Healthchangers

Dr. Lisa Bielamowicz, chief clinical officer at TrustWorks Collective, explores the market forces impacting American health care today, and how hospitals and health systems can best adapt to rapid change.  

Brennan Wood, executive director of the Dougy Center, and Peggy Maguire, president of Regence’s corporate foundation, Cambia Health Foundation, explore how Dougy Center supports so many grieving families around the world and why the Cambia Health Foundation has been a longtime supporter of the group.

Dr. Jeff Wessler, a cardiologist and CEO and co-founder of Heartbeat Health; and William Krenz, senior vice president of government programs for Regence, discuss how Heartbeat and Regence are using virtual cardiac care to improve heart health and cardiac care for Regence members.  

Kevin Curtis, clinical operations director at the Mental Health Crisis Care Center, and Dr. Mike Franz, executive medical director for behavioral health at Regence, talk about the new crisis care center in Utah and what it can teach us about how to best address the national mental health epidemic. 

Dr. Daniel Meltzer, executive medical director at Regence, talks about the benefits of digital health to save lives and make underserved communities healthier. 

Ali Esquea, vice president of federal affairs at Regence, and Stephen Foxley, vice president of state affairs at Regence, look at how the fall election results could impact not just health policy in the White House and Congress, but in the four states where Regence operates: Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington.   

Bill Kramer, senior advisor for health policy at the Purchaser Business Group on Health, talks about how the country's largest employers figure out how to keep the cost of health care sustainable for their employees. 

Dr. Stefen Ammon, medical director of DispatchHealth, and Lara Magnani, director of clinical program management at Regence, talk about the innovative DispatchHealth in-home care model and how the DispatchHealth-Regence partnership has made care more affordable, accessible and effective for Regence members. 

Noelle Redmond, assistant director of clinical pharmacy services, and Danny Wallenslager, pharmacy clinical program director, discuss the encouraging and evolving treatment option of gene therapies. They also talk about how the Regence pharmacy team ensures that covered gene therapies provide a clear net benefit for health plan members.

Dave Roberts, chief human resources officer for the West Ada School District, talks about the innovative way his district, with help from Regence and moves from the Idaho Legislature, cut the cost of premiums for employees, and what we can all do to ensure we’re getting effective, affordable health care. 

Keith Bell, the CEO of Homage Senior Services, talks about how to meet the evolving health care needs of the fast-growing senior population, including the urgent need for mental health services.

Ashley Fosberg, the vice president of philanthropy for Sounders FC and the executive director of RAVE Foundation, talks about the club's new partnership with Regence to improve the health of local youth, and how the club connects so profoundly to the community. 

On this episode of the HealthChangers podcast, Michael Ann Benchoff, assistant director of health equity programs at Regence, talks about why the fight for health equity is so important. We also discussed the work that Regence is doing to make the health care system more inclusive and effective for everyone.

On this episode of the HealthChangers podcast, Dr. Zak Ramadan-Jradi, vice president of network management at Regence, talks about the increasingly contentious contract negotiations between insurance carriers and hospitals, and the critical role that Regence plays in keeping health care affordable for its members.

On this episode of the HealthChangers podcast, Katie Lai, clinical pharmacist client manager at Regence, talks about two of the biggest trends in pharmacy today: the surge in popularity of GLP-1 drugs to lose weight, and mass pharmacy closures around the U.S. that have created “pharmacy deserts” in underserved communities.

On this episode of HealthChangers, we’re joined by a panel of health care professionals to discuss the critical role that nurses play inside and outside of Regence. This includes Dr. Donna Milavetz, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Regence, who is an internal medicine physician by training; Cheryl Carter, senior clinical transformation advisor as well as a nurse; and Sarah Robilotta, supervisor of behavioral health utilization management who is also a licensed mental health counselor.

On this episode of the HealthChangers podcast, Dr. Nicole Saint Clair, obstetrician-gynecologist and executive medical director at Regence, explains how the U.S. has some of the worst rates of maternal and infant health outcomes among high-income nations. And how health disparities are significantly worse for Black women and pregnant people.

On this episode of HealthChangers, Dr. Erin Parks, chief clinical officer and co-founder of Equip Health, and Dr. Mike Franz, Regence’s senior medical director for behavioral health discuss eating disorders and innovative ways of treating them, including virtual care and family-based treatment. 

On this episode of HealthChangers, Stephanie Strong, CEO and founder of Boulder Care and Dr. Mike Franz, Regence’s senior medical director for behavioral health discuss new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing drug and alcohol-related deaths are on the rise among Americans over 60.