NCQA Speakers

 

Margaret O'Kane

Since 1990, Margaret E. O’Kane has served as President of NCQA. Under her leadership, NCQA has developed broad support among the consumer, employer and health plan communities. In addition, Ms. O’Kane plays a key role in many efforts to improve health care quality. In 2011, she was named one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare for her contribution to improving quality. She was awarded the 2009 Picker Institute Individual Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Patient-Centered Care for her leadership of NCQA and lifetime achievement in improving patient-centered health care. In 1999, Ms. O’Kane was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine. She also serves as co-chair of the National Priorities Partnership. 

Areas of Expertise

  • Accountable Care Organizations 
  • Access and Availability 
  • Clinician Level Measurement and Reporting—Diabetes, Heart/Stroke, Back Pain 
  • Credentialing
  • Delegation
  • Disease Management
  • Electronic Health Records in Health Care Quality Improvement
  • Exchanges
  • Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) 
  • Health Care Costs and trends 
  • Health Care Reform 
  • Health Information Technology
  • Health Plan Accreditation
  • Managed Care 
  • Multicultural Health Care
  • Patient-Centered Medical Home 
  • Pay for Performance 
  • Performance Measures
  • Quality Measurement and Improvement 
  • Relative Resource Use
  • Wellness and Health Promotion
  • Women in Health Care

Education

Masters in Health Administration and Planning, ohns Hopkins University

Cindy Ottone

Cindy Ottone is the Director of HEDIS Policy. She is responsible for the implementation of HEDIS specifications including the specification publications, technical questions and answers through NCQA’s Policy Clarification System. She is also a frequent speaker on a variety of HEDIS and performance measurement topics. Prior to working at NCQA, Cindy worked in quality improvement with health plans and strategic planning for large physician practices.

Areas of Expertise

  • Access and Availability
  • CAHPS Survey
  • Case Management
  • Clinician Level Measurement and Reporting
  • Disease Management
  • Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®)
  • Managed Care
  • Multicultural Health Care
  • Pay for Performance
  • Performance Measures
  • Quality Measurement and Improvement
  • Relative Resource Use
  • Wellness and Health Promotion
  • Women in Health Care

Education

Masters of Health Administration,   University of South Carolina
Bachelor of Arts, Health Science and Policy, University of Maryland Baltimore County
 

Kathi Mudd

Kathi Mudd is the Vice President for Product Delivery of NCQA. In this position, she is responsible for the delivery of NCQA’s evaluation programs and services and oversees operations of the Accreditation, Policy, Recognition Programs and SNP Assessment units. Previously, she was NCQA’s Vice President for Accreditation and Assistant Vice President for Education and Training. Prior to joining NCQA, she was Director, Quality Improvement, Health Services Quality Management for Aetna Health Plans, a division of Aetna Life and Casualty. She has also held positions in the corporate offices of two national managed care organizations.

Areas of Expertise

  • Access and Availability
  • Clinician Level Measurement and Reporting—Diabetes, Heart/Stroke, Back Pain Credentialing
  • Delegation
  • Disease Management
  • Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®)
  • Health Plan Accreditation
  • Managed Care
  • Multicultural Health Care
  • Patient-Centered Medical Home
  • Pay for Performance
  • Performance Measures
  • Quality Measurement and Improvement
  • Wellness and Health Promotion

Education

MBA University of Connecticut
B.S. in Nursing University of Texas

Ledia Tabor

Ledia Tabor is the Director of Quality Solutions Group (Exchanges) and has been with NCQA since 2007. She directs the development of NCQA services and products to help health insurance Exchanges comply with quality requirements and use quality information to drive improvement and value. She also supports public policy initiatives to share NCQA experiences with federal and state policy and rule makers. She also manages ongoing development and maintenance of NCQA’s strategic plan. Prior to joining the Quality Solutions Group, Ledia was a NCQA Product Development Manager and worked on multiple development projects including Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation and evaluation and update to Health Plan Accreditation for Medicaid plans.

Areas of Expertise

  • Exchanges
  • Health Care Reform
  • Health Plan Accreditation
  • Performance Measures
  • Wellness and Health Promotion
  • Women in Health Care


Education

BA in Psychology , University of Virginia

MPH in Policy and Management, Boston University

Paul Cotton

Paul Cotton is the Director of Federal Affairs.  He works on health reform and other initiatives to improve health care quality.  Previously he was an AARP Senior Legislative Representative lobbying Congress and the Administration on Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, health reform and quality improvement issues. He has also worked at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services as Hearings & Policy Presentation Director in the Office of Legislation, and as a journalist for publications including the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Areas of Expertise

  • Accountable Care Organizations
  • Electronic Health Records in Health Care Quality Improvement
  • Exchanges
  • Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®)
  • Health Care Costs and trends
  • Health Care Reform
  • Health Information Technology
  • Health Plan Accreditation
  • Managed Care
  • Multicultural Health Care
  • Patient-Centered Medical Home
  • Pay for Performance
  • Performance Measures
  • Quality Measurement and Improvement
  • Relative Resource Use
  • Wellness and Health Promotion


Education

BA in Journalism, Northern Illinois University

Raena Grant Akin-Deko

Raena is the Assistant Vice President for Product Development. She is responsible for leading her team to develop new products and to extend existing products into new markets. In particular, she is leading the development of standards to evaluate accountable care organizations (ACOs) and overseeing a team to operationalize the ACO Accreditation product. She is formerly the Director of Learning and Innovation at the Alliance of Community Health Plans.

Areas of Expertise

  • Accountable Care Organizations
  • Access and Availability
  • Disease Management
  • Exchanges
  • Health Plan Accreditation
  • Managed Care
  • Wellness and Health Promotion

Education

Master of Health Service Administration (MHSA) University of Michigan

Bachelor of Science in Anthropology-Zoology University of Michigan 

Sarah Thomas

As NCQA’s Vice President for Public Policy and Communications, Sarah Thomas is responsible for the development of NCQA’s public policy strategy, its work with the Federal government and the States, as well as its media and communications operations. She is formerly director of the Public Policy Institute (PPI) Health Team at AARP, deputy director at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and served at the Congressional Budget Office and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She has worked for national associations, in state government and for the Advisory Board Company.

Areas of Expertise

  • Accountable Care Organizations
  • Access and Availability
  • Clinician Level Measurement and Reporting—Diabetes, Heart/Stroke, Back Pain
  • Disease Management
  • Electronic Health Records in Health Care Quality Improvement
  • Exchanges
  • Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®)
  • Health Care Costs and trends
  • Health Care Reform
  • Health Information Technology
  • Health Plan Accreditation
  • Managed Care, including Medicaid Managed Care
  • Multicultural Health Care
  • Patient-Centered Medical Home
  • Pay for Performance
  • Performance Measures
  • Quality Measurement and Improvement
  • Relative Resource Use
  • Wellness and Health Promotion

Education

M.S. in Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health

William Tulloch

William Tulloch is the Director of Government Recognition Initiatives, and has been with NCQA since 1997.  Bill is responsible for the operations of government contracts aimed at promoting the Medical Home concepts in federal health centers and military facilities. Prior to this position, Bill held other positions in NCQA including Director of Customer Resources, Director of the Privacy Certification for Business Associates (PCBA) program and Senior Accreditation Manager.  Bill has also been a frequent faculty member for educational presentations for NCQA.  

Areas of Expertise

  • Credentialing
  • Delegation
  • Health Plan Accreditation
  • Patient-Centered Medical Home
  • Quality Improvement
  • Relative Resource Use

Education

Master’s in Economics, University of Maryland

Williams College
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