Kelsey Robinstein
Thank you to the Carenet team for putting on this Insights Live today. It’s going to be a great conversation, and thank you for being an annual sponsor and supporting WBL. Our summit is coming up in a few weeks — there is still time to register if you’re interested. I’m going to pass this over to Holly so we can jump right in.

Holly McCann

Thank you, Kelsey. Hi, everybody. I’m Holly McCann. I sit on the executive leadership team at Carenet Health, and I lead our payer strategy and growth.

Today we’re talking about a great topic — the power of connection. In healthcare, we know performance is always top of mind, with costs coming in close behind. But the moments that actually move outcomes, engagement, and behavior are almost always human ones.

So today, we’re asking a very simple but important question: What if human connection isn’t just a cultural advantage, but a performance lever in the business of healthcare? And as AI accelerates, how do we as leaders ensure technology amplifies rather than replaces the human moments that drive action?

For those who don’t know Carenet, we partner with America’s leading payers, providers, and health service organizations to orchestrate solutions that do exactly that. We leverage advanced technology, data insights, and human capital to drive business and health outcomes. Which is why I’m so excited to be here with this powerhouse group of women to talk about the power of connection and why women like all of you are uniquely positioned to help activate it.

Before we dive in, let’s do a quick poll to level set. The question is: Where does your organization struggle most with impactful human connection?

It looks like the majority — about 64% — said across departments within the organization. I can certainly relate to that. Our silos just continue to get more isolated in some instances, and we’re all guided by our consumer experiences, which fuels our expectations. That leads to a very complex ecosystem in which we all have to work together.

Which brings us to our panel. We’ve got a diverse group of women here who represent different parts of the business. Anita, we’ll start with you.

Anita Scaria
Thanks, Holly. I’m Anita Scaria. I lead our pharmacy quality team within Centene Corporation. For those who might not be familiar, Centene is a leader in the managed care space — government-sponsored healthcare across our most vulnerable populations, including Medicare, Medicaid, and marketplace. Our role is to make sure members and patients are taking their medications in the most effective and safe way to optimize their health.

In the context of connection, I think connection is a non-negotiable. Especially when we’re talking about a directed behavior — something someone has to do on a daily basis. You have to connect with that member or patient. You have to connect with the providers and prescribers. And you have to connect with anyone in the process who’s ensuring they can get their medication. Connection is something we strive to do daily, with quality as the focus.

Holly McCann
Absolutely. Anita and I work very closely together on her program. There’s real power in that human connection — we’re almost working in a sales capacity, because we have to convince members to do something they clearly are not doing today. So excited to have you here. Marla, could you introduce yourself?

Marla Armstrong
Sure. I’m Marla Armstrong. I’m the Director of Marketing Operations at Christus, sitting within our digital experience department.

Connection, to me, looks like accessibility, reliability, integrated care for our patients, and being personable. When I talk about connection, I’m talking about trust and alignment across people, processes, and technology — looking at how those connections come together. In my role, what I see is that internal connection is strong when there’s access to improvement and the experience is intentional. That then shapes how our brand shows up.

Holly McCann

I love that. I look forward to learning more about how we deepen that connection, especially in a digital channel where trust is so critical. And lastly, we have Wendy Summers.

Wendy Summers
Thank you, Holly. I’m the Executive General Manager at Carenet. I’m responsible for operations and account management delivery, which means I build the intersection between strategy, delivery, execution, and overall experience — through the relationships we have with our clients and the relationships we build on every interaction with members and patients.

For me, connection is what turns strategy into action for our entire organization. Our frontline health advisors build connection every single day. You cannot build a solid strategy and execute on it without connection.

Holly McCann
I love that, Wendy. When we think about connection and how it directly impacts performance — retention, productivity, quality, engagement, costs — where do you most see that show up in your day-to-day business?

Wendy Summers
This is where I want to get into the strategy and connection piece. For us, we have to build the connection around the “why” — why we do what we do every single day, why we come to work, and why we service our members and patients.

