Perspectives for Media on Value-Based Care in 2024

Susan Dentzer is President and Chief Executive Officer of America’s Physician Groups, the nonprofit organization representing more than 360 physician groups focused on patient-centered, coordinated, and integrated health care that is accountable for both costs and quality. Dentzer is a highly respected health policy thought leader, a frequent speaker, and an author of commentaries in the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst, the American Journal of Public Health, and other publications. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Hastings Center. Formerly editor-in-chief of the journal Health Affairs, and on-air health correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, Dentzer graduated from Dartmouth; holds a master’s degree in health care delivery science from the institution; is a trustee emerita of Dartmouth, and former chair of Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees.

David Pittman is Director of Communications and Regulatory Affairs at the National Association of ACOs, where he works on various regulatory policy and legislative topics involving value-based care. As a former journalist, he also works on communications matters for NAACOS. David joined NAACOS in August 2018. Before that, he worked as a healthcare journalist for nearly a dozen years, including at POLITICO where he helped launch the website’s eHealth coverage in 2014. He was a fellow of the Association of Health Care Journalists in 2014. David holds bachelor's degrees in journalism and chemistry from the University of Georgia and is pursuing his MPH from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Sarah Levin is Deputy Staff Director for the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Ways and Means under Ranking Member Richard Neal. Prior to joining the Committee in 2015, Sarah worked for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and a Member of Congress from New Hampshire. Sarah holds a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Sarah went to college at Duke University, and her eldest daughter’s first true sentence was “Go Duke.” She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and three children.

Anshu Choudhri is vice president of policy development and strategy for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies. Choudhri has been with BCBSA since 2005, serving in multiple capacities on both the clinical and policy teams. In his current role, Choudhri oversees the development of BCBSA's public policy positions and strategy for use with the administration, Congress, government agencies, state regulators and third parties. He guides staff in the formation of BCBSA’s positions on current legislation, regulation and opportunities to improve the healthcare system across commercial markets and government programs. Choudhri has led legislative and regulatory policy position development on a wide variety of topics including delivery system reform, COVID-19, prescription drugs, surprise billing, transparency, affordability, opioid and substance use disorder, health equity, public health, mental health parity, healthcare quality, health IT and interoperability. Previously, Choudhri initiated BCBSA’s commitment to value-based care in collaboration with BCBS companies supporting the launch of patient-centered medical home (PCMH) pilots that aimed to transform the way primary care is delivered and financed. He led cross-divisional teams and provided strategic guidance to senior leadership toward national implementation of PCMH and Accountable Care Organization programs across the BCBS System. Prior to joining BCBSA, Choudhri’s experience included performance measurement and program development with the National Committee for Quality Assurance and the State of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, developing HEDIS measures and working extensively with state leaders to expand employment support programs for the Medicaid population in Maryland.

Purva Rawal, PhD, is the Chief Strategy Officer at the CMS Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. As part of the Senior Leadership team, she provides guidance and leadership on the execution of the Innovation Center’s strategy. Prior to her current role, she spent a decade in policy and business strategy consulting and policy research focused leading projects on value-based payment and health system transformation. She was also an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University. In 2016, she published a book, The Affordable Care Act: Examining the Facts and has published book chapter, blogs, and papers on value-based care. Previously, Dr. Rawal served as professional staff on the Senate Budget Committee during the passage of the Affordable Care Act and as the health and social policy advisor to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT). She began her health policy career as a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences and as a Congressional Fellow for the Society for Research on Child Development and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Rawal received her B.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University.