Medicaid Health Plans of America's Center for Best Practices Appoints First-Ever Director

Former Raben Group exec tapped to helm MHPA's affiliate research organization

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA) welcomes Ms. Michelle Martin as Director of their recently established Center for Best Practices. Ms. Martin will oversee the Center in its mission to improve quality and access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries through in-depth research and dissemination of health plans' clinical and operational best practices. Specifically, Ms. Martin will engage the senior leadership of MHPA's member and non-member health plans — including CEOs, CFOs and Chief Medical Officers — to develop collaborative strategies aimed at improving the health outcomes of plan members. Under her stewardship, the Center also will partner with other research teams to develop special programs, publications and rigorous studies designed to target health problems and identify innovative data-based solutions.  

Ms. Martin comes to MHPA from the Washington, D.C. office of The Raben Group, a public policy firm where she served as Director.  In that role, Ms. Martin developed and implemented strategic health care goals for clients using her breadth of knowledge in Medicaid, Medicare and commercial health insurance. Her prior experience also includes work at First Recovery Group, a cost management vendor to health plans, where she crafted policies to address HIPAA and CMS compliance issues while maintaining strong HEDIS performance scores and NCQA quality ratings for clients. A Michigan native, Ms. Martin earned her B.A. in economics from Albion College and her J.D. from Wayne State University Law School.

"Running the Center for Best Practices requires exceptional management and organizational skills in order to coordinate the range of Center activities – from conducting educational briefings and publishing best practice information to spearheading research projects and hosting the Annual Awards Forum," said MHPA President and CEO, Thomas L. Johnson.  "The Center also needs a strategic thinker with a clear, well-defined vision to ensure its long-term success. Michelle Martin fits this bill and under her leadership and guidance, the Center can get to work addressing the crucial issues related to prevention, chronic care and complex care management for our nation's poor," continued Johnson.

Ms. Martin can be reached via email at [email protected].

About MHPA
Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA) is the leading trade association solely focused on representing Medicaid health plans. MHPA provides advocacy, research and organized forums that support the development of policy solutions to enhance the delivery of quality health care. For more information, visit Medicaid Health Plans of America at http://www.mhpa.org or email at [email protected].

SOURCE Medicaid Health Plans of America