How Highmark, Independent Health, Johns Hopkins Health Plans, and MedOrion Are Rebuilding Member Engagement in Medicare Advantage
Release Date: 02/17/2026
From Mint to Medicine: How Aaron Patzer Is Fixing Patient Communication (RePost)
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What happens when the founder of Mint.com takes on one of healthcare’s most broken experiences—patient communication? In this episode of Bright Spots in Healthcare, Eric Glazer sits down with Aaron Patzer, Founder and CEO of Vital, to explore how simplicity, clarity, and human-centered design can drive real impact in healthcare. Drawing from his journey building Mint, Aaron shares why most healthcare technology misses the mark, how better communication improves outcomes and ROI, and what leaders must do to design experiences people actually use. The conversation goes deep on: Why...
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Express Scripts SVP Harold Carter on GLP-1s & the Future of Pharmacy Benefits (Repost)
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GLP-1 therapies are transforming pharmacy benefits, and Express Scripts is leading the way. Harold Carter, PharmD, SVP of Trade Relations, joins host Eric Glazer to discuss how one of the nation’s largest PBMs is navigating this disruptive moment in healthcare. Harold shares how Express Scripts is: Capping costs of GLP-1 therapies to expand patient access while keeping plan spending predictable. Redesigning funding models to strike a balance between affordability, predictability, and outcomes. Leveraging digital tools and AI to reduce friction in the member experience and support...
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Kaiser Permanente | Dr. Hector de Leon on Scaling What Works in Healthcare
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Recorded live at the AHIP 2026 Conference, Eric Glazer sits down with Dr. Hector de Leon, Board Chair of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Foundation and practicing pediatrician, for a conversation about one of healthcare's biggest challenges: Not discovering what works, but scaling what already does. For more than 80 years, Kaiser Permanente has built its care model around prevention, physician trust, integrated care, and long-term health outcomes. In this conversation, Dr. de Leon shares practical examples of how those principles come to life, and why Kaiser is increasingly partnering with...
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Why Digital Health Pilots Fail: UC Davis Health’s Dr. Reshma Gupta
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A lot of digital health pilots do not fail because the idea is bad. They fail because the care model, workflow, staffing, and financial design were never fully built. This episode features a presentation from the ROI-Centered Care Summit, produced by Bright Spots Ventures in partnership with TytoCare and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA). In this episode, Reshma Gupta, MD, Chief of Population Health and Accountable Care at UC Davis Health, shares why so many AI and digital health pilots stall, and what it takes to redesign them into models that are operationally viable,...
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Inside MultiCare’s Oncology Access Playbook with CMO Dr. Yarrow McConnell
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In oncology, performance is not just about getting patients in the door. It is about getting them to the right specialist, at the right time, with less friction across every handoff. This episode features a presentation from the ROI-Centered Care Summit, a half-day virtual summit produced by Bright Spots Ventures in partnership with TytoCare and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA). In this episode, Yarrow McConnell, MD, FACS, Chief Medical Officer at MultiCare Cancer Institute, shares how MultiCare redesigned oncology pathways to improve access, strengthen coordination, and deliver...
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Inside Ascension IL’s ED Throughput Playbook: 4-Minute Door-to-Doc and Better Flow
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Emergency department performance is often shaped long before a patient is admitted, or discharged. This episode features a presentation from the recently held ROI-Centered Care Summit, a half-day virtual summit produced by Bright Spots Ventures in partnership with TytoCare and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA). In this episode, Robert Sumter, PhD, FACHE, EVP / Market Chief Operating Officer at Ascension Illinois, shares how his team redesigned the emergency department front door to improve patient flow, reduce waiting, and strengthen both operational and financial performance. ...
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Northwell Health CEO John D'Angelo, MD | The Next Operating System for Healthcare
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The healthcare system we've built is remarkably good at treating disease. The question is whether it's designed to create health. In this episode of Bright Spots in Healthcare, Eric Glazer sits down with Dr. John D'Angelo, President and CEO of Northwell Health, one of the largest health systems in the country, for a candid conversation about what healthcare leaders may be underestimating about the decade ahead. Rather than focusing on individual trends, Dr. D'Angelo challenges some of healthcare's biggest assumptions, from the way we think about affordability, to the way we deliver care, to...
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Inside Northwell Health’s ED Follow-Up Playbook: Reducing Returns and Improving Throughput
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What happens after a patient leaves the emergency department is often where performance is won, or lost. This episode features a presentation from the recently held ROI-Centered Care Summit, a half-day virtual summit produced by Bright Spots Ventures in partnership with TytoCare and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA). In this episode, Albert Villarin, MD, MBA, FACEP, VP & Chief Medical Information Officer at Northwell Health, shares how his team redesigned the ED follow-up model to reduce avoidable returns, improve patient experience, and shorten length of stay, by rethinking...
