Tracy Saula: Highmark Health Provides Range of Products/Services

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome to the show, to all of my great listeners in the Americas, and I just want to tell you how much I appreciate it. You know, there are some of you, you'd like listen every show, and you're helping me change lives. So to all of my friends, thank you so much for listening to the show, and make sure you tell others to do the same. Then to my listeners around the world, I know you hear me talk about this all the time, but you know, the The U.S. State Department works with me, and they'll send me around the world when a country requests an expert on the employment of people with disabilities. So I've been to South Korea, Panama, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, and next year I'm going to Brazil. I was going this year. I know a lot of you heard me talk about that, but the consulates were not there when they were going to have me. There, and they— that's why we've moved it to the spring of 2025. But I just want to acknowledge some of you from South Korea, big listening audience, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, Morocco, China, South Africa, Egypt, Colombia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Spain, Germany, Hong Kong, and Brazil were just some of the countries listening to the last show. And you know, that means so much to me. You're helping me in those countries change quality of life for people in your country living with disabilities. Make sure you spread the news. Tell listeners from your country that speak English to listen to that show. Thank you so much. Special shout out to Yoshiko Dart. Uh, you all know for years and years and years you've heard me do that. Well, Yoshiko is the widow of the great Justin Dart Jr., who was loved and still is cherished by the disability community as the General of the Americans with Disabilities Act. You know, Yoshiko, when Justin got on Jeopardy, I knew he was really famous. But I am making sure that I keep our disability history alive. Love you, Yoshiko. Lead on. And I must thank our sponsor. Do you know we've been on 21 years? How is that possible that I've been on for 21 years? But over the past decade, the sponsor, lead sponsor, not just a sponsor, lead sponsor of this show is Highmark. Highmark, who I talk about all the time, the greatest, greatest company in America, the company that helped me start this company. And I mean, just, you know, all about employment, all about employment. And that's where the rubber meets the road is employment. I always say, don't tell me how much you like me, hire someone. That's where you're gonna change the life. And as an example, of how great Highmark is, guess what? We have a Senior Vice President, Chief Product and Experience Officer, a key leader at Highmark with us today. Highmark Health, Tracy Sala, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Joyce, happy to be with you.

Well, and I know you know that at Highmark, there is such incredible support for Bender Consulting Services.

There most certainly is, for many, many years.

Yes. So Tracy, our listeners around the world always, you know, want to know more about the guests. They'll say, "Oh, that person is so great. I wish I knew more about them." So would you mind sharing your story with our listeners? You know, like, where did you grow up, go to school, a little bit about your family and what moved you into the healthcare industry.

Sure, happy, happy to tell you. So, I, uh, classic Pittsburgh story. I grew up east of Pittsburgh in one of the suburbs, and I was an only child but from a very large extended family. And I still live in the east, not too far from my mom, uh, to this day. I have two young adult sons. Their names are Dushan and Nevan. And I also have a very large and awkward but very energetic Bernedoodle named Stella. And I have two Siberian cats named Maxie and Lola who don't really love Stella. If I go to my history on how I got to healthcare, so I went to college at Duquesne University and I knew I wanted to be an accountant. I'm actually obviously not an accountant now. My first role out of school, I was a certified public accountant for KPMG, and I was there for only about 3 years, and the whole time I was there, I worked on the Westinghouse account. So Westinghouse obviously was a large manufacturing company, and while I was on the account is when it pretty much divested of all of its businesses and became the CBS Corporation. And this is how I got to healthcare. So right when that happened, I had a couple job offers in New York City. One was to go work for CBS, one was to go work, still stay with KPMG, but we'll go work on the CBS account. And it just so happened that a former colleague of mine who had made the jump to Highmark, her name is, she's still here, her name is Melissa Anderson, and she's the Chief Risk Audit and Compliance Officer. She called me and she had just joined Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania a year prior. In that time, Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania had merged with Pennsylvania Blue Shield, which is out in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to form Highmark. And things were a bit messy from a finance and internal controls perspective. So Melissa called me and said, hey, don't go to New York. I'm creating this new team. It's basically focused on fixing all the stuff that's broken. Why don't you come and join Highmark? And I guess, you know, And the rest is history. I'll tell you something you probably don't know, Joyce. So Nanda Turk, who I know you knew well, she at one time was the CFO of Highmark. When I first started, she was our senior vice president. She wasn't even CFO yet. I mentioned Melissa Anderson hired me. She was my director. And another one of your favorites, Karen Hanlon, who is the current chief operating officer of Highmark Health, also was a KPMG alum. She was my manager. If you can believe it. So, I only say that because I obviously, if you know those three women, I began my career in healthcare working under the absolute best of the best, and this was back in 1998, and I've been here ever since.

