Health Plan Alliance - Blog Posts
Health Plan Alliance, an organization started by and for provider-sponsored health plans to help its members be more competitive in their individual markets by sharing a broader base of knowledge, identifying performance improvement methods, collective purchasing and insights into provider relationships. The LLC was incorporated in 1996 as the HMO Alliance and currently has 44 member health plans located throughout the country.
Health Plan Alliance blog posts are contributed by a variety of authors.
Cathy Eddy, President
Health Plan Alliance
290 E. John Carpenter Fwy.
Irving, Texas 75062-2710
972-830-0356
ceddy@vha.com
Cathy K. Eddy is president of the Health Plan Alliance. Cathy developed the concept with the eight founding members, wrote the business plan, raised the initial capital and has been running the Alliance since its inception as COO, executive director and now as president.
The Board of Directors of the Health Plan Alliance is currently made up of 25 health plan CEOs, VHA, a medical director and an outside Board member who has been with the Alliance since its initial meeting. The Board includes an Executive Committee and three subcommittees – Finance, Membership and Programs & Partnerships. The Chairman and the Vice Chairman serve two-year terms and the Board meets three times a year.
The Alliance hit break even in its second year of operation and has been profitable ever since with an average net operating margin of 20-25% on more than $2.25 million in annual revenue. The retained earnings level now is $4 million, twice the initial capital investment of the current shareholders. More than $5 million in distributions has gone back to shareholders and partners since 2000. Cathy’s key roles with the organization include Board relations, strategic planning, recruitment of new members, financial and investment strategy, facilitation of educational programs, contract negotiations and management of staff of eight.
In addition to oversight of her own Board, Cathy has been a speaker and facilitator for numerous Boards. She has addressed health plan boards on the challenges of health care reform, provider ownership, managed care trends, governance, accountable care, and future direction. She joined the Presbyterian Health Plan Board in Albuquerque, NM in 2005. She chairs the PHP Board Quality Committee and serves on the Governance Committee. She also worked with an ad hoc committee to redesign the board meeting format and move to an electronic portal. In 2013 she joined the Health First Board of Trustees in Rockledge, FL, and is a member of their governance committee. She also is a member of the Health First Health Plan Board. She is a Board member for The Health Industry Council in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She serves as a member of the Advisory Council for Women Business Leaders in the Healthcare Industry. She is a member of the DST Health Care Advisory Board. In 2012 she was named to the Advisory Council of D Healthcare Daily, a news and information site focusing exclusively on the business of healthcare in North Texas. She has been a healthcare delegate to Argentina, Czech Republic, Ireland, France, Australia, China and Cuba with the TPG International Health Academy. She is active in the Innovation Learning Network, a group of 20+ health care organizations facilitated by Kaiser.
As a vice president of Clinical Affairs for VHA, she had responsibility for innovation screening, strategic planning and marketing. She has been an advisor to the Health Technology Center in San Francisco on business models and marketing. She has presented on provider perspective on technology adoption for BIO conferences on reimbursement.
She chaired VHA’s HIPAA work group for three years, which included educational presentations to various health care audiences. In a previous position, she led VHA’s national efforts in community health improvement where she addressed many audiences including, hospital and community boards. She worked in VHA’s public policy office and addressed Boards on health care reform issues. In 1992 she served as the health policy analyst for the Perot presidential campaign. She facilitated international exchanges for hospital partnerships between US and Eastern Europe in 1991-92.
She received her MBA in health care management and insurance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. While she was there she initiated a mentor program for health care management graduate students. She has served on the Wharton Health Care Alumni Board. She started in health care in 1982 with the Blue Cross & Blue Shield plan in Cincinnati in public affairs and was director of communications at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. She has a bachelor’s degree in news/editorial journalism from Kent State University. Early in her career she spent time working as a news editor at the Warren Tribune and in business communications with unionized, industrial clients, such as Copperweld Steel, Bekaert Steel Wire and GATX.
Health Plan Alliance - Blog Posts
