The Task Force Executive Committee provides guidance on the strategic direction of the Task Force, and serves as the “north star” for organizational priorities. The Executive Committee is comprised of senior executives who represent the 4Ps: patients, payers, providers, and purchasers. The Committee is chaired by Todd Van Tol, Executive Vice President, Health Care Value at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
Todd Van Tol, MBA
ChairExecutive Vice President, Health Care Value, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Todd Van Tol
Committee Member
Senior Vice President, Health Care Value
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Todd Van Tol is the Senior Vice President of Health Care Value for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM). In that role, he has responsibility for provider contracting and network management, medical and pharmacy management, as well as wellness programs and product development across all lines of business for BCBSM. Previously, he led the plan’s Commercial Group business with responsibility for the Autos, Key & Large, Middle & Small Group, and Private Exchange lines of business.
Prior to joining BCBSM in July of 2017, Todd served as a Partner and North American practice leader for the Health & Life Sciences business of Oliver Wyman where he led the firm’s efforts across Payer and Provider clients. Prior to Oliver Wyman, Todd held senior roles at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association as well as Bain & Company.
Todd’s experience spans a broad range of strategic issues facing health plans and providers including market reform planning, customer strategy, building new value-based payer/provider partnership models, and the development of next generation product offerings. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BS from Michigan State University.
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Sean Cavanaugh, MPH
Vice ChairChief Policy Officer, Aledade
Sean Cavanaugh
Committee Member
Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Policy Officer
Aledade
Sean Cavanaugh is the Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Policy Officer at Aledade. Founded in 2014, Aledade partners with independent practices, health centers, and clinics to build and lead Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) anchored in primary care. Through these practice networks, Aledade empowers physicians to stay independent, focus on their patients, and thrive financially by keeping people healthy.
Sean has previously served as the Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. He was responsible for overseeing the regulation and payment of Medicare fee-for-service providers, privately-administered Medicare health plans, and the Medicare prescription drug program. Previously Sean was the Deputy Director for Programs and Policy in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, where he was responsible for overseeing the development and testing of new payment and service delivery models, including ACOs and medical homes. Prior to that, Sean was Director of Health Care Finance at the United Hospital Fund. He has also served in senior positions at Lutheran Healthcare, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Health Insurance Access, and the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
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Jim Sinkoff, MBA, CPA
Secretary and TreasurerDeputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Sun River Health
Jim Sinkoff
Secretary and Treasurer
Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Sun River Health
As Deputy Chief Executive Officer and CFO of Sun River Health, one of New York’s largest Federally Qualified Health Centers, James Sinkoff advances system-wide perspectives to develop and execute critical strategies that support the strength, growth, and sustainability of Sun River Health, while pursuing opportunities to create greater alignment within the organization and in the larger health care market. He also oversees organizational performance across multiple clinical, operational, and financial dimensions, and Sun River Health’s capital portfolio.
Mr. Sinkoff began his career in health care with Ernst & Young in New York. He served as the Director of Managed Care Financing for a large integrated health care system comprising three hospitals, two outpatient mental health agencies, and 13 nursing homes in western Massachusetts, the CFO for one of the larger Medicaid Managed Health Care plans in New York State, and later the Chief Executive Officer of a community health center in Albany.
In 2014, Mr. Sinkoff was appointed to the Transparency, Evaluation, and HIT Workgroup by New York State’s Acting Commissioner of Health, Howard A. Zucker. This workgroup delivered a report to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo detailing recommendations for New York State to move towards a comprehensive health claims and clinical database to improve quality and cost of health care, efficiency, and patient satisfaction. Mr. Sinkoff has held positions as Chair of the Board of the Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS) and the Finance Committee of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), serves as a member of the Legislative Committee of NACHC, and is a member of the HealthCare Financial Management Association.
Mr. Sinkoff is also the CEO of Solutions 4 Community Health. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography.
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Ashley Yeats, MD, FACEP, FCFPC
Committee MemberVice President of Medical Operations, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Ashley Yeats
Committee Member
Vice President of Medical Operations
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Dr. Ashley Yeats joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts in November 2019. His areas of responsibility include clinical partnership innovation, mental health strategy, physician & psychologist utilization review, medical policy administration, care management consultation, clinical appeals, and corporate peer review.
Yeats has practiced in the Boston area for 20 years, following a career in academic emergency medicine at the Ottawa Civic Hospital in Canada. He has held executive and medical leadership positions within system hospitals and the liability captive insurance carrier of the Harvard teaching hospital community. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Healthcare Quality & Clinical Integration within the Beth Israel Lahey Health System, with operational oversight of hospital-based, non-nursing patient care services, infection control, pharmacy, clinical program development and physician recruitment, graduate medical education, credentialing, and healthcare quality & patient safety. Prior roles include serving as Associate Medical Director of the CRICO Academic Medical Center Patient Safety Organization (AMC PSO) and as Associate Chief of Emergency Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Faulkner Hospital.
