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Our committees represent the major stakeholder groups in Washington’s health care system. They work with Washington Health Alliance staff to help steer the shift toward value-based purchasing in Washington.

Quality Improvement Committee (QIC)

The QIC is made up of about two dozen clinician leaders from major medical groups, hospitals and health plans from around the state. The QIC meets bi-monthly and oversees the Alliance’s quality reporting, including clinical and patient experience measures. Beginning with the first report, the QIC has been front and center in selecting the quality measures included in the Community Checkup and developing the reporting methods used by the Alliance (e.g., provider attribution methods, as well as methods to ensure statistical reliability of results and thresholds for public reporting). Having clinician leaders lead this process through countless discussions and meetings over the years has been key in building provider support and trust in the public reporting conducted by the Alliance.

Name Title Organization
Mary Anderson, MD Chief Clinical Integration and Quality Officer The Polyclinic/Physician Care Alliance/Physicians Care Network
Lydia Bartholomew, MD Senior Medical Director, West Region Patient Management Aetna
David Buchholz, MD Medical Director Quality, Provider Engagement Premera Blue Cross
Peter Dunbar, MBChB Executive Director Foundation for Health Care Quality
Sharon Eloranta, MD Division Director, Quality CHI Franciscan
Nancy Fisher, MD Chief Medical Officer Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Francis Gough, MD Chief Medical Officer Molina Healthcare
Bruce Gregg, MD Medical Director, Primary Care Clinics MultiCare Health System
Matt Handley, MD Medical Director of Quality & Informatics Kaiser Permanente Washington
Kim Herner, MD Medical Director Valley Medical Center
Dan Kent, MD Chief Medical Officer UnitedHealthcare Community Plan
Gary Knox, MD Chief Medical Officer The Rockwood Clinic
Peter McGough, MD Chief Medical Officer UW Medicine Neighborhood Clinics
Bob Mecklenburg, MD Medical Director, Center for Health Care Solutions Virginia Mason Medical Center
Randal Moseley, MD Quality Medical Director Confluence Health
Michael Myint, MD Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety Swedish Health Services
Andrew Oliveira, MD Executive Medical Director Regence BlueShield
Terry Rogers, MD Retired
John Sobeck, MD Market Medical Executive Cigna Health Care
Hugh Straley, MD Chair Dr. Robert Bree Collabortive
Julie Stroud, MD Medical Director Northwest Physicians Network
John Vassall, MD Physician Executive, Quality & Safety-QSI Qualis Health
Lynette Wachholz, ARNP Quality Leader The Everett Clinic
Judy Zerzan, MD Chief Medical Officer Washington State Health Care Authority

Consumer Education Committee (formerly Consumer Engagement Committee) (CEC)

The purpose of the CEC is to develop strategies to empower individuals to more actively manage their health and health care through consumer education initiatives; to help implement consumer-related strategies that position the Alliance and the state as a leader in best practices in consumer education; and to provide expertise and advice to the Board on promoting patient-centered and culturally competent health care while educating consumers, improving patient-provider communication and addressing disparities in care.

Name Title Organization
Joseph Babani Manager, Health Care Financing and Delivery The Boeing Company
Gloria Brigham Education Director Washington State Nurses Association
Julie L. Brown Strategic Market Director Harmony Biosciences, LLC
Michael B Garrett Principal Mercer Health and Benefits
Michelle George PEBB Communications Manager Washington State Health Care Authority
Sarah Greene (Chair) Executive Director Health Care Systems Research Network
Leah Hole-Marshall General Counsel and Chief Strategist Washington Health Benefit Exchange
Nancy Kokenge Client Consultant Arthur J. Gallagher & Company – Benefit Services
Carolyn Martin Consumer Outreach Coordinator National Libraries of Medicine, NW
Milana McLead Senior Director, Strategic Communications and Growth Washington State Medical Association
Cameron Pelly Client Consultant Arthur J. Gallagher & Company – Benefit Services
Andrew Radolf Consumer Representative
Sherry Reynolds Consumer Representative
Tammy Wild Health Systems Manager, State-Based American Cancer Society
Janna Wilson Program Sourcing Manager King County

Purchaser Affinity Group (PAG)

The Purchaser Affinity Group (PAG) was formed to give employers and union trusts the opportunity to meet regularly to discuss value-based benefit design, value-based purchasing and other ways to reduce the medical cost trend. All purchaser members of the Alliance are encouraged to attend the PAG’s bi-monthly meetings. Among the group’s areas of interest are: sharing best practices regarding communication and engagement of consumers about their health decisions; learning about value-based purchasing and benefit design; working together to give a consistent message to health plans regarding expectations for network adequacy, payment and contracting to drive value and improving quality and member experience in the market. Every two years the PAG also sponsors eValue8™, a nationally developed tool and process used to evaluate the performance of commercial health plans.

 

The Purchaser Affinity Group is open to all purchaser members of the Washington Health Alliance.

Health Economics Committee (HEC)

The HEC meets bi-monthly, includes about two dozen members, and is a multi-stakeholder group with representatives from provider organizations, purchasers, brokers, health plans, researchers, consumers and Milliman. This committee led the initial effort to select a data vendor for the Alliance, managing the RFP process that led to the selection of Milliman. The focus of the HEC is on improving transparency of utilization and price variation to reduce unwarranted variation and the overall cost trend.

Name Title Organization
Douglas Conrad Professor of Health Services University of Washington
Jim Fitzpatrick Vice President, Pacific Northwest Cigna
Will Fox Principal and Consulting Actuary Milliman
Jim Gregson Vice President Parker, Smith & Feek
Adam Jonas, MD Physician-in-Chief, East King County Hospitalist/Consultative Internal Medicine Kaiser Permanente Washington
David LaMarche Executive Director Eastside Health Network/ EvergreenHealth Partners
Shawna Lang Account Manager Health Care Authority
Ross Laursen Vice President Premera Blue Cross
Larry McNutt Senior Vice President, Corporate Admin/Pension Northwest Administrators, Inc.
Sandy Melzer, MD Senior Vice President/Chief Strategy Officer Seattle Children’s
Ethan Norris Senior Vice President, Business and Product Development Community Health Plan of Washington
Christine Palermo Physician Advisor, Finance Virginia Mason Medical Center
Zak Ramadan-Jradi, MD Executive Director, Clinically Integrated Network & ACO Operations MultiCare Health System
Ian Randall, PhD Senior Consultant Health Management Associates
Brian Ritchie Assistant Director Actuarial – Strategic Provider Analytics Regence BlueShield
John Robinson, MD Chief Medical Officer First Choice Health
Reynaldo “Rey” San Antonio Director, Network Pricing – Pacific Northwest UnitedHealthcare
Claudia Sanders Senior Vice President, Policy Development Washington State Hospital Association
Kerry Schaefer King County Benefits Strategic Planning King County
Walter Sive Consumer Representative
John Wagner Network Market Head Aetna
Karen Wren Benefits Manager Point B
To Be Announced The Boeing Company