Cathy K. Eddy is the Founder of the Health Plan Alliance, an organization started by and for provider-sponsored health plans to help its members be more competitive in their individual markets by sharing a broad knowledge base, identifying performance improvement methods, collective purchasing, and insights. Formed in 1996 as the HMO Alliance, today it has 45+ member health plans located throughout the country. She retired as president in April 2018. 

In addition to oversight of the Health Plan Alliance Board, Cathy has been a speaker and facilitator for numerous boards, addressing the challenges of health care reform, provider ownership, managed care trends, governance, innovation, and accountable care.

How did you become a leader in health care?

I started my career as a journalist and got into health care by answering a blind ad for a communications position. It turned out the company was a Blue Cross plan based in Cincinnati. I spent six years there and then two and a half years as Director of Communications at a hospital in Dayton. I leveraged that experience to get my MBA at Wharton in their health care management program and then did public policy work in DC. I was VHA’s national lead in community health improvement before I started the Health Plan Alliance in 1996 for provider-sponsored health plans and ran that company for 22 years.

You’re a deeply experienced board director who sits on a number of advisory boards. How did you get into this line of work? What do you enjoy most about advisory positions?

I vetted hundreds of companies in my roles as president of the Health Plan Alliance and VP, Innovation Screening the Clinical Services division of Vizient (formerly VHA). I often gave these companies advice on how to be successful working with health plans and health systems. 

When I retired from my executive role, I started to work with several companies as an advisor to help them navigate payer and provider markets. As an advisor, you can use your expertise in a variety of areas with the leadership team and to make connections that will help them grow their business. I enjoy these roles because they tap into my knowledge and allow me to keep learning different aspects of the health care industry. Each conversation with start-up and early-stage companies is interesting. 

As a longtime WBL emeritus member and faculty mentor at our upcoming Board Program, you do a lot to give back to the WBL network. What makes WBL and our goal of bringing more women into the boardroom important to you?

The emeritus group consists of long-time members of WBL who have transitioned from full-time executive roles into the next phase of their lives, where we have more flexibility to give back to the WBL community. I’ve been a member since 2004, which is when I attended my first Summit. We went to Northwestern for a condensed version of their board program, which helped me learn to manage my own board. The next year I joined my first board – Presbyterian Health Plan in New Mexico.

The development of the WBL Board Program has expanded the organization’s commitment to getting more women in the boardroom. For years, one of my biggest focus areas of professional development was governance. WBL has always been a great resource for me in that regard. As a faculty member of the WBL Board Program, I am able to support others on their journey, which is very fulfilling to me.

Personally or professionally, what might the WBL network be surprised to know about you?

We are in another presidential election year. My shortest, most intense job ever was working on a presidential campaign in 1992. I was Ross Perot’s health policy analyst.