves making people laugh while they learn and recognized early on that evoking emotion increases retention of information. She transitioned from teaching high school to teaching adults early in her career and has worked with adult learners in many settings. Whether training educators, business leaders, medical personnel, or her own children, she knows that learning sticks when it is safe, logical, fun, and memorable. She might even convince you that adults need stickers too.

Christie has been happily married for 22 years and is the mother to 20 year old twins. She loves working out and bettering herself in mind, body, and spirit. Whether talking to people one on one or in group settings she manages to get her participants to learn and grow in every circumstance. She has been a teacher, assistant principal, mentor, program specialist, associate area director, trainer, and life-long learner, giving her a unique and diverse perspective on the training, teaching, and learning world.

Maggie Mood Vice President, Sales and Marketing

Mass Advantage Medicare Advantage Plan

Margaret Mood is the Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Mass Advantage, a local provider-sponsored MA plan in the central Massachusetts market.

As the former Director of Sales in the Senior Programs Department at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, she was 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.

Josh Nace President

Paramount Dental

Josh Nace is President of Paramount Dental a division of ProMedica since December of 2021 where he oversees the Dental Plan. Prior to joining ProMedica, Josh was the Vice President of Sales and Service for Dental Health Service a regional dental plan where he worked from 1998 through November of 2021.

Josh is active with the National Association of Dental Plans (NADP) where he was a board member and chaired the Exchange Policy Workgroup.  In addition, he was a board member for the California Association of Dental Plans and was their Chair. Josh has served as State President and Legislative Chair of the Washington State Chapter of Health Underwriters and was a six-year member of Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s advisory council.

Josh has received the Barry Thoma Award (highest member award) by the Washington Association of Health Underwriters and a Star Award from the National Association of Dental Plans.

Josh received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the University of Washington. 

Andrew Napierala Vice President, Medicare & Individual Market Sales

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield

Shourya Nautiyal Manager, Decision Analytics

ZS

Shourya has 10+ years of experience in various sales and marketing analytics roles. His domain expertise is in go-to-market, growth and marketing analytics. He has extensive experience building marketing mix and multi touch attribution solutions for clients across a diverse set of industries including healthcare, consumer retail, finance etc. He takes pride in working on problems geared towards improving healthcare outcomes. Shourya received his bachelor’s degree in engineering from IIT Roorkee.

Cyndie O'Brien Medicare Sales, Marketing, and Retention Professional

Hank Osowski Managing Partner

Strategic Health Group

Hank Osowski, a Founding Member and Managing Partner of Strategic Health Group, is an experienced health care executive and strategist who has provided leadership to commercial, Medicare and Medicaid health plans for more than three decades. He has led several engagements for the firm’s clients on the key challenges of Medicare and Medicaid Managed Care programs in diverse markets, such as California, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, New Mexico, Florida, Texas, West Virginia and Hawaii. He has also provided leadership to more than a dozen client plan development undertakings for commercial, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid business startups in multiple states.

A frequent speaker and resource on critical issues facing the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including the opportunities for strengthening a Medicare Advantage plan’s market position, the challenges of supporting programs for the Dual Eligible populations, as well as the principles for structuring effective long term care programs. His insights on some of the challenges facing the healthcare industry have been published in “Managed Care”, “Healthcare Marketing Report”, “Managed Care Contracting & Reimbursement Advisor”, “Payers and Providers” and “Becker’s Hospital Review” among other publications.

Formerly the senior vice president of corporate development for SCAN Health Plan, Hank was a key member of the senior leadership team that turned the company around from a “near death experience” into an exceptionally strong financial position and one of the largest nonprofit Medicare Advantage plans in the country. He led SCAN’s expansion into seven additional California counties and as well as its first out-of-state expansion into Arizona where Hank then served as CEO of SCAN Health Plan Arizona and SCAN Long Term Care. He has also led the organization’s strategic planning efforts and initiated an innovation development regimen to seek improvements in care coordination practices and future care outcome protocols.

