Errol Pierre

It's a good question.

One, I would start with Medicaid rates.

And then two, I would focus on the quality programs for health plans.

And why start with rates?

Until those change, we don't think we will be able to shrink the time it takes for a Medicaid member to see a specialist.

There's a big difference between the reimbursement rates for Medicaid plans as it is for commercial plans.

What that difference translates into is almost like a two-tiered healthcare system for members.

It can take up to three months, four months for a Medicaid member to access the same doctor that potentially it takes two weeks.

for a doctor receiving commercial rates.

And so we think the smaller the difference between Medicaid and commercial, the better we'll have in terms of health equity outcomes.

From the quality programs perspective, we believe quality programs are the one way to get

health plans, hospitals, physicians, to all work together for the betterment of the members' health outcomes.

And so the more the emphasis that's put on quality programs where we're incentivizing physicians to do what's right for the patient, the more we think we'll have better outcomes for all of our members.

One piece of advice is make it part of your DNA, not a separate department that's off on its own trying to do something.

Always check your biases.

No matter how hard you try, bias will seep into your decision making.

Have to make sure you're checking for your biases.

And the more diversity you have in your leadership ranks, the better you're

health plan or organization will perform.

That's just data that's proven by many different consulting groups.