Health Plan of San Joaquin (HPSJ) adds Medical Director to its health care team
David Hurst, Vice President, External Affairs, Health Plan of San Joaquin
03/03/2016
(French Camp, CA) – Health Plan of San Joaquin (HPSJ) has announced that Dorcas C. Yao, MD, has joined the organization as a medical director. Dr. Yao is board certified in clinical informatics and radiology. She has extensive clinical experience in a large integrated healthcare systems, having worked for over 15 years at the VA Health Care system in Palo Alto, and the VA National Office of Informatics and Analytics.
“As a physician I am passionate about leading positive changes and improving health care delivery for my patients. This has meant reaching beyond my medical practice to take leadership roles in projects aimed at improving operations, quality, processes and outcomes for individuals and large populations of patients,” said Dr. Yao.
“Dr. Yao will provide medical oversight for HPSJ’s utilization management and quality management activities and with her clinical informatics background she will assist us as we continue to build our analytics capabilities,” added HPSJ Chief Medical Officer Lakshmi Dhanvanthari, MD.
Health Plan of San Joaquin was established in 1995 by state statute and San Joaquin County ordinance as a community-based, not-for-profit health plan initiative. Now, in 2015, HPSJ is the leading Medi-Cal managed care provider for San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. With over 320,000 members – more than a third of growth over the last several years since Affordable Care Act implementation – HPSJ is at the forefront of local health care access and delivery.
Dr. Yao graduated with a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and received her medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She completed her internship at Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center (Camden, New Jersey), and completed a residency in radiology at the University of California, San Francisco, as well as a fellowship in Body Imaging at Stanford. Her academic affiliations include, most recently, serving as a clinical associate professor in the department of radiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She has an MBA with a concentration in medical management from the Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts (Amherst), a joint program with the American Association for Physician Leadership.
About HPSJ
HPSJ, a not-for-profit health plan, has been serving members and the community since 1996. Located in the heart of California’s multicultural Central Valley, HPSJ is the leading Medi-Cal Managed Care provider in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. HPSJ offers a broad network of providers and works closely with physicians to develop programs and services to ensure quality health care for over 325,000 members.
HPSJ is currently one of only 12 health plans in California with NCQA Accreditation for a managed care Medi-Cal program. Medicaid is known as Medi-Cal in California. Only 160 Medicaid/HMO plans in the U.S. had this NCQA seal at the time of HPSJ’s 2015 Accreditation.