Elisha Cortes
Louisville
Summary
Leader with 18+ years of demonstrated project and program management and leadership experience in the healthcare and wellness industry, including a Fortune 100 company and startup departments, specializing in organizational process transformation and operational enhancement implementations with large budgets ($1+ million). Led teams of up to 40 people, founded a project management office (PMO), and partnered with executive leadership to plan and execute strategic initiatives, particularly for government programs (Medicare and Medicaid).
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
PMO MANAGER
ARKANSAS BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD
LITTLE ROCK
07.2022 - Current
- Founded and implemented new PMO office for Government Programs (Medicare, Medicaid, ACA) which established standards and processes for optimal performance across the organization
- Led, mentored, and guided team of 4 project managers, 30+ vendors, and operational leaders through 15 successful project implementations over 2 years while fostering collaboration and ensuring timely delivery of strategic initiatives
- Worked closely with Director of Strategy, VP of Government Programs, and Lead Executive of Government Programs to scope and define projects for delivery within strategic timelines
- Oversaw the 2024 Medicare Annual Enrollment Period and new year readiness initiatives, including 4 new vendor implementations and cross-functional system updates with internal and external stakeholders, achieving significant achievements in implementation efficiency and quality compared to previous years by effectively setting expectations of stakeholders and using project management tools, techniques, and documents
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER-PRODUCT DESIGN
AUTHOR BY HUMANA
LOUISVILLE
03.2020 - 07.2022
- Served as implementation and relationship manager with 6 vendors for specialty benefit administration in new Medicare Advantage startup health plan
- Defined and coordinated project implementation schedules with fixed deliverable dates involving both external and internal cross-functional operational and technical parties within the SAFe Agile framework
- Successfully planned and implemented operationalization of 3 Value-Based benefits, 5 new specialty benefits with vendors, and multiple enhancements improving benefit administration
PROGRAM MANAGER-PROVIDER CONNECTIVITY SERVICES
HUMANA
LOUISVILLE
06.2018 - 03.2020
- Directed up to 7 simultaneous medium to large scale projects and 80 associates in matrix environment covering electronic provider payment enhancements, which boosted business opportunities by $1 million/month, with an operational time savings goal for support teams of 180 minutes/day
- Implemented large enterprise project in 7 months using hybrid Waterfall and Agile project schedule, which resulted in $7 million in savings and revenue and exceeded expectations
- Led strategic and budget discussions regarding Humana's electronic payment program (ePay) with IT and Business Leadership, resulting in obtaining necessary scope and funding for projects
- Developed detailed ePay program roadmaps and presented strategy and execution to executive VP leadership resulting in approval to execute
- Performed Product Ownership responsibilities to define 30+ issues of ERA EFT System, recommending solutions, and continuous reprioritization of delivery of solutions with IT partners in Agile environment, accomplished resolution of the system and operational issues
PROJECT MANAGER - PROVIDER CONNECTIVITY SERVICES
HUMANA
LOUISVILLE
04.2015 - 06.2018
- Earned Promotion to Program Manager based on successful managing of related projects, proven ability to develop roadmaps, understand technical complexity of systems and processes, and execute on leadership strategies
- Collaborated and executed results with information-exchange vendor and internal Humana business and IT teams in all phases of project implementation which resulted in new provider-facing web-application for ePay enrollments
- Organized multiple stakeholder strategic ideas into an executable project plan for Availity Migration Project Internal and External Communications, formed internal team, and coordinated project plan to execute with external vendor within 2 weeks achieving outstanding results
- Achieved successful results of 120,000 new users registered on Availity within 1,800 Tax IDs across the nation, bringing national registration up to 80% of targeted provider population
- Orchestrated projects within strict timeframes and budget constraints by employing critical thinking to solve complex problems and working closely with senior leaders
MARKET MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT/PROJECT MANAGER
HUMANA
LOUISVILLE
01.2014 - 01.2015
- Formed and implemented new governance structure with leaders with goal to provide visibility and appropriate approvals to risk contract implementations
- Successfully implemented 2 delegation risk contracts within 1 year
PROJECT MANAGER - CLAIMS PROCESS ORG
HUMANA
LOUISVILLE
01.2011 - 01.2014
- Led medium to large-scale projects as Claims Organization Project Manager with dual role as Process Improvement consultant
- Results of such projects amounted to $60+ million in claim cost savings, 2 hours/day in time management of operational support team savings, and compliance in claim payments for specific types of medical and surgical claims
- Demonstrated team leadership throughout all stages of project lifecycle
- Facilitated and coordinated tasks assigned to multiple resources while simultaneously managing multiple projects with up to 50 team members per project
- Contributed to department's Project Management Body of Knowledge repository by drafting, updating, and sharing project management templates and lessons learned across PMO departments consisting of at least 30 project managers and process consultants
Education
BACHELOR OF ARTS - COMMUNICATIONS
Indiana University Southeast
Skills
- Project Management Tools & Methods
- Team Management
- Process Improvement
- Employee Mentorship & Development
- Strategic Planning
- Budgeting
- Prioritization
- Vendor Management
- Critical Thinking
- Risk Management
- Change Management
- Remote & Virtual Teams
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Stakeholder Relations
- Performance Management
- Interpersonal Communications
- Microsoft Excel
- PowerPoint
- MS Project
- Google Smartsheet
- Jira
- Workday
- SAFE Agile
- SDLC Waterfall
- Adobe Acrobat Professional
- Visio
Websites
Accomplishments
- Established a project management office within the Government Programs organization developed and implemented onboarding and project management tools, processes, and policies that streamlined operations, improved efficiency and supported strategic organizational goals.
- Spearheaded the successful implementation of 50+ small ($50+K, 10 team members) to large-scale ($1+ million, 40 team members) projects, delivering $100+ million in savings and revenue.
- Led a complex implementation within 9 months, on $1 million budget with limited cross-functional resources, resulting in multi-million-dollar savings and revenue within 7 months.
- Partnered with over 20 vendors to implement and maintain system and process solutions, ensuring high-quality outcomes and strong business-to-business relationships.
- Drove operational efficiencies by leading system and process enhancements, achieving an average 50% improvement.
- Collaborated with cross-functional business and IT teams to implement over 100 operational and system processes.
Timeline
PMO MANAGER
ARKANSAS BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD
07.2022 - Current
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER-PRODUCT DESIGN
AUTHOR BY HUMANA
03.2020 - 07.2022
PROGRAM MANAGER-PROVIDER CONNECTIVITY SERVICES
HUMANA
06.2018 - 03.2020
PROJECT MANAGER - PROVIDER CONNECTIVITY SERVICES
HUMANA
04.2015 - 06.2018
MARKET MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT/PROJECT MANAGER
HUMANA
01.2014 - 01.2015
PROJECT MANAGER - CLAIMS PROCESS ORG
HUMANA
01.2011 - 01.2014
BACHELOR OF ARTS - COMMUNICATIONS
Indiana University Southeast
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