The most important part of giving our health advisors the “why” is that it’s taken us from executing task-oriented steps to understanding the part they play and turning our operation into an engagement-based experience operation. Explaining the “why” often means the difference between somebody having the quality of life they deserve versus not. It’s medication adherence, seeing gaps in care, conducting surveys — all of those things matter to our patients. Our frontline health advisors need to understand why it matters. Connecting them to that “why” and bridging that gap for our employees is critical.

Holly McCann
I love that — the psychological safety zone that creates, both for our advisors and in that moment of intimacy between our advisors and the patients and members they serve. Marla, from your perspective, focused on the digital side — how do we pull connection through to digital, and how does it impact performance?

Marla Armstrong
I think when you’re looking at the “why” and the “how,” where I see the most connection driving improvement is in how we align from the start. When you align early, that reduces the friction we feel with our patients and our associates. The result is better access for patients and stronger performance insight. From my vantage point in marketing campaigns, we have more confidence in the investments we make. We’re not just working harder — we’re improving because we’ve removed the distrust and uncertainty from our associates all the way through to our patients.

Holly McCann
Anita, I hear Wendy and Marla talking about the “why” and the “how.” If we pull that string a little further, how do you see that driving measurable outcomes in your business?

Anita Scaria
There is a very intentional sequencing to this. If you lay the foundation and establish trust effectively, you strengthen the quality of that touch point and get to the root of what you’re trying to drive. Using the medication adherence example: we want members to take their medications as intended by their prescriber. If we’re contacting them, it’s because they’re not doing that — and how many of us pick up a cold call and decide to share what’s really holding us back?

Establishing trust lets someone say, “Here’s what’s going on.” We’re then empowered to provide solutions that are actually valuable to the people we’re trying to engage. We see that happen in real time — when we truly understand what’s going on, we see it reflected in the outcomes data.

Holly McCann

Wendy, what are you seeing in terms of leadership behaviors that create trust and psychological safety, and what outcomes do you see that unlocking day-to-day?

Wendy Summers
I had a wonderful mentor early in my career — working in a call center environment — who talked about creating and inspiring an engaging culture. The advice was to lead by example: roll up your sleeves, get in the trenches with your team. I took that advice and it has stayed with me for 20 years.

Getting in the trenches, letting people see that you’re standing elbow to elbow with them — and then engaging them by asking questions. How would they do things? Our frontline employees are the most critical and valuable part of our feedback system. When we engage with them, they start sharing, and that’s where we learn the most about how to change an organization and create the right culture.

Holly McCann
I think female leaders are intuitively drawn into this space. I was looking at something today from Bob Goff — an author and speaker — who posted: “Let’s stop chasing home runs and start making life joy and kindness easy for others to catch.” That ability to deliver kindness and joy and create those inspirational moments — that’s a powerful thing.

So let’s do another poll: What drives action in your organization? Clear metrics and targets, process efficiency, incentives, company purpose, human motivation, or a combination?

A combination came in as the overwhelming response — and I’m not surprised at all. All of these things are so important. And what does that mean now, as AI accelerates into our organizations? AI doesn’t just change the way we work. In some instances, it amplifies our leadership choices by making things faster, bigger, and more rapid.

Anita, from a payer perspective, where do you see connection most directly influencing member behavior change and outcomes — especially around cost and quality in your pharmacy space?

Anita Scaria
It has to be timely and intentional. Behavior change is complex — you have to understand the psychology, why there is a learned behavior happening, and what the root of it is. We also have to remember that the members on the other end have their own lived experiences that have brought them to where they are.

To make the most of every interaction, you have to be intentional with a clear call to action. But you also have to remember there’s a human on the other end. Understand their barriers efficiently, offer potential solutions, and know when to say, “I don’t have that resource right now, but let me get it to you.”

The connection is just as important with the members as it is when hearing feedback back from our team members. That feedback loop ensures every interaction is maximized, intentional, and can drive to an action — even if it takes multiple touch points. If we’re building on each touch point, we’re headed in the right direction.

Holly McCann
That’s taking us from talking about connections to building relationships with our members and patients. Marla, how are you experiencing culture with your teams as AI enters the room?

