Speakers 2025

Dr. Priscilla Alfaro is a seasoned healthcare professional with extensive experience in executive medical management, fraud prevention, and healthcare analytics. A certified medical coder, fraud examiner, and auditor, she has a proven track record of improving healthcare efficiency and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse across various roles and affiliations, including the Texas HHS and Anthem.

Crystal Son is an Executive Director of Enterprise Data Analytics Solutions at Healthcare Service Corporation (HCSC), the largest customer-owned health insurer in the United States. HCSC provides access to care nationwide through Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas as well as through its broad portfolio of companies. Crystal has 20 years of experience in deriving intelligence from data and mobilizing teams to action.

At HCSC, she leads the Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships team, which leads key programs such as Payment Integrity, Responsible AI and AI Literacy and Workforce Readiness. She is passionate about real-world applications of data-driven insights, storytelling through data, and building high-performance teams. 

Prior to joining HCSC in October 2022, Crystal held several roles at previous organizations, including delivery of data science advisory services, management of healthcare and government customer portfolios, and the development and launch of several new products.  She began her career in data as an epidemiologist, first for the City of New York, then with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center but has called downtown Chicago home for the last 11 years.

Simi Binning is an accomplished healthcare professional with over a decade of experience in developing and executing successful strategies that drive business growth. Currently serving as a Responsible AI lead at HCSC, her focus is on AI governance and innovative problem solving.

Novelette Wallace is a distinguished Payment Integrity Leader with a rich background spanning over 30 years in the healthcare industry. Her extensive experience includes leadership roles within payment integrity, where she has played pivotal roles in both payment integrity vendor organizations and health plans. Throughout her career, Novelette has demonstrated a remarkable ability to build and lead Payment Integrity departments from their inception. Her expertise has been instrumental in establishing robust processes and strategies to identify and recover inaccuracies in claims, contributing significantly to cost of care savings for health plans year after year.

Novelette has held key leadership positions with industry-leading organizations, including Performant Corp, United Healthcare, and Aetna (previously Coventry). In each role, she has consistently delivered results by optimizing payment integrity processes and driving operational excellence. Currently serving as the Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Payment Integrity for Johns Hopkins Health Plans, Novelette continues to bring her wealth of knowledge and leadership acumen to the forefront. Her dedication to achieving and surpassing cost of care savings goals exemplifies her commitment to advancing the financial health and efficiency of healthcare organizations.

With a proven track record of success and a comprehensive understanding of payment integrity within the healthcare landscape, Novelette Wallace stands as a respected leader in the industry, contributing significantly to the success of the organizations she serve

Stephanie Sjogren is a director of coding and provider reimbursement, working with payment integrity to ensure proper claims adjudication and to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. Prior to joining ConnectiCare/EmblemHealth, she performed provider audits and education at a women’s healthcare group. Sjogren has also worked with physicians and staff to integrate and use electronic health record systems effectively and to stay in compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ rules and regulations. Her areas of specialty are payment integrity, auditing, and clinical documentation improvement. 

With over 18 years of experience in healthcare billing and finance, I am a certified professional coder dedicated to ensuring accurate claims and proper reimbursement for providers. Having worked extensively on the provider side in finance and revenue cycle, I bring wealth of knowledge to the table, particularly in processing and payment integrity.
Throughout my career, I have gained a comprehensive understanding of billing challenges from both perspectives. This unique insight drives my commitment to improving billing practices and advocating for provider education. I continue to leverage my expertise to enhance billing processes and support providers in navigating the complexities of healthcare finance.

Saikiran (Sai) Vodela is an Advisor and Manager of HealthIT at L.A. Care Health Plan, where he leads strategic efforts in Health Information Exchange (HIE), California’s Data Exchange Framework (DxF), and interoperability initiatives that support care coordination for Los Angeles County’s safety net population.

Sai previously spearheaded the implementation of a clinical data repository under the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPi), a nationwide effort by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) aimed at improving healthcare delivery through data-driven transformation. The program achieved $196 million in cost avoidance for the health plan. Earlier in his career, he developed performance monitoring solutions for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and Medicare providers at an electronic health record company.

He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Healthcare Management, a Master of Science (MS) in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy (PharmB).

Mandi Heiple is the Director of Payment Integrity at Medica, where she leads a high-performing team dedicated to ensuring accurate, compliant, and efficient claims payment across commercial and government lines of business. She oversees end-to-end payment integrity strategy – from prospective editing and coding validation to retrospective audits. Her teams drive measurable savings while protecting provider relationships and improving member experiences.

With over 20 years in healthcare operations and payment integrity, Mandi has focused on designing and implementing solutions that close process gaps, reduce improper payments, and strengthen compliance frameworks.