Subscribe to the pod Pre-Register for Our Live Webinars

Can Your Social Care Strategy Drive You to Five Stars?

Can Your Social Care Strategy Drive You to Five Stars?

Andre Bliss, Ph.D., MBA

Director, Medicare STARs,
UPMC Health Plan

Mallory Mueller

Director, Quality Health
Integration, Network Health

Mallory Mueller, Director of Quality Health Integration at Network Health provides clinical leadership in the quality department over various population health and quality programs including condition management, wellness, NCQA, HEDIS, clinical appeals review, and Stars.  In addition, Mallory works with the clinical integration team to ensure members are receiving the right care at the right place and the right time.

Mallory graduated from UW-Green Bay and is a registered nurse with background in long term care and nursing administration.  She lives in the Fox Valley with her husband and three children.  She enjoys reading and spending time watching her kids’ sporting events.

Cherie Shortridge

Senior Advisor, Healthmine

Cherié brings over 18 years of healthcare industry experience focused on health plan operations, quality improvement, regulatory compliance, system implementations, process improvement, and strategic solutions.

Cherié has extensive experience leading organizations through major transitions such as sanction remediation, reorganization, and mergers and acquisitions resulting in sustainable, compliant processes and procedures. She has a strong background in Medicare Advantage with an emphasis on enrollment, reconciliation, premium billing, fulfillment, appeals, grievances, Star ratings, and compliance.

Cherié has helped several organizations create and implement creative, strategic solutions to meet both business and compliance needs by building strong relationships across departments as well as with internal and external vendors to improve performance, provide appropriate healthcare in the right setting in a timely manner, and ensure a positive member experience. She has also conducted and trained staff in preparation for compliance audits for both Medicare Advantage and Medicaid organizations.

In addition to working directly with and for Medicare and Medicaid health plans, Cherié has been a strategic advisor for vendors offering such diverse offerings as remote medical monitoring and a social networking platform to address social and healthcare needs.

Cherié’s background across a variety of operational areas within multiple Medicare Advantage Organizations, Medicaid plans, vendors, and in consulting provides a broad scope of understanding and expertise with the ability to apply creative solutions to achieve optimal results.

Sean Libby

President, BeneLynk

BeneLynk’s President, Sean Libby, has worked at the intersection of managed care and government benefit programs since 2002, when he joined Social Service Coordinators, Inc (SSC). Over the past twenty-one years, Sean has collaborated with a core team of executives who are committed to helping people improve their lives through social care advocacy.

At Social Service Coordinators, Sean was first introduced to dual eligibility and the Medicare Savings Programs – immensely valuable programs with devastatingly low participation rates.  At SSC Disability, Social Service Coordinators’ sister company that Sean helped to found in 2003, he had the opportunity to work on behalf of Medicaid populations, and to learn about the two federal disability programs, Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability.

Sean was subsequently promoted to President of Freedom Disability (one of the nation’s five largest Social Security Disability companies) and became accredited by the SSA to serve as a non-attorney Social Security Disability Representative. At Freedom, he personally argued cases in four states in front of Administrative Law Judges and was honored to help hundreds of claimants secure disability benefits.  From Freedom Disability, Sean oversaw the launch of Alpha Disability to help veterans secure service-connected disability benefits. Alpha employed and trained veterans to help other veterans win their cases at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In January of 2016, Sean was part of the executive team that launched BeneLynk. Our shared vision, to help managed care organizations understand social needs and provide meaningful social care to their members, is transforming managed care.  Today, BeneLynk provides social care services to millions of Medicare Advantage and managed Medicaid members in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Sean is a 1997 graduate of Middlebury College, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds a graduate degree from Yale University. When not working, he is a fervent fan of the Boston Red Sox (actually, he’s a pretty fervent fan even when he is working), an avid reader, an enthusiastic archer, and a frequently overmatched vegetable gardener.  He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.

Can Your Social Care Strategy Drive You to Five Stars?

The fusion of quality care and comprehensive strategies has given rise to the concept of the Social Care Strategy. Healthcare systems strive to provide holistic and patient-centric services to achieve 5-Star ratings, emphasizing health plans’ clinical effectiveness and ability to address the broader social determinants of health.

Join us as our panel discusses the interplay between Social Care Strategy and the attainment of 5-Star ratings, shedding light on how they collectively enhance outcomes and patient well-being.

Topics of discussion:

  • Leverage the CMS Health Equity Index to increase impact across multiple metrics
  • Integrate social care assessments and interventions
  • Create one assessment to meet NCQA and CMS social care regulations
  • Build a financially sustainable social care strategy

Andre Bliss, Ph.D., MBA

Director, Medicare STARs,
UPMC Health Plan

Mallory Mueller

Director, Quality Health
Integration, Network Health

Cherie Shortridge

Senior Advisor, Healthmine

Sean Libby

President, BeneLynk

  • SUBSCRIBE

    to the Bright Spots in Healthcare Podcast

Excellent programming.  This was my first time attending, and I will be a regular listener. Topics are relevant and timely.

— Margot Ozyp, Vice President, Contract Operations and Performance, Equality Health

I learn something practical every time I tune in!

— Heather Peterman, Director of Healthcare Research and Quality, Minnesota Department of Health Services

These webinars are very helpful and relevant.  They are easy to listen to and have a great variety of topics, speakers and information.  The pace is really engaging.

— Michelle Nelson, Senior Director, Health Improvement, United Regional Health Care

Great conversation about real-life problems caring for real-life patients!!!

— Kim Tjanden, Medical Director, Community Health, CentraCare

Enjoy your programming. Always much needed and relevant information.

— Mary Freeman, Director, Baptist Memorial Health Care

The topics were directly aligned with our company’s missions!

— Tracy Fennessy, Senior Relationship Manager, Business Development & Community Health, Point32Health

Who knew there would be a podcast about my actual job? I appreciate hearing how others are navigating the health plan world.

— Hayley Peebles, Lead Care Manager, Network Health

The Bright Spots series is always very well organized. Provides insight and recapping of key points. Happy to never be lectured or read to, but rather a great productive conversation style.

— Marie Wendt, Director of Clinical Quality & Care Management, Great Lakes Physicians Organization, P.C.

Your programming is spot-on for presenting new and innovative ways to improve health outcomes and care to our members.

— Shelley Krawchuk, RN, CPHQ, Clinical Program Manager, Health Net, Inc

I appreciate the well-balanced nature of the presentation. It gave me great ideas that can be easily implemented.

— Eileen Esposito, Vice President, Ambulatory Clinical Practice, Catholic Health

This is a great opportunity to bring together experts and have an open conversation. There are so many questions. One whole session could be on questions about how engaging it is! Thank you!

— Tracey Greene, Vice President, Personalized Health, Aetna National Medicaid

I picked up quite a bit that I had not considered with SDoH digital divide. It was especially interesting to hear from the panelists their thoughts and the programs they have put into place to improve the member experience, as well as barriers with language and culture. Thank You!

— Jesse Stakes, Associate Director, Clinical Quality, United Healthcare

Great information! Very timely and relevant to what is happening in healthcare.

— Laurie Evans, Director, Business Analytics, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee

The session inspired ideas and initiatives to share across my team at Humana on how we can strengthen our service delivery and implement these strategies in the buildout of new lines of business.

— Nicole Bell, Senior Market Development Professional, Humana

My first time connecting with Bright Spots and I am hooked! We are all managing through uncertainty and this group has amazing thinkers in their field, living in this real healthcare world and providing clarity for the future.

— Robert Santilli, CEO, Gunnison Valley Health

Your programming provided a real-world perspective. This approach created relatability; moreover, it will be easy to apply some of the work to enhance the patient experience.

— Leslie Marsh, CEO, Lexington Regional Health Center

Excellent overview of value and importance of video marketing; as a medical director myself, it opened my eyes to various opportunities for our health system to improve.

— Gerard Isenberg, MD, Chief Medical Quality Officer, University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center

A pirate’s bounty of meaty information!

— Julianne Eckert, Director, Quality Improvement, Clover Health

Menu

Subscribe to the Pod
Pre-Register For Webinars

Secure Payment

The Medicare Advantage Leadership Council (MALC) is an invitation-only peer community for senior Medicare Advantage leaders to exchange proven strategies and real-world “bright spots” across STARS, CAHPS, HEDIS, benefit design, risk adjustment, operations, and provider partnerships.

By activating your Medicare Advantage Leadership Council (MALC) membership, you’re choosing to be part of a small, trusted peer community of leaders who believe progress happens through honest conversation, shared learning, and the willingness to challenge what’s comfortable.

If you’re here, you likely already know: doing this work well can’t happen in isolation.

Membership is limited and approved by Bright Spots Ventures.

Activate your 2026 membership

$695/yr.
Pay with Stripe

☐ I acknowledge and agree to the MALC Membership Terms & Conditions.