Marla Armstrong
This is timely for us, because as AI is being introduced, what I’m seeing is that it’s really testing our trust.

Culturally, as a team, we still need to be aligned. Speed can fragment culture and create more confusion about intent. Our vice president recently introduced an online community where we can share knowledge, share perspectives, and gain more understanding — which keeps us grounded around clarity. What’s our purpose in using this? Then we look at the outcomes.

I think about it as technology supporting us as humans, not replacing us. When we see it that way, it minimizes anxiety and increases trust with automation. Without trust, we go back to friction.

Holly McCann
I love that you’ve created that internal space where people can share ideas and experiences with AI. When you said “testing our trust” — that’s so important as AI comes to the table.

Wendy, when I think about trust, I also think about bias. Where can bias hide as we think about AI, engagement, and operational workflows? What governance are we putting in place to increase trust and minimize bias?

Wendy Summers
There is a lot of opportunity for bias at Carenet — in scripting, sentiments, language, call flows, adherence. Those are all areas where bias can creep in. And a lot of times when we start talking about governance and compliance, it feels scary, like it takes the human part out of what we do. But that’s not true. We can’t scale without governance and compliance. We’re in the business to scale and do it right for our clients, and in order to do that, we have to have rigor and accountability. There are also significant regulations around members and patients that we have to adhere to. You simply cannot scale correctly without the compliance and governance side.

Holly McCann
I want to pull us forward with an analogy. We’re on the heels of the Masters golf tournament, and we see time and time again that it’s not always the most skilled player who wins — it’s the person with the best touch around the green. When I think about what we’re discussing — building alignment, building trust, tracking hidden bias — I feel like women are coming to the table with a different touch. What do you all think about that?

Anita Scaria
As women, we come in with a level of wanting to understand what’s underneath. We want to be effective but not tone-deaf to the situation. In my experience — with myself and with other women leaders I’ve been around — I see that internal compassion, maybe slightly maternal, where we want to bring people along for the ride when we’re working toward a deliverable, an outcome, or a decision. We bring compassion and finesse to get there.

Marla Armstrong
I think Anita said it perfectly — maternal. We’re nurturers. In my experience, women tend to lead by connecting the dots: who is this affecting, are you okay with this, do you understand it? That empathy drives us to find the friction and the bias and remove it. We want to surface issues early — not harshly, but responsibly, so we can eliminate them. That’s a little different from how others might approach it. It’s our maternal nurturing and empathy that comes to the table first.

Wendy Summers
Nurturing definitely creates a culture of empowerment. Because we know how to nurture and listen and engage, we create that environment for everyone around us. That’s critical in anyone’s day-to-day job and in how they run their business.

Holly McCann
I always spend time trying to walk around to the other side of the table — putting myself in the other person’s shoes. Healthcare is such a loaded space. When you’re dealing with a health episode and your personal finances are pulled in, it creates a very emotional environment to function in. I’m always trying to think: how is this person really feeling on the other side?

Let’s do one last poll: What AI adoption risk concerns you the most? Bias at scale, cultural fracture, short-term optimization over long-term outcomes, or all of the above?

The cultural element came in as a significant concern — not surprising. We have platforms like Pecon to help identify where friction exists in our organization.

There’s a question in the chat from Jenny Evans: Is anyone doing change readiness employee surveys to formalize the assessment of cultural fractures?

Wendy Summers
I’ll share what we do at Carenet, because I believe it’s best in class. I spent 26 years at another organization before coming here, and when I arrived I was blown away by this piece of what Carenet does.

We use Pecon surveys through Workday, and where most companies do engagement surveys twice a year at best, Carenet does them every single week. At first it sounds like overkill, but we’re in an industry that’s changing so quickly and change management is so critical. Each week you can ask different questions — even about a change you just made. You can ask employees exactly what they’re seeing, how they’re feeling. It helps us stay in touch with our frontline employees and our entire leadership team to understand how we’re doing with change management, whether it’s technology or governance.