Prior to SCAN, Hank served as a Principal in a national health care consulting organization providing a range of strategic, financial and development services for health plans, physician groups and hospitals. He also served as vice president International Operations for American Family Life Assurance Corporation where he directed the development of start-up operations in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, as well as the financial turnaround of the company’s Canadian operations.

Hank began his California career as a member of the senior management team responsible for the turnaround and financial survival of Blue Cross of California. In this capacity, Hank led the financial improvement of the individual and small group division and provided leadership to the organization’s strategic planning efforts.

Sarah Panock Executive Customer Partner

Wellframe

Sarah Panock serves as an Executive Customer Partner at Wellframe where she works with health plans to ensure they are empowering staff to reach and care for the most members. She is passionate about healthcare and technology, and enjoys building strong relationships and long term partnerships with her customers. After receiving her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Sarah has spent her entire career in healthcare and has worked with hospitals and health systems, employer groups and health plans. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys, traveling and cozying up with a good book.

Tom Pelegrin Senior Vice President & Chief Revenue Officer

Convey Health Solutions

As Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, Tom is responsible for Convey’s market growth, sales, business development, brand and marketing. Tom brings more than 25 years of sales and business development experience in the health care markets specifically related to payer technology and operations. Most recently he was the Founder and CEO of MDInnovate, an organization focused on providing primary care services and improved patient care coordination through unique and innovative delivery models. Prior to this, Tom was a Partner with Optimity Advisors, a leading Washington, DC-based health care operations consulting firm, where he provided subject matter expertise related to State and Federal Health Exchanges and payer enrollment and billing technology and operations. 

Todd Rau Director, Medicare Markets

Indiana University Health Plans

Todd Rau is the Director of Medicare for Indiana University Health Plans and leads the Medicare Advantage line of business for the past 5 years. IU Health Plans is an extension of Indiana University Health, Indiana’s only hospital system to be nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report for 20 consecutive years.

Rau has 29 years of experience in insurance and began his career as a broker, focusing on commercial group, individual and Medicare health sales.  In 2007 he became the Regional Sales Manager for Anthem BCBS individual broker sales, and quickly transitioned to the role of Broker Sales Director for Medicare Products.

While at IU Health Plans, Rau introduced the first $0 premium plans and multiple supplemental benefit additions.  A Greenwood, Indiana native, he received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.

Rachel Runnels Manager, Joint Venture Marketing

Emergient

Rebecca Schano Senior Account Executive

RRD

Becca has over 20 years experience in helping organizations solve some of their most critical client communication needs.  Her expertise is in creating workflows that solve complex communications needs for health plans to help drive efficiency, engagement and member satisfaction. 

John Selby Executive Advisor

Convey Health Solutions

John A. Selby is an Executive Advisor to Convey Health Solutions, assisting with product development, go to market strategy and planning, sales, and marketing initiatives.  John is a former executive at consultancies HealthScape Advisors and Gorman Health Group, both part of the Convey enterprise. 

John has 35 years of healthcare experience, including more than 17 years in Medicare Advantage and Government Programs. John spent 20 years with a large Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, where he held P&L responsibilities for the company’s Medicare and Dental businesses.  

He also held an executive leadership position at a regional health plan with responsibility for Medicare and ACA P&L, strategic planning, revenue growth, and overall program performance.  John began consulting in 2020 after spending four years at a large, regional general agency where he was responsible for meeting all revenue goals.  There he grew a Medicare book of business to nearly $1 million in revenue in less than three years. 

John’s focus as a consultant is largely on strategy, product, sales, and marketing. 

John graduated from Seton Hall University and completed executive education programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Babson College, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the Center for Creative Leadership, and Disney University.   He can be reached at john@johnselby1.com. 

Steve Selinsky Vice President of Product Strategy, Marketing and Community Outreach

HAP

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.

