Michael Mathias was placed as chief information officer of Providence Health Plan. Formed in 1984, Providence Health Plan (PHP) has been named among the “most admired” Oregon healthcare companies by the Portland Business Journal, has been recognized as the highest-rated PPO plan in Oregon by NCQA, and has achieved the highest possible Medicare Star rating for its Medicare Advantage plans. PHP leverages the network of Providence, one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers, which has over $23 billion in revenue and serves over 13 million patients through 51 hospitals, 829 clinics, and 16 supportive housing facilities; 119,000 caregivers, 25,000 physicians, and 38,000 nurses; and 90 non-acute services – all spread across seven states in a diverse family of Catholic, other faith-based, and secular organizations. The plan currently has approximately 600,000 members and $2.5 billion in revenue. In his role, Michael will oversee PHP’s information technology and computer systems, with duties that include assessing current processes, recommending software upgrades, and directing the executive team on best processes.
Michael comes to Providence from Blue Shield of California, where he served as chief information officer for eight years. During that time, he led innovation efforts and implemented Blue Shield’s long-term technology strategy, modernized and transformed major components of the computing environment to a cloud-based model and insourced IT functions, created the company’s Health Information Technology capabilities to position it as a leader in making quality health care more affordable and more accessible, and co-founded the first employee affinity groups in the organization to ensure diversity and mentorship. He also took on customer experience for the plan, leading the improvement of business processes, and was able to raise customer satisfaction scores from the bottom quartile to the top quartile in 18 months. In addition, Michael was the technical advisor for the nonprofit California Integrated Data Exchange, which was created by Blue Shield and Anthem to support a state-wide health information exchange.
Prior to joining Blue Shield, Michael had a career of almost two decades with Aetna, rising through the roles of systems engineering manager, head of technology architecture and strategy, head of enterprise architecture, and vice president and chief technology officer, before becoming CIO. As CIO, Michael had functional responsibility for all technology areas and initiatives for the company and its affiliates, bridging the gap between business requirements and technology to achieve results.
Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Long Island University in Brookville, New York. He has an extensive history of board memberships in the technology field, as well as awards for his work on diversity and success as a CIO. Outside of work, in addition to spending time with his family, Michael enjoys daily workouts, golfing, listening to music, trying new foods, and traveling.
QLK’s Steve Derks, Steve Lieber, Mike Marrah, and Joe Johnston led the search to recruit Michael to PHP, where his duties will begin on August 29, 2022.
