2024 ALL-STAR SPEAKERS

Thomasina Anane

Strategically working at the intersection of health policy and data analytics, Thomasina oversees the analytics portfolio at the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP), delivering data-driven insights to advance ACHP’s advocacy agenda and clinical priorities. Prior to joining ACHP, Thomasina served as a consultant with Manatt Health, providing critical quantitative and qualitative policy research support and strategic solutions to the full spectrum of health care stakeholders, including state Medicaid agencies, payers and healthcare provider systems. Thomasina also served as a health insurance specialist for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center (CMMI). Her special projects included designing innovative health care delivery and payment models and building the Geospatial Medicare Analysis Project, drawing upon Medicare claims data integration and design thinking.

Andrew Bell

Andrew is the Medicare Stars Practice Leader at ProspHire, a national management consulting firm exclusively dedicated to healthcare. Specializing in delivery and execution, Andrew’s work has focused on the Payor Space supporting clients with go-to-market strategic planning, new product development, growth and transformation activities, post-acquisition integration efforts, and other strategic initiatives for MCOs. One of his key areas of expertise is Medicare Stars where he takes a lead role in guiding health plans through the program, enabling long-term sustainable success. He has a passion for staying at the forefront of policy changes, regulatory changes, and trends related to managed care, particularly in context to the Medicare Stars Program. Being an emerging thought leader in the field, he actively engages with new developments and industry changes, positioning himself and ProspHire as leaders in healthcare consulting.

Simone Brooks

Simone A. Brooks is health care leader with a proven track record of developing and expanding innovative solutions. She has over 15 years’ experience in wealth management, program development, and corporate retail in regional and global organizations across multiple industries. In her current role as Innovation Strategist at MVP Health Care, Simone facilitates consumer studies using qualitative research as well as quantitative survey data. She advances the culture of innovation throughout the organization to uphold customer-centricity.

Simone is passionate about driving health care equity and ensuring all populations receive fair health care, regardless of their ethnicity, income, gender, or otherwise. Prior to joining MVP, Simone was pivotal in driving partnerships between community-based organizations (CBOs), skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, and private practices to improve care for the Medicaid and uninsured populations. Additionally, she developed a certified training program for community health workers in collaboration with local community colleges and developed a value-based payment training program which taught executive leaders of almost two dozen local social care organizations.

Simone holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, with a minor in Information Technology, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She also holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business. She is a dual member of Toastmasters International, Inc. and is an active member of her church. Simone is married to her high school sweetheart and they have three children.

Adam Barnhart, FSA, MAAA

Adam is an enthusiastic, dynamic professional that is thrilled to work as a Principal and Consulting Actuary with Milliman. His area of focus is Medicare Advantage products, where he provides strategic insight to clients on all aspects of their business. He has worked with numerous clients over the years, from helping brand new Medicare Advantage organizations on how to best position a new product, to large national organizations where he advises on cutting edge plan and benefit designs. Adam has a deep understanding of the bid development process required for setting premiums, and has certified thousands of bids over the years.

Keslie Crichton

Jason Furlan

Jason Furlan is the Director of Medicare Concierge, the contact center for Blue Cross Blue Shield Rhode Island’s senior markets. Jason is an Association for Talent and Development (ATD) Master Performance Consultant with over 15 years’ experience leading insurance operations, building new call centers, developing customer experience strategies, and establishing organizational development solutions. As Director of Medicare Concierge, Jason led the transformation to cloud-based contact center technology and is currently on a journey to implement a multi-year customer and employee experience strategy integrating omni-channel and AI solutions to improve business outcomes. Jason lives in Woonsocket, RI with his partner and cat and enjoys gardening, cooking, and travel.

Leah Hannum

Approaching 20 years of experience in healthcare, Leah Hannum has played a pivotal role in the planning, oversight, and strategy development for risk adjustment programs in Medicare Advantage and Affordable Care Act products. Leah is enthusiastic about discovering innovative, collaborative solutions across risk adjustment , quality, and Stars. Her favorite moments at work are the ad hoc brainstorming sessions that lead to improvements in the status quo today and for the future. She leads a team of analysts, program managers and engagement specialists who work hard every day to ensure members and healthcare providers have access to the information needed for high quality, affordable healthcare.

Rick Gordon, MBA

Kena Hahn, MHA

Kena Hahn is the Director of Medicare Stars and Outpatient Care Coordination for Health Alliance, a vertically integrated health system with Carle that provides coverage to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and parts of Washington state. She has 6 years of experience in star ratings including value based contracting, supplemental benefits design, vendor management and collaborates with other population health teams to drive improvement. Prior to working in the health plan industry, Kena served in a variety of roles in ambulatory operations with a focus on process improvement and overall patient experience. She brings over 19 years of experience in the healthcare field with a focus on Star ratings, patient/member experience and process improvement.

In her current role, Kena has responsibility for creating and implementing an overall strategy to improve Star Ratings for Health Alliance’s Medicare Advantage products as well as oversight for all Outpatient Care Coordination teams and the population health digital strategy at the health plan.

In addition to her Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Marketing, Kena also has her Master’s in Health Administration degree. The ultimate vision she has for the Stars program is to utilize predictive analytics in conjunction with collaboration from key vendors, the entire health plan organization and provider partners to reach and sustain a five star rating for our Medicare Advantage products.

Gregory A. Hanley, MBA, FACHE, CPHQ

Greg has nearly 20 years of health plan experience in quality, population health and clinical improvement. In his current role, he provides strategic direction and leadership for Quality and Population Health including Star Ratings, NCQA Accreditation, Health Equity, Utilization Management, Appeals & Grievances, Provider Credentialing, Disease Management, Clinical Informatics, and Health Services Analytics.

Prior to joining UCare, he was the Midwest Regional Director of Quality Improvement at Coventry Health Care in Kansas City, MO. As such, he oversaw Coventry’s credentialing, NCQA Accreditation, CAHPS and quality of care program, quality Committees and all quality improvement projects.

Greg retired from the Army in 2005 after a 21-year career as a Medical Service Corps Officer and in Psychological Operations.

Greg serves on the board for Minnesota Community Measurement (MNCM). Greg is board certified by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) as a Fellow (FACHE) in health care management and previously served as the President for the Minnesota Chapter of ACHE. He is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Cloud State University, and Master of Business Administration from Portland State University.

Naomi Irvin

Meg Jordan

Meg Jordan is the Director of Product Development & Plan Delivery for Prominence Health, a provider owned, value based care organization operating Medicare Advantage plans in Florida, Nevada, and Texas. In her role, Meg has responsibility for new plan development, which includes designing and launching new SNP plans in the Prominence Health markets and maintains accountability across all aspects of Special Needs Plan functions, including compliance, implementation, plan performance, growth, and sustainability. Meg has been in the working in managed Medicaid and Medicare for 15 years and directly with Dual Eligible and Special Needs programs since 2015. She has focused her career on creating accessibility and seamless healthcare experiences for our most vulnerable and at-risk populations. Meg is based out of Chicago, Illinois where she enjoys spending time with her young children and dog.

Jenn Kerfoot

Gregg Kimmer

Effective August 1, 2022, ATRIO’s new President and CEO is Gregg Kimmer. All of Gregg’s experience in healthcare has been in Medicare Advantage, and until ATRIO, it has all been in the Midwest, with Chicago serving as the anchor geography. After nearly 7 years at Humana, where he was 1 of 5 Divisional CFOs and oversaw $1.4 billion in revenue, he became Chief Medicare Officer over the Great Lakes market at Aetna / CVS Health. During his 4 years in this role, he had full P&L responsibility and oversaw organic growth of 20k to 133k members. Gregg is originally from Nashville, TN. Without a doubt, what he enjoys most is spending time with his family.

Mindi Knebel

Mindi Knebel is the Founder & CEO of Kaizen Health, as well as Chair of the company’s Board of Directors. A startup junkie who is passionate about social entrepreneurship, Mindi has worked across several industries and has seen companies from inception through successful exit.

Mindi was part of the founding team of MATTER, a healthcare technology incubator formed through a public-private partnership in the city of Chicago. Prior to that, she lead operations and corporate development initiatives for growth stage companies in service, veterinary and technology industries.

Mindi holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and a master’s in business from Colorado Technical University. She enjoys spending time with family & friends, running, yoga and is a proud Packers shareholder and also an avid fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Cubs, Bulls and Blackhawks.

Christine Leo

Henry Mahncke

Shelly McCombs, MPH

Eileen Murphy, PharmD

Henry W. Osowski

Hank Osowski, a Founding Member 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 30 years. He currently is the Managing Director of Strategic Health Group, a new boutique strategic and financial advisory firm dedicated to bringing seasoned leadership to enable health care organizations to succeed in a challenging and changing environment. He is an expert in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid long-term care strategies.

Formerly, as Senior Vice President Corporate Development, he was a key member of the senior leadership team that the company from a near death experience to an exceptionally strong financial position. He led SCAN Group's efforts to expand into seven additional California counties. Hank also led SCAN's entry into Arizona and served as the initial President of SCAN Health Plan Arizona and SCAN Long Term Care. The service area expansions represent approximately a quarter of SCAN's membership and added nearly $450 million to SCAN's revenue. He 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 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 turnaround of the Individual and Small Group Division and provided leadership to the organization's strategic planning efforts.

Earlier he served as Vice President International Operations for American Family Life Assurance Corporation where he directed the activities of the company's Canadian and European operations. In this role 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. Earlier, Hank also served as Director of Insurance Consulting Services for Coopers and Lybrand, a predecessor to PriceWaterhouse Coopers.

Throughout his career, he has been a frequent speaker on critical issues and challenges facing the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In 2011, Hank spoke to the Managed Medicaid Congress about principles for structuring effective long term care programs, to the Medicare Market Innovations conference about opportunities for strengthening a plan's five star quality rating and offered his strategic projections for the future of Medicare. He also spoke to a diverse health care and technology audience at the Healthcare Unbound conference about leveraging the power of technology to improve the quality of health outcomes and care interventions.

Natalie Pirkola, PharmD, MBA, MASPHM, MSIS

Natalie Pirkola is the Vice-President of Pharmacy and Population Health (VP) at Health Alliance Plan (HAP), part of Henry Ford Health. Natalie provides leadership and oversight for all aspects of health plan drug management and benefit programs, quality measurement, improvement, and accreditation. Natalie also works closely with key stakeholders across the Henry Ford Health integrated delivery system and community to assure coordination of high-quality clinical programs. Prior to this role, Natalie served as a leader in self-insured medical and pharmacy benefits at Ford Motor Company, director of multidisciplinary care management and value-based services for an independent physician organization in Michigan and served as a population health strategy consultant and subject matter expert. Natalie has also been a healthcare educator, community pharmacist, and engaged member of various pharmacy organizations. Natalie holds a Master of Science in Information Systems with a concentration in Health Informatics from Northwestern University, a Master of Applied Science in Population Health Management from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Health Care Leadership from Oakland University, and a Doctor of Pharmacy from Wayne State University.  Natalie maintains clinical pharmacy board certifications in geriatrics and ambulatory care as well as certifications in case management, diabetes education, and asthma patient education.

Brandi Smith Brunson

Brandi brings many years of experience in healthcare in both the payer and provider space. She currently serves as the Product Strategy Lead for Medicare Advantage products at Cigna Medicare where he oversees product management across the West and Northeast regions. Previously, she has held positions in product management and Dual Special Needs Plan Management at Aetna and UnitedHealthcare respectively.

Brandi has experience in new product development, product strategy and planning, competitive analysis and supplemental benefits.

She has a Masters in Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin and lives with her husband and two children in Austin, TX.

Melissa Smith

For more than a decade, Melissa Smith has been at the forefront of leading Medicare Advantage and Star Ratings teams. As the founder of Newton Smith Group and a Senior Advisor to Oliver Wyman, Melissa is a widely recognized thought leader and healthcare strategist. Her proven track record of success lies in developing comprehensive enterprise-wide solutions that enhance Star Ratings, quality performance, health outcomes, and the overall member experience.

Melissa excels in crafting strategic and tactical solutions to meet client needs, forging productive partnerships across internal teams and external vendors, and improving performance on various quality measures. Her unique background in business, finance, regulatory compliance, and healthcare quality provides clients unparalleled access to healthcare strategy, quality performance, and revenue optimization.

As the former Chief Consulting Officer at Healthmine and Senior Vice President at Gorman Health Group, Melissa's leadership spans across prestigious organizations like Cigna-HealthSpring and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Graduating from Purdue University, Melissa began her career at KPMG, LLP and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Maria Sánchez de Varona

I am an executive with broad expertise in Clinical Operations Management of healthcare industry organizations and diverse knowledge multi-specialty provider groups and insurance plans.

I have lead teams charged with transformation of medical operations, driving organizational change with strong emphasis in strategy, innovation, process improvement, regulatory compliance, customer service and staff engagement.

Have a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and a Master in Business with a specialization in Healthcare from the University of Miami.

Transformational Leadership | Process Improvement | Build Productive Relationships | Resolve Complex Issues | Streamlined Operations | Creates Standard Operating Procedures | NCQA Quality Measures |HEDIS | CAHPS/HOS

Brian Wilson

Brian leads the Cigna Healthcare Medicare Advantage Customer Marketing team that is responsible for developing and managing customer communications for all Medicare Advantage customers with a focus on customer engagement and retention. His team has been recognized for Cigna Quarterly Standouts in 2014 and 2022. Brian joined Cigna in 2010 through the HealthSpring acquisition. Prior to Cigna, he worked in the consumer packaged goods, management consulting, and financial services industries. He holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a BS in systems engineering from the University of Virginia. Brian is a church deacon, an avid sports fan and coach, a devoted husband and father to three children. He and his family reside in Laurel, MD