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

Southwestern Health Resources

Laura Sheriff, RN, MSN, is currently working as VP, Risk Adjustment for SWHR.   She is also a consultant with physician groups and health plans to capitalize on risk adjustment performance and operations.  Laura is an MSN with >12 years’ experience in Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace Managed Care and has led teams in risk, quality, telehealth, and population health analytics.  Laura demonstrates effective leadership, innovative problem-solving techniques, and goal-oriented focus to execute business objectives and meet performance metrics.  Laura has designed and coordinated activities including provider education, training, auditing, data mining, and data analysis to direct program success.  Laura has a Master’s in Nursing Education and is also a certified professional coder and a certified risk coder.   Laura is also a frequent speaker for RISE, a best-in-class organization for all things related to accountable care and government healthcare reform.

Chris Shiffert Senior Vice President

BroadPath

Chris joined the BroadPath team in 2016 and oversees BP’s business development, client solutions and sales functions. Prior to joining BroadPath, Chris spent eight years with Xerox Services where he led their efforts to develop new solutions and relationships with healthcare payer organizations.

Chris has also worked for Deloitte Consulting in their CRM and Outsourcing Advisory practices, where he helped his clients design and implement a variety performance improvement and outsourcing programs.

Chris has a B.A. and MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Leah Smith VP, Client Solutions

Anderson

Leah’s been in the marketing industry for over 20 years, working in a variety of industries. In the last 11 years she developed Medicare marketing growth strategies that resonated with consumers and delivered successful results to carriers. Leah’s known for meaningful conversations that inspire us to constantly learn and evolve. She’s proud to be a generation X’er, Mom of 8-year-old Luke, and has been doing yoga for over 25 years …and one day, dang it, she’ll be able to do a handstand.

Justin Stauffer VP Integrated Marketing

DMW

Justin is Vice President of Integrated Marketing at DMW. He oversees all digital and traditional media marketing efforts as well as web development within DMW.

He has over two decades of experience spanning web strategy, user experience, digital marketing, and web analytics. At DMW, he oversees direct marketing campaigns for health care and health insurance providers. However, he also has deep experience working across retail, telecom and B2B industries.

Gary Stubblefield VP Healthcare Strategy

Amsive

Lauren Stupin Account Director

TRAFFIK

Jamee Sunga Product Director - VBE

Bloom Insurance Agency

Jamee Sunga has over 20 years of insurance experience, with the last 10 years dedicated to Medicare. Jamee joined the Bloom team in early 2021 and serves as the Product Director for VBE and Member Onboarding. Iamee oversees the strategy, innovation, implementation and operations of all onboarding related products.

Prior to Bloom, Jamee worked for Centene Corp. as a national implementation manager, process improvement consultant, and sales performance analyst.

Jamee attended California State University Northridge and resides in Los Angeles. She has 3 kids and loves tide-pooling, theme parks and spending time with her family.

Toni Tashiro Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer

Trusty.care

Toni Tashiro, Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer is responsible for leading and executing on the strategic initiatives to support the growth agenda at Trusty.care. As an executive leader with more than 35 years of experience in sales management, business development, client engagement and marketing, Toni has driven growth in health plans, health services, provider, content marketing and tech-enabled organizations. 

Prior to joining Trusty.care, most recently Toni, as Chief Growth Officer  at Spiras Health supported the Series B fundraise, leading the growth team, and previously led sales and client engagement for Linkwell Health and Healthways.

Toni earned her Bachelor's degree at Bowling Green State University and her MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University. 

Anthony Trimino Founder, CEO

TRAFFIK

Jason Vallejos Executive Vice President & CSO

Syndicated Insurance Agency

Jason Vallejos is the EVP & CSO for Syndicated Insurance Agency, a Limited Liability Company founded in 2003. Syndicated is a multi-line general agency offering all lines of coverage including Life, Health, Property & Casualty insurance with a strong focus on Medicare Plan sales as a National Field Marketing Organization. As Executive Vice President, Jason is head of sales, marketing and training for all sub-agencies working with Syndicated and fosters win-win relationships with professional partners including medical groups & Independent Physician Associations.

