Kelli Tice, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Health Improvement Officer at GuideWell and Florida Blue

Dr. Kelli Tice, Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Health Improvement Officer at GuideWell and Florida Blue, shares her unique perspective on integrating public health principles into the payer ecosystem. With nearly two decades of experience in public health and community health departments in Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Tice emphasizes the critical need for health plans to move beyond siloed, philanthropy-driven community initiatives and instead embed public health infrastructure into their core operations. She highlights Florida Blue’s data-driven approach, including dashboards that combine clinical and social determinants of health to identify high-risk members and guide targeted interventions. A key example is the expanded maternal health support program, born from employee feedback and now offering early screening, community engagement, and mental health support to high-risk pregnant individuals. Dr. Tice stresses that sustainable health improvement requires long-term thinking, systems change, and intentional design to avoid unintended disparities in access and outcomes. She urges health plan leaders to operationalize equity by asking tough questions about who might be left behind in every program they launch. The episode underscores a transformative vision for health plans: shifting from reactive, clinical care to proactive, population-wide health improvement. Dr. Tice advocates for treating health equity not as an add-on but as a foundational lens across all decision-making—product development, care management, and resource allocation. Her call to action centers on accountability: every initiative must be evaluated for its impact on vulnerable populations, especially those facing barriers like transportation, broadband access, or health literacy. By leveraging data, community partnerships, and employee insights, health plans can drive meaningful, sustainable change. The conversation serves as a blueprint for how payers can become true health equity leaders by aligning business strategy with public health values.