He completed a dual residency in family medicine and emergency medicine at the University of Ottawa, receiving certification as a patient safety officer from Intermountain in Salt Lake City, Utah and a medical degree from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
In addition to his current role at Blue Cross, Dr. Yeats is an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Medicine where he teaches on topics of quality and patient safety, also lecturing in the Northeastern University Physician Assistant Program. He sits on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Alliance for Communication & Resolution after Medical Injury and the Health Care Transformation Task Force in Washington, DC.
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Zak Ramadan-Jradi, MD, MBA
Committee MemberHead of Network Management & Strategy, Cambia Health Solutions
Zak Ramadan-Jradi
Committee Member
Head of Network Management & Strategy
Cambia Health Solutions
Dr. Zak Ramadan-Jradi is the head of network management & strategy across the health plan’s four-state footprint. Zak has a long and diverse health care background that includes extensive experience in healthcare analytics, clinical and contract performance management, and network development.
After practicing bedside medicine as an Internist, Zak realized he wanted to make a positive change in the way health care is delivered at the policy and business level enabling him to assist more patients exponentially rather than one at a time. This led to his career in health care and health plan administration that includes experience working in policy and regulation and at an operational level with clinic administration. He was Vice Chair on the governing board for Physicians of Southwest Washington, the Milliman Advisory Board, and has been an active participant in National Association of ACOs since 2015.
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Ashley Ridlon, MS
Committee MemberVice President, Health Policy, Evolent
Ashley Ridlon
Committee Member
Vice President, Health Policy
Evolent Health
As Evolent’s Vice President of Health Policy, Ashley is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the firm’s health policy and advocacy strategy to drive value-based health care transformation across the country. Ashley brings over 15 years of federal health policy and advocacy experience, having joined Evolent from Bipartisan Policy Center Action where she advocated bipartisan policy solutions to our nation’s most pressing health care challenges and advised BPC leaders and staff. She also worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center (CMMI) to launch and implement national initiatives to reduce preventable hospital readmissions and improve care transitions. Prior to joining CMS, Ashley spent five years as the principal health policy advisor to U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, a member of the Senate Finance Committee. In her capacity supporting the Senator, Ashley worked to develop and pass numerous Medicare and health insurance provisions into law. Prior to working in the Senate, Ashley served as a manager of policy and communications for the American Association for Homecare and worked for a non-profit hospice in Arkansas.
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Rich Lipeles, MPH
Committee MemberChief Operating Officer, Heritage Provider Network
Rich Lipeles
Committee Member
Chief Operating Officer
Heritage Provider Network
Richard Lipeles has more than 40 years of experience in leadership positions in healthcare and non for profit and entrepreneurial companies. Lipeles joined PacifiCare in July 1979, and in 1987 he became President of PacifiCare of California. In 1993 he was promoted to Executive Vice President of PacifiCare Health Systems overseeing the corporation’s managed health care division which included health plans in California, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Lipeles retired from PacifiCare September 1995.
In June 2002, Rich joined the management team of Heritage Family of Companies as the company’s COO. Heritage provides award winning medical care to more than 1,000,000 people in CA, NY and AZ. The medical care is provided through company owned staff model medical groups and IPAs.
Rich has been on multiple Boards of Directors for companies he’s invested in through his venture fund. He also is the past President/COB of the Long Beach Jewish Federation, Community Foundation and CCEJ. Lipeles has a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Bachelor of Science in business economics from the University of California, Riverside (UCR).
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David Nace, MD
Committee MemberChief Medical Officer, Innovaccer
David Nace
Committee Member
Chief Medical Officer
Innovaccer
Dr. David Nace is Chief Medical Officer at Innovaccer, a leading San Francisco-based healthcare IT company dedicated to accelerating innovation in healthcare.
Dr. Nace is a physician executive and national healthcare thought leader who has been involved in healthcare reform and managed care strategies since the early 1990s. He joined Innovaccer in 2017, as an Executive Advisor.
As the company’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Nace leads a team of nationally known clinician executives who assist the company in enhancing the InnovaccerⓇ Health Cloud and Data Activiation Platform to streamline population health strategies, improve the user experience; and support Innovaccer’s customers in developing, implementing, and succeeding with value-based care strategies.
Dr. Nace’s executive management experience features senior leadership roles including CMO/VP of Population Health at McKesson Corporation, Chairman of the Board at the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, and Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer roles at both UnitedHealth Group and Aetna. Prior to joining Innovaccer, Dr. Nace served as the Chief Medical Officer at MarkLogic and Lantern.
Dr. Nace has been a board member for the Integrated Healthcare Association, a statewide multi-stakeholder leadership group that promotes quality improvement, accountability, and affordability of healthcare in California; and the Care Continuum Alliance in Washington, DC. He has also served as an adviser to the American Medical Association, National Business Group on Health, World Health Organization, and the International Labor Organization on issues ranging from health promotion and wellness to employer policy and healthcare financing issues.
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Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, JD
Committee MemberVice President for Health Justice, National Partnership for Women & Families
Sinsi Hernandez-Cancio
Committee Member
Vice President for Health Justice
National Partnership for Women & Families
Sinsi Hernández-Cancio is a national health and health care equity policy and advocacy thought leader with extensive experience spanning the government, labor, and non-profit arenas, dedicated to advancing equal opportunity for women and families of color and advocating for better health care access and quality for all. Sinsi believes our shared prosperity depends on transforming our health care system to meet the needs of our rapidly evolving nation so that it provides excellent, comprehensive, culturally centered and affordable care for every single person, family and community, which requires dismantling structural racism and other systemic inequities. Born in Puerto Rico, she holds a JD from NYU Law and an AB from Princeton University.
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Seth Edwards, MHA
Committee MemberVice President, Population Health and Value-Based Care, Premier Inc.
Seth Edwards
Committee Member
Vice President, Population Health and Value-Based Care
Premier Inc.
Seth Edwards is a vice president of Strategy, Innovation and Population Health with Premier’s PINC AI. In this role, Seth is responsible for the strategy, management and operations of Premier’s award winning Strategic and Performance Improvement Collaboratives: the Population Health Management Collaborative, the Bundled Payment Collaborative, and QUEST®: High Performing Hospitals Collaborative, as well as the Strategic Collaborative Services division.
He has expertise in health care policy and the nexus between policy, strategy and implementation with a focus on delivery system reform and value-based payment models, such as the Medicare ACO initiatives. Moreover, Seth has worked with ACOs to drive performance improvement in cost, quality and patient experience. Members of the Population Health Management Collaborative outperform the nation in the generation of savings and quality scores for the Medicare ACO models.
Prior to this role, Seth was the director of federal affairs for the Premier healthcare alliance. In this position, Seth represented Premier with lawmakers and their staff to advocate for Premier’s legislative priorities and assists in developing policy positions. Seth primarily focused on delivery system reforms (accountable care organizations, bundled payments, etc.) and quality outcomes (readmissions and healthcare-associated infections).
During his time at Premier, Seth has won numerous awards, including the Premier Values Award, the Premier Public Affairs Vision Award and numerous Premier team awards. Additionally, Seth was named as one of 15 “Up and Comers” for 2018 by Modern Healthcare.
Seth is based out of Premier’s Charlotte, NC office. He attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he obtained his Master’s degree in health administration.
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Melanie Matthews, MS
Committee MemberChief Executive Officer, PSW
Melanie Matthews
Committee Member
Chief Executive Officer
Physicians of Southwest Washington
PSW’s Chief Executive Officer of PSW since 2016, Melanie was also appointed President of MultiCare Care Connected (MCC) in 2019. She has 27+ years of healthcare experience, with a focus on the delivery of value-based care in various medical group settings.
Since she joined PSW in 2016, she has maintained the core principals in which PSW was founded on and expanded business lines to include advisory and management services including credentialing, coding and compliance and the implementation of various CMMI innovation models. Melanie brings extensive knowledge in population health strategies and a strong commitment to value-based care. Prior to PSW, Melanie spent her career overseeing the regulatory and financial operations and outcomes for post-acute continuum of care facilities including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living, home health and hospice.
In 2020, Melanie was awarded a NAACOS Board of Director position to serve as a single-ACO representative. Among her other accomplishments, Melanie is a board member on the Health Care Transformation Task Force, she serves as Co-Chair for APG – Risk Evolution Taskforce, serves on the APG Board of Directors, was selected by the American Health Care Association as a “National Political Ambassador” in 2013, and was named a national “Future Leader” in 2012.
Melanie holds a Master of Science, social gerontology, degree from Central Missouri State University and a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies from Pennsylvania State University.
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Jordan Asher, MD, MS
Committee MemberExecutive Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer, Sentara Health
Jordan Asher, MD, MS
Committee Member
Executive Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer
Sentara Health
Dr. Jordan Asher is Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Executive at Sentara Healthcare. His role concentrates on creating innovative models of care delivery as well as providing national thought leadership directed towards the future of health care.
Dr. Asher is dedicated to championing quality, fostering clinical effectiveness and further cultivating a culture of excellence in the delivery of clinical services across the continuum of care. He oversees system-wide Clinical Quality and Safety, Clinical Effectiveness the Clinical Integrated Networks (Sentara Quality Care Network and Sentara Accountable Care Organization), the High-Performance Design process, Health Equity, Clinical Informatics, Research, and Clinical Performance Improvement initiatives.
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Judy Zerzan-Thul, MD, MPH
Committee MemberChief Medical Officer, Washington State Health Care Authority
Judy Zerzan-Thul
Committee Member
Chief Medical Officer
Washington State Health Care Authority
Dr. Judy Zerzan-Thul is the Chief Medical Officer for the Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) which administers the state’s Medicaid program and the state’s Employee, School and Retiree Benefits. Dr. Zerzan-Thul is a general internal medicine physician and began her career as an academic researcher at the University of Colorado. Prior to joining HCA in August 2018, Dr. Zerzan-Thul was Chief Medical Officer for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. She has held leadership positions in the Medicaid Medical Director’s Network and served on a number of national committees. She is also currently an adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Washington.
Dr. Zerzan-Thul is a native Oregonian who received her MD degree from Oregon Health and Science University in 1998 and her MPH in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina in 1999. She completed the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Washington/Seattle VA in 2007. She was a 2008-2010 non-residential Health and Aging Policy Fellow in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia working on the Affordable Care Act.
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