Rise

Kevin M. Coleman Empowerment Coach, Trainer, and Speaker

KMC Empowerment, LLC

Kevin M. Coleman is known as The Empowerment Coach and Speaker who has consulted and coached C-Suite, Government, Medical, and Non-Profit Executives. He has partnered with leaders to create and gain a competitive advantage through communication and strategic continuity within their organizations. He has development programs to meet your leadership, communication, networking, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) needs at all levels. Attendees leave their training inspired and depart with actionable behaviors that will be immediately applied to supercharge their organizations.

Dr. Shannon Decker 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.

Item 14 Senior Director, Clinical Quality Programs

Clover Health

Julianne Eckert is the Senior Director of Clinical Quality Programs at Clover Health, a physician enablement company focused on seniors who have historically lacked access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. She is responsible for creating an innovative  data driven strategy that breaks the traditional model of healthcare to make it easier for providers and patients to deliver and receive healthcare.   

She has spent her life using her personal and clinical career experiences to help drive her mission as a patient advocate by leading health plan quality improvement strategies to prevent vulnerable populations from falling through the cracks with data stories and forward thinking programs which enable patients to easily navigate the complex matrices of healthcare and insurance. She has sweeping subject matter experience in CMS Innovation models, Stars QI programming, NCQA HEDIS/CAHPS/HOS, health equity, as well as, national and international leadership in driving laser focused strategies to improve health plan performance and member outcomes/experience.

She has held multiple Board Advisory roles and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for curriculum development for Pace University’s Design Thinking Executive Program which meets high academic standards, with a challenging interdisciplinary curriculum designed to prepare top executives to solve real-world challenges in designing innovative practices. She holds multiple certifications in Organizational Change Management, Case Management and also Managed Care.  She is an avid mentor and career coach believing it is her mission to develop our next generation of leaders.

Dr. Ellen Fink-Samnick, DBH, MSW, LCSW, ACSW, CCM, CCTP, CRP, FCM Wholistic Health Equity Strategist, Content Developer, Educator

EFS Supervision Strategies, LLC

Dr. Ellen Fink-Samnick is an award-winning industry entrepreneur who empowers healthcare's interprofessional workforce. She is a subject matter expert on Ethics, Health Equity and Quality, Integrated Care, Interprofessional Teams, Professional Case Management, and Trauma-informed Leadership. Her latest books include The Essential Guide to Interprofessional Ethics for Healthcare Case Management 1^st edition, The Social Determinants of Health: Case Management's Next Frontier, End of Life Care for Case Management, and upcoming Social Determinants of Mental Health: Advancing Wholistic Practice Excellence.

Dr. Fink-Samnick has a Doctorate in Behavioral Health with specialization in Health Equity, Integrated Care, Quality, Leadership, and Trauma-Informed Practice, She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Board-certified Case Manager, and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, as well as a member of the academic honor society, Delta Epsilon Tau.

Dr. Fink-Samnick serves the industry through a variety of roles with academic appointments at Cummings Graduate Institute of Behavioral Health Studies, George Mason University’s College of Public Health, and the University of Buffalo School of Social Work. She is a clinical supervision trainer and instructor for the National Association of Social Workers of Virginia and Metro DC, lead for Rise Association’s Social Determinants of Health Community, moderator of Ellen’s Ethical Lens^TM on LinkedIn, and author of the blog, Ellen’s Interprofessional Insights. She is also a consultant for the Case Management Institute and moderator of their Case Managers Community.

Dr. Fink-Samnick is known for her fierce professional voice. Along with leadership and committee roles across credentialing entities and professional associations, she has served on the Gravity Project and the National Coalition for Social Work and Health. She is a board consultant to the American Association of Doctors of Behavioral Health, and editorial board member for the Professional Case Management Journal, and Case Management Monthly. Further information is available on her LinkedIn Profile.

Colleen Gianatasio Director of Ambulatory CDQI

Mount Sinai Health Partners

Colleen Gianatasio CPC, CPCO, CRC, CDEO, CPC-P, CPMA, CPPM, CCS, CCDS-O, and AAPC Approved Instructor has over 20 years of experience in the health insurance field. She has experience in customer service, claims, quality, and coding. As Director, Clinical Documentation Integrity and Coding Compliance, Colleen’s primary responsibilities are provider engagement and clinical documentation improvement for accurate coding and reimbursement. Colleen specializes in developing innovative coding curriculum and instruction to support compliance with federal guidelines and appropriate reimbursement processes. She is a certified AAPC instructor and enjoys teaching a variety of coding, documentation, and auditing classes. Colleen serves as President of the AAPC National Advisory Board.

