HMA Weekly Roundup

Briana Jacob, MBA – Senior Consultant

A solutions-driven healthcare leader with experience in analysis, technical and operational improvements and collaborative leadership, Briana Jacob has led cross-functional teams and developed strategic pathways to increase productivity, improve outcomes and maximize productivity.

As a former chief executive officer/chief operating officer with Acadia Healthcare, she revised policies and procedures to increase efficiency, capacity, and business development to align with strategic rebranding and long-term objectives as well as improved compliance. Her expertise also includes substance use disorder and behavioral health facility development and operations, advocacy and behavioral health market evaluation and strategic planning.

Prior to her executive roles, Briana served as director of business operations, also with Acadia Healthcare. In this role she improved the revenue cycle which reduced outstanding accounts and cut accounts receivable days. She consistently exceeded monthly department cash collection goals and bolstered revenue by increasing upfront cash collections.

In addition to her outcome improvement and strategic leadership, she also has credentialling and patient registration experience as well as a collaborative approach to data collection and completion.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English from Oakland University and a Master of Business Administration from Amberton University.

Allie Franklin, LICSW – Principal

Allie Franklin is a licensed clinical social worker with decades of experience in public, private, and non-profit behavioral health, healthcare, and social service organizations. She has led transformations in integrated care through modernizing processes, systems, workflows, policies, and organizational approaches to achieve positive outcomes. She brings a perspective of clinical, operational, and strategic expertise that comes from having worked on the clinical front lines and rising to roles in senior and executive leadership. This gives her the ability to support planning and implementation of solutions from system and organization-wide approaches to day-to-day clinical level work.

Prior to joining HMA, Allie served the as the behavioral health service line administrator for the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center, the region’s only Level One Trauma Center. This role encompassed inpatient behavioral healthcare, emergency psychiatric services, a full outpatient clinic, and scattered site integrated behavioral health and primary care. As part of her service line’s Center of Excellence, the Behavioral Health Institute, she managed a project to bring together multiple stakeholders to redesign Washington’s (WA) behavioral health crisis system in preparation for 988 crisis line rollout.

In her role as the associate vice president of clinical operations for a Medicaid managed care organization in Pierce County, WA, Allie led a multi-disciplinary team of executives and community stakeholders through the development and implementation of a detailed plan to integrate mental health services with substance use disorder services into a behavioral health organization. Allie has also served as the chief executive officer for one of Washington state’s two largest suicide hotlines where she led the transformation to meet NCQA call quality standards.

With a passion for whole person wellness, developing high performing teams, and helping clinical staff understand how their work impacts the financial bottom line, Allie has a unique combination of experiences across the care continuum from crisis care and inpatient treatment to outpatient and integrated primary care models. Her perspective, gained from leading on both sides of the payer relationship, gives her the ability to support system transformation to help build approaches that achieve high quality and affordability.

Allie earned a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington, a Bachelor of Social Work from Missouri State University and is currently working toward an Executive Master of Health Administration from the University of Central Florida. She also served in the United States Air Force, reaching the rank of Captain, serving as chief of mental health for Columbus Air Force, and as a clinical member of the international critical incident crisis response team.

Allie has published multiple books and articles on grief and grieving, and she is a co-author of a peer reviewed article, Progress Monitoring in an Integrated Health Care System: Tracking Behavioral Health Vital Signs. This article outlines the work her teams led at Group Health Cooperative to develop integrated care models for collaboration between primary care and behavioral health services.

Michele Bosworth, MD – Principal

Dr. Michele Bosworth is a physician leader dedicated to collaboration and strategic approaches to population health through the effective and efficient use of health information technology (HIT) as well as clinical and executive leadership experience.

She joins HMA after serving in various leadership positions with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHSCT) with her latest role being the founding executive director of the UTHSCT Center for Population Health, Analytics, and Quality Advancement. While there, she achieved maximum financial performance of 1115 Waiver Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program, oversaw externally funded programs, and aligned academic, clinical, and community initiatives.

Dr. Bosworth used her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt skillset, experience as a former chief quality officer and expertise in clinical informatics to successfully perform within the DSRIP program. She worked with community partners on 43 measures in chronic disease, maternal and fetal safety, dental, behavioral health, and preventive care to develop, deploy and oversee a population health team. The team, made up of community health workers, medical assistants, and patient service coordinators and led by a registered nurse, performed pre-visit planning with standing delegated orders and scripting, education to manage patient health needs and visit expectations, post-visit behavioral health management, and transitional care management.

