In The News

(French Camp, CA) – Health Plan of San Joaquin (HPSJ) has announced that Catherine Flanagan, RN, has joined the organization as director of quality and accreditation. 

Flanagan has extensive senior leadership and Medicaid managed care experience, including developing clinical management and quality improvement programs for complex health care organizations.

Flanagan is expert in management of health care quality measurement systems such as –

• HEDIS (Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set) – a tool used by 90 percent of America’s health insurance companies to measure performance on patient care and service.
• NCQA (the National Committee for Quality Assurance) which recently awarded HPSJ a Three-Year Health Plan Accreditation for its Medicaid/HMO line of business. (Note: Medicaid is known as Medi-Cal in California.).

Flanagan said, “As HPSJ strives to improve health care delivery for increasing numbers of underserved Central Valley families and individuals, I am eager to continue the fine work already in progress to ensure all our members not only have access to health care, but also to the very finest quality of health care.”

HPSJ Chief Medical Officer Lakshmi Dhanvanthari, MD, said, “Cathy is an expert when it comes to measuring quality and making it possible for healthcare organizations like HPSJ to hold ourselves accountable for meeting the health and access needs of our HPSJ membership.” Dhanvanthari said, “She has a very strong knowledge of the contemporary health care landscape, which is especially important for health plans such as HPSJ which have experienced tremendous growth as a result of the Affordable Care Act.  Just as important, she has deep experiences in working across the many functional areas that pull together and work in tandem on behalf of patients.”

Health Plan of San Joaquin was established in 1995 by state statute and San Joaquin County ordinance as a community-based, not-for-profit health plan initiative. Now, in 2015, HPSJ is the leading Medi-Cal managed care provider for San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. With over 320,000 members – more than a third of growth over the last almost two years since Affordable Care Act implementation – HPSJ is at the forefront of local health care access and delivery.

Flanagan, who is relocating to the Central Valley and HPSJ’s headquarters in French Camp, previously was in senior quality and accreditation leadership positions, including at Health First (Rockledge, Florida), Molina Healthcare of Missouri (St. Louis), CareSource Managed Care (Dayton, Ohio), and Optima Health/Sentara Healthcare System (Virginia Beach, Virginia).

Flanagan holds a nursing degree from West Texas State University (Canyon, Texas). She is a registered nurse.

Flanagan said that prior to joining HPSJ she had been impressed that during this period of unprecedented membership growth, HPSJ was awarded a prestigious NCQA Accreditation. The NCQA award recognizes HPSJ as “ACCREDITED for service and clinical quality that meet or exceed NCQA’s rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement.”

About HPSJ
HPSJ, a not-for-profit health plan, has been serving members and the community since 1996. Located in the heart of California’s multicultural Central Valley, HPSJ is the leading Medi-Cal Managed Care provider in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. HPSJ offers a broad network of providers and works closely with physicians to develop programs and services to ensure quality health care for over 320,000 members. “ACCREDITED for service and clinical quality that meet or exceed NCQA’s rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement.”

Photo: Catherine Flanagan, HPSJ Quality and Accreditation Director (photo credit: HPSJ, October 2015)
NCQA Accreditation Seal: Formats available here.

Media Contact:
David Hurst
Vice President, External Affairs
Health Plan of San Joaquin
Phone: 209-461-2241
Text: 916-802-3734
dhurst@hpsj.com