Wow, that is a great story. And I know Karen Hanlon is soon gonna be on, but I just wanna tell you, Karen Hanlon is absolutely awesome. She brought me in for a luncheon not long ago, Tracy, and invited different direct reports of hers and said, okay, let's go. Let's, you know, what are you doing in your area? Start, you know, to hire people. And that's, that's just how she is. Yes, you did work for great people. And, you know, wow, talk about crème de la crème, that group. Well, you really had Great leadership. I want to tell all of you around the world with disabilities something I love about Tracey. She doesn't waste any time. I mean, she's sort of like a make-it-happen person, and if you haven't made it happen, it's like, why didn't you make it happen? You know, when I worked with her on hiring a person with a disability, it was all her. I mean, you know, she has a great team, but it was all Tracy. And she even— she followed up. And so I just want you to all know another Hallmark person who is the real deal, who does not discriminate, because we know how it should be— talent being the only discriminator. But I just want you to know that about her, you know, as we're talking. And Tracy, I really, really look up to you for everything you've done and appreciate you so much. But I know everyone also would want to know about, uh, Highmark. So what is your role at Highmark?

Sure. So, um, I am the Chief Product and Experience Officer, and that doesn't really tell you a lot, so In that role, I basically oversee teams that develop our health plan insurance products. We're also very focused on how do we transform the healthcare digital experience, which anybody who tries to engage in digital health certainly recognizes that it lags behind other digital experiences that we all, you know, love and use on a regular basis. So there's a lot of our effort that's going into how do we reimagine that. I also oversee the teams that design solutions that are focused on making the healthcare journey and experience for people and their clinicians better, and also I'm focused on ensuring that the backend systems and processes that have to support all of that are aligned and doing what they need to do. So kind of a diverse role, but— I get to solve a lot of problems every day and they're meaningful problems, so it's a good thing.

Products, how— for our listeners, just so they understand, what would be an example of a product?

Yeah, so an insurance product. So you, if you're a senior, if somebody over 65, that might be a Medicare Advantage product. Individual products on the healthcare exchange, you know, ACA, Affordable Care Act products. Also insurance products that you may receive through your employer, right? So your employer offers as a benefit to you insurance and it's the product that you would have with the benefits and the copays and the access to physicians and the ability to, you know, finance your healthcare.

You got a lot to do there, Tracey.

I got a lot to do.

You got a— yeah.

Well, I'm never bored, I'll tell you that.

Oh, I'm sure you're not, not in Highmark. Well, listen everyone, we're going to get ready to go to break. If you just joined us, we are talking to a real champion of hope for people living with disabilities, Tracey Sala. Who is the Senior Vice President, Chief Product and Experience Officer at Highmark Health. Don't go away. We'll be right back with Tracy Sala.

Streaming live, the leader in internet talk radio, voiceamerica.com. At Highmark, we believe what makes us different makes us better. Our differences broaden our perspectives and foster diverse skills which complement each other, creating a stronger and more vibrant workforce. It's this belief that earned us recognition by the USBLN and the American Association of People with Disabilities as a 2014 Disability Equality Index Best Place to Work. So we'll continue to celebrate celebrate diverse individuals because inclusion benefits us all. To find out more, visit highmark.com. Since 1985, Bender Consulting Services has served as a national leader in advancing employment of people with disabilities, including veterans with disabilities, with private sector companies and federal government agencies. Bender assists customers with achieving their diversity and workforce inclusion initiatives by tapping into a talent pool of individuals seeking professional positions, including those in the STEM fields. In addition, Bender Services include disability employment consulting, training, and technology accessibility through their HI-TEST line of service. For more information, please visit www.benderconsult.com. Are you currently receiving SSDI or SSI and wanting to work? Did you know there is a free Social Security program called Ticket to Work to help you try work without risking your benefits? My Employment Options is an authorized SSA Employment Network specializing in work-at-home and local job placement in 47 states. Our clients receive a personal counselor to help find the best job fit and a staff-certified benefits counselor for help with Ticket to Work protections. Ready to try working? Apply for free job placement help at myemploymentoptions.com. Follow Voice America at facebook.com/voiceamerica for juicy updates. From your favorite radio shows and podcasts.

You're listening to Disability Matters. If you have a question or comment, call in toll-free at 1-866-472-5788. That's 1-866-472-5788. Now please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

So Tracy, We're back everyone with Tracy Sala. Tracy, um, what caused you to be interested in healthcare and do you see an ever-changing need for service for customers? I mean, I mean, I know telehealth is one of those, but it seems everything changed after COVID. Everything changed. So first, why are you interested in healthcare?

Yes, certainly. So, you know, healthcare obviously is so deeply personal to all of us. And, you know, we at Highmark Health, we have over 40,000 employees at this point, and there's not one of us that isn't personally touched and impacted in a material way by the healthcare system. And if you critically look at it, it is a system that is fundamentally broken. It's expensive, the costs continue to skyrocket, and despite that, people aren't getting healthier. And, you know, the people and the clinicians whose job is to care for them are fundamentally disserved by the very system that is intended to support them in their healthcare journey and in caring for people and their health. So, I mean, what it really comes down to, I'm not one of those people that has a very personal story that, you know, there was a trigger event in my life and it spurred me into healthcare, but I am a problem solver at heart, and I have a lot of resilience, and the problems of healthcare take a lot of resilience. So, you know, I just, I continue to be motivated by all of the problems to be solved, and I presume that I always will be, and that's really, I would say, why I was interested and why I remain interested, and I know that I always will. Your second question, you asked me about, Do I, about changing COVID behaviors at the time of COVID I mean, yeah, when you think about our customers, their expectations are totally changing and COVID was really a catalyst. You know, as a society, we were already kind of into the digital transformation prior to the pandemic, but prior to the pandemic also healthcare was still pretty much an outlier. You know, we might've been shopping, we might've been banking, and doing certain things, but we really weren't to a great extent engaging in telehealth or digital health. But when the pandemic happened and everybody was all locked up, young and old alike had to quickly get good at doing things digitally. I just look at my own mother who's 80 now, but she went from not being digitally savvy at all to out of necessity, we had her locked in her house and I would drop off groceries. She had to get good at it. And we didn't see a ton of telehealth uptick prior to the pandemic, even though the vendors were there and people were doing it. But it wasn't until people's doctors said, "Hey, you trust me. We can do this. This is the way that I have to care for you," that we saw this ginormous spike in people wanting to engage in health digitally. So, you know, if you think about that and you think about how we had this trigger that it sort of accelerated digital health, telehealth. We also have a phenomenon in that we emerged from the pandemic a much more digitally savvy society with frankly more discerning expectations for what we expect in a world that is truly omnichannel, right? You can engage in person, you can engage digitally, and it kind of works for different people different ways. And a lot of that is the catalyst for our transfer— transformation. Right? You know, because if you think of telehealth, it removes a lot of barriers for people. It removes time. It removes money. It removes transportation, and it allows people to access care in a way that works for them, and it also increases the number of providers, right? Some of the most critical healthcare needs that we have are from specialties that have limited volume of clinicians available. So, if you— just as an example, you think mental and behavioral health providers, right? So being able to provide virtual care allows us to open up the network of available clinicians, not just locally, but also nationally, while at the same time kind of removing those traditional barriers to accessing care that may have existed.

Yeah, it's— it is amazing. I never would have believed how big— telehealth was going to become. And as you said, it just changed so much. And I think it's great that you are also working on what do we have to do to make people more healthy versus, oh, okay, we'll take care of you because you're sick. I love that mentality. I do. I love that mentality at Highmark. Did you feel telehealth was one of the biggest changes?

