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Equity & Timely Access as a Stars Strategy

Equity & Timely Access as a Stars Strategy

Alexandria Tusek, MSA, CPHQ, CSSGB

Director, HEDIS &
Data Analytics,
Priority Health

In her role, Allie is responsible for the overall HEDIS planning, and execution for Priority Health, a nationally recognized health benefits company in Michigan and part of the Spectrum Health integrated health system. She joined Priority Health in 2021 as manager of Medicaid quality.

Allie previously held health plan quality roles at Total Health Plan, Learning Quality Group and Meridian Health Plan. She is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB) Allie received a Master of Science in Administration (MSA) from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from Ferris State University.

Elizabeth Benz

Vice President of Quality and Clinical Integration,
Network Health

Elizabeth leads accreditation, appeals and grievances, condition management, credentialing, member wellness, provider informatics, quality health integration and CMS Stars areas for Network Health. Most recently she served as vice president government relations and product development, leading Network Health’s government relations activities, product design and supplemental benefit vendors.

Prior to Network Health, Elizabeth served on the senior leadership team member at Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin and vice president of sales at Universal American.Elizabeth received a bachelor of science in marketing and a bachelor of science in international relations from Syracuse University.

Brindha Sridhar

Vice President, Customer
Experience Strategy,
MetroPlusHealth

Reporting to the President and CEO of MetroPlusHealth, New York City’s high-quality health plan for over 700,000 members, Brindha oversees the strategic planning, development, and implementation of company-wide initiatives that improve customer relations, brand loyalty and profitability.

With a proven track record of organizational transformations around customer impact, strategy and culture, Brindha brings innovation and customer-centricity to the foresight. Brindha offers a unique perspective on health care through her experience of acquiring and retaining customers in pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and payers.

She has held roles at Fortune 500 companies in the US and Europe and worked across Latin America and Asia. Her universal background across research, manufacturing, supply chain, marketing, and business development brings distinctive and inclusive customer experience strategies to the decision-making table.

Brindha earned a Global Executive MBA from IESE Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Biological Science from Rutgers University. Brindha also completed a Health Care Compliance Certification from Seton Hall University School of Law.

Gene Huang

Executive Chairman, ReferWell

Gene has a 30+ year career building health care businesses, focusing on health services companies, health plans, provider organizations and most recently payment reform and value-based care initiatives. Gene managed home health care and home IV therapy businesses, was chief operating officer of OptiCare Eye Health and was president and chief development officer of a multi-state physician home visit company that was sold to CIGNA.

In the health plan sector, he built the Medicare Advantage business from startup to an $850 million unit of Oxford Health Plans in the CT/NY/NJ market, was CEO of Citrus HealthCare in Tampa in a turnaround/ownership transition, ran the Medicare Advantage plan for HealthNet of the Northeast, built Chronic Special Needs Plans for Aveta and ran the nationwide 24-hour nurse line for IntraCorp/CIGNA HealthCare.

From 2013 to 2018, Gene led the post-acute business for Remedy Partners, the largest player in the CMS Bundled Payment for Care Improvement program, generating substantial savings for Medicare, surpluses for SNF partners and returns for investors.

Gene has been on the ReferWell Board since 2015 and in his role as executive chairman, works on behalf of the Board with the CEO and his team to develop significant payer relationships and key strategic partnerships to maximize enterprise value.

Gene holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Cornell University and Master’s in the Management of Technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Equity & Timely Access as a Stars Strategy

As health equity initiatives play an increasingly important role in CMS programs, Medicare Advantage plans must commit to addressing social factors hindering access to care and driving members to take action to improve their health, such as scheduling a preventive care visit or completing a missed screening. Our panel will discuss strategies to advance health equity and improve care access to achieve higher Star Ratings.

Topics include:

  • Identifying the factors driving health inequities and disparities
  • Develop personalized SDoH strategies to improve health outcomes and boost quality measure performance
  • Implement strategies for engaging hard-to-reach members and underserved communities

Alexandria Tusek, MSA, CPHQ, CSSGB

Director, HEDIS &
Data Analytics,
Priority Health

Elizabeth Benz

Vice President of Quality and Clinical Integration,
Network Health

Brindha Sridhar

Vice President, Customer
Experience Strategy,
MetroPlusHealth

Gene Huang

Executive Chairman, ReferWell

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