Note from the CEO

Hello everyone, I hope Winter has gone well for you and your loved ones, and that the idea of warmer weather around the corner to come gives you happiness. (It does for me 😊)

As for work, this has always been my favorite time of the year. The next 90 days will largely determine how we perform in 2024. During this time, we will design our 2024 plan offerings and all the benefits that come with those plans. Earning the attention of members, insurance agents and others is dependent upon these benefits, and I thank you all in advance for contributing to this.

I’m optimistic about the future, mostly because of the team we have and our focus on quality of life and satisfaction for our members!

Thanks for what you do each day.

Be well,

Gregg

Employee Spotlight

Joel Kuhl

Joel Kuhl is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for ATRIO Health Plans. Over his 22-year career, Joel has built a reputation as an authority in all facets of human resources in both the public and private sectors. He was recognized as a leader in employee relations being appointed to and serving on the board of the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (National PELRA) for over 6 years.

Joel started his career working as a Human Resources intern in the public sector. For 15 years he held positions as an Administrative Analyst, Labor Relations Administrator, HR Manager and HR director at various cities throughout Oregon and Washington. Joel then moved to the healthcare industry working for a software company as well as an elder care/skilled nursing company.

Joel received his Juris Doctorate from Willamette University College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Puget Sound. Joel and his wife Meredith enjoy their small farm in Salem where they live with their three dogs, alpaca, chickens, goats, ducks, horse, and caboose! One of his true passions is his 23 years of volunteer work for Make-A-Wish of Oregon where he helps grant wishes for kids with critical illnesses. Another hobby Joel enjoys is running (he does love to eat!) – he is currently training for the 200-mile team relay, Hood to Coast.

New FACES of ATRIO!

We have two promotions to announce!!!!

• Alyssa Roth was promoted to the position of SNP MOC Care Coordinator reporting to Amanda Klunk
• Victoria Gigoux was promoted to the position of SNP MOC Care Coordinator reporting to Amanda Klunk

Since the last issue of Scuttlebutt, the following folks have joined us at ATRIO. Please welcome:

• Wendy Vosburg has rejoined ATRIO as the Vice President of Claims reporting to Jennifer Callahan
• Heather Klapak has joined us as a Provider Configuration Analyst reporting to Wanda Baughman
• Kiara Harber has joined us as a SNP MOC Support Specialist reporting to Amanda Klunk
• Caleb Hendricks has joined as a SNP MOC Support Specialist reporting to Amanda Klunk
• Edna Daniel has joined us as a HEDIS Over-Reader Nurse reporting to Victoria Lopez

ANNIVERSARIES:

Celebrating anniversaries in March:

• Alena Randolph March 2 3 years
• Brian Johnson March 14 1 year
• Sera Arevalo March 15 7 years!!!!!
• Angela Fox March 15 2 years
• Gabe Damico March 16 3 years
• Brandie Horne March 20 6 years!!!!
• Ana Cortez March 21 1 year
• Dusti Patten March 21 1 year
• Megan Sharp March 29 1 year
• Amy Nelson March 30 3 years

BIRTHDAYS:

Employee birthdays in March:

• Kara Monti March 4
• Bill Waxman March 6
• Steven Paulissen March 10
• Jessica Assefa March 16
• Jamie Humphrey March 27
• Christine Jones March 27
• Ben Schacher March 28
• Alyssa Roth March 31

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

ATRIO has selected Motivosity as our employee engagement portal. You can use this site as a resource to celebrate milestones, recognize your peers and generally get to know your coworkers better!

You can find resources to help you here: S:\ATRIO_RESOURCES\Motivosity

Use the site, have fun, and recognize your peers for the great work you all do! There were 95 appreciations given at ATRIO last month!!!!!

Thank you for all that each of you do for our members! ATRIO is successful because of employees like you!

REMINDERS

If you haven’t already, check out the ATRIO employee resources folder, which can be found here: S:\ATRIO_RESOURCES

These are just a few of the items you can reference:

• Updated phone listing
  • Provides employee names, titles, phone numbers, office location.
• Employee Handbook
  • Provides holiday and PTO information, benefit information, work environment information, and much more.
• Forms
  • Peak award, Charity contribution and more
• Insperity EAP (Employee Assistance Program) Brochure

February PEAK Award Winner Profile –

Name: Toni McMillan

Position: Agent Manager

ATRIO Start Date: July 6, 2021

About me: I love spending time with family and friends working super hard and getting outdoors as much as possible.

