The path to Medicaid leadership isn’t always a straight one. In fact, it is the breadth of experience and expertise — spanning sectors both inside and outside of state government — that is essential to building teams with the skills and agility to manage multi-billion-dollar programs. This episode of the Medicaid Leadership Exchange podcast features three Medicaid leaders whose unique backgrounds — in nursing, technology, and politics — have helped shape their roles as trusted advisors to Medicaid directors.

The episode features perspectives from Medicaid leaders in New Mexico, Alabama, and Wisconsin:

• Alanna Dancis, DNP, MSN, chief medical officer, Medical Assistance Division, New Mexico Health Care Authority
• Mason Tanaka, deputy commissioner and chief information officer, Alabama Medicaid Agency
• Krista Willing, MPA, assistant administrator, Systems, Fiscal, and Operations, Division of Medicaid Services, Wisconsin Department of Health Services

The episode is hosted by Mark Larson, former Vermont Medicaid director and senior vice president, Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), and Jami Snyder, former Arizona and Texas Medicaid director and president and CEO, JSN Strategies. The Medicaid Leadership Exchange podcast explores priority topics for Medicaid leaders. It is developed in partnership by the National Association of Medicaid Directors and CHCS through support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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The Medicaid Leadership Exchange podcast explores priority topics for Medicaid leaders and is developed in partnership by NAMD and CHCS through support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Visit the series page for additional episodes, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you subscribe to podcasts.

Support for this podcast was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

The post How Wide-Ranging Experiences Strengthen Medicaid Leadership appeared first on Center for Health Care Strategies.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity for public sector leaders to innovate their programming in response to the public health emergency and continue to find new ways to deliver high-quality care for their members, both related to COVID-19 and as part of their “normal” work. This episode of the Leadership Forward series focuses on how the framework’s “Driving and Delivering Results” domain applies in practice. Cindy Beane, commissioner for the West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services, and Sue Birch, director of the Washington State Health Care Authority, discuss leadership strategies they have implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conversation is moderated by Gretchen Hammer, senior strategic advisor at the National Association of Medicaid Directors.

https://www.chcs.org/media/LS-Ep.-6-Delivering-Results.mp3

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The post Driving and Delivering Results appeared first on Center for Health Care Strategies.

Leading through a public health emergency like COVID-19 presents unique challenges and opportunities. This Leadership Forward episode, the fifth in a series that explores the Consortium’s Framework for Public Sector Leadership, focuses on how the framework’s “Practicing Good Public Administration” domain applies in practice. Tom Betlach, MPA, former Arizona Medicaid Director, and Jim Jones, Medicaid Director at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, discuss leadership skills they have used to lead public agencies through economic recessions.

The conversation is moderated by Mark Larson, senior vice president of leadership and capacity building at the Center for Health Care Strategies.

https://www.chcs.org/media/LS-Ep.-5-Public-Administration.mp3

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The post Practicing Good Public Administration During Challenging Times appeared first on Center for Health Care Strategies.

The current focus on equity and inclusion across the country presents an opportunity for public sector health leaders to engage their staff to create agency cultures that value equity and inclusion, both internally and for the populations they serve. This Leadership Forward episode, the fourth in a series that explores the Consortium’s Framework for Public Sector Leadership, focuses on how the framework’s “Engaging and Motivating People” domain applies in practice. Womazetta Jones, MA, secretary of Rhode Island’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and Karen Kimsey, MSW, director of the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services, discuss leadership strategies they have implemented to infuse equity into their organizations and in their engagements with stakeholders.

The conversation is moderated by Gretchen Hammer, senior strategic advisor at the National Association of Medicaid Directors.

https://www.chcs.org/media/1-Engaging-and-Motivating-People-1.mp3

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The post Engaging Staff to Be Equity-Minded appeared first on Center for Health Care Strategies.

This Leadership Forward episode, the third in a series that explores the Consortium’s Framework for Public Sector Leadership, focuses on how the framework’s “Setting and Managing Strategic Direction” domain applies in practice. The core competencies in this framework include vision and purpose, communication, planning for action, and balancing political and strategic agility. LaQuandra Nesbitt, MD, MPH, director of the District of Columbia Department of Health, and Suzanne Bierman, JD, MPH, administrator of the Division of Health Care Financing and Policy for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, share how they have remained focused on a long-term vision throughout COVID-19 and used strategic communications to advance that vision.

The conversation is moderated by Erica Brown, program officer at the Milbank Memorial Fund.

https://www.chcs.org/media/LS-EP-3-Setting-Strategic-Direction-10.8.20.mp3

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The post Maintaining Strategic Vision and Purpose During COVID-19 appeared first on Center for Health Care Strategies.

This Leadership Forward podcast episode delves into the “Personal Leadership and Self-Management” domain of the Framework for Public Sector Leadership. This episode features Jami Snyder, MA, director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System and Kody Kinsley, MPP, deputy secretary for behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disabilities for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, who share how they have used the competencies within this domain, such as receiving feedback, self-awareness, and resiliency, to lead their respective agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conversation is moderated by Erica Brown, program officer at the Milbank Memorial Fund.

https://www.chcs.org/media/3-Personal-Leadership-and-Self-Management-Jami-Edit.mp3

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The post Resiliency During COVID-19: A Conversation with Public Sector Leaders appeared first on Center for Health Care Strategies.

This Leadership Forward podcast episode introduces the Public Sector Leadership Consortium, a new collaborative effort between the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), the Milbank Memorial Fund, and the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD), and its Framework for Public Sector Leadership. This episode features Medicaid directors from Florida and Texas who discuss how they have used the domains, competencies, and skills found in the framework during their leadership tenures.

The conversation is moderated by Gretchen Hammer, former Colorado Medicaid director and senior strategic advisor at the NAMD. It also includes insights from Mark Larson, former Vermont Medicaid director and senior vice president of leadership and capacity building at CHCS, Hilary Kennedy, program director for Medicaid leadership at NAMD, and Erica Brown, program officer at the Milbank Memorial Fund.

https://www.chcs.org/media/Leadership-Forward_Episode-1.mp3

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The post What Makes a Successful Public Sector Leader? appeared first on Center for Health Care Strategies.