Articles by Briana Contreras

In this week's episode, Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, spoke with Dr. Paige Kilian, chief medical officer at Inovalon. In the discussion, Dr. Kilian broke down the current issues health plans are facing when it comes to risk adjustment and how it’s affecting members of these plans. She also shared some solutions that can help plans improve risk adjustment and quality programs with one in particular being health plans identifying care gaps through data and analytics.

Five phenotype clusters were discovered to be associated with the exacerbation, or worsening, of chronic inflammatory airway diseases of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a recent study published in PLOS ONE.

COVID-19 and overdoses were the main reasons 2021 was the deadliest year in U.S. history.

Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive spoke with Emad Rizk, M.D., chairman, president, and CEO of Cotiviti in this week's episode of Tuning In to the C-Suite. In the discussion, they talked about the issues of risk in healthcare and how they have led to inequalities in care. They also addressed how adopting risk assessment tools that expand access to data around social determinants of health can help reduce bias and improve care.

The healthcare sector added 63,500 jobs in February alone – a kind of growth in healthcare employment hasn’t seen since pre-pandemic days. In addition to the healthcare industry alone, the senior care sector reported its third employment gain in a row with a total year-to-date increase of 9,000 jobs.

In this episode of the "Meet the Board" podcast series, Briana Contreras, Managed Healthcare Executive editor, speaks with Ateev Mehrotra, a member of the MHE editorial advisory board and a professor of healthcare policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School. Mehtrotra is also a hospitalist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. In the discussion, Contreras gets to know Mehrotra more on a personal level and picks his brain on some of his research interests including telehealth, alternative payment models and price transparency.

In this final video of a two-part video series, Jason Warrelmann, global director of Healthcare and Life Sciences at UiPath, addressed why automation is necessary for patients and providers and how other healthcare organizations can better overcome the challenges of adopting automation within their health system.

In this first of a two-part video series, Jason Warrelmann, global director of Healthcare and Life Sciences at UiPath, addressed the incline of automation in healthcare, why it's necessary for patients and providers and how other healthcare organizations can better overcome the challenges of adopting automation within their health system.

William Dietz, MD, PhD, Professor and Director of Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at George Washington University, addressed to MHE the degree obesity is a risk factor at for severe COVID-19 and what those reasons are for obesity increasing the risk. This video is in correlation to Managed Healthcare Executive's March Issue cover story highlighting the dangerous pairing of COVID-19 and Obesity.

Aaron Glatt, MD, Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Chief of Infectious Diseases/Hospital Epidemiologist at Mount Sinai South Nassau and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, addressed to MHE the degree obesity is a risk factor at for severe COVID-19 and what those reasons are for obesity increasing the risk. This video is in correlation to Managed Healthcare Executive's March Issue cover story highlighting the dangerous pairing of COVID-19 and Obesity.

In this week's episode, Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, spoke with Peter Durlach, chief strategy officer of Nuance. The two discussed how artificial intelligence drives value for patients and providers and how AI tools and solutions are helping health systems reach the quadruple aim of care.

Saunders, co-founder at Intellihealth and assistant professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, addressed to MHE the degree obesity is a risk factor at for severe COVID-19 and what those reasons are for obesity increasing the risk. This video is in correlation to Managed Healthcare Executive's March Issue cover story highlighting the dangerous pairing of COVID-19 and Obesity.

Chief Operating Officer of Hint Health, Mark Nolan, discussed direct contracting in healthcare among his organization with Managing Editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, Peter Wehrwein, in this week's episode of Tuning In to the C-Suite podcast.

Like the entirety of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed many issues in the medical industry. One area in particular: the clinical trials space developed many challenges as a result to the height and continuous battle of the pandemic.

Based on several reports in the last couple of years, it’s been a standout that healthcare consumers’ engagement in their own healthcare will drive better outcomes and reduce care costs. With that being said, consumer experience has come under major focus across the industry as a key business driver.

Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive spoke with Jason Warrelmann, global director of Healthcare and Life Sciences at UiPath, in this week's episode of Tuning In to the C-Suite podcast. In the discussion Jason addressed the incline of automation in healthcare, why it's necessary for patients and providers and how other healthcare organizations can better overcome the challenges of adopting automation within their health system.

In the final part of a two-part video series, Wes Gilson, senior director MR of Business Development at Siemens Healthineers, advises how payers and health facilities can help improve patient access to MRI care, and shares some MRI alternatives.

In this first part of a two-part video series, Wes Gilson, senior director MR of Business Development at Siemens Healthineers, addresses why improving access to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial to advancing health equity, and what barriers are limiting that access to patients.

Most Health plans and much of healthcare, overall, have had their feet on the gas when it comes to more patient-centered care or consumer choice services. COVID-19 has clearly made it all about the consumer in many ways, but more specifically, in making care much more accessible.

Welcome back to another episode of the returned MHE Talks: Improving Patient Access podcast. In this episode Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, spoke with Wes Gilson, senior director MR of Business Development at Siemens Healthineers. In the conversation, the two discussed why improving access to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial to advancing health equity. Gilson addressed the barriers many face when accessing MRI services and its solutions from tackling the barriers specific to areas affected, alternative technologies, developing new innovations in MRI tech and more.

Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive spoke with Luis Mosquera, CEO of Health Network One, a provider of specialty benefit management services for health insurers, in this week's episode. In this discussion, Luis and Briana talked about how value-driven decisions in a more value-based market can not only better manage costs for health plans, but create a plan of care to best meet patient’s needs. In order to do this, Luis strongly encouraged healthcare executives to experience alternative payment models and shared what payers should check off their list with a new model.

Advocates and professionals experienced in HIV/AIDS amongst African Americans address HIV in Black communities, ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S., and innovative programming during the virtual event “Live with Leadership: A Conversation Commemorating National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day,” on February 7.


African American patients had 2.54 times the adjusted odds of having one or more negative descriptors in their Electronic Health Record compared to White patients. However, this form of racial bias can be avoided with a simple solution.

In this episode, Peter Wehrwein, managing editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, speaks with Dr. Rodrigo Cerda. Dr. Cerda has been recently promoted to the position of senior vice president of health services and chief medical officer of Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia. He is also a member of Managed Healthcare Executive’s editorial advisory board. Peter and Dr. Cerda discuss his new role at the Independence Blue Cross, what it means to be a chief medical officer at an insurer these days, valued-based care, social determinants of health, and, of course, the pandemic.

Those living with HIV and who abuse drugs experience worse health outcomes than those who aren't using. However, a study conducted mid-2021 reported those with HIV who abused drugs and have not had dental care experience a greater need of care.

Briana Contreras, editor of Managed healthcare Executive, spoke with Dr. Ian Tong, chief medical officer of Included Health in today’s episode. The two discussed telehealth use vs. in person care, and more specifically, the racial and ethnic differences in this use of care. They concluded the conversation with how telehealth use has continued to expose more benefits for all patients and for the industry through examples like improvements in reimbursement policies and in addressing health equity issues.

Emergency physicians clarify whether to manage COVID at home or seek emergency care.

In this interview, Briana Contreras, associate editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, spoke with Shara Cohen, CEO of Carallel, an organization built to support caregivers. Cohen not only spoke about who caregivers are and the vital role they play in healthcare, but the challenges they face. She also discussed ways health plans can do better to meet the needs of today’s caregivers.

Readers were interested in what pharmacy benefit managers are doing and content that came out of the ISPOR annual meeting in 2021.