Meet the Board of Directors

Tim Kaja has been with UnitedHealth Group or affiliated companies for 37 years.

Tim leads Network, Network Support, and EHR Strategy/Operations for Optum Health, and is responsible for the development and execution of Optum Health’s national network contracting operations. This includes Payer and Provider contracting to support risk membership growth across all lines of business and products. In addition, Tim is responsible for developing and executing the next generation of Optum Health’s EHR and digital adoption strategy across Optum’s clinics and operations.

Prior to his role at Optum Health, Tim was SVP and Chief Operating Officer of UnitedHealthcare Networks. He was responsible for managing and developing contract management and fee schedule development systems, workflows, interoperability and operations used by network contractors and network care providers when doing business with UHC.

Preceding his role with UHC Networks, Tim developed physician and hospital service operations throughout UnitedHealthcare, including global operations to support provider contract installation, demographic maintenance, and directories across UnitedHealthcare growing the team to over 6,000 employees worldwide. Tim led the charge for both 5010 and ICD-10 deployments and other Affordable Care Act administrative transaction requirements for UnitedHealth Group while promoting the principles of administrative simplification and interoperability that is critical to healthcare reform.

Previous roles include: Development of UHC's national provider portal, the development and build out of the current local provider relations teams across all US markets, the development and build out of the Corporate Network Operations organization within UnitedHealthcare which brought together contract installation, physician demographics, reimbursement policy development/implementation and coding protocols, credentialing, and claim repricing operations. Tim was responsible for the initial development and build of Audit and Recovery Operations, Claim Cost Management, Fraud and Abuse, COB Operations, and other Payment Integrity Operations (that are now part of Optum Insight).

Tim began his career as a Claim Examiner with AARP Operations in Milwaukee, WI in 1985.

He has an MBA and a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Tim and his wife, Lilly, currently live in Naples, FL. They enjoy traveling, running, and spending time with their four grown children.

Susan Smith is an executive at Centene Corporation with responsibility for core business operations, clinical and specialty services, enterprise transformation office, provider experience, and quality.

She brings nearly two decades of expertise in the payer space, having spent 19 years at Humana. Susan most recently served as SVP of Clinical, Quality and Enterprise Solutions President, where she had oversight of quality, clinical strategy, analytics, and product development, clinical operations, risk adjustment, and experience transformation.

She is credited for leading Humana's efforts to improve its STAR ratings and member quality, and for her experienced leadership creating sustainable organizations.

Susan started her career at Colgate-Palmolive as an engineer.

Paul Eisenstat is an executive leader at Elevance Health, where he is accountable for overall network and care transformation strategy with a strong focus on enabling and engaging providers in value-based outcomes, optimizing the company’s high-performing provider approach, reinventing payment models, and advancing high-quality, affordable care. Previously, Paul served as the Vice President of Network for Elevance Health’s East Region where he was responsible for developing, leading, and overseeing the implementation of provider solution strategies in the East Region markets.

Before joining Elevance Health, Paul was the Senior Vice President, Health Care and Network Management, for Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, where he led efforts to achieve cost control and quality improvement, collaborating on the development of more sustainable, patient-centered healthcare delivery. Prior to this role, Paul served as the Chief Operating Officer of PersonalCare Insurance of Illinois at Coventry Health Care, Inc.; Vice President, Network Management at United Healthcare; Director, Eastern Massachusetts Provider Contracting at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; and Senior Policy Analyst at the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy.

Paul holds a baccalaureate degree from Tufts University in Biology and English, and a master's degree from Harvard University in Health Care Policy and Management.

As a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare leader, Sarah Ahmad spends her career at the intersection of health insurance, care delivery, data, and technology. She takes a bold approach to solving industry problems by challenging conventional thinking, making meaningful connections, and keeping care at the center of every decision.

Her 30 years of international healthcare experience include transforming organizations, building high-performing teams, and delivering measurable impact across all sectors of the industry. From reducing industry costs to advocating for better health outcomes, Sarah thrives on solving complex problems with clarity and purpose. At CAQH, she leads an organization trusted by stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to make healthcare work better for everyone.

Prior to joining CAQH, Sarah was the SVP of Health and Wellness at Canada’s largest pharmacy and health retailer. She was responsible for a portfolio of pharmacy services, medical clinics, provider technology, retail home health stores and digital health solutions. Sarah also served as Chief Innovation Officer at Magellan Health and SVP of Innovation and Transformation Strategy for Highmark Health. In addition, Sarah held many key leadership roles in product development, clinical operations, and network development at Humana, Inc.

