Carol Backstrom appointed to coordinate health reform implementation
Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Sanne Magnan has appointed Carol Backstrom to serve as assistant to the commissioner for Health Reform. Carol will work with both the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Human Services to oversee implementation of the health reform initiative passed by the Minnesota Legislature and signed into law by Governor Pawlenty in May 2008. The initiative consists of several key elements, including the Statewide Health Improvement Program; health care homes; payment reform, quality measurement and cost/quality transparency; and insurance coverage and affordability.
Carol has an extensive background in health care policy, administration and project management. For the past seven years, she has worked for HealthPartners and Regions Hospital. She most recently served as senior manager for Care Innovation at HealthPartners. In that position, she led the development and implementation of Well@Work, a new business line of worksite wellness services that promote employee productivity and reduce direct medical costs for employers. She also provided project and product management services to support the development of online care packages for the HealthPartners Medical Group. One of her key roles was to involve physicians, dentists and administrative leaders at care sites in the development and implementation of care packages.
Prior to that position, she served as manager of Government Relations and Community Health Initiatives for HealthPartners/Regions. Carol has a Masters degree in health care administration from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor's degree in English from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.
'We have considerable work ahead of us to implement Minnesota's health reform initiative,' said Commissioner Dr. Magnan. 'Carol has the perfect blend of health care policy and administrative experience plus superb project management skills to coordinate the work of the team that will implement this historic initiative.'
Carol starts her position on September 15. More information about Minnesota's health reform initiative is available at http://www.health.state.mn.us/healthreform.
