Nearly 6,000 health plans exist in the United States, and their reach continues to expand as more complex populations move toward managed care plans. Over 75% of Americans with any type of insurance have their health benefits managed by some type of health plan, accountable care organization, or specialty benefit management company. That includes 85% of Medicaid enrollees, 95% of people with employer-sponsored plans, and 40% of Medicare beneficiaries.
For providers, negotiating relationships with health plans is not a one-time management event. It is an ongoing relationship management process that requires consistent maintenance, optimization, and reconceptualization of health plan contracts and strategy.
The OPEN MINDS Health Plan Partnerships Learning Path offers customized content to help organizations prepare for new contracts, properly manage and report data, and better understand practical solutions to overcoming common challenges of building and maintaining relationships with health plans.
View featured courses and sessions below to get started!
How To Build (& Succeed With) Value-Based Payer Partnerships: An OPEN MINDS Executive Seminar On Best Practices In Marketing, Negotiating & Contracting With Health Plans
Featured Special Guests: Don Fowls, President, Don Fowls & Associates, LLC & Paul Duck, Chief Strategy Officer, OPEN MINDS
Across the country, managed care organizations are successfully delivering treatment services to large populations and doing it in a way that saves states significant sums of money. These demonstrated savings show that value-based reimbursement and managed care arrangements aren’t going anywhere. For executives, this means they must find a way to position themselves to work closely with managed care companies. And provider organizations need to move from an understanding of the key competencies required in the VBR model to tactical initiatives for implementing the talent, technology, and systems that deliver quality and value.
How? By developing relationships with the payers in your market, considering what metrics they are tied to and how you can help them to meet their performance requirements, discussing how you can align programs and services with the goals of the payers and health plans in your market, and providing data that proves your service lines can achieve both high quality outcomes and lower costs. In this crucial seminar, we will discuss:
- How to start strategic conversations with health plans
- How to confirm the foundational components of infrastructure needed for VBR are in place and demonstrate your organization’s value in a way that will capture health plan’s interest
- How to secure and optimize service agreements with health plans and implement approaches to realign service models to ensure success in a value-driven market
Christy Dye, MPH
Christy Dye is a data-focused healthcare executive who brings over 30 years of experience supporting provider organizations, state agencies, and communities in achieving their business, operational, and quality goals in health and human services to OPEN MINDS as a Senior Associate. Christy’s career has included working as a state Medicaid leader, a national expert in substance abuse treatment systems, health information exchange and interoperability, and as chief executive for Arizona’s leading integrated primary/behavioral healthcare provider.
Prior to OPEN MINDS, Ms. Dye served as Chief Business Development Officer for Health Current, (division of Contexture), Arizona’s statewide health information exchange (HIE). While there, Ms. Dye developed provider education and training programs in using clinical and administrative data to improve patient outcomes and manage value-based reimbursement contracts. She led the Health Current HIE research data initiative in partnership with Arizona State University and also served as co-principal investigator for a National Institute of Mental Health project at ASU focused on information sharing for behavioral health populations.
Ms. Dye is the former Chief Executive Officer for Partners in Recovery (now Copa Health), an Arizona agency serving more than 10,000 adults with serious mental illness. At Partners she created a network of fully integrated behavioral and primary care clinics for SMI adults, and launched the company’s population health, value-based and complex care programs, including Arizona’s only Medical Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team.
Prior to PIR, she served as Division Chief for Clinical and Recovery Services and Arizona’s state substance abuse director at the Arizona Department of Health, Division of Behavioral Health. As a state official, she served on a team charged with the re-design of Medicaid behavioral health benefits in Arizona and oversaw the expansion of the state’s contracted managed care system to a more recovery focused model, including expansion of peer-delivered mental health, addiction, and consumer-operated services.
Ms. Dye graduated from the University of Arizona with a Master’s in Public Health Administration. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is an active member of the Community Advisory Board for Health Informatics at ASU’s College of Health Solutions.
