Healthfirst's Pat Wang is expanding a unique payer risk model to address inefficiencies

Pat Wang, president and CEO of Healthfirst

Age: 66

Education: Wang holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

About her: As CEO, Pat Wang led Healthfirst to $11.4 billion in revenue in 2019, as well as a 4-star rating in Medicare Advantage, top quality rankings in Medicaid, expansion to the Hudson Valley, and the acquisition of a small firm of technologists to bolster its digital provider strategy to support population health management and value- based payment models.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, she led the transformation of business operations to a remote environment in a matter of days sending 3,500 people to work from home with full technology, management tools, and support. This allowed her teams to create virtual solutions to keep members connected, including virtual community offices to replace walk-in community sites and a text-enabled secure document upload solution that has to date helped 4,000 people obtain insurance through New York’s healthcare exchange from the safety of their homes. Healthfirst also ensured physicians in its networks would receive steady payments despite the fall-off in office visits resulting from social distancing.

In addition to her work at Healthfirst, Ms. Wang serves as commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and sits on the boards of America’s Health Insurance Plans and the New York Health Plan Association. In 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo named her to the Medicaid Redesign Team II, charged with making recommendations to address a growing gap in costs and expenditures in the state’s Medicaid program. Her philanthropic work includes serving as a trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission, a non-partisan, non-profit civic organization focused on the well-being of future New Yorkers.

First job: "My first job at age 12 or 13 was as a summer helper at a daycare center. I earned $13 and I still remember that first paycheck."

Proudest accomplishment: "Overseeing the maturation and growth of a provider-sponsored organization that has been able to retain a mission-driven orientation as a community health plan while becoming the largest not-for-profit health plan in New York State and one of the largest in the country with 1.5 million fully insured members and $12 billion in revenue. The Healthfirst risk model is its unique accomplishment and we have made it work for countless providers and hospitals for more than 20 years. I am also extremely proud that Healthfirst has helped many, many people, including and especially the most underserved, to achieve better health."

Problem she's most passionate about trying to solve: "The inefficiency and mixed value of our healthcare system. We need to figure out how to achieve better quality and higher value care for all populations, especially those most subject to disparities, through better alignment of incentives among providers, payers, and social supports, and do it through a healthy blend of regulation and market competition."

Book she recommends: "I am reading How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. Healthcare leaders need to be more than not-racist if we are to address disparities in health in the population."

Advice she would give to her younger self: "There are no 'stupid questions.' Follow your instincts, be your genuine self, always be eager to learn from others, and remember that life is short. Do what you can, accept imperfection, and trust yourself."

What she'd do with her career if it wasn't this: "I started out wanting to be a teacher and got sidetracked. While in college, I tutored in prisons and in a court-ordered alternative school for adolescents. I don’t think I would have been a very good teacher, but my alternate career would be in education to try and give young people a shot at a better life."

Advice she would offer to healthcare leaders seeking to make a real impact on systemic problems caused by racism: "I would paraphrase Gandhi: 'Be the change you seek in the world.' Set specific goals and measure them. Enlist a diverse group of leaders – especially white men – to lead the charge. Be honest with yourself about your own prejudices, listen to your employees and learn from them. Be sure to engage your Board leadership or you will not succeed."