I think telehealth, and I think also people being more comfortable engaging in non-traditional methods, and it really upped the expectations of customers on what they want from a company like Highmark, right? It's no longer okay to have a suboptimal experience or have digital experiences that are totally fragmented because people are saying, "Hey, I form my opinions about how things should work in the world from analogous experiences." So when I try and shop or when I try and bank or I try and buy a travel ticket or something like that, and, you know, increasingly people are saying, "Hey, healthcare, get with the program, right? This is a really important thing." you as an industry are not yet meeting us in a way that all the other industries are, and you need to get, get with the program. And I do think over time it is impacting decisions that people are making around, you know, who they buy their insurance from, as well as our group customers that we talk to all the time, in terms of the capabilities we have and how we, how we create those better experiences and make it easier for people to navigate the important world of healthcare.

Yeah, and I agree with you about, of course, COVID was terrible. So still hard for me to believe when I think about that, you know, but I think about on TV, you know, and seeing around the world all these people dying. It was so absolutely tragic, but there is no doubt it had a change on many things. Healthcare, the workforce, so many things, housing. I mean, it just, it just changed so much. And by the way, Highmark was great because I know they were right there with Dick's Sporting Goods giving out those vaccines, which I thought was just so, so wonderful. But anyway, I wanna tell you, Highmark helped me launch this company. You know, when you mentioned about Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania? Yeah. It's Bill Lowry I went to and said, "Hey Bill, I wanna start this company, but I need someone that would stand behind me. Would you agree to bring on board 6 people with disabilities and keep them on contract for 3 years. Now I wanna tell you, even today, if I would go to a company and say, "Hey, would you bring on 6 people with disabilities and keep them on contract 3 years?" They would say, "Whoa, wait, we have budgets, we have to go to procurement, we have to go to legal, we have to go to HR." I mean, it would be so hard. And it took Bill Lowery one day to say yes, only one day. And the rest is history. And I'll tell you, listeners, when I'm in another country, like no matter where it is, Indonesia, I'll think he would never believe what that one decision would cause and create. May never believe it. That's why when he passed away, I wrote this op-ed, One Man, One Decision. But the thing you also need to know is that when he retired— well, first he took me to lunch to meet John Brouss and Jim Clingensmith, and he told them, I want you to keep this going. And I was with Bill, Jim Clingensmith, and John Brouss. Then when he retired, I went and met with Ken Milani, but he already knew me. And when he retired, I met with Bill Winkenwerder. But oh my God, David Holmberg is like only CEO that ever said to me, I go to his office to meet with him one day a few years ago, and he said, you know what, Joyce, I don't see enough wheelchairs in the lobby. Where are the service dogs? You know, why don't we have more? I mean, who would say that? Who? I wish I had a videotape of that. Yeah, that's right, David. David Holmberg. So what that tells you though, everyone, is that Highmark has stood behind me since 1995. So has every CEO, which is why I'm working on a book, and believe me, Highmark is front and center in that book. And with that, on the half hour is our news break. So we're going to go to the news with Gerald Homi. Perry Jude is out for a couple of weeks, but we have Gerald.

Hi, Joyce Bender.

How are you? Hello. I'm good. How about you?

I'm great. And hello, Tracy, and thank you for all you're doing to support Bender and hiring people with disabilities. We appreciate you so much.

Oh, we appreciate you, Joyce.

Gerald, maybe you can take a moment to tell everyone— I know almost everyone that listens to the show, of course, many people know you because you've been on for other things, but do you mind sharing what you do for those listeners that do not know you?

Gladly. I have the privilege of leading our talent acquisition team in recruiting and placing people with disabilities in the roles that Bender receives from our customers all over the United States, and it is an honor to be able to serve in that role for you, Joyce. As the talent acquisition manager and also managing a workplace mentoring team supporting those that once they've been placed in the role to help them be successful in their new careers. Um, as a person with a disability with a long history here at the company, I treasure that opportunity to give that chance to others with disabilities that have been left out from the workforce because of, um, the stigma that prevents those from getting those opportunities and That's why what you do, Traci, is so important because it gives so many people like me a chance to have that great role.

Well, thank you, Gerald. Yeah, yeah, I am lucky to have you. And you are substituting as the anchor person for the great Perry Jude Radesik. Big shoes to fill, but you can do it. So Gerald, what news do you have for us today?

Well, I think Perry would like this one, and that's that the Justice Department has warned the states not to disenfranchise voters with disability. They have—

Woo!

—out guidance to the states stating that the ADA prohibits a state from categorically categorically disqualifying individuals who have intellectual or mental health disabilities from registering to vote or from voting because of their disability or their guardianship status. And further, a state may not subject groups of people with disabilities, including individuals who are under guardianship, to a higher standard than that imposed on on other voters for demonstrating the capacity to vote. So, this is a great statement from the Department of Justice just setting the stage to prevent voter disenfranchisement against people with disabilities, something that our Pennsylvania Rev Up Coalition and the National Rev Up Coalition is so happy about. I even saw great quote from Alexia Kemmerling, who coordinates REV UP from the AAPD, about their excitement for this stance with the Department of Justice. And it's great to see this going into this big election this year.

Well, it is wonderful because now you know whether you're blind or in a wheelchair, deaf, whatever the disability, hey, You have every right as any other person to vote, uh, and go vote. That's what REV UP is: register, educate, vote. I always tell listeners, it's not who you vote for, it's that you do vote. So hey, Gerald, thank you so much for bringing us that wonderful and exciting news.

Thank you, Joyce, and thank you again, Tracey. And have a wonderful day. Signing off. All right.

Thank you. Thanks, Gerald. Well, everyone, right before I went to break, I was talking about Highmark, who next year is my 30th anniversary of this company, and that, you know, through all that time, not one but every CEO has stood behind me and carried on that commitment. Tracy, how do you believe having that support from the top and you, support from, you know, an executive, has changed the view of hiring people with disabilities?

Oh, 100%. I would say, I mean, it is a business decision. It is the right thing to do, and it's a business decision. If you think All companies, all companies around the world, we all have perspectives and aspirations around promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Highmark is no different. And having a strategic partner as reliable and as reputable as Bender Consulting in our backyard is just a gift, and it makes it quite easy for us to live up to these ideals that we've established for ourselves. And I would say that, you know, our ability to tap into your resource pool and your independent consulting services, you know, consistently, confidently, it just affords us a very simple way to make sure that we have a variety of abilities, backgrounds, and diversity of thought that influences how we approach problems, how we execute our work, and how we even track those outcomes. So, I mean, it is— it is an absolute marriage of the right thing to do and a really sound business strategy.

Well, thank you. And sadly, 70% of people with disabilities are not counted in the workforce. Actually, Highmark is the only company that has every CEO standing behind a company that, you know, places people with disabilities and does consulting. And digital accessibility, as you said, in the country. So my question to you is, that means a lot of people at your level sadly aren't hiring people with disabilities. Um, why are you so committed to this? Like, why are you so open to hiring people with disabilities?

Yeah, sure. So it's a few— there's a few reasons. For starters, I've seen the successes, right? It's kind of hard to compete with our— the president of our technology company and our chief operations officer. But I've watched leaders like McMalik dive in headfirst and have amazing successes in partnering with you to resource our technology and our operations organization. So, you know, you can see to see that bearing fruit. Also, you know, this isn't the first time I've hired someone that I recruited from Bender Consulting. I actually went back and checked it when I was kind of getting ready for this, and my first Bender Consulting hire was back in 2008 when I hired a young man just out of college, and it was the start of his professional career, and everything about that experience was a positive one from, you know, the entire time that he worked for me. Until I moved on to a different role. And I would also say, you know, what you do is deeply personal to me. My younger son is on the autism spectrum, and the best way I can describe it is that he's just different. And sometimes people who are different, for whatever reason, have a difficult time finding and being afforded opportunities that their less different counterparts can find. And yet the truth is diverse talent pools help us excel. They make us better. And we get that diversity by working with organizations like yours who help us to connect to the talent, amazing talent. And having a diverse talent base creates an inclusive culture. It makes us be better. It creates positivity, and it translates to outcomes for our customers. And, you know, we know, I know that to be truly representative, we have to include all of the communities at the table. And you, Bender Consulting, Joyce, you yourself, you help us help us to do that.