Autism Treatment: A Payer Perspective Discussion Session
Sponsored By 
Be part of the discussion on the most up-to-date information impacting health plan management trends for consumers with autism and autism related diagnoses. In this session, we will look at the latest industry trends and discuss what is changing in the autism landscape that impacts payers. Our experts will offer additional insights into how these trends have and will be impacting autism organizations across the nation.
The implications of the dynamic shifts in the market are having a profound effect on how payers and providers are contracting, interacting, and ultimately partnering. Join us to hear many of the potential opportunities coming from these trends, and how payers are evolving in their relationships with autism provider organizations. From this session, plan to take away:
- What providers are looking for in terms of outcomes.
- What are the commonalities across the payers.
- What policy changes are occurring that might shape the autism space.
- What value-based reimbursement looks like for autism treatment.
Stuart Buttlaire, Ph.D., MBA
Stuart Buttlaire has over 35 years of clinical, management, and leadership experience. His career includes diverse experience in both the public and private sectors of healthcare providing leadership and direction in healthcare delivery.
Dr. Buttlaire currently serves as the Regional Director of Behavioral Health and Addiction Medicine for Kaiser Permanente. In this role, Dr. Buttlaire designs and oversees a broad continuum of services and programs for both inpatient, ambulatory, and emergency settings for mental health and addiction medicine. Dr. Buttlaire previously served as the Regional Director of Inpatient Psychiatry and Continuing Care at Kaiser Permanente and the lead Mental Health Representative within Kaiser Permanente’s State Program Initiatives including Medicaid and Medicare.
Additionally, Dr. Buttlaire served as a regional leader in the development of best practices at Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Buttlaire developed and led major program redesigns including Integrated Urgent Services for adults and youth with mental health and substance use disorders, Kaiser Permanente Post-Acute Center (SNF) Behavioral Health Program, mental health and emergency room consultation and suicide prevention, multi-family groups for adults and teens in treatment of severe psychiatric conditions, and intensive outpatient treatment programs for adults and youths. Recently, Dr. Buttlaire implemented a mobile application for eating-disordered patients that won Kaiser’s Innovation Award. Dr. Buttlaire also developed and implemented two psychiatric inpatient units at Kaiser Permanente, one of them was a medical/psychiatric unit to treat those members with both medical and psychiatric co-morbidities and the other, was a free-standing psychiatric health facility.
Additionally, Dr. Buttlaire often provides expertise and consultation on state and federal legislation and its impact on behavioral health within Kaiser Permanente, the State of California, and nationally. Dr. Buttlaire is currently the Board President of the Institute for Behavioral Health Improvement. He was selected to the American Hospital Association Regional Policy Board for Western Section after serving as AHA’s Chair of Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse section. He is currently on the Board of Directors of NAMI California, and the California Hospital Association’s Advisory Board of Behavioral Health.
Dr. Buttlaire is a graduate from the University of California, Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business with a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Health Care Management, Finance, and Marketing. Dr. Buttlaire also graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Additionally, Dr. Buttlaire holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from California State University, Humboldt, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Political Science from the University of Colorado.
Tiffany Hodges
Dr. Hodges joined Optum in 2009 and is currently an Associate Vice President of Clinical Operations. Dr. Hodges provides leadership and direction related to Autism programs at Optum. She supports initiatives focusing on quality of care, operational excellence, and member/provider education. Dr. Hodges received her doctorate of psychology from Georgia School for Professional Psychology and completed her Behavior Analysts training at Chicago School for Professional Psychology.
Yagnesh Vadgama
Yagnesh Vadgama has been with Magellan for more than seven years, in managed care for eight years, and was a clinician in the field of Behavior Analysis for 11 years prior. Yagnesh has 20 years of experience in ABA, starting off by working directly with individuals on the autism spectrum to directing programs in homes, schools, and community-based settings.