Dr. Bosworth oversaw the optimal design and use of the electronic health record (EHR) and associated workflows and documentation to promote population health team success. Additionally, her oversight led to continuous alignment with managed care star ratings/HEDIS measures to occur collaboratively.

In addition, Dr. Bosworth implemented food insecurity screening in all primary care clinics, co-developed the Partners in Health program to connect patients with the East Texas Food Bank, and deployed an emergency food box program.

With her experience as a previous chief medical information officer (CMIO) and board certification in clinical informatics, Dr. Bosworth capitalized on ensuring integration of population health programmatic needs with the EHR which subsequently enabled meaningful data for performance improvement. She also facilitated many telehealth initiatives with psychiatry, psychology, and supportive care. Under her leadership as CMIO, she led various EHR implementations, upgrades, and optimization initiatives such as standardization of medication reconciliation, referral management, and Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE). Dr. Bosworth developed, deployed, and led the Clinical Informatics Governance and authored associated policies and procedures necessitating optimal and meaningful use of the EHR. Lastly, regulatory accomplishments included maximized performance with Meaningful Use, Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), and achieving Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Level 6.

In the Center for Population Health, Analytics, and Quality Advancement, Dr. Bosworth oversaw a Community Health Worker (CHW) training program as well as multiple externally funded lifestyle change programs including the CDC’s Diabetes Prevention Program, Hypertension workshops, MD Anderson’s Active Living after Cancer, and Smoking Cessation Program, all delivered by CHWs.

She earned a Medical Doctorate at West Virginia School of Medicine in Morgantown, West Virginia, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biology from West Virginia University. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, a diplomat of the American Board of Preventive Medicine in clinical informatics, and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

Tia Cintron, MHA – Managing Principal

Tia Cintron is an experienced and innovative professional with more than 20 years leading health and social service transformation initiatives focused on health equity and access as well as 10 years in residential community housing planning and development.

She has a broad background that includes strategic planning, program design and implementation, and operations management and stakeholder engagement leadership within government programs. In addition, she has worked extensively in Medicaid managed care, community-based organizations, and housing development.

Tia’s leadership has included serving as the founding chief executive officer of the Connecticut Insurance Exchange Marketplace, the founding chief operating officer of a non-profit health plan cooperative, a founding partner in a large-scale community housing development, and a senior advisor for Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program developments in both New York and Massachusetts.

Passionate about contributing to impactful community development initiatives, Tia has worked to further value-based healthcare and strengthen integration of social services with primary care to improve conditions for underserved and vulnerable populations.

She considers herself a lifelong learner and is currently working towards a master’s degree in clinical social work from Boston University. Additionally, Tia earned master’s in healthcare administration from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Science in political science from Portland State University.

Dedicated to improving access to healthcare for low-income populations, Robin Preston has been working in the policy and operations spaces of healthcare for more than 30 years. During her career, she has worked in the private sector and in managed care organizations, including comprehensive and behavioral health, in addition to working as a public servant with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Robin A. Preston – Regional Vice President

Before joining HMA, she served as associate partner for the Policy and Program Management practice within the IBM Watson Health’s Federal Consulting practice. While there, she served as subject matter expert on contracts covering value-based payment; Medicaid; managed care, including encounter data; home and community-based services (HCBS); and substance use disorder treatment and access.

As a civil servant, Robin spent more than eight years in increasingly more senior roles with CMS where she was instrumental in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at the federal level. She led implementation in 21 states that used managed care as a delivery system and led teams that oversaw Medicaid expansion in several states as well.

In addition, her work with CMS included coordinating federal Medicaid response to crises including natural disasters, Zika healthcare emergency and the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. She managed regional offices and stakeholder relations and served as liaison to several associations and boards.

Prior to her career with CMS, Robin worked for a Medicaid managed care plan and had the opportunity to implement the DC Healthcare Alliance program for uninsured adults in the District of Columbia. She also coordinated the opening of The Bridge Homeless Shelter in Dallas, Texas, with onsite behavioral health services, implemented pay for performance provider incentives for better patient outcomes, and helped plan enrollees navigate the healthcare system.

Robin earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland.