Past Agenda
Explore the agenda from the 2025 event and see what you can expect in 2026
Tuesday - August 19, 2025
8:00 AM
8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Exhibit Hall Open
8:00 AM
8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Information Desk Opens
8:00 AM
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Networking Breakfast
9:00 AM
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Keynote Address
Keynote Address: Engagement Is Equity: Reconnecting the Member Experience to What Matters Most
We’ve separated two conversations that were never meant to be apart. Member engagement and health equity are often treated as parallel initiatives—different departments, different KPIs, even different conferences. But for the individuals we call “hard to reach,” that distinction is the problem. These are not two strategies. They are one.
- Reframe health equity as a relationship-centered strategy—not a distribution of benefits.
- Understand why “hard to reach” often means “never engaged”—and how to shift that dynamic.
- Explore what authentic engagement looks like at the frontline—where CBOs aren't a referral partner, but the entry point.
- Explore practical shifts healthcare leaders can make to partner with social care not as philanthropy—but as system infrastructure.
Speaker
Rick Whitted
Chief Executive Officer at US Hunger
9:00 AM
9:00 AM – 9:05 AM
Welcome Remarks
9:55 AM
9:55 AM – 10:40 AM
Track 1: Test Copy
Redefining Member Experience: Adapting to this Administration’s Changes in Real Time
- Explore this new Administration’s latest changes and what they mean for member experience
- Discuss the need for fresh consideration of where we need to go to better determine how we can get there within your individual organization—and as together as an industry
- Consider strategies to help mitigate and proactively address changing priorities, measures, and language
Speaker
Katie Martin
VP, Quality Management at Parkland Community Health Plan
Speaker
Melissa Smith
Founder & Senior Advisor at Newton Smith Group
10:40 AM
10:40 AM – 11:00 AM
Networking Break
11:00 AM
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM
The Science of Respect: How Elevating Human Dignity Transforms Member Engagement
Details coming soon.
11:45 AM
11:45 AM – 12:00 PM
Tools & Technology Spotlight
Leading service providers will showcase their offerings in a quick-pitch setting. Evaluate the latest and greatest tech tools to bring back to your organization.
12:00 PM
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Networking Lunch
1:00 PM
1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
Collaborating to Engage
- Consider marketing campaign strategies that feature strong collaboration between risk, strategy, and quality
- Discuss how to integrate strong member engagement strategy as a multiplier for quality and risk
- Explore the Venn diagram of risk and quality with member engagement and experience at the center
Speaker
Lela Criswell
Member Engagement Manager at Kern Health Systems
1:45 PM
1:45 PM – 2:30 PM
Resourcefulness in Action: Rethinking Available Resources to Engage Members in New Ways
- Discuss how to use your internal data along with external sources to engage with members
- Explore innovative approaches to providing care to different member populations using resources you already have access to
- Consider underutilized state and local programs that can help members in new ways
Speaker
Jennifer Hawkes
Manager, Member Engagement at Blue Cross of Idaho
Speaker
Katie Lavelle
VP of Health Plans at Medline
2:30 PM
2:30 PM – 2:50 PM
Networking Break
2:50 PM
2:50 PM – 3:35 PM
Creating Accessible Systems of Care for Populations with Disabilities
- Assess current best practices and key considerations for documenting disability status in healthcare settings and for providing appropriate accommodations
- Discuss current initiatives for improving healthcare and strategies for advancing equitable care for people with disabilities
- Identify and better understand quality disparities; you can’t improve what you can’t measure
Speaker
Andy Witt
Director, Quality at Northwestern Memorial Healthcare
Speaker
Carol Haywood
Assistant Professor at Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research in the Institute for Public Health and Medicine | N
3:35 PM
3:35 PM – 4:20 PM
Smarter, Kinder, Faster: Using AI to Redesign Member Engagement in Medicare and Medicaid
- Identify practical, high-impact use cases for AI in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid engagement, from onboarding to retention
- Design AI-augmented strategies that align with Stars, CAHPS, and quality initiatives while preserving empathy and cultural sensitivity
- Understand HIPAA, privacy, and security considerations in deploying AI within member engagement programs
- Develop an AI governance model that includes data governance, ethical guardrails, and cross-functional oversight across compliance, clinical, and IT teams
Speaker
Beau Munoz
Independent Healthcare Technologist
Speaker
Jake Mead
CEO at Impact Sales Partners
Speaker
Samrat Kulkarni
Data Scientist and AI Consultant at Former Al @ CVS Health
Speaker
Tina Dueringer
CEO, Principal Advisor at Dueringer Advisors, Inc
4:20 PM
4:20 PM – 5:00 PM
Roundtable Discussions
Participate in a facilitated roundtable discussion and deep dive with peers on timely topics in the industry.
Navigating Social Media and Member Experience
Katie Martin, VP, Quality Management
Parkland Community Health Plan
Building and Leveraging Trust
Shannon Decker, PhD, MBA, MBA, MEd, MEd, Founder & CEO
VBC One
Engaging your Providers to Improve the Member Experience
Ryan C. Dodson, CRC, Chief Operating Officer/Co-Founder
New Vision Healthcare Solutions
Strengthening Member Experience by Improving Health Outcomes
Melissa Smith, Founder, Senior Advisor
Newton Smith Group
Speaker
Katie Martin
VP, Quality Management at Parkland Community Health Plan
Speaker
Melissa Smith
Founder & Senior Advisor at Newton Smith Group
Speaker
Ryan Dodson
Chief Operating Officer/Co-Founder at New Vision Healthcare Solutions
Speaker
Shannon Decker
Founder & CEO at VBC One
5:00 PM
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Networking Cocktail Reception
Join us for drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and face-to-face networking with peers.
Wednesday - August 20, 2025
8:00 AM
8:00 AM – 1:30 PM
Exhibit Hall Open
8:00 AM
8:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Information Desk Open
8:00 AM
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Networking Breakfast
9:00 AM
9:00 AM – 9:10 AM
Welcome Remarks
9:10 AM
9:10 AM – 10:10 AM
Keynote Address
Keynote: Beyond Engagement
Despite near universal agreement that engagement is key to customer success, almost no one shares the same definition of what it means. In this talk, we'll explore how focusing on clear behaviors unlocks the ability to test and measure your way to a richer, more business-aligned sense of success.
Speaker
Matt Wallaert
Chief Experience Officer | Founder | Former Chief Behavioral Officer at Oceans | BeSci.io | Clover Health
10:10 AM
10:10 AM – 10:55 AM
Responsive Customer Engagement: Operationalizing Preferences (Compliantly)
- Discuss how to implement and operationalize customer preferences for outreach and engagement
- Consider compliance risk areas when outreaching to members as well as successes and lessons learned from organizations leading the way
- Recognize the value of follow through, including how operationalizing engagement—or not—can have critical effects on trust building and efforts to improve member experience
Speaker
Reva Sheehan
Sr. Director of Customer Insights at mPulse
10:55 AM
10:55 AM – 11:15 AM
Networking Break
11:15 AM
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM
What My Dog Taught Me About Member Engagement (and Why It Works)
- Distill high-impact engagement principles from rescue dog Frank’s behavior that directly correlate with member experience, CAHPS performance, and member retention
- From the power of consistent tone (FRANK!) to the importance of reducing friction in access to care, each lesson is backed by behavioral science, industry metrics, and real-world implementation strategies across population
- Using Frank’s loyalty framework for transforming member touchpoints into member journeys of connection, and your engagement strategy into a loyalty engine
Speaker
Tina Dueringer
CEO, Principal Advisor at Dueringer Advisors, Inc
12:00 PM
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Networking Lunch
1:00 PM
1:00 PM – 1:40 PM
COVID Effects: How Long and Let Me Count the Ways
- Hear insights from original research conducted to better understand how COVID may have influenced how chronically ill patients think about accessing healthcare.
- Use study learnings to increase effectiveness of your member engagement programs
- Improve participation and compliance to better patient outcomes and risk, quality, and total cost of care
Speaker
Shannon Decker
Founder & CEO at VBC One
1:40 PM
1:40 PM – 2:20 PM
How to Get to 5 Stars for Medication Adherence (Yes, Really)
Details coming soon.
2:20 PM
2:20 PM – 3:00 PM
Panel: Hail Mary! Year-End Strategies to Improve Satisfaction and Engagement
Hear from panelists on actions to take now that can still make a difference in 2025, and then contribute your own quick-hit ideas to optimize member engagement and improve member experience.
3:00 PM
3:00 PM – 3:10 PM
Closing Remarks
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