Savannah Gonsalves Director of Quality

Hometown Health

Savannah Gonsalves, RN, BSN, MHA is the Director of Quality for Hometown Health. Savannah specializes is government regulatory quality programs and has a passion for population health. In her role at Hometown Health, she oversees the HEDIS and Stars as well as Appeals and Grievances. Previous experience includes ACO/MIPS quality reporting, clinical informatics, and provider practice management. She enjoys hiking and camping with her family in the paradise that is Lake Tahoe.  

"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." George Bernard Shaw.

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

Blue Shield of CA

Ana Handshuh 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.

Sylvia Hastanan Founder and CEO

Greater Good Health

Sylvia Hastanan is the Founder and CEO of Greater Good Health. With almost two decades of healthcare services experience, Sylvia brings her talent to GGH for marrying clinical and business operations and translating that union into value. While she has spent most of her career with at-risk provider organizations, most recently, Sylvia served as an Executive in Residence and Advisor to strategic venture capital fund, Optum Ventures. On the operations side, she led Optum’s Office for Provider Advancement as Vice President of Clinical Strategy, supporting all of Optum’s care delivery organizations nationwide. Before that, Sylvia developed innovative solutions and high-risk programs at HealthCare Partners and took on strategic roles after DaVita acquired the medical group. In prior positions, Sylvia has worked at consulting firms focused on Value Transformation, Population Health, Care Model Design, and Revenue Cycle Management. Sylvia also ran the clinical operations for a start-up company focused on deploying in-home high-risk programs for at-risk organizations. Sylvia graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on Healthcare Management, fusing disciplines at both Penn Nursing and Wharton School of Business.

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 Senior Leader 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 innovators 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 College. She is currently an Executive Leadership doctoral candidate at the University of Charleston. Nikki has a passion for sharing knowledge, and also serves as an adjunct professor in the health sciences degree programs at Monroe Community College and Roberts Wesleyan College. In her free time, she volunteers as fundraising coordinator for the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter in Rochester, NY.

Katharine Manning President of Blackbird DC

Author of The Empathetic Workplace

Katharine Manning is the President of Blackbird DC, which provides training and consultation on empathy at work. She is the author of The Empathetic Workplace: Five Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job, and teaches at American University and in the Master’s in Trauma-Informed Leadership Program at Dominican University. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Thrive Global, and CEOWorld. She has worked on issues of trauma and victimization for more than 25 years, including 15 years at the Justice Department, where she was a Senior Attorney Advisor consulting on victim issues in cases like the Boston Marathon bombing and the Pulse Nightclub shooting.  

Dr. Christie McMullen Adult Learning Expert & Author  of Learning Can Stick

AIM…Analyze, Improve, Move

Dr. Christie McMullen is a distinguished author and a seasoned educator with 24 years of experience, who has transitioned into entrepreneurship. She helps make work fun so people don't quit. Over the years, she has collaborated with numerous adults across diverse industries, including Aetna, ReMax, Solaris, and RISE, enhancing their human interaction skills.

Armed with a master's and doctorate in Educational Leadership, along with extensive practical knowledge, Dr. McMullen effortlessly connects with a wide spectrum of professionals, from CEOs and directors to educators and salespeople.

In her roles as a coach, networking specialist, and keynote speaker, she empowers individuals to transcend mediocrity and experience remarkable connections with others. Dr. McMullen introduces the AIM approach, helping clients Analyze their current interactions, Improve upon them, and ultimately Move towards forging extraordinary relationships.

Jessica Muratore Chief Operating Officer

Rex Wallace Consulting

Jessica Muratore has a master’s degree in public administration and bachelor’s degrees in political science and psychology.  She spent the first half of her career in the legal field focused on civil litigation where she became skilled in the interpretation of federal and state laws before entering managed care. Currently, she is a senior consultant with Rex Wallace Consulting, LLC (RWC) focusing on quality improvement across all lines of business with both health plan and vendor clients.  Before joining RWC, Jessica spent 10 years on the payer side.  Jessica worked for MVP Health Care and Centene Corporation in executive leadership positions.  She was responsible for national market performance and execution, governance, quality improvement organizational structure, NCQA health plan accreditation, delegation oversight, quality compliance and program operations, federal and state audits (Quality, Utilization Management, Appeals, Complaints), quality improvement strategy, and quality Medicaid RFPs and new health plan implementations.  She has extensive experience working with the Medicare, Medicaid, Marketplace, Commercial and the Basic Health Program populations.  In 2014, she also started as an adjunct professor at SUNY Brockport’s Public Administration Master’s Program teaching classes on healthcare focusing on government programs (Medicare, Medicaid), global health care systems and the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act.  Jessica enjoys serving her community through board leadership positions and spending time with her husband and daughter, traveling, reading and being outdoors.

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

Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR)

Laura Sheriff, RN, MSN, is currently working as Vice President Operations, Risk Adjustment for Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR).  She also works as a consultant with physician groups and health plans to capitalize on risk adjustment performance and operations.  Laura is an MSN with >13 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.