About Collaborative Health Systems

Dr. Steele joined the CHS team as chief medical officer in September 2021. In his role for CHS and the ACO, he engages closely with provider partners to achieve clinical innovation and excellence. Dr. Steele is board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians. He remains on clinical faculty at the University of Rochester. Most recently, Dr. Steele worked as a consultant to digital health startups and innovative health plans. Previously, he was vice president of medical affairs-clinical Services at Excellus BlueCross/Blue Shield, where he oversaw clinical operations, informatics, affordability, quality and value-based care. Dr. Steele was chief medical officer for their Medicaid line of business from 2018 to 2020. He previously worked with Centene from 2016-2018 in specialty markets as CMO for Envolve New York. He worked with the University of Rochester for 18 years, serving in various leadership roles including as associate chief medical information officer (from 2010 to 2017) and associate medical director for Primary Care Network. He has extensive experience in population health, analytics, quality and process improvement. Dr. Steele is a graduate of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he also completed his internship and family medicine residency.

Chris is CHS’s Chief Operating Officer. He leads a team that is responsible for program application cycle management, strategic vendor relationships, quality and RAPs performance oversight, integrating and leveraging CHS’ capabilities with partners, as well as systems analysis, design, and implementation. Prior to his current role, Chris served as Wellcare’s vice president of compliance oversight and was responsible for monitoring and oversight activities for internal and delegated entity operations. He has held various audit positions with Wellcare, TECO Energy and Palmetto GBA. Chris earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Florida. He holds Certified Internal Auditor, Certification in Control Self-Assessment, and Certified Financial Services Auditor certifications from the Institute of Internal Auditors. Chris’ decades long experience leading, implementing and maintaining compliant operations for numerous ACOs will be a tremendous asset in the transition of all operational aspects of the ACO to the ACO PC Flex Model.

Mike Allen joined the CHS team as Chief Financial Officer in August 2021. In this role, he will lead overall financial strategy and operations, identifying key opportunities to improve performance across the organization’s ACOs, DCEs, and IPAs. Mike has a broad-based corporate finance background, including corporate development, investor relations, financial planning & analysis, internal financial reporting and financial systems/data management & analytics. After the completion of the Centene acquisition, Mike left an 11 year career at WellCare for a short period to work on a project at CVS Health that involved centralizing CVS health care delivery assets to better position the company to enter into value-based care relationships with its provider partners. During his time at WellCare, Mike was instrumental in WellCare’s acquisition of Universal American Corp., which involved helping familiarize WellCare with the ACO business model.

Karen has served as vice president of CHS’s south region since 2015 and currently manages two ACO REACH entities (Complete Health Accountable Care, LLC and Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Texas, inc.); two independent practice associations (IPAs) (Heritage Physician Network and Golden Triangle Physician Alliance); and Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs (Accountable Care Coalition of Georgia, LLC, and Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health II, LLC). She has over 20 years of management experience in strategic management of healthcare organizations, focusing on value-based care, provider network development and group practice operations. Before joining CHS, Karen served as the director of physician network development for Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, TX, and was a member of the strategy team that led the development of the Memorial Hermann ACO (MHACO). She was directly involved in the development, engagement and transformation of 2,500 independent physicians in Memorial’s Clinically Integrated Network, where she focused on quality reporting and utilization management. The MHACO was the top performing Shared Savings Program ACO in the country from 2013 through 2015. Karen will serve as an experienced ACO PC Flex Model executive leader, applying her vast experience with successful Shared Savings Program ACOs, Next Generation ACOs and Direct Contracting/REACH ACOs.

Shawn Bassett is Vice President for the North Region of Collaborative Health Systems. In his role, he is responsible for strategic planning and operational and financial performance for MSSP, ACO REACH, IPA/MSO, and Maryland PCP programs. Shawn leads the North Region teams working with provider offices to improve quality, increase efficiency, and to shift to value-based and risk-sharing partnerships. Initially when he joined CHS in 2016, he was to lead the New Jersey and New York MSSP ACO’s, working with them to achieve shared savings. His role has since expanded beyond ACO to multiple Medicare, Medicare Advantage and commercial programs. Shawn has been instrumental in the growth and development of CHS, working directly with business development to launch value-based care initiatives in Connecticut, Illinois, and Colorado, including new efforts in Rural Health Transformation in Value Based Care and Medicare Advantage development. He is an active member of NAACOS and a member of American Physicians Group.

Shawn has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry holding leadership positions in clinical roles, provider contracting, operations, and practice management. A frequent and active contributor to conferences, he has developed educational programs and presented on numerous occasions around strategic planning and program development. Shawn holds a master’s degree in Health Care Management.

Elena is CHS’s vice president of healthcare analytics, leading a team focused on transforming information into insight. She joined the CHS leadership team in 2014 and develops advanced analytics, models and algorithms to support healthcare transformation and innovation for CHS provider partners. Before joining CHS, Elena worked at McKinsey Solutions Office in Healthcare Value Analytics. She has held leadership positions at Horizon Healthcare Innovations (a subsidiary of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of New Jersey), Anthem and Milliman. Elena earned an MBA from Fordham University and a bachelor of science in actuarial science and applied mathematics from Maryville University. She was a member of the Brookings-Dartmouth ACO Learning Network from 2011 to 2013. Elena provides decision support for data collection, analysis, and reporting and oversees development of files, dashboards, and detailed reports to support care coordination and utilization management for the ACO.