A Conversation on Healthcare with Pat Wang, CEO of Healthfirst
Pat Wang joined Healthfirst as president and CEO in 2008 and has led the company through its transformation into the largest not-for-profit health insurer in New York State and one that consistently ranks as one of the best in quality. She serves as a commissioner on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which advises the U.S. Congress on Medicare payment policy, and is on the boards of directors of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the New York Health Plan Association. She chairs the Public Health Plan Coalition, which supports not-for-profit health plans focused on New York State insurance programs, and serves as a trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission, a non-partisan, non-profit civic organization focused on the well-being of future New Yorkers. Earlier in her career, Pat clerked for the Honorable Whitman Knapp, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, and practiced health law at Kalkines, Arky, Zall and Bernstein, where she represented many healthcare providers in underserved neighborhoods. Pat is a graduate of Princeton University and New York University School of Law, where she received her J.D. degree, cum laude. She has lived in Yugoslavia, Taiwan, and China and is a longtime resident of New York City.
Healthfirst is a not-for-profit health insurance company founded in 1993. It currently collaborates with more than 37,000 providers in providing health services to over 1.36 million New Yorkers. During her tenure with the Greater New York Hospital Association, Pat Wang played a fundamental role in the founding of this company and has a strong proponent in solidifying the a value-based model. According to Wang, this model institutes a set price for different bundles of services that providers may offer to patients, giving hospitals greater flexibility as well as encouraging treatment efficiency. Currently, this approach constitutes about 80% of Healthfirst’s insurance value.
Throughout her career, Wang has sought to foster strong ties with local communities, especially those of minority and low-income backgrounds. In serving the clients, she emphasizes their philosophy to foster relationships runs “a mile deep rather than a mile wide.” Indeed, drafting effective solutions for healthcare requires the recognition that there are no universally applicable systems. As a New York company, Healthfirst draws upon their deep familiarity with the local neighborhoods in order to address the barriers they face in accessing medical care. Embracing the diversity of their client groups, Healthfirst has representatives who can offer assistance in Chinese, Spanish, and Russian, among many other languages. They are also currently developing a multifunctional app that is geared towards lower income users. Wang emphasizes that “we can’t have 20 apps for different situations” and instead, “we need unified solutions.”
Wang also elaborated on the importance of developing a transferable data-base of medical records so that patients can receive accurate and consistent treatment from any hospital. While the advancements of cloud technology has made it possible to create such a data-base, there are governmental regulations and proprietary interests that hinder its implementation. For example, there are privacy laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which limit the parts of medical records that can be shared. Wang further explained that individual physicians are also reluctant to contribute to this database, as they are concerned about competition from larger healthcare providers.
Considering the numerous contributions that Wang has made in re-envisioning the healthcare industry, it was surprising to learn that her educational and early career paths deviated much from her current position. During her undergraduate years at Princeton University, she majored in History and East Asian Studies. Wang further reflected on how her East Asian studies focused on the earlier parts of 20th-century China, a period when her parents immigrated to the United States. Later on, under the encouragement of friends, Ms. Wang studied pursued a JD degree at New York University School of Law and worked for a U.S. District Court Judge. Reflecting on her numerous educational and career experiences, Ms. Wang leaves us with a few words of wisdom: “Walk through open doors even if you are not sure.''
“Walk through open doors, even if you are not sure. ”