Optimizing Health Plan Contracting: The 2026 OPEN MINDS Executive Seminar On Building Referrals, Revenue & Margins
Across the country, managed care organizations are successfully delivering treatment services to large populations and doing it in a way that saves states significant sums of money. These demonstrated savings show that value-based reimbursement and managed care arrangements arenât going anywhere. For executives, this means they must find a way to position themselves to work closely with managed care companies. And provider organizations need to move from an understanding of the key competencies required in the VBR model to tactical initiatives for implementing the talent, technology, and systems that deliver quality and value.
How? By developing relationships with the payers in your market, considering what metrics they are tied to and how you can help them to meet their performance requirements, discussing how you can align programs and services with the goals of the payers and health plans in your market, and providing data that proves your service lines can achieve both high quality outcomes and lower costs. In this crucial seminar, we will discuss:
- How to start strategic conversations with health plans
- How to confirm the foundational components of infrastructure needed for VBR are in place and demonstrate your organizationâs value in a way that will capture health planâs interest
- How to secure and optimize service agreements with health plans and implement approaches to realign service models to ensure success in a value-driven market
Rick Gutierrez, Ph.D., BCBA
Rick Gutierrez, Ph.D. brings over 20 years of clinical and operational experience to the OPEN MINDS team. His unique blend of experience has allowed him to drive impactful outcomes in the developmental disability and behavioral health fields.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Dr. Gutierrez served as Vice President, Clinical Strategy & Operations at Easterseals Southern California. In this role he oversaw the outpatient Applied Behavior Analysis provider network and Enhanced Care Management in partnership with Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Gutierrez also oversaw START Crisis services, behavioral services for all residential services, negotiation and management of contracts with network providers and payers, and intake and customer service functions including revenue cycle management, benefits and eligibility, and authorization teams. In addition, he developed and monitored the implementation of a strategic plan in collaboration with the Chief Clinical Officer.
Prior to this, Dr. Gutierrez served as Regional Vice President and Director of Subcontracting also at Easterseals Southern California.
Previously, Dr. Gutierrez served as Clinical Administrator at Applied Behavioral Consultants, Inc. where he oversaw all clinical aspects of community-based behavioral health treatment for consumers in Southern California. He also monitored compliance across multiple areas of the organization, negotiated contracts with most major health plans, and led new program development. Before this role, Dr. Gutierrez served as Regional Director and Program Manager at Applied Behavioral Consultants, Inc.
Dr. Gutierrez is a certified Emotional Intelligence (EQ) trainer, licensed psychologist in California, and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). He has overseen a variety of service settings, including adult day programs, residential programs, and intensive therapy programs like Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and has worked with individuals across the lifespan who have developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions. He has experience managing projects aimed at enhancing service delivery, ensuring that strategic initiatives align with budgeted funding and contribute to sustainable growth. He has worked across diverse funding models, including those from the Department of Developmental Services, insurance companies, and school districts, while ensuring programs meet accreditation standards. Additionally, he has shared his expertise globally, giving numerous talks on program development, leadership, and employee retention. These combined clinical and operational skills make him a versatile leader capable of improving both care delivery and organizational performance.
He has also served as Program Director, Behavior Consultant, and Case Manager at various organizations. Dr. Gutierrez is an active member of multiple professional organizations.
Dr. Gutierrez earned his Doctorate of Philosophy from Capella University, his Masters of Science from California State University, and his Bachelors of Art from University of California. Â
Portfolio Management To Optimize Organizational Performance: The 2026 OPEN MINDS Executive Seminar On How To Optimize, Retire & Build A Service Line Portfolio For the Future
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM, Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including âWinning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,â âFive Pillars of Management Competency,â âData Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,â âSurvival of the Smartest: What is Your Organizationâs Information Literacy IQ?,â and âStrategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.â Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelorâs degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Mastersâ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Grand Opening Of The Exhibit Hall
Join us for an unveiling of all of our great exhibitors! Unwind from the day and enjoy cocktails and hor âdoeuvres with your peers and thought leaders.
Executive Breakfast & Registration
If you havenât registered yet, check in with us at the registration desk and then enjoy breakfast in the exhibit hall!
Thought Leader Discussion
Join our keynote for an interactive discussion where you can take time to ask your own questions and continue the conversation.
Executive Networking Reception
End your day by unwinding with your peers, colleagues, thought leaders, and vendors. Join us in the exhibit hall and enjoy a cocktail and hors dâoeurvres!
Executive Breakfast
Start your day off right with breakfast, served in the exhibit hall. Take this time to speak with our great exhibitors and talk to peers about what youâve heard this week!
Thought Leader Discussion
Join our keynote presenter for an interactive discussion where you can take time to ask your own questions and continue the conversation.
Closing Keynote
Monica E. Oss
Monica E. Oss, M.S. is the founder of OPEN MINDS and serves as its chief executive officer, executive editor of its publications and websites, and executive lead of its consulting engagements. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. She is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field â and its focus on the verticals of the field serving consumers with chronic conditions and complex support needs.
Ms. Oss has extensive experience in developing and implementing growth strategies for a wide array of organizations in the field. She has expertise in industry trend analysis, reimbursement, rate setting, and creating actionable plans for market success. In her role, she has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, and health plans, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms â with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.
Prior to founding OPEN MINDS, Ms. Oss served as an executive with a nationally managed behavioral health organization, responsible for market development, actuarial analysis, and capitation-based rate setting. She also held a position as vice president of the U.S. risk management and underwriting division of an international insurance company.
Ms. Oss has been the keynote speaker at the conferences of dozens of national associations and has been published in a wide range of professional journals and trade publications. She has provided Congressional and state legislative testimony on issues as diverse as the financial impact of parity and payer medication access policies.
Ms. Oss has led a range of industry research and consultation initiatives, serving as principal investigator on research projects that include the examination of national managed care enrollment and service patterns, development of provider rate structures for government entities, creation of return-on-investment models for technology investments; design of performance-based compensation models within public and private health plans; and analysis of the economic impact of changes in benefit design, adoption of evidence-based practices, and new technologies.