Anita Scaria
We use a similar tool. The frequency is different, but we have that same ability for direct, anonymized feedback. Free text comments come in with great summaries. We’ve also made harnessing and leveraging AI for effectiveness a corporate-level goal — so we talk about it openly, remove the stigma or fear that can come for some of the workforce, and use real examples. Those touch points give real-time feedback.

Holly McCann

I love that you’ve created that internal space. Pecon is an amazing tool — whatever platform you use to collect employee engagement data at all levels gives you a great cross section of what’s happening.

At Carenet, we’re using AI bots for frontline interviews now, and we’re seeing some really interesting results. People are actually more open with an AI bot than with a human interviewer. Wendy, what other areas are you seeing where technology is propelling us forward?

Wendy Summers
We’ve built a platform with bots and automation as well. When every company evaluates technology, the question is: what friction are you trying to overcome? Technology can remove friction at both the frontline employee level and the member and patient level.

We’re also facing cost pressures across healthcare. The automation we’ve incorporated lets the more administrative tasks be handled by technology, which frees our frontline health advisors for the more complex issues that genuinely require a human voice. That’s where technology has played a part for us — it’s now integral to how we do business.

Holly McCann
I had a client once who told me their frontline health advisors were navigating in and out of over 30 applications on any given call for member support. You’re expecting someone to navigate 30 systems while delivering a highly personalized, empathetic conversation. It simply can’t happen.

What I love now is that technology is doing that background work — eliminating the Easter egg hunt, where people were digging and digging for information. Now bots can find that information, allowing advisors to be fully present in the moment with members and patients. Marla, how is that working on the digital side?

Marla Armstrong
For me, it’s about removing friction without losing humanity.

Intentional engagement means digital tools, access, and strategies all working together as one system. At Christus, we look at it as “One Christus” — many departments and teams, but coming together as one. When we do that, our internal trust and alignment become stronger. The experience is simpler for patients. Accessibility is increased. We’re more reliable and consistent in our messaging across departments. And overall, it feels human — even with digital tools in the mix. When engagement feels human, it becomes measurable, so we can continue the cycle.

Holly McCann
Anita, what’s a tangible example of human connection driving behavior change — something an algorithm or bot alone couldn’t have achieved?

Anita Scaria
When we’re talking to our members through partners like Carenet, we’re likely encountering them during a vulnerable time in their life. People aren’t stagnant — something can be fine in February, and by April there’s been a life-changing event, a new diagnosis.

Algorithms and data can help us identify trends, but it takes connection to actually uncover what’s really true — who is the person behind the data. One example that comes to mind is medication adherence: data can tell us something’s off, but connection pulls out why. We’ve encountered members who aren’t taking their medication because they can’t afford their electricity bill, or they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. In that situation, you’re not thinking about your cholesterol medication.

We’ve been able to connect members directly to local food banks and local resources. Over time, as we address and close those barriers, we see medication adherence actually improve. The bot may be able to help surface certain things — and there are aspects where the safety of interacting with technology rather than a human can actually be helpful — but getting to the root of those barriers takes real connection.

Holly McCann
That’s exactly the power of having AI as an assistant — reading data faster than we ever could, teeing up talking points, next best actions, or community resources right in the moment. That’s how we’re able to truly show up and help people.

We’re being mindful of time. Ali, do we have questions coming in?

Ali

I think asking our panelists what leadership or connection practice they would implement to strengthen performance and culture would be great to hear from everyone.

Holly McCann
My leadership practice is to stay close to the people who are actually talking with your members and patients. I’ve been running large-scale, call-center-type solutions for 30 years. If you want to solve a problem, go sit with the people who hear from members every day. Regardless of where you sit in the organization, you’ve got to be with your people. Build that community, remove the silos and the barriers. People in the trenches need to know that leadership is in it with them — that we don’t sit in an ivory tower, but that we’re there alongside everyone trying to solve for things together.

Marla Armstrong
I would agree completely. I have a weekly huddle with the team. That connectivity is very important. I want them to understand that as frontline users, I’m there with them — I want to hear from them and have the opportunity to course correct and give them resolution where I can. Humanity is important, and that’s what they’re looking for. We’re leaders by title, but we’re humans by nature. That’s what I try to practice every day.