Share ThisOur vision is a world where everyone embraces health. In our Remarkable Leadership series, we talk with people who are making that vision a reality by leading the work to create a new system of health, empower our customers and communities, and better support every individual’s health journey.
During her distinguished career, Deb Rice-Johnson has helped lead the charge in transforming Highmark and the health industry at large to create remarkable experiences amid changing consumer preferences, technological advancements and shifting market and competitive forces.
In our interview, Deb shares her leadership path and the personal experiences that drive her commitment to customers. She also explains why Highmark Health recently unveiled Alloyed Works, which unifies the enterprise’s diversified business solutions and other market-leading capabilities that drive growth, reduce costs and improve outcomes for health organization customers across the country.
David Golebiewski: Tell us about your leadership journey at Highmark and your current role as CEO of Diversified Businesses and chief growth officer.
Deb Rice-Johnson: I started my career more than 40 years ago in the pharmacy department at what was then called the Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania. That organization merged with the Pennsylvania Blue Shield in 1996 to create Highmark. I worked my way up to management roles related to strategic development, operations, IT, and customer service, and became president of Highmark Inc. in 2010.
As president of Highmark Inc., I had the pleasure of leading a remarkable team for our company's multi-state health insurance organization. We’ve completed successful affiliations in Delaware, West Virginia, western and northeastern New York, as well as a merger in northeastern Pennsylvania. Today, I am proud to say that Highmark Health Plans are among the largest Blue Plans in the country, serving around 7 million members.
In 2022, I became CEO of Diversified Businesses for Highmark Inc. and chief growth officer. Our diverse family of businesses gives us a unique opportunity to reimagine the health care experience. As chief growth officer, I focus on understanding the challenges impacting the industry and have worked on developing a full suite of capabilities which have helped us expand and scale our business. We achieve growth through a variety of strategies, including organic growth in membership, strategic affiliations, provider partnerships and joint ventures, and digital solutions.
David Golebiewski: How have your personal interactions with the health care system inspired you to create remarkable experiences for the members, patients and communities that Highmark serves?
Deb Rice-Johnson: Years ago, my late husband Harry was diagnosed with cancer. In an instant, I found myself on the other side of the health care system and filled with all the fear and concern that comes with caring for a sick loved one. I recall the time and energy spent traveling from one facility to the next, needing to remember to bring medications, imaging and other essentials while navigating a labyrinthine system of care. This is the industry I had built a career in, and even though we had phenomenal doctors and nurses, the experience was still challenging — not just for Harry, but the entire family.
This inspired me to take a patient-centric and family-centric approach to my job and to focus on the customer first. Our team is dedicated to building products and services that simplify the experience for our customers. We’ve also formed collaborations at ChristianaCare and Penn State Health that have taken on the rising costs of health care and increased access to care for our members. It’s very fulfilling to be part of this work because I never forget what it’s like to be on the other side of care.
David Golebiewski: How is Highmark adapting to a changing health care landscape to continue creating remarkable experiences?
Deb Rice-Johnson: Highmark has served generations of families and communities through the best and most challenging moments in their lives. That core focus, and commitment, has remained our constant through the years.
But the world has changed since we started. Companies that succeed over the long run must adapt to changing times. Our customers’ needs and expectations have transformed, and so have we.
Traditional health insurers face myriad challenges in 2024, from shifting consumer preferences, to new competitors, to technological revolution. Customers expect a seamless, high-tech and integrated experience that combines health coverage and care — and is more in line with other retail experiences like shopping or banking. Non-profit health insurers are also competing against national carriers with significant resources, not to mention tech and customer service-savvy disruptors.
At Highmark, we have adapted by diversifying and developing new market-leading capabilities. In addition to our bread-and-butter health insurance products, we created a more integrated experience for customers by offering a national dental solutions partner; post-acute care network management with more than $100 million in medical cost savings through reduced readmissions and improved health outcomes; a technology platform with smart automation and technology that supports and streamlines complex operations for health plans and their provider partners; stop-loss insurance that has saved clients more than $70 million from cost containment practices; and third-party administrative services that help self-insured employers control the health plan and products they offer their employees.
In addition to delivering great value for customers, our diversified businesses, now under the unified banner of Alloyed Works, are vital to the enterprise’s financial stability and growth. Their success helps fuel investment in our Living Health model, which connects coverage and care to boost affordability and accessibility, better engage members and clinicians, and improve health outcomes while managing costs. Both on their own and as part of Highmark Health, they also expand our legacy of community service and investment.