Currently, as the Vice President of Autism for Magellan, Yagnesh oversees both the autism and ABA products for Magellan nationally. His team of BCBAs and licensed clinicians provide a unique experience in ABA UM as they all have a similar experience to Yagnesh with real-world experience. Yagnesh also engages in the innovation and decision-making process for ABA both at Magellan and nationally, with participation in workgroups such as ICHOM, speaking at conferences and universities, and developing outcome measures for the field of ABA.
Kimberly Bond, MS
Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings more than 30 years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12 million in annual revenue to more than $100 million and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.
Bridging The Behavioral/Physical Health Gap: Leveraging Whole Person Care Models For Improved Care
Integrating behavioral and physical health services has proven to be a more effective approach toward caring for people with complex care needs. As a result, the industry has seen a rise in organizations shifting to Whole Person Care models.
A survey done by OPEN MINDS found that 73% of primary care provider organizations reported integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders, and 51% of specialty provider organizations have an integration strategy.
For executives who are wondering where to start with implementation or those who are looking for insights to improve current models, this dynamic session will explore the impact of integrated care on organizational success and offer strategies for implementing, maintaining, and measuring outcomes of Whole Person Care Models.
Join this session to:
- Identify practical strategies and best practices for bridging the gap between behavioral and physical health services.
- Understand how to overcome potential barriers and promote collaboration between different health care disciplines.
- Discuss the use of metrics and data analysis to demonstrate the value of the Whole Person Care Model to health care providers, payers, and policymakers.
Shar Najafi-Piper, Ph.D.
A clinical psychologist, Dr. Najafi-Piper has expertise in fully integrated continuums of care for complex-needs individuals and believes in a whole-person health care model that supports successful outcomes.
In leadership roles since 2008, she has also demonstrated notable talent and skill on the business side of the health and human services industry. This ranges from the implementation of quality assurance functions, peer review, utilization review, as well as service and clinical protocols. In addition, Dr. Najafi-Piper has demonstrated success in the areas of program development, contract development/negotiations, public relations, media development, and business growth through revenue diversification including both traditional and non-traditional sources.
Most recently, Dr. Najafi-Piper led in the creation of the first behavioral health Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in Maricopa County. Consisting of six multi-disciplinary providers, the ACO works collaboratively to reduce gaps in care and provide better outcomes while reducing the overall cost of providing services.
Gagandeep Singh, M.D., D.F.A.P.A.
Dr. Singh has served as the Chief Medical Officer for Mercy Care since September 2021. Prior to being at Mercy Care, he led behavioral health service lines for large integrated health systems. Dr. Singh is board-certified in Psychiatry, Consultation-Liaison (C/L) psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Singh is responsible for driving improvements for Mercy Care through strategic medical management, quality management, value-based programming, and policy implementation. He provides leadership and direction to medical directors and clinical activities with the goal of advancing organizational integrated care efforts and quality of care improvements for members in all six of Mercy Care’s contracted lines of business. Dr. Singh builds new and strengthens existing relationships with providers and is the voice for Mercy Care in the Arizona medical community.
Dr. Singh holds an M.B.B.S (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) from the University of Delhi in India. He is also an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He is the president of the Arizona Psychiatry Society and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He has published writings in scholarly medical journals and given various medical presentations.
Blythe FitzHarris, Ph.D., LSCW
Blythe FitzHarris, PhD, LCSW, is the Chief Clinical Office at Mercy Care. In her role, Blythe is responsible for clinical program development, including the Adult and Children’s Systems of Care and the Central Region Behavioral Health Crisis System. Additionally, Blythe oversees multiple Mercy Care service delivery systems including integrated care, the Office of Individual and Family Affairs (OIFA), grant services, cultural diversity and tribal affairs. She directs initiatives, strategies and programs to address social determinants of health (such as housing and employment) and system performance. Blythe works closely in her roles with stakeholders and system advocates.
