About Us

The UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care (Center) is dedicated to advancing the highest standards of research, quality improvement, and shared learning through partnerships with key health care stakeholders.

Areas of Interest

The Center’s work addresses critical health care issues that are important to our members and the communities we serve. Many of our research studies are supported by public and private funders seeking to advance the boundaries of efficient health care solutions in these areas.

Major areas of innovative research and quality improvement efforts include:

• Wellness and Prevention
• Chronic, Complex Conditions
• Substance Use and Opioid Use Disorders
• Physical and Behavioral Health Integration
• Value-Based Pharmacy
• Social Determinants of Health
• Digital Health and Technology
• Patient Engagement
• Alternative Payment Models

Download the UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care Activity Report, which chronicles our work in these focus areas from 2011 through 2014. You can learn more about the Center’s current projects by visiting the News and Events page.

Meet Our Team

UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care

• Donna J. Keyser, PhD, MBA, Chief Research and Translation Officer
• Jane N. Kogan, PhD, Associate Chief Research and Translation Officer
• Suzanne Kinsky, MPH, PhD, Director, Research Translation and Capacity Building
• Cara Nikolajski, PhD, MPH, Director, Research Design and Implementation
• Jenna Blackert, Project Analyst
• Debbie Clark, Administrative Coordinator
• Wendy Carpenter, MS HIM, MBA, Project Analyst
• Justin Kanter, MA, Senior Program Administrator
• Qingfeng Liang, MA, MS, Program Administrator, Center Data Analytics
• Adelina Malito, MSW, Project Manager
• Sarah Angel Markwardt, MID, Project Analyst
• Kristin Mayes, MS, Program Administrator
• Jessica Meyers, MA Ed, Program Administrator
• Aisling McIntyre, LSW, LCSW, Project Manager
• Anna Patterson, MPH, BSN, RN, Project Analyst
• Dorothy Sandstrom, MS, Project Manager
• Gina Snyder, Project Manager
• Ashley Taylor, MLIS, Project Analyst
• Kelly R. Williams, MPH, PhD, Senior Program Administrator

UPMC Center for Value-Based Pharmacy Initiatives
        In collaboration with UPMC Health Plan, Pharmacy Services

• C. Bernie Good, MD, MPH, Senior Medical Director, Pharmacy Services
• Samuel Peasah, PhD, RPh, MBA, Senior Advisor
• Yan Huang, MAS, Program Administrator, Data Analytics
• Elizabeth Swart, Project Manager

UPMC Center for Social Impact
        In collaboration with UPMC Health Plan, Government Programs

• Ray Prushnok, AVP, Program Development and Social Impact
• Joseph Angelelli, PhD, Senior Advisor, Aging
• Joan Eichner, DrPH, MPH, MPA, Director, Operations and Evaluation
• Dan Lavallee, Director, Program Development
• Matthew Mucci, Senior Project Analyst
• Kevin Progar, Senior Project Manager

Thought Leadership and Marketing
        In collaboration with UPMC Health Plan, Marketing and Communications

• Erin Kelly, MBA, Director, Integrated Communications and Content Strategy

UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care Board of Directors

• Diane P. Holder, President of the Board
  President and Chief Executive Officer, UPMC Health Plan
  President, UPMC Insurance Services Division
  Executive Vice President, UPMC
• James Schuster, Director
  Chief Medical Officer, UPMC Insurance Services Division
  Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
• Derek Angus, MD, MPH, FRCP, Director
  Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, UPMC
• Erin Dalton, Director
  Director, Allegheny County Department of Human Services
• Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH, Director
  Dean, Graduate School of Public Health
  Jonas Salk Professor of Population Health
  Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh
• Loren H. Roth, MD, MPH, Director
  Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
  Senior Psychiatrist UPMC-Western Psychiatric Hospital (WPH)
  Former Chief Medical Officer, UPMC
• Amy Seybert, PharmD, FASHP, FCCP, CHSE, Director
  Chair of Pharmacy and Therapeutics;
  Professor, Pharmacy and Therapeutics, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh
• Hyagriv Simhan, MD, MS, Director
  Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
  Executive Vice Chair, Obstetric Services, UPMC
  Division Director, Maternal-Fetal Medicine;
  Medical Director, Obstetric Services, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC
• Ellen Beckjord, PhD, MD, Member
  Associate Vice President, Population Health and Clinical Transformation, UPMC Insurance Services Division
• Matthew O. Hurford, MD, Member
  President and Chief Executive Officer, Community Care Behavioral Health Organization
  Vice Presdient Behavioral Health, UPMC Insurance Services Division
• John Lovelace, Member
  President, UPMC for You
  President, Government Programs and Individual Advantage Products
• Chronis Manolis, RPH Member
  Senior Vice President, Pharmacy Services, UPMC
  Chief Pharmacy Officer, UPMC Health Plan
• Allen Naidoo, Member
  Chief Analytics Officer, UPMC Insurance Services Division

If you would like to learn more about UPMC, visit us at www.upmc.com or www.upmchealthplan.com.