We have also developed experience in helping organizations increase prescription drug access while managing costs, as well as analytical, customer service and health policy insights that have driven us to enter new markets and grow our health insurance membership.
In a podcast interview with Becker’s Healthcare, I shared more about Alloyed Works and the pharmacy transformation work I’m really excited about at Highmark.
David Golebiewski: How are the businesses and capabilities of Alloyed Works transforming health care more broadly?
Deb Rice-Johnson: If you look at our organization’s transformation and growth, we started as a traditional health insurance company. By the mid-1990s, our annual revenue was around $2.3 billion. In 2024, we are a $27.1 billion enterprise that touches and improves tens of millions of lives across the country, and that provided more than $225 million last year in charity and uncompensated care and corporate giving. We could not have achieved that kind of transformation and growth without the diversified businesses.
We are proudly working with health organizations throughout the U.S. to accomplish similar improvements in customer experience, care quality, access, and health outcomes. The solutions and capabilities aligned under the Alloyed Works name provide our health organization customers with a clear vision for how they can create remarkable experiences for people they serve and grow business.
Today’s customer wants a holistic, simplified and tailor-made experience. By offering new solutions and capabilities, successful organizations are supporting their customers with whole-person, full-journey care while also achieving the kind of scale required to transform and invest in health more effectively. By diversifying, health insurers can better serve their members, patients and communities for generations to come while developing a more robust, sustainable business model at the same time.
Deborah Rice-Johnson is CEO of Diversified Businesses for Highmark Inc. and chief growth officer. She is an innovative health leader, driven by a passion for reinventing health care experiences and pioneering provider relationships designed to keep care close to home and change antiquated reimbursement methods. Through diverse and inventive relationships ranging from joint ventures to equity interest partnerships, she has spearheaded affiliations and clinical alliances with Penn State Health and many other regionally-based health care providers.
Ms. Rice-Johnson leads a national network of diversified businesses and market-leading capabilities collectively known as Alloyed Works, which drive growth, reduce costs and improve outcomes for Highmark Health, as well as forward-thinking health organization customers across the country. As CEO of Diversified Businesses, she is responsible for Highmark subsidiaries including United Concordia Dental, a top ten national dental plan that serves the largest voluntary dental program in the world with TRICARE; and HM Insurance Group, a top ten national stop loss carrier with additional managed care reinsurance solutions.
Under Ms. Rice-Johnson's leadership, Highmark has emerged as a national pacesetter in improving prescription drug affordability and access, including though innovative partnerships with fellow Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations that increase the supply and stabilize the cost of essential generic medications, analyze the clinical benefits of therapies, and improve the drug value chain.
AlloyedWorks is a key component of how Highmark has transformed from a traditional health insurance company with about $2.3 billion in annual revenue in the mid-1990s, to a $29 billion enterprise that improves tens of millions of lives across the country.
As chief growth officer, Ms. Rice-Johnson is responsible for pursuing a range of strategic partnerships, affiliations and acquisitions that enables Highmark to unlock the shared value to organizations and transform healthcare. Together, we will realize the potential of a Living Health model, which creates a better system for customers and clinicians through innovative solutions and partnerships while strengthening community-based care, improving health outcomes and lowering costs for members.
When in her role as president of Highmark Inc., Ms. Rice-Johnson provided senior leadership and strategic direction for the company's multi-state health insurance organization. During this time, she guided Highmark through successful affiliations in Delaware, West Virginia, Western and Northeastern New York, as well as a merger in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As a result, Highmark Health Plans are now among the largest Blue Plans in the country, serving approximately 7.1 million members.
Ms. Rice-Johnson has more than 40 years of experience in the health insurance industry. Her leadership has not only redefined the payer-provider relationship and yielded unparalleled financial performance, but she has also delivered innovative clinical solutions that aim to improve health outcomes. She is also keenly committed to positively impacting the employment situation of our nation's military veterans and those with disabilities.
Ms. Rice-Johnson holds a bachelor's degree in business management from Carlow University. In 2014, she was named a Carlow Laureate, the university's most prestigious alumni award recognizing those whose work, thought and action demonstrate the highest standards of professional accomplishment and leadership. She was also named to Modern Healthcare's Top 25 Women Leaders in 2022, a program honoring female executives who are guiding health care delivery improvement across the country.
Highmark Health and its subsidiaries and affiliates comprise a national blended health organization that employs more than 42,000 people and serves millions of Americans across the country.
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