Sarah is deeply committed to advancing women’s health and creating pathways for women in leadership. She currently serves on the boards of Elektra Health and Wondr Health, where she supports innovation in care delivery and access.

In addition to her professional work, Sarah is actively involved in her local community of Louisville, KY. She serves on the board of the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft (KMAC), supporting initiatives that celebrate creativity and broaden access to the arts.

Sarah approaches every challenge with curiosity, courage, and a focus on delivering real-world results.

Jessica Conley leads Provider Experience, Interoperability, Digital Solutions, and Operations at Aetna, a CVS Health Corporation. Her responsibilities include setting the vision, strategy, and culture to evolve the enterprise focus on Provider Experience, Provider Data Governance, and Interoperability, in addition to delivering operational performance across digital assets and provider operations, including credentialing, provider data loading, provider portal, electronic data interchange, and fraud, waste, and abuse for all lines of business.

Jessica has a longstanding career in various healthcare leadership roles in provider, consumer, and client experience, network management, product strategy, and data analytics. Her experience spans Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, and Individual and Family lines of business, with deep expertise in behavioral health.

Sachin Joshi is an executive leader of the U.S. Commercial division of The Cigna Group. As the leader of the Data Analytics Engineering teams, Sachin is responsible for the engineering and governance of Cigna's enterprise data assets, advanced analytics platforms, and reporting solutions. This team has been a catalyst for the use of big data, machine learning, generative AI, and open source technologies in support of Cigna's Personalization and Affordability strategies.

Sachin recently assumed oversight of U.S. Commercial and is identifying and implementing new innovations and practices into the organization, much like he has already done within Data Analytics Engineering. Sachin is now responsible for delivering the capabilities for our growth platforms and products that will make it easy for our clients to manage costs and improve the health and vitality of their employees via a streamlined, integrated technology ecosystem in support of Cigna's growth within the medical, dental, vision stop loss and supplemental business lines. Most recently, Sachin and his teams have been working to establish better engineering excellence standards across organizations, as well as executing an Al enablement strategy to drive a culture of innovation, adaptability, and continuous learning.

Previously, as VP of Health Services Technology Solutions, Sachin led the product, planning, and engineering delivery for key business partners representing Evernorth's Health Services for Pharmacy+, PBM, Digital, Client Coverage Benefits Set-up, Enterprise Systems, and Core Platforms Architecture. The team partnered across Health Services and Cigna's enterprise to bring innovative solutions to the marketplace to better service clients, providers, and customers.

Prior to joining Cigna, Sachin was at American Express for 10 years in a variety of roles, including Engineering, Solutions Architecture and Corporate Strategy.

Sachin holds a Bachelor of Science in commerce from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

Oraida Roman, MHA, leads Provider Experience at Humana. In this position she is responsible for building, enhancing, and maintaining strategic partnerships with large regional and nationwide healthcare systems and other large value-based provider groups.

The Provider Experience organization develops, supports, and deploys the best programs, practices, and capabilities that assist Humana's provider partners and internal customers to successfully achieve enterprise goals. The Provider team supports the growth of members in value-based arrangements and helps providers progress successfully on this path. This includes the organizational advancement of innovative payment models that enable Humana to support providers as population health managers in value-based care relationships.

Oraida’s career with Humana spans more than 23 years, during which time she has held various management roles, including Vice President, Regional President, Director of Operations, and Director of Provider Contracting. Prior to being Vice President for Humana, Oraida worked for several years with DaVita Medical Group as the Chief Operating Officer for Florida and Market President for Colorado.

Oraida holds a master’s in health administration from the University of South Florida and an undergraduate degree in Biology from Florida State University.

Heather Staples joined Horizon BCBSNJ in 2024 and has accountability for Enterprise Operations, Information Technology & Security, the Program Management Office and Analytics divisions.

Heather previously spent over a decade building and eventually serving as President and CEO of Geneia, a healthcare technology, AI, and analytics subsidiary of Capital BlueCross, serving more than 8 million members across health plans, providers, and employer organizations.

Heather has an extensive healthcare business and technology background, spanning more than three decades with national payors, providers, and service organizations, and founding and exiting startup organizations.

Heather holds her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Notre Dame College and her Master's in Business Administration from Southern NH University.