Rise

Vandna Bhrany Vice President, HEDIS Strategy & Analytics

AmeriHealth Caritas

Vandna Bhrany, MPH is the Vice President of HEDIS® Strategy and Analytics for the AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies [ACFC].  In her role, Vandna is leverages her experience in quality and risk adjustment operations to support members and providers as it relates to performance reporting and the member and provider experience.  Her area of influence spans analytics, plan operations and digital integration of data and processes in the transition to interoperability. 

Prior to AmeriHealth, Vandna has worked for several national health plans, including Aetna, several Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Centene.  She has successfully led several health plans through NCQA Accreditation, managed HEDIS® reporting, improvement and outreach, and helped develop and implement a successful provider profiling and performance measurement program.  In addition to her health plan experience, Vandna managed Risk Adjustment Client Operations for Evolent Health, is a former certified HEDIS® Compliance Auditor and led project management and client solutions for a retrieval, abstraction/coding and analytics vendor supporting health plans and provider groups in their efforts to optimize revenue and improve quality within their populations.

Vandna attended the University of California at Berkeley as an undergraduate and received her Master’s in Public Health from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Vandna has moved from coast to coast, spending the better part of the last 25 years working on her southern drawl in Atlanta, Georgia.  These days you can find her running the streets of Atlanta, cooking for friends or working on her newest hobby, making wobbly pottery.

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. 

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

EFS Supervision Strategies, LLC

Ellen Fink-Samnick is an award-winning industry entrepreneur who empowers healthcare's interprofessional workforce. She is a subject matter expert on Health Equity, Ethics, Professional Case Management Practice, Interprofessional Teams, and Trauma-informed Leadership. Her latest books include, The Essential Guide to Interprofessional Ethics for Healthcare Case Management, 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.  

Ellen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Board-certified Case Manager, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and Certified Rehabilitation Provider. Her academic appointments include the University of Buffalo School of Social Work, and George Mason University’s Departments of Social Work and Global Community Health. She is a clinical supervision trainer and instructor for the National Association of Social Workers of Virginia, lead for Rise Association’s Social Determinants of Health Community, moderator of Ellen’s Ethical LensTM on LinkedIn and author of the blog, Ellen’s Interprofessional Insights. Ellen is a consultant for the Case Management Institute, moderator of their Case Managers Community, and a Doctor of Behavioral Health candidate at Cummings Graduate Institute of Behavioral Health Studies.  

Ellen's fierce professional voice has been constant across her varied roles. She has served as a commissioner of the Commission for Case Manager Certification and Chair of their Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee, as well as a past member of the Board of Directors for the Case Management Society of America. Ellen currently serves on the Gravity Project’s Intervention Council and Coalition for Social Work and Health. She is Vice-Chair of the American Association of Doctors in Behavioral Health, and Chair of their Regulations Committee. Ellen is also an editorial board member for the Professional Case Management Journal, and Case Management Monthly. Further information is available on her LinkedIn Profile.  

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.

Donna Malone, CPC, CRC, AAPC Approved Instructor, AHCCA, RAP Director Risk Capture – Population Health

Mass General Brigham

Donna Malone, CPC, CRC, CRC-I, AHCCA, RAP: Director Ambulatory Clinical Documentation Quality Improvement (CDQI) with Mount Sinai Health System, Adjunct Professor with MassBay Community College, Chair of the RISE Risk Adjustment Academy HCC Coding Faculty Advisory Group and President of the Watertown AAPC Chapter 

Previously, she worked for Tufts Health Plan in their enterprise risk adjustment division for seven years with as Director Enterprise Risk Adjustment Coding and Provider Education, and was responsible for audit and coding review management, development and implementation of department and vendor policies and procedures, development of provider and coding training materials, implementation of provider system education and process review, government audits (CMS RADV, HHS RADV, OIG), coding team performance management. 

Additionally, Donna serves at the MassBay Community College in Framingham, where she has been an advisor and adjunct professor currently in her 17th year. Her specialty area is the Medical Coding and Medical Office Administration Programs. Prior to Tufts Health Plan, Donna worked for ENJOIN as the Director of Ambulatory CDI – Risk Adjustment, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts as an HCC Professional Audit III for four years. Earlier, she worked for AM B Care for 9 years and other healthcare settings previously. Donna also has served as Education Officer (2016) and President (2017 – current) for the AAPC chapter in Watertown, MA. 

Donna speaks nationally for RISE, AAPC and AHIMA

Beck Moore, MSHR Chief Executive Officer

Community Action Association of Pennsylvania

Beck Moore serves as CEO at Community Action Association of Pennsylvania (CAAP), working with the 43 Community Action Agencies, addressing poverty across every county in the Commonwealth. Having a deep-rooted appreciation stemming from personal experiences of living in poverty and being homeless, Beck is devoted to creating change.  He regularly educates on the realities of poverty, social determinants of health, dimensions of diversity, and helping people challenge their assumptions.   

Beck has served in nonprofit leadership roles over the past 20 years and has a passion for values-based leadership. Beck’s experience shines in member-based organizations, with expertise in membership growth and program development. He served in various roles across multiple Girl Scout councils, leaving an impact of membership stabilization and growth through creating valuable programs that gained national recognition. 

Beck is a father by nontraditional means and loves to write and spending time in the outdoors.  He is currently authoring his first book about his journey of transitioning and authenticity. 

Lastly, Beck holds a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Penn State and a master’s degree in human resources from the University of Scranton. He serves on various boards and committees with United Way of PA, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, Weatherization Advisory Committee, LIHEAP Advisory Committee, Interstate Renewable Energy Council WAP Enhancement and Innovation Committee, Parents as Teachers Advisory Committee, and others. 

Kenneth Persaud, MD CEO

White-Wilson Medical Center

Melissa Smith Founder, Senior Advisor

Newton Smith Group

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.

Rick Whitted CEO

U.S. Hunger

Rick Whitted is the President & Chief Executive Officer at U.S. Hunger, a global nonprofit whose mission is feeding families today and uniting them to a healthier tomorrow. In total, U.S. Hunger (USH) has provided over 150 million meals to families in need. Before his appointment as CEO in March 2020, Rick served on USH’s board of directors. Rick has overseen the launch of several of the organization’s initiatives: expanding home delivery of fresh produce into its supply chain; aligning its Full Cart® program with the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health equity framework; and, developing a cloud based SaaS solution that uses A.I. and Machine Learning to identify root causes of food insecurity in the U.S. and provide real-time actionable intelligence on social determinants of health (SDOH). Rick is a graduate of Stetson University and Nova Southern University where he received a BA in Political Sciences/American Studies, and an MBA, Business Administration and Management, respectively. Prior to joining USH, he spent 27 multi-faceted years in banking; focusing on small business, government and non-profit banking. He is also an accomplished author and speaker with expertise in leadership, workplace culture and individual and team development.