Well, obviously you get it, uh, having a child with a disability. And you know, when you said about he's just different— oh my God, my famous, most favorite quote is by the great autism advocate, uh, Temple Grandin, an author of several books. I use her quote all the time. Which is, "We are different, not less." Ah, that says it all right there. Well, I appreciate— Yeah, I appreciate that feeling and commitment that you have. You have, you were talking about there are barriers that make work difficult for customers and clinicians' support also. At Highmark, I know this transformative experience is going on, which I told David is so awesome, but would you mind explaining that to our listeners? Like, what are you going to be doing that would help, for example, clinicians?

Oh, sure, sure. So, we have a strategy, and the strategy is called Living Health. And Living Health is really centered on the belief that when people are more engaged in their health, we see better health outcomes. And better health outcomes lead to more affordable care. And more affordable care is good for everyone. Um, the, the center of the strategy is, is really an experience-based strategy. Because if we make it hard for people to engage in their health, we aren't going to see healthier people, right? If we prevent care, if if we make it hard for people to get care, if we don't promote wellness, we won't see healthier people. And, you know, when you, when you think about a person in engaging in their health, you have to think about the people that are engaging in their health. You have to think about their families who are supporting them in their journey. And you have to think about the clinicians. And I think that is a pretty unique part of our strategy and that most insurers do, to a certain extent, focus on the experience of the person, what they would call their member, but we really look at the relationship between a person and a clinician and recognize the clinician and how important they are. And the truth is, if we want people to have a positive experience so they're more likely to engage with their health, we have to address the pain points and barriers that both they and their clinicians feel get in the way. Right? Things like how hard it is to find care and know where to go, or scheduling a visit with a clinician, or knowing what you have to pay and paying for it, understanding your bill, understanding what your benefits will get you. And if you think about clinicians, because you specifically asked about them, a lot of that's about removing the administrative burdens— paperwork, phone calls. How do we help them to connect How do we get people to the appropriate resources that they need without making it so difficult? How do we give them actionable information that they can use to make decisions when it's information that we might have that they might not have? And all of this friction in healthcare just is frustrating for customers and clinicians, and it gets in the way. So, you know, that's really what Living Health is about, and it's really about recognizing the value of better health and people embracing their health as a kind of a more sustained way to address the economics of healthcare versus I think what many companies do, which feels like preventing care, right? And it doesn't really help anybody. So that's kind of our strategy. And if I could, Joyce Bender, I'd love, you know, just recently we did a consulting engagement with you. And so it was different than sort of hiring a resource. We came in and said, hey, can you do a consulting engagement. And one of the parts of our strategy focused on experiences, we call it My Highmark, and it is our new app and web experience. And it's very new, and we have a lot of work to do to just get it to where we want it, but it still is a really good sort of first start that we've put out into the market on our journey to a transformed state. But we brought your team in to conduct that usability study for us and it was focused on seniors with age-related disabilities, really focused on identifying barriers to access, pain points, and where we could improve. And we focused a lot on our login processes, our registration processes, and, you know, we really wanted to understand those experiences and the satisfaction with the platform to better design to empower people the way we want them to be empowered and to create, you know, digital autonomy for the people that use it. And it was awesome because the study uncovered a multitude of areas that we could improve upon, which we are doing. And overall, it also still told us that we had a strong experience because, you know, as we got through to the end of it, 80% of the participants still recommended My Highmark. So it was a great opportunity to really work with you on our living health strategy to make sure that the way that we are designing the experience are inclusive and work for all.

Well, thank you. It was our honor to work with you, Tracy. But once again, that shows the commitment of Tracy and this company, uh, David and Nan and everyone to make sure disability experience is not equal but has equity. Equity, that's what it's all about. So, Tracy, we love working with your group and we so much appreciate it and hope we can work with you, which I know we will at some point further. So I was talking the other day to high school students about different industries. And when they asked me, well, where do you see the most opportunity? I said, well, one area, of course, is the trades, you know, needs for plumbers, manufacturing, because sometimes kids that are disenfranchised and can't go to college think there aren't any opportunities, but there are. But then from the private sector, I said, IT, but absolutely healthcare. You know, these are two areas that are sure to have opportunities because they are expanding. But I wanted to ask you, what advice do you have for any young people with disabilities even listening to the show right now that want to work in the healthcare industry? Sure.

So, you know, I actually have a whole shtick that I do from time to time when someone asks me to speak with young professionals. And from my point of view, young healthcare professionals, young professionals with disability, they're no different. And, you know, I would say healthcare— what's great about the healthcare industry, particularly the business side of healthcare, if you think of the trades, right, you think of nursing, you think of accounting, you have to go to school with a very specialized skill set to do that. But if you think of the business part of healthcare, healthcare, right? It's something that really you can have any amount of education, a variety of different experiences, and you can sort of translate that into healthcare. But it really comes down to— I use these sort of 10 principles, and I'll just hit on a couple of them, and I— kind of the ones that I think boil to the top and are the most important for young professionals. One I would say is ask, "What can I do?" When you have a role, whatever that role is, don't just kind of put your blinders on and work on what's right in front of you. Continually, where you can, reach for the stretch assignments out there. Put yourself out there and then really follow through on the work. That goes so far in terms of helping to build your career. Another one I'd say is a concept I always call, like, fail, learn, recover, try again. And it's really about recognizing that everyone will do things wrong. Everyone will fail. Fail at something. And getting good at recognizing failure early, kind of saying, "Well, this isn't going in the right direction," taking responsibility for it, learning from it, being able to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and recommitting to a new course, it sort of builds resiliency, right? And it builds your ability to say, you know, when something doesn't go right, it's not always a bad thing. Sometimes those are the greatest lessons that you have in life. It's about how you recognize them, respond to them, that matters more than the thing happening in the first place. I would say the third one is get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You know, a lot of industries are complicated. Oh, I don't know, I'd put healthcare really up there at the top of complicated industries. You know, lots of regulations, complicated. You know, not one part of the ecosystem kind of controls all aspects of it, so it is, It is a very complicated industry. So, you know, working in it, you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. And frankly, when you feel uncomfortable, you're probably growing, right? If you feel too comfortable, you're kind of easy and everything's easy for you, you're probably not growing. So I think the concept of just getting comfortable being uncomfortable and being able to sit with that feeling and use it as a motivator to learn is important. And I'll kind of share, Maybe one more. I'd say it's not all uphill. You know, sometimes I think young professionals come into the workforce and they just think they're going to go on this steady hill up. And that's rarely how it works. You know, if you look at most people's careers, you see up, over, across, maybe down a step, back up, over. And it's a trajectory that ultimately gets you to a certain destination. But, you know, you never want to— take for granted the importance of lateral moves for career development and all the learning that it can be to help you get ready for promotional opportunities. So, the ability to say, "I'm going to do a thing. I'm going to lean into something else, and I'm going to sort of prepare myself over time for elevating to higher positions," I think is important because I think some people come in and think it's a, a straighter line than it truly is. I've got 10 little anecdotes like that, and if I ever write a book someday, maybe I'll write it about that.

Tracy, that is awesome. I agree with every single thing that you said. I do. I think those are awesome. And you know, if you're listening, wow, I mean, what she said is so true. I always tell people, if you're in business and you think everything is gonna go perfectly, It's not, uh, but it's not making the mistake, it's getting back up and learning from that mistake and continuing on. Great advice, um, and I will be using it, but I'll give you credit, Tracy. Uh, so Tracy, you know, you're really a nice person, and, uh, but you're also a make-it-happen person, and Someone had to have influenced you. I wondered who was your role model or is your role model. Who is that? Were they?

Sure. I have a few, but I'm going to narrow in on one. So earlier I mentioned Nanda Turk. She's retired now from Highmark, but she at one time was, I would say she was a visionary CFO. That we had here at Highmark for many years. And before she retired, because we wouldn't actually let her retire when she first said she wanted to, she stepped down from being our Chief Financial Officer and she led the efforts to transform Highmark really into this diversified organization we are today where we own hospital systems and doctors and a series of diversified businesses and really kind of blending those businesses together to make us what we are and make us how different we are. And I was fortunate enough to report directly to Nan for those last few years before she retired, even though I had worked for her in some capacity most of my career. And the experiences I had when I worked for Nan really gave me the opportunity to, I would say, do two things. One is make the leap to our, our Allegheny Health Network. Which is Highmark Hospital System. You know, we own a number of, I think, 2,500 or so physicians. And I did a rotation there for 3 years, and I really wouldn't have been positioned to do that work and really experience that side of healthcare but for NAN. And it also set me up to do what I'm doing today, right? I was in finance at the beginning of my career, and I had to sort of take a turn at some point, and it was really jumping in to help NAN to figure figure out how do we transform this company. What I will say about her is that as a female executive, she was literally, and is, all the things one would aspire to be: purpose-driven, strong, smart, effective, no nonsense at all. And to this day, we always joke that the office must be bugged because she still has such a strong pulse on what's going on. Like, she really does, and she's been gone for quite a few years. And, you know, she was, when she was here, she still is, a force of nature. But, you know, what also made her special is that she is a force of good for those in her personal life and the world at large. So, you know, in summary, she's the perfect balance of corporate executive, supporter of the community and a number of important causes, she's a caring and nurturing family member, and just a devoted friend to many people. So she just walks the talk. And, you know, you know someone has made her mark on an organization like ours when we still talk about her and tell Nand stories fairly often to this day.

So I'll say it's Nanda Turk. May I say that Nanda Turk had a meeting with— I don't know if you were there— with all of her— I know Karen told me. Yeah, I was there. It was with all of her leadership, I think, and maybe one level down. I mean, it was like 200 or 300 people., and she asked me to speak, and I did. And then at the end she said, "I'm not going to tell you to hire someone with a disability, but I am going to challenge you to hire a person with a disability." So just as Tracy said about her being like in the community, also, you know, giving back, she is a great person. She really is. No surprise to me, Tracy, that you would mention her. And of course, now I have to tell her to listen to this radio show. So Tracy, over the past few years, what would you say has been your greatest accomplishment?

Yeah, so, okay, obviously none of us can accomplish anything of significance at an organization like Highmark work on our own, right? So, you know, one of the things that I love most about my company is that we do good, right? When faced with two options, we consistently do the right thing. And, you know, if I think of two of the things I'm probably most proud of, one is I'm proud of my contributions to all the work that we did, and it was a big we, when Highmark affiliated with Allegheny Health Network to ensure that the people in Western Pennsylvania would retain their access to more than one major healthcare delivery system and to invest in Allegheny Health Network to create, you know, things like more access to world-class cancer care, emergency care, women's health, and many expanded services, you know, that had better experiences at a lower cost, which was good for the community without question. I'm also proud of the work that we've done and continue to do to deliver living health. Choices, right? As an organization, we have choices, and the path we are choosing to take is not the easy path. It's also not what our competitors are doing. Our commitment and our investment to transform health by really promoting and enhancing that relationship between people and their clinicians and creating a better experience that drives for more engagement in health, it is all about doing the right thing, and that is probably the second thing that I am most proud of.

Oh, those are two great things. Yeah, I remember that the merger or, you know, adoption or whatever you want to call it of Allegheny Health, and boy, that saved them. And it did, you know, in addition to saving that for people, I mean, that was huge and wonderful. You know, all those great doctors and the great things that are happening. I'm sure that was exciting to be part of that. So Tracy, what message do you have for our listeners today?

Sure. So now I get to talk about you a little bit. I would say my message would be just like Highmark is focused on generating success for our business by doing the right thing, You, Joyce, and your amazing organization are an absolute force for good. What I love about your value proposition is that it's a business proposition, and it links business value with doing the right thing. And that's what kind of makes you a perfect fit, a great strategic partner for Highmark, and we're very thankful for you. So that would be my message for your listeners.

Wow, what a great, what a great message. Thank you so much. Thank you. But you know, without Highmark, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing. So I appreciate everything that Highmark is doing. And Tracy, you know, you just keep on being successful and being a great partner. We are honored to work with you. If you joined us, we've been talking to Tracy Sala, the Senior Vice President, Chief Product and Experience Officer for Highmark Health. Tracy, thank you so much for being with us.

Thank you so much, Joyce. It was a good time.

Well, we end every show with a quote. And today, so fitting as we were talking about Bill and the CEOs and Nan and Tracy, 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has,' said the great Margaret Mead. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at Voice America. And in the words of Mary Brooker, when you leave today, remember to choose joy.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America Variety channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.