Christy Dye, MPH
Christy Dye is a data-focused healthcare executive who brings over 30 years of experience supporting provider organizations, state agencies, and communities in achieving their business, operational, and quality goals in health and human services to OPEN MINDS as a Senior Associate. Christy’s career has included working as a state Medicaid leader, a national expert in substance abuse treatment systems, health information exchange and interoperability, and as chief executive for Arizona’s leading integrated primary/behavioral healthcare provider.
Prior to OPEN MINDS, Ms. Dye served as Chief Business Development Officer for Health Current, (division of Contexture), Arizona’s statewide health information exchange (HIE). While there, Ms. Dye developed provider education and training programs in using clinical and administrative data to improve patient outcomes and manage value-based reimbursement contracts. She led the Health Current HIE research data initiative in partnership with Arizona State University and also served as co-principal investigator for a National Institute of Mental Health project at ASU focused on information sharing for behavioral health populations.
Ms. Dye is the former Chief Executive Officer for Partners in Recovery (now Copa Health), an Arizona agency serving more than 10,000 adults with serious mental illness. At Partners she created a network of fully integrated behavioral and primary care clinics for SMI adults, and launched the company’s population health, value-based and complex care programs, including Arizona’s only Medical Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team.
Prior to PIR, she served as Division Chief for Clinical and Recovery Services and Arizona’s state substance abuse director at the Arizona Department of Health, Division of Behavioral Health. As a state official, she served on a team charged with the re-design of Medicaid behavioral health benefits in Arizona and oversaw the expansion of the state’s contracted managed care system to a more recovery focused model, including expansion of peer-delivered mental health, addiction, and consumer-operated services.
Ms. Dye graduated from the University of Arizona with a Master’s in Public Health Administration. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is an active member of the Community Advisory Board for Health Informatics at ASU’s College of Health Solutions.
Deanne Cornette, MHA, GPC
Deanne Cornette, MHA, GPC, brings over 20 years of experience in the behavioral health field. Ms.Cornette currently serves as a Senior Associate for OPEN MINDS and brings to the OPEN MINDS team noted expertise in strategic planning, grant writing and revenue development.
Previously, Ms. Cornette was the Vice President of Strategic Development for Tampa Family Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center. In this role, she managed grants, contracts, front desk operations, training, quality assurance special assignments (risk assessments and responses to complaints), credentialing and billing functions. In a very short time period, she successfully procured funding to integrate behavioral health services, brought a system of processes to track health indicators and improve value-based care payment and service and became proficient in utilizing HRSA’s reporting portals.
As Counsel for Strategic Development at Agency for Community Treatment Services, Inc. (ACTS) and Vice President of Business Development for Gracepoint (merger), Ms. Cornette directed strategic development, contract negotiations, revenue development, marketing and grants. In this capacity, she targeted funding sources and built a lucrative cash flow that provided needed services to vulnerable populations in need of behavioral health treatment.
Some of her most successful negotiations created best practice services for veteran’s programs, women’s services, as well those involved with the criminal justice system. Her portfolio includes a wide array of awards from a multitude of agencies including, but not limited to: SAMHSA, HUD, Centers for Medicaid, and the Department of Transportation and collaborations with private, non-profit and government entities. Most recently, she worked with Gracepoint to develop Hillsborough’s Centralized Receiving Facility, one of the first funded in the State of Florida. From a system of care for jail diversion to evidence based practices for individuals who are homeless with behavioral health needs, her awards have netted over $80 million dollars to our community.
In addition, Ms. Cornette served as the Vice President for the National Contract Management Association Suncoast Chapter, Vice President of ACTS Affordable Housing Board of Directors, Vice President of ACTS Foundation Board of Directors, and was a member of Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board. She is the recipient of University of South Florida’s 2018 Florida Outstanding Women of the Year in Public Health. Her Centralized Receiving Facility collaborative won a 2018 WEDU PBS Be Brilliant / Innovation Award. Her concept of Housing, Engagement and Retention Tenancy (HEART) program won the 2018 Heart for Homeless award through the Housing and Education Alliance.
Ms. Cornette received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and her Masters Degree in Health Administration from the University of South Florida.
Becoming A Center Of Excellence: Navigating Challenges, Embracing Opportunities & Collaborating With Health Plans
Centers of Excellence are rapidly gaining traction as a way for health plans to recognize provider organizations for delivering superior care. By identifying ‘high value’ provider organizations for specific conditions— payers are then able to develop benefit plans designed to encourage consumers to use those provider organizations.
Join our distinguished panel of industry leaders in this thought-provoking plenary session as they delve into the intricacies of what it means to become a Center of Excellence, share insights into the future implications for providers and health plans, and uncover both the challenges and opportunities inherent to this dynamic model.
Robert Poznanovich
Bob Poznanovich is the Chief Business Growth Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. He manages the organization’s strategic relations with health systems, employers, insurance and managed care organizations, professional referents and other national accounts, along with the patient access and placement team. Bob is also responsible for bridging the gap between product development, marketing and sales to help the nonprofit reach more people with its lifesaving substance use and mental health care and resources
Bob joined Hazelden Betty Ford in 2009 after many wide-ranging and successful business ventures elsewhere. Prior to joining the organization, he co-founded and served as the CEO of AiR Health a behavioral health company. Before that, he spent over 20 years as a senior business development executive in the technology industry. He also co-authored the Hazelden Publishing title, It Is Not Okay to be a Cannibal: How to Stop Addiction from Eating Your Family Alive. On top of that, he also gives public speeches and media appearances to share his expertise on a variety of addiction-related topics, including the impact of addiction in the workplace.
Debra Nussbaum, Ph.D., LCSW
Dr. Debra “Deb” Nussbaum is a Sr. Director For Behavioral Health Evidence Based Services and National SUD Strategy Lead for Optum. Optum is the behavioral health specialty arm of United Healthcare Insurance Company. Deb has been in a clinical leadership role for Optum since 2010 and has led behavioral product design, network development and specifically substance use disorder (SUD) initiatives since 2013.
Deb’s products within Optum are designed to improve access to evidence based services, such as the adoption and roll out of the American Society of Addiction medicine (ASAM) criteria, expansion of Optum’s MOUD/MAUD network, implementation of the 24/7 SUD helpline and development of alternative payment and value based models of care. Deb also leads parity compliant benefit design initiatives for customers looking to address specific utilization trends for their population.
Deb’s clinical background is in substance use treatment, family services and was an addictions counselor prior to earning her PhD. She is also an LCSW licensed in Florida and in New York. Deb sits on many committees within ASAM and is an advocate for evidence based care at the federal level championing SUD legislation.
Stuart L. Lustig, M.D., MPH
Dr. Stuart L. Lustig came to Cigna in 2011 and is currently the National Medical Executive for Provider Partnerships at Evernorth, part of The Cigna Group. He engages with behavioral provider groups and other stakeholders about innovative care delivery and contracting approaches. He has also worked extensively with Cigna clients in his prior role as National Medical Executive for Behavioral Health. A board-certified child psychiatrist, he has also served as Lead Medical Director for Child and Adolescent Care for Evernorth Behavioral Health. Dr. Lustig previously served as an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. For two decades, Dr. Lustig has worked with numerous human rights organizations and, due to numerous published articles in professional journals, is a nationally recognized expert on psychological trauma among refugees and political asylum seekers. He has provided consultations to numerous school systems in the San Francisco and Boston areas. He is the editor of the textbook Advocacy Strategies for Health and Mental Health Professionals: From Patients to Policies. Dr. Lustig received his Doctorate of Medicine from Rush Medical College and completed his psychiatric training at Stanford and Harvard hospitals. He also has a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Illinois School of Public Health.
Elisha Engelen, MA, LMFT
Elisha is a Vice President of Aon’s U.S. Health Transformation Team. She is a member of the U.S. Health Transformation Leadership Team. She is a leader for the Minneapolis Apprentice Program. Her role is to partner globally with Aon colleagues and client leaders to understand the current employee wellbeing strategy, culture, and utilization to inform needed changes or enhancements. Her role also includes people leadership, which includes developing the next leaders at Aon.
Prior to joining Aon in 2021, Elisha served as the Clinical Director at Cigna Healthcare and concurrently practiced in the field for 18 years as a Licensed Mental Health Professional.
She first began working in the industry in 2003 as a Mental Health Practitioner. Her background stretches clinical practice in community- based care, school-based counseling, and outpatient services. During her 16 years at Cigna, the highlights of her career were that she built Utilization and Case Management Programs in Autism and Eating Disorders and built a Talent Readiness and Sustainment Program for Medical and Behavioral Operations to serve 4000 employees.
Elisha’s expertise includes systemic mental health care. She brings her systemic thinking into her Prosci Change Management Certification to lead organizational changes. Her background also includes organizational cultural journey development and sustainment. She is trained in Mental Health First Aid.
Ken Carr
Ken Carr brings more than 20 years of finance, technology, data analysis, and reporting experience in the health and human services field to OPEN MINDS. He currently is a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, he has served as a subject matter expert leading numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Before joining the OPEN MINDS team, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.
From Medicaid Dependency To A Thriving Commercial Book Of Business – Revenue Diversification For Growing Organizations
In today’s dynamic health care landscape, organizations are seeking innovative ways to secure their financial future while maintaining a competitive edge.
Over the next five years, the role of the commercial health plan will continue to grow in importance to all provider organizations. Already, group and non-group private insurers cover an estimated 179 million individuals—54.7% of the U.S. population—and 45 million individuals, 13.7% of the U.S. population, respectively. And in OPEN MINDS’ recent report of the unwinding of pandemic-era Medicaid coverage, commercial health plans are likely to gain membership.
In this dynamic session, discover how organizations have successfully expanded their revenue streams beyond traditional sources in order to better weather economic uncertainties and gain a distinct edge in the market. Our industry leaders will explore crucial aspects of revenue diversification, its impact on financial sustainability, and the strategic importance of engaging with commercial health plans through real-world examples and case studies.
- Understand how revenue diversification enhances financial sustainability and increases competitive advantage
- Discuss the operating and business model changes associated with working with commercial health plans
- Examine how commercial insurance is an important component of the organizational growth strategy
Rachel Jackson
Rachel Jackson is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of dedicated service in the behavioral health space. Currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer at Recovery Unplugged Behavioral Health, Ms. Jackson plays a pivotal role in overseeing operations across five states, ensuring the delivery of high-quality substance abuse and mental health services to thousands of individuals.
Prior to her current role, Ms. Jackson served as the Director of Compliance at Recovery Unplugged, where her in-depth understanding of state and national standards of care played a crucial role in ensuring the organization’s adherence to regulatory guidelines. Her involvement in revenue analysis, operational efficiency, and the development of systems and processes has been instrumental in the success of Recovery Unplugged, which has positively impacted the lives of over 13,000 patients. Ms. Jackson demonstrates versatile leadership, showcasing a wealth of experience working with diverse populations and organizations with varying funding sources including non-profit, private, and managed care.
Ms. Jackson is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of Florida. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Florida Atlantic University and a Masters’ of Science in Mental Health Counseling from NOVA Southeastern University. Her commitment to advancing the field of behavioral health is exemplified by her contributions as an author for a textbook used in graduate-level university courses for psychotherapy.
Ken Carr
Ken Carr brings more than 20 years of finance, technology, data analysis, and reporting experience in the health and human services field to OPEN MINDS. He currently is a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, he has served as a subject matter expert leading numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Before joining the OPEN MINDS team, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.