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Why Health Plan Innovation Fails, And What Actually Scales | Healthworx
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Why do so many healthcare innovation efforts stall after pilots? In this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, host Eric Glazer sits down with leaders from Healthworx, the investment and innovation arm of CareFirst, for a candid discussion on what actually allows innovation to scale inside complex healthcare organizations. As health plans invest heavily in AI, digital transformation, startup partnerships, and new care models, many still struggle to operationalize innovation in meaningful ways. This conversation explores why innovation often breaks down between idea and...
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The Moment of Influence: How Leading Medicare Advantage Plans Turn Insight Into Action
Bright Spots in Healthcare
In this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, host Eric Glazer brings together Medicare Advantage and operational leaders to explore a growing challenge facing health plans: why identifying risk is no longer enough to improve outcomes. As organizations invest heavily in HRAs, predictive analytics, and member insight platforms, many still struggle to convert those insights into timely, coordinated action. This discussion focuses on where execution is breaking down between identification and intervention, and what leading plans are doing differently to reduce friction, align teams, and engage...
info_outlineIn this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, Medicare Advantage leaders confront a hard truth: high activity does not guarantee high impact. As Stars cut points rise and margins tighten, traditional segmentation and broad outreach strategies are no longer sufficient.
This discussion explores how leading plans are shifting from static stratification to dynamic signal monitoring, identifying which members are realistically movable, and embedding behavioral intelligence directly into operational workflows. The focus is not on doing more. It is on doing what measurably drives lift.
Our guests include:
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Amin Serehali, Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Independent Health
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Mike Leiper, Director of Government Quality Programs, Highmark
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Brendan Generelli, Director of Medicare Stars and Quality, Johns Hopkins Health Plans
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David Burianek, Chief Strategy Officer for Health Plans, MedOrion
Together, they explore:
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How plans are distinguishing between theoretical risk and practical movability, concentrating outreach on members whose behavior can realistically change within a defined window.
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How leading organizations are integrating claims, pharmacy, grievance, complaint, and social drivers data with behavioral science modeling to move beyond rules based campaigns.
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Why simultaneous pressure across HEDIS, CAHPS, and Part D often reflects fragmentation in engagement strategy rather than isolated measure failures.
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How targeted pilots within defined populations create clarity before scaling enterprise wide changes.
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Why timing is emerging as a strategic lever, with continuous signal monitoring replacing annual segmentation refresh cycles.
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How embedding intelligence into frontline workflows improves alignment between engagement effort and measurable Stars influence.
Panelist Bios:
https://www.brightspotsinhealthcare.com/events/beyond-segmentation-how-medicare-advantage-engagement-is-being-rebuilt/
Download the Episode Guide:
Get key takeaways and expert highlights to help you apply lessons from the episode.
https://www.brightspotsinhealthcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Updated-Episode-Guide-Beyond-Segmentation.docx.pdf
Key Insights Summary:
Find the top six strategic insights from the discussion, including detailed speaker takeaways and moderator notes.
https://www.brightspotsinhealthcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Key-Takeaways-Beyond-Segmentation-2.12.26.docx.pdf
Resources:
Companion Brief: From Segmentation to Signals
This companion brief expands on the behavioral intelligence framework discussed in the episode, outlining how health plans can identify movable phenotypes, align engagement timing with readiness signals, and measure causal lift against specific Stars drivers.
Inside you will find insights on:
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Shifting from annual risk stratification to continuous behavioral signal monitoring
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Identifying members whose behavior is realistically influenceable within a defined measurement window
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Reducing wasted outreach and improving ROI through precision targeting
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Embedding intelligence into operational workflows rather than post hoc reporting
To request your copy, email nroberts@brightspotsventures.com.
Thank You to Our Episode Partner, MedOrion:
Medorion partners with Medicare Advantage plans to integrate behavioral science and advanced analytics into engagement strategy. By layering behavioral phenotyping onto clinical and utilization data, Medorion helps plans identify which members are movable, optimize outreach timing, and improve measurable Stars performance. Learn more at https://medorion.com/.
Schedule a Conversation with MedOrion:
To explore how behavioral intelligence can strengthen your engagement strategy and improve measurable lift across HEDIS, CAHPS, and Part D, reach out to nroberts@brightspotsventures.com to schedule a discussion with David Burianek and the Medorion team.
About Bright Spots Ventures:
Bright Spots Ventures helps healthcare leaders separate signal from noise and accelerate the adoption of what works. We bring health plan, provider, and innovation leaders together through curated content and high-trust convenings to build meaningful relationships and turn insight into action. Explore our podcast at www.brightspotsinhealthcare.com.