Cedar Talk

5

 min read

Highmark Health’s Neil Kulkarni On How to Make Payer-Provider Partnerships Thrive

Share

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop in our resources and insights

Thanks for your message!

We will reach back to you as soon as possible.

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

When Neil Kulkarni joined Highmark Health after a decade in consulting, he was ready to settle down and leave the constant travel behind. He quickly became energized by a new set of challenges that can only be solved through payer-provider partnership. In this episode of Cedar Talks, our former VP of Commercial Strategy Ryan McPherson chats with Neil about his five years in healthcare. They discuss the best place to start with payer-provider initiatives, top lessons for managing organizational change, and much more.

Watch the full episode

Conversation highlights

Bringing a fresh perspective

What sets Neil apart is his product management experience outside of healthcare. Has it been a benefit, a burden, or a bit of both?

The key to building trust

Payer-provider partnership is not a new concept in healthcare. Neil offers his perspective on how to set these initiatives up for success.

Get to know Neil in 30 seconds

Tackling complex problems involving payers, providers and other ecosystem partners isn’t the only thing that gets Neil energized.

Ben Kraus is Senior Content Lead at Cedar

See related Cedar Talks

cedar talk
Montefiore’s George Stein on Why AI Hype Might Be Just What Healthcare Needs

by George Stein

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
Meet ALICE: The Growing Population That Healthcare’s Safety Net Often Doesn’t Catch

by Stephanie Hoopes, PhD

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
Jeremy Church on the Power of Saying “Yes” — From His Career to Keck Medicine at USC’s Growth

by Jeremy Church‘

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
NRC Health’s Ryan Donohue on How Economic Uncertainty Is Changing Patient Behaviors in 2025

by Ryan Donohue

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
Fortuna Health’s Nikita Singareddy on Getting Ahead of the Medicaid and ACA Reforms

by Nikita Singareddy

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
Thrive Capital’s Nworah Ayogu on Separating AI Hype from Reality in Healthcare

by Nworah Ayogu

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
RAYUS Radiology’s Rick Omrani on Building Elite Revenue Cycle Teams

by Rick Omrani

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
ApolloMD’s Tennille Lizarraga on Empowering Patients as the Line Between Care and Billing Blurs

by Tennille Lizarraga

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
Sonora Quest Laboratories’ Nichole Kerr Proves that Healthcare Revenue Cycle is a Team Sport

by Nichole Kerr

January 22, 2026
cedar talk
NAPA’s Lynn Van Houten on Building Innovation from the Ground Up in Revenue Cycle Management

by Lynn Van

January 22, 2026