Stars, Savings, and Satisfaction with BCBS Michigan, Aetna, MVP & Vori

In this Bright Spots in Healthcare episode, host Eric Glazer brings together an all-star panel of leaders who are reshaping the future of Medicaid and social care.

Our guests include:

• Vanita Pindolia, Vice President, Medicare Star Ratings, Emergent Holdings (BlueCross BlueShield Michigan)

• Jason Merola, MD, Chief Medical Officer, MVP Health Care

• Charlotta Eriksson, Lead Director, National VBC Partnerships (Specialty), Aetna

• Mary O’Connor, MD, Chief Medical Officer & Co-Founder, Vori

Together, they explore:

• How Medicare Advantage plans are embedding Stars, CAHPS, and adherence metrics directly into provider contracts to drive accountability, improve quality, and sustain year-over-year performance gains.
  
  

• How payers like Aetna are expanding value-based care into specialty domains—from CKD and oncology to musculoskeletal and cardiology—by partnering with specialty-aligned organizations rather than converting individual specialists to risk models.
  
  

• How MVP Health Care is designing hybrid incentive structures that reward specialists for closing quality gaps and improving outcomes, without requiring full downside risk.
  
  

• Why MSK care is becoming pivotal to Stars success, as physical and mental health measures grow in weight through 2027, and how holistic, physician-led models are improving activity, satisfaction, and cost savings simultaneously.
  
  

• How digital-first specialty networks are solving access challenges, reducing “ghost network” exposure, and creating new opportunities for plans to meet CMS adequacy standards while improving the member experience.
  
  

• How collaboration across utilization management, Stars, and member experience teams helps avoid trade-offs, ensuring that cost controls don’t come at the expense of satisfaction or CAHPS performance.

Panelist Bios:
https://www.brightspotsinhealthcare.com/events/stars-savings-and-satisfaction-unlocking-msk-and-specialty-care-strategies-for-medicare-advantage-success/

Download the Episode Guide:
Get key takeaways and expert highlights to help you apply lessons from the episode.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a_rX23Ev5VRrJKqb8_UwAYBd9tUBIfWA/view?usp=sharing

Resources: 

Maximizing 2026 Medicare Advantage Performance with Physician-Led MSK Care
This report outlines how Vori’s physician-led, virtual-first musculoskeletal (MSK) model helps Medicare Advantage plans:Improve up to 12 Star measures across preventive care, chronic condition management, and member experience

• Deliver faster access to care—appointments available within 48 hours

• Enhance outcomes for pain, fall prevention, and osteoporosis care while achieving an NPS of 87

• Align with the new 2026 Star measures for Improving and Maintaining Physical and Mental Health

To request your copy, email [e-mail].

Clinical Quality Performance of Value-Based and Fee-for-Service Models for Medicare Advantage: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2839238

This JAMA Health Forum article compares clinical quality outcomes for Medicare Advantage patients whose care is delivered under value-based payment (VBP) models versus traditional fee-for-service (FFS). It finds that VBP arrangements, especially those with two-sided financial risk—in general are associated with better performance on standardized clinical quality measures than FFS.