Syndicated’s approach to marketing is to work in collaboration with professional advisors such as healthcare providers, CPA’s, business, and estate planning attorneys to help develop long-term protection plans and growth for his clients. As the industry and the needs of our community change, Jason continues rigorous educational standards in Senior Health Care, Life, Long-Term Care and Business Insurance.

At a young age, Jason volunteered with various charities and organizations including the American Red Cross. In 1994 Jason assisted the victims of the Northridge Earthquake with claims filing, shelter, food, and clothing, as an American Red Cross volunteer. This is where Jason first understood the necessity of insurance and the value it brings to communities during disasters. Later, as a healthcare business analyst, Jason developed a passion for helping seniors with their healthcare needs while learning the operational and analytical support that runs a major carrier. Through this diverse career background, Jason acquired business knowledge, actuarial analysis, insurance, networking and managed care experience. Jason Vallejos was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and resides in the Ventura County area.

Jason has a passion for people and is driven by a set of core values including integrity, excellence and innovation, focusing on client satisfaction and retention, teamwork, continuous improvement, mentoring, growth and success. Jason is an accomplished and results driven top performing leader known for his industry knowledge, organizational and leadership abilities and his focus on win-win solutions for his clients and partners. 

Dustin VanDuine, MSF, CLU Director of New Business Sales

Health Alliance Plan

Dustin VanDuine is the director of New Business Sales at Health Alliance Plan (HAP). In this position, he oversees HAP’s sales efforts aimed at employer group customers, those eligible for Medicare and individuals of all ages.  Since joining HAP in 2013, Dustin has helped increase annual enrollment sales year after year.  He is skilled at building relationships with key constituents, including HAP’s valuable agent partners.

Dustin is also the immediate past president of the Metro Detroit Association of Health Underwriters (MDAHU) and has been actively involved in that organization for many years.  In this role, he led a group of 500 agents in advocating for HAP’s members and customers, as well as providing professional development opportunities and delivering resources to promote excellence.

Dustin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance, Economics and Management from Northwood University and a Master of Science degree in Finance from Walsh College.  He and his family reside in Fenton, Mich.

Kurt Waltenbaugh Senior Vice President of Insights Growth

Unite Us

Kurt is a serial entrepreneur with a career spent building solutions to understand, predict, and influence consumer behavior. Kurt has built successful analytic solutions, products and companies in the healthcare, retail, and education/credentialing industries.

Daniel Weaver EVP Product Operations and Star Strategy

Nations Benefits

Daniel Weaver is the Executive Vice President of Product Operations and Stars Strategy at NationsBenefits, with nearly 25 years of experience in Operations and Star Ratings strategy. Daniel most recently served as VP, Government Quality Programs at Gateway Health, where he led the company to its first 4.5 Star Rating and an improved Medicaid NCQA Accreditation rating. 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 NationsBenefits, Daniel will drive strategic planning, facilitate execution, oversee product financial performance, manage operational performance across all products, and ensure strong internal controls are in place to enable efficiency in the growth of the business. Daniel will also help drive prospective and retrospective investigation into quality outcomes and customer engagement across the company’s distinct benefit management programs while continuing to innovate new solutions for health plan partners focused on growth and strong quality performance.

Austin Weaver Vice President of Medicare

Hinge Health

Mike Wong Director, Sales and Marketing

Paramount Health Care

Mike Wong is Director of Sales and Marketing with Paramount Health Care where he oversees the Commercial, Medicare, Dental and Individual lines of insurance. Prior to coming to Paramount Mike spent 25 + years as a broker, working for a national broker, regional broker and owning his own employee benefits practice.