2023 Hawaii State of Reform Health Policy Conference

The networking breakfast, sponsored by BerryDunn, will take place before the start of the conference to allow attendees to grab a light refreshment and connect with their fellow colleagues before we kick things off for the day.

Our host, Donna Checkett, will kick off the 2023 Hawaii State of Reform Health Policy Conference with a few words of welcome, followed by our Opening Keynote with Judy Mohr-Peterson! We are honored to have Hawaii’s Medicaid Director, Judy Mohr Peterson, presenting as our Opening Keynote! Grab a seat as Mohr Peterson updates the audience on recent Med-QUEST developments, the state’s commitment to health equity, and her vision for continuing to improve the state’s Medicaid program going forward.

Judy Mohr Peterson, PhD: Administrator, Med-QUEST

Donna Checkett: Host, State of Reform 

In what is always one of our most popular sessions, this panel of knowledgeable insiders will discuss health policy and fiscal work resulting from the 2022 session, ongoing policy conversations, and their predictions for 2023 and beyond. It’s a valuable conversation on the politics, policies, and personalities driving health policy in Hawaii.

Bob Toyofuku: President, BT Consulting

Paige Heckathorn Choy: Associate Vice President, Government Affairs, Healthcare Association of Hawaii 

Mihoko Ito: Managing Partner, SanHi Government Strategies

Blake Oshiro: Senior Advisor & Policy Director, Office of Gov. Josh Green

In Hawaii, as with the rest of the country, pressures on housing, transportation, food, and other social determinants of health can cause some individuals, particularly those in lower-income groups, to defer medical care and prioritize more immediate needs. Join key subject-matter experts to discuss what more we can do to mitigate inflation to address the rising costs of healthcare.

Matt Reeves: Senior Vice President, Clinical Integration, HMSA

Lehua Pate: Vice President of Revenue Cycle, The Queen’s Health System

Gordon Ito: Insurance Commissioner, Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs

Consulting and leveraging the community is an integral way to ensure healthcare is delivered effectively. There is growing recognition that effective partnerships between communities and the health sector are needed to achieve and sustain positive health outcomes. So how can this be achieved in Hawaii? What is needed and should there be a shift in health policy to support this partnership?

Mike Robinson: Vice President Government Relations & Community Affairs, Hawaii Pacific Health

Michelle Kauhane: Senior Vice President, Community Grants & Initiatives, Hawaii Community Foundation

Jeff Gilbreath: Executive Director, Hawaii Community Lending

Value-based care continues to be the main alternative to healthcare’s traditional fee-for-service payment model as the industry seeks to streamline care delivery to improve outcomes and reduce costs. Hawaii’s healthcare sector has been pursuing alternative payment models that have successfully led to more optimal outcomes, and there is much value-based care work on the horizon. Join us to ask key questions of experts working within this model and learn what’s next for Hawaii’s value-based care.

Natasha Parekh, MD: Chief Medical Officer, Queens Clinically Integrated Physicians Network

John Williams: Chief Executive Officer, Hana Hou Medical Group

Vija Sehgal, MD: Chief Quality Officer, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center

Leinaala Kanana: Director, Community Health Services, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center

Healthcare remains a primary area of concern for the voters in Hawaii, and the legislature is preparing to address these concerns in the upcoming session. State of Reform is thrilled to welcome Hawaii lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to discuss key health-related policy priorities and issues with a focus on the future. Bring your questions to what is always a thoughtful conversation on the future of health policy in Hawaii.

Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole: Assistant Majority Whip, Hawaii Senate

Rep. Della Au Belatti: Chair, House Health & Homelessness Committee

Rep. John Mizuno: Chair, House Human Services Committee

Hawaii is at the forefront of developing improved services and benefits for people with serious illness. One of those benefits is palliative care services, which helps assess people for services when they have a serious illness and provide an extra layer of support for people who may still be pursuing active treatments. Hawaii is poised to be the first state in the nation to provide palliative care benefit for MedQuest members that is approved by CMS, building on other programs developed in Hawaii and potentially setting a precedent for other states to do the same. The presentation will describe the timeline of palliative care and its development in Hawaii, the services and programs available to Medicaid beneficiaries with serious illness, including the proposed palliative care benefit, first-hand examples of programs in Hilo and available local resources, and discussion about federal and state policy implications of this work. We are thrilled to welcome key players working in the trenches to improve benefits for serious illness care to answer your questions and discuss what’s possible.

Torrie Fields: Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Votive Health

Brenda Ho: Chief Executive Officer, Hawaii Care Choices

Jeanette Koijane: Executive Director, Kokua Mau

Addressing health disparities through the development of a comprehensive, integrated, community-based, culturally competent system of care that improves the lives of Hawaii’s medically underserved and rural populations is and has always been a main priority for Hawaiians. Bring your questions and learn from this panel of experts who will discuss how and what more needs to be done to address this core concern.

Connie Mitchell: Executive Director, Institute for Human Services

Nick Redding: Executive Director, Hawaii Data Collaborative

Tellie Matagi: Lead, Pacific Islander Task Force (DOH)

Tetine Sentell: Interim Dean, University of Hawaii Manoa School of Social Work and Public Health

With increasing rates of child suicide and drug overdoses policymakers have been advancing proposals to reform the behavioral health system. But the question remains: is enough being done to address the gaps in coverage, services, and treatment for children in Hawaii?

Jennifer Diesman: Senior Vice President, Government Policy and Advocacy, HMSA

Kumi Macdonald: Executive Director, NAMI Hawaii State

Travis Gayles, MD: Chief Health Officer, Hazel Health

May Okihiro, MD: Pediatrician, John A. Burns School of Medicine

Please join us for a networking lunch! This will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with colleagues, follow-up on the conversations we’ve had so far, and facilitate further discussions as we move toward the second half of today’s event.

The lunch Keynote will feature the newly elected Gov. Josh Green, MD. Hear what this incredibly accomplished health leader has to say about the state of Hawaii health policy, his experience in the sector, and what to expect during the road ahead.

Governor Josh Green, MD: Governor, State of Hawaii

With 2022 just barely behind us, the national healthcare landscape is preparing for what promises to be a most interesting and challenging 2023. From Medicare Advantage policy to the national healthcare workforce shortage this panel of subject matter experts will join us to share their insights on how the federal policy landscape continues to evolve.

Andrea Maresca: Principal, Federal Policy, Health Management Associates

Paige Heckathorn Choy: Associate Vice President, Healthcare Association of Hawaii

Gabrielle Schechter: Health Policy Advisor, Office of US Senator Brian Schatz

Nick Luna: Legislative Assistant, Office of US Representative Ed Case

Jennifer Diesman: Senior Vice President, Government Policy and Advocacy, Hawaii Medical Service Association

Aimee Grace: Director, University of Hawaii System Office of Strategic Health Initiatives (moderator)

We all know we have a shortage of healthcare workers in Hawaii. How do we solve this? Because recruitment from elsewhere is expensive, retention and training of who we already have working here is key. In this panel, you’ll hear from an array of experts talk about the new, innovative, and existing programs, as well as other idea generation, they are undertaking to address Hawaii’s workforce challenges.

Carl Hinson: Director, Workforce Development, Hawaii Pacific Health

Wesley Lo: Chief Executive Officer, Ohana Pacific Health

Kelley Withy, MD: Director, Hawaii/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center

Laura Reichhardt: Director, Hawaii Center for Nursing

Janna Hoshide: Senior Director, Healthcare Workforce Development, Healthcare Association of Hawaii

Reinie Gerrits-Goh, PhD: Senior Policy & Data Analyst, University of Hawaii Rural Health Research and Policy Center

COVID-19 has significantly impacted multiple aspects of health system operations, ranging from tremendous financial uncertainty to inadequate resources to meet the needs of patients during persistent waves of outbreaks. Many of the vulnerabilities exposed by the pandemic represent long standing challenges for Hawaii’s health system, so what can we do to ensure we are not only better prepared, but have an operable healthcare delivery system to sustain in this post-pandemic era?

Gary Okamoto, MD: Chief Medical Officer, AlohaCare

Tarquin Collis, MD: Chief of Infectious Diseases, Kaiser Permanente

Lisa Rantz: Executive Director, Hilo Medical Center Foundation

As Hawaii continues to work on redesigning its crisis system, what lessons have been learned from Hawaii CARES and the implementation of the 988 crisis line, and what questions remain? Is this the answer to the unmet mental health needs? What more needs to be done? This conversation will dive into all these questions and more as we explore the crisis system in Hawaii.

Amy Miller Marvin: President & Chief Executive Officer, Hawaii Foodbank

Heather Lusk: Executive Director, Hawai’i Health & Harm Reduction Center

Leina Ijacic, BS-RN: Chief Administrative Officer, IHS, The Institute for Human Services

Mike Lambert: Major, Honolulu Police Department

Wendy Farmer: Regional Vice President, National Crisis Center of Excellence, Beacon Health Options (moderator)

Due to numerous cultural values important to Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, traditional healing practitioners are often the preferred method of treatment. However, for decades, this population has been plagued with disproportionately higher rates of chronic diseases and higher mortality rates than the general population in Hawaii. Join top subject-matter experts as they explore what systemic changes in political, educational, economic and social systems are needed in order for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander health to improve.

Marcus Iwane, MD: Clinic Chief, President, Kaiser Permanente West Oahu Medical Office, ‘Ahahui o nā Kauka, Association of Native Hawaiian Physicians

Sheri Daniels: Chief Executive Officer, Papa Ola Lokahi

Josie Howard: Chief Executive Officer, We Are Oceania

Keawe’aimoku Kaholokula, PhD: Chair of Native Hawaiian Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine

Kamuela Enos: Director, UH Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity

Hawaii’s Med-QUEST Division is working closely with Health Management Associates to implement a robust plan to transform the way it deals with the social determinants of health. This ambitious plan has enormous implications for the health of Hawaiians and will help the state better-mitigate social factors of health outcomes, like income and housing. Attend this panel to learn from experts involved in this effort about what it means for Hawaii’s healthcare system.

Nicola Pinson: Senior Consultant, Health Management Associates

Judy Mohr Peterson, PhD: Administrator, Med-QUEST

Ranjani Starr: Health Analytics & Informatics Administrator, State of Hawaii

Jolaine Hao: Quality & Member Relations, Med-QUEST Division

Tracking health outcomes using analytics generates clear insights into health patterns and trends by population segment, geography, age, ethnicity and social determinants of health. Ultimately, analytics have the power to define best outcomes and the condition under which best outcomes can be achieved for individuals and population segments.

Al Ogata: Chief Technical Officer, Hawaii Health Information Exchange

Derek Vale: Health Systems Management Office Chief, Hawaii Department of Health Behavioral Health Administration

Monique Chyba, PhD: Professor of Mathematics, University of Hawaii

AlohaCare CEO Francoise Culley-Trotman, and Executive VP of Oahu Operations for Hawaii Pacific Health, David Underriner, will close the conference with a conversation about their vision for the future of Hawaii healthcare. These leaders will discuss their thoughts on the information and topics covered at the conference, what sort of opportunities Hawaii has for the coming year, and where there may be challenges along the way.

Francoise Culley-Trotman: Chief Executive Officer, AlohaCare

David Underriner: Executive Vice President of Oahu Operations, Hawaii Pacific Health

Please join us following the Closing Keynote session for a networking reception sponsored by Magellan Hawaii. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be included, giving attendees a wonderful opportunity to follow up on the discussions we’ve had throughout the day.