Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States
I am passionate about maximizing my team’s performance by equipping them with the human and technical resources needed to achieve success. My servant leadership approach creates an environment of open communication, and builds trust by encouraging critical thinking, tough decision making, and collaborative engagement. I am a strong believer in instilling joy and laughter into the workplace whenever possible, including during formal presentations, virtual meetings, and on the fly in the hallway. I have discovered the serious business of achieving organizational goals can be successfully achieved by creating enjoyable work environments that diffuse stress and bring out the best in people. One of my proudest accomplishments was spearheading two successful acquisitions during a three-year span. Under my guidance and direction, the team successfully transitioned 800k+ enrollees into different transaction systems while concurrently accomplishing a financial turnaround which exceeded budgeted plan contribution by $152M.
Generating $5.8B in annual revenue with 1M members, including 900K+ managed Medicaid lives, I successfully led the local Illinois market system conversion with no disruptions to operations while market exceeded planned budget contribution by $152M. Concurrently, superior service levels were maintained during COVID pandemic while transitioning 200+ customer service staff to a decentralized, local management remote model.
I drove culture and systems integration in the aftermath of the WellCare acquisition of Meridian Health. With annual revenues of $3.8B, I supported 800K managed Medicaid members and exceeded conversion expectations with all systems go within 90 days. Functional responsibilities included network contracting, provider relations, compliance, community relations, encounters, and provider data management. I successfully established effective partnerships between Meridian and WellCare shared services functions and consolidated three office operations into one with no disruptions to operations or service levels.
Upon my promotion from WellCare’s Missouri Care business, I assumed leadership responsibility in Illinois for provider network contracting, provider relations, encounters, and Medicare Advantage sales. Under my watch, company achieved WellCare 2018 Health Plan of the Year Award for stellar income, growth, quality, and overall financial performance including beating 2018 budget by $31M (99%). Improvements in unit cost generated $10M+ through contract negotiations.
I drove the network expansion for the statewide bid resulting in the RFP top-score and had oversight of network contracting, provider relations, and provider data management. I led provider contracting improvements that generated $5M margin turnaround. Both results led to me being recognized with the CEO Equity Award. Performance in 2017 after statewide expansion included $651M revenue (10% ahead of budget); $11.9M net income (41% ahead of budget); and $286K managed Medicaid members (37% more than targeted).
As founder and principal of boutique advisory specializing in strategy development, analysis, and contract management, my clients included regional hospital and provider groups located across Illinois, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Missouri. I was successful in growing my client base on average of 75% per year with 100% retention. My experience on both the payer and provider sides of the business allowed me to leverage market knowledge and credibility with all parties during engagement and contract negotiations.