Advice to others: Enjoy what you are doing, have a passion for life and stay as active as possible.

Words to live by: Just because you have been asked the same questions a dozen times does not mean that the person who is asking has aske you the question a dozen times. Respond to them as if its your first time answering the questions. Always have a smile in your voice.

January PEAK Award Winner Profile –

Name: Jayden Fong

Position: IT Technician

ATRIO Start Date: November 5, 2021

About me: I am an Oregon State University undergrad student studying computer science. I really enjoy my classes, studying with friends and exercising.

Advice to others: My best advice is to stay organized and get to know your coworkers and reach out for help when you need it! For me, work is so much more enjoyable when I engage with the lovely people working around me!

Marketing & Member Experience

Member Communications

• No new ad hoc letters have gone out
• Member meetings continue to attract lots of member, with good feedback. Sales will be taking over the member meetings again beginning in AEP and moving forward.
• The Telesales team has graciously agreed to do the member disenrollment survey calls and welcome calls moving forward.
• The ATRIO Healthy Rewards program for CY2023 should launch around March. More to come soon.

Marketing

• DSNP mailers are targeted to begin going out the first week in February.
• T65 (turning 65) mailers continue throughout the year.
• Sales is putting on Patient Appreciation events throughout OEP in Nevada; reservation response has been great to our mailers.
• New billboards throughout our service areas should be going up soon (strictly branding purpose).

Compliance

Attention Managers and Above – This is a reminder that if you are thinking of contracting with any person or entity to do work for ATRIO, it is critical that you not only work with the Legal, HR, and Compliance departments to do so, but that you receive confirmation from Compliance that the individual or entity has been screened for exclusions prior to signing any contract or agreement. More information about why this is a vital step is included below.

Medicare does not allow us to employ or contract with an individual or entity who is excluded from participation in Medicare. Medicare payment may not be made for items or services furnished or prescribed by an excluded provider or entity. If you were to contract with someone who is excluded, ATRIO would be subject to intermediate sanctions or civil money penalties from CMS.

This means that we must screen all persons or entities against the federal exclusion lists (OIG and GSA) prior to contracting, and on a monthly basis thereafter, as stated in the MMCM Chapter 21, Section 50.6.8. If Compliance is not notified of a potential future contract, we cannot complete this step. This is why it is so important to go through the proper channels when bringing on new contractors or looking at using a new company for any word related to ATRIO.

The bottom line is- this is a very simple and clear Medicare rule that, if not followed, could be a very costly mistake.

Compliance has worked hard to put a reliable system in place with Legal and HR to ensure that we complete these exclusion screenings correctly. The only way this process goes awry is if you don’t work with us to ensure the bases are covered prior to contracting. So, before you sign any contract- make sure you’ve received confirmation of exclusion screening from Compliance, and that you’ve involved the appropriate departments in the process. Thank you for taking the time to read and understand this requirement.

If you have any questions, please contact compliance@atrioph.com.

IT Operations

IT Department Restructure: The ATRIO IT structure is in the process of being re-organized. There will no longer be separate IT divisions. What was previously known as IT Support and Dev Ops respectively will be merged under one umbrella. Information Technology will be the surviving name, which will be categorized into three departments: ITSM (IT Support and Management), Sec Ops (Data Governance, IT Policy Compliance, and Network Security) and Information Systems (Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, Development and Database Systems).

The front door to IT will also change. Multiple helpdesk support channels will be consolidated under one helpdesk model that will be organized into the three sub-departments. We will be adopting a best practices approach to the helpdesk by implementing (as best we are able) the ITSM / ITIL support workflows found here. The helpdesk will also be migrated to a cloud service platform. This will allow the diverse makeup of IT personnel to benefit from streamlined access as well support the growing needs of ATRIO staff and our expanding network of vendors and partners.

