Simplifying Healthcare: Top 3 Action Items for 2024

From economic inflation, relentless staffing shortages and rising benefit costs to the intensifying impact of delayed care and screening resulting in higher acuity, healthcare challenges continue to mount. Vālenz® Health and its iThrive Customer council are working collaboratively and embracing the highest level of transparency to address these challenges and drive meaningful change in three high-priority areas in 2024:

  • Embracing AI for greater effectiveness and efficiency
  • Defining wellness and what it means to be healthy
  • Finding change in mental health and medication challenges

Read more in our latest article.

Madeline Cashdollar headshot and welcome announcement

Madeline Cashdollar Joins Vālenz® Health as Chief People Officer

PHOENIX, Ariz. (Feb. 16, 2024) — Vālenz® Health proudly announces that Madeline Cashdollar, MBA, has joined the executive leadership team as Chief People Officer.

With a 25-year career that has touched on all aspects of human resources, Cashdollar most recently led her own consulting firm, advising clients on global HR strategy and talent management. She brings deep expertise in compensation and benefits, client and employee relations, organizational development, diversity and inclusion, performance measurement, and workforce solutions for all people-related challenges.

“Madeline is a tremendous fit for this position because she truly is all about people and the power of customer love,” said Rob Gelb, Chief Executive Officer of Valenz. “She thrives at the intersection of business and people strategies – quickly building relationships, diagnosing the problem, designing practical solutions, and moving the team in the right direction to improve business outcomes. We’re thrilled to have Madeline join us.”

Based in Florence, S.C., Cashdollar has served in executive and management roles within human resources, organizational development and client solutions for Sonoco, Aon Corporation and Hewitt Associates. As partner at Hewitt Associates, she managed numerous high-profile client relationships. Cashdollar earned a degree in mathematics from Wake Forest University and a master of business administration from the Yale School of Management.

“It’s exciting to see the team doing great things every day and really living the Valenz culture that elevates our company and keeps customers coming back,” Cashdollar said. “I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves as we continue to grow and build for the future with people as our greatest asset.”

About Vālenz® Health  

Vālenz® Health is the platform to simplify healthcare – the destination for employers, payers, providers and members to reduce costs, improve quality, and elevate the healthcare experience. The Valenz mindset and culture of innovation combine to create a distinctly different approach to an inefficient, uninspired health system. With fully integrated solutions, Valenz engages early and often to execute across the entire patient journey – from care navigation and management to payment integrity, plan performance and provider verification. With a 99% client retention rate, we elevate expectations to a new level of efficiency, effectiveness and transparency where smarter, better, faster healthcare is possible. For more information, visit valenzhealth.com.

Vālenz® Health, zakipoint Health Partner on Video Series: “Rewriting the Book: The Health Plan of the Future”

PHOENIX, Ariz. (February 14, 2024) — Vālenz® Health and zakipoint Health have partnered on the production of an eight-chapter video series, designed to reset expectations for what a health plan should be for employers and their employees.

Titled “Rewriting the Book: The Health Plan of the Future,” the series spotlights Valenz CEO Rob Gelb and zakipoint CEO Ramesh Kumar as together they offer insightful approaches, tools and resources for a reimagined health plan option that feels better – and operates more efficiently and effectively than what’s available today.

“The rising trajectory of healthcare costs is not sustainable, and the lack of transparency into a complex healthcare system only serves to drive confusion about how to make the right decisions,” Gelb said. “That sparked our series of discussions on enabling a true health plan that optimizes the cost, quality and utilization of healthcare for everyone while boosting member satisfaction, and we are excited to now share it.”

The series of 2-minute videos covers actionable information about key topics including transparency, empowering members to make the right choices as consumers, rethinking contracts and networks, balancing the equation of cost, quality and utilization, and more. New chapters will be released weekly through March on the Valenz and zakipoint LinkedIn pages, ending with a final chapter-by-chapter review by Gelb and Kumar.

In September 2023, Valenz and zakipoint announced their collaboration on a digital front door to care called zConnect – a mobile app that engages members and enhances access to key healthcare data including cost and quality ratings, plan benefit details, comprehensive lists of in-network procedures and providers, and much more on the Valenz platform of fully integrated solutions.

About Vālenz® Health

Vālenz® Health is the platform to simplify healthcare – the destination for employers, payers, providers and members to reduce costs, improve quality, and elevate the healthcare experience. The Valenz mindset and culture of innovation combine to create a distinctly different approach to an inefficient, uninspired health system. With fully integrated solutions, Valenz engages early and often to execute across the entire patient journey – from care navigation and management to payment integrity, plan performance and provider verification. With a 99% client retention rate, we elevate expectations to a new level of efficiency, effectiveness and transparency where smarter, better, faster healthcare is possible. For more information, visit valenzhealth.com.

About zakipoint Health

zakipoint Health is a company on a mission to bring transparency, direction and personalization to healthcare consumers, bringing all benefit services, data, insights and tools into one place for members on a self-insured plan. With a best-in-class platform, reporting, and engagement tools, we identify risks, drive action, connect with members and track success, empowering companies to reduce risk and costs while creating healthier, more engaged members. For more information, visit zakipointhealth.com.