The eight leaders featured in this article, part of an ongoing series, will speak at Becker’s Fall Payer Issue Roundtable Nov. 4-6 at the Swissotel in Chicago.
“If you have any questions about attending the event in November, contact Heidi Simon at hsimon@beckershealthcare.com.
Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What are your biggest workforce challenges and how are you solving them?
Abdou Bah. Senior Vice President of Medical Management and Chief Health Equity Officer of EmblemHealth (New York City): At EmblemHealth, our workforce challenges are the same that other health plans face. First, we look to recruit the right mix of clinical and non-clinical expertise needed to support our members as we work to address social determinants of health, disparities and health equity issues. Second, we are focused on maintaining employee well-being and providing our team with the resources and support they need to do their jobs. With all that’s happening in the world today, wellness support and employee assistance programs are crucial. A core value at EmblemHealth is to “do it together.” That’s how we approach all of our challenges.
Edward Juhn, MD. Chief Quality Officer of Inland Empire Health Plan (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.): Because Inland Empire Health Plan provides care and support for 1.5 million members in one of the largest and most spread out service areas, our biggest workforce challenge remains finding enough providers. But thankfully, our organization is focused on innovative solutions, which are making a difference. We leverage strong partnerships outside the traditional clinic setting, including continuing our financial commitment to a healthcare scholarship fund that provides 50 full-ride scholarships per year through three local medical schools. In turn, when these students become doctors, they will serve a multiyear commitment in the Inland Empire community for an “upstream flow” of new providers. Even better, more than 30 of our current scholars grew up in this region and 50% are identified as first-generation medical students who were raised in low-income households.
Jack Hooper. CEO and Co-Founder of Take Command Health (Richardson, Texas): At Take Command, our biggest workforce challenge is preparing to support our clients during the open enrollment period. The seasonality of health benefits and supporting Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) means we need to ramp up our capabilities so that we can provide personalized service to our clients and their employees. While many in our industry turn to call centers or outsourced solutions, we’ve focused on creating our own seasonal workforce, called Seasonal Operational Specialists, which typically consists of highly qualified part-time moms, people returning to work, etc. We’ve found this solution allows us to train people up to our own standards and becomes a great recruiting pipeline for our full-time roles and growth objectives.
Hilary Marden-Resnik, president and CEO of UCare. (Minneapolis): The most significant workforce challenge of the past few years is maintaining our high employee engagement and connection as more employees work remotely. Our strong mission and culture have served us well in that regard. Employees join UCare because they believe in the mission, and they stay at UCare because they see the impact they are having on our members and community every single day. Employees also join UCare because of the strong organizational culture in which every employee feels appreciated, valued and respected — regardless of who they are or where they come from.
Our extraordinary, mission-driven culture is central to our success and identity. Therefore, we have known how important it is to find new ways of connecting so we can sustain and build our culture, even as so many employees work remotely most or all of the time. Every UCare leader and every UCare employee has been a part of efforts to maintain connections, which we do through a variety of approaches including biweekly CEO videos about strategic topics, regular walk-in office hour opportunities hosted by many UCare leaders, monthly department town halls and onsite celebrations such as our 40th anniversary. Now that we are more than four years into this so-called new reality, I can say with great pride and appreciation that we have successfully sustained our special culture. Not only has our workplace culture been recognized by USA Today as the highest ranked health plan in the nation, but our avoidable turnover continues to be among the lowest in the industry at 3.3% in 2023 and on track to be even lower in 2024.
Barry Streit, Senior Vice President of Growth at Essence Healthcare (Maryland Heights, Mo.): As Essence continues to see exceptional growth, we’ve successfully attracted experienced and impressive talent, especially as many national carriers are downsizing. Our reputation as a 5-Star Medicare Advantage plan, combined with our growth mode and strong 20-year history, makes us a desirable employer. One challenge we continue to address is ensuring our workforce stays updated with the latest knowledge, skills and technologies in the continuously evolving healthcare industry. To overcome this, we invest in continuous education and training programs, and foster an inclusive culture through our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Shelley Turk. Divisional Senior Vice President of Illinois Health Care Delivery at Health Care Service Corp. (Chicago): Top of mind for our teams is mitigating talent departure risks related to a growing retirement-bound baby boomer population, and our succession strategies. It is critical to have a good understanding of how we are going to fill those gaps when they occur. We are also working to ensure that our employees at every level have clear and defined career paths to help them learn, grow, and position them for potential future opportunities within our organization. Simultaneously, we are planning for a shifting workforce dynamic where we are focused on upskilling and reskilling our workforce to take on the challenges of tomorrow. As our business needs shift, so will the skills required to support those needs. And, we must embrace the rise of AI responsibly, in tandem with reassuring and educating our workforce on how to do the same. Finally, we are prepared for even more pay transparency which requires thoughtfulness to navigate both employee and employer needs. As all of these areas unfold, we are committed to supporting our high-performing workforce to ensure that together, we are foundationally solid for the future.
Jeremy Wigginton, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Capital Blue Cross (Harrisburg, Pa.): In 2024, the health payer industry faces continued challenges in employee retention, high labor and supply costs, and balancing altered work flows due to a new mix of hybrid, remote and onsite employees. As a leader, now more than ever, I must focus on a servant leadership model. My primary focus points will be on fostering principles of shared leadership, a team support mindset, and retaining talent. Our biggest tools to weather these challenges will be communication and empathy for our workforce paired with critical evaluation of processes to ensure optimal efficiency and effectiveness.
Healthcare workforce challenges predate the COVID-19 pandemic, but greatly worsened from 2020-2023 as healthcare workers in multiple industries faced unprecedented challenges in workflows, further professional shortages and burnout. We are only now on the cusp of recovery.
Troy Williams. Vice President of Hospital Partnerships at First Choice Health Network (Seattle): With a newly occupied office space, we’re still gaining traction with the transition to in person office work. Employees have found productivity while working from home, but many want to have personal connections and collaboration opportunities with their teammates. Hitting stride with a hybrid workforce is still in transition, so we have encouraged more employees to utilize our space through customer and community events and engagements.