Expect specific communications concerning the migration of existing tickets into the cloud ticket system. We’ll need a few weeks to build, clean existing ticket repositories, and perform the migration to the cloud.

Below is a visual diagram, detailing the focus and categorization of the new Information Technology framework.

We also want to remind everyone of the ATRIO Learning Center.

https://atriohp.sharepoint.com/SitePages/Learning.aspx

This is a SharePoint micro site where digital training content is provided as a value-add to ATRIO staff. Currently, we have posted information from Microsoft and 8x8. Our learning center will continue to grow as we identify more instructional content or videos to post. If you have training information that would be helpful to a department or the ATRIO organization, please inform us at ITSupport@atriohp.com

Stars

The Medicare Experience Survey

Also known as the Medicare Advantage Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (CAHPS)

Tips & Talking Points for ATRIO Health Plan Staff­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_________________________________________________________

As an employee of ATRIO Health Plans, the work you do every day impacts the experience of our members. Because of this, it is important to understand the Medicare Experience survey our members may be receiving soon. Here is an overview:

What is the Medicare Experience Survey?

The Medicare Experience survey (or CAHPS) is a patient experience survey that is provided annually. The survey focuses on the interactions and experiences Medicare Advantage members had with their providers and their health plan. Survey questions are focused on how members experienced or perceived key aspects of their care, including access to care and conversations with the health plan & healthcare providers. From March through May, a random sample of health plan members receive the CAHPS survey; their participation is voluntary, and responses are confidential. Aggregated survey data is then publicly reported on the Medicare.gov website. This data helps health plans and providers make quality changes to enhance member perceptions and drive better health.

CAHPS results contribute to 34% of the health plan’s Medicare Star Rating.

• CMS uses the Star Ratings program as a mechanism to pay health plans based on quality.
• Plans earning 4+ Stars earn a quality bonus payment. This money MUST be invested back into the plan in a way that benefits our members, such as:
  • Lower premiums,
  • Reduced cost sharing, and
  • Extra benefits.
• Achieving and maintaining the highest Star Ratings possible is central to ATRIO’s ability to maintain financial viability and to expand our service area.

How Can You Help?

If you’re in a position that involves interacting with our members:

Remember to thank them for choosing ATRIO! Let them know that they may receive a Medicare Experience survey in the mail this Spring and encourage them to complete it.

As you have conversations with dissatisfied members, apologize on behalf of ATRIO for not meeting expectations, then assist to resolve their issue or connect them with someone who can. Thank them for choosing ATRIO and encourage them to call ATRIO member service (using the number on the back of the ID card) any time they run into issues with the health plan, our provider network, or our vendor partners.

Not in a member facing position?

Chances are that the work you do every day directly or indirectly impacts ATRIO members and their healthcare experience, so keep our members at the center of everything you, providing the level of service you would expect for yourself or your loved ones!

Thank you for your help!

Sales

What does the Sales Team Do After AEP?

Our work is never done! It’s critical for ATRIO to stay active in the community throughout the year and one way wo do this is with grassroots marketing. Grassroots marketing is a way to inspire small groups to act. In our business, we want Medicare beneficiaries to act, so we engage with them where they sleep, eat, and pray: senior housing, local food banks, churches, and community centers. The idea is to find individuals that are eligible for Medicare or those that may be eligible in the coming months.

It is our job to educate not only the public, but those that influence the public: Doctors, Community Center Managers, Insurance Agents, and State Agencies - we call these people Key Influencers – anyone that influences Medicare beneficiaries.

But it’s not enough to have just one sales strategy, to be successful, ATRIO Sales needs a multiprong approach to reach our future members. So, in addition to direct mail, digital campaigns, and billboards in the community, Sales and Marketing collaborate to create messaging for local publications and agent materials. Our strategy is to ensure we are front and center when a beneficiary reads the newspaper, clicks on Facebook, and turns on their favorite radio station.

We also create marketing materials for our contracted agents. These agents can represent multiple health plans, so we believe it is important that we provide them with the tools and resources to be successful in the community.

It really does take a village to coordinate over 100 events each month. All of these events are instrumental in getting the ATRIO name in the community.

Here are just a few pictures from our time in the community: