New MetroPlus head outlines
plan to combat breast cancer
Dr. Tayla Schwartz, president and CEO of MetroPlus Health Plan, is a pediatrician by training. Photo by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
COURIER LIFE, OCT. 11-17, 2019 3
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
When it comes to helping
breast cancer survivors,
MetroPlus Health Plan is dedicated
to ensuring that all of
them receive the full care they
deserve.
“As an insurer we somewhat
go against the current,”
said Dr. Tayla Schwartz, president
and CEO of MetroPlus
Health Plan, which covers
over half a million New Yorkers.
“We want to focus on vulnerable
populations that need
health care, the populations
that need support. We don’t
shy away from them, we proactively
try to bring them into
MetroPlus because we know
that we can provide them
with comprehensive support
here, true hands on what we
call 360 support with whatever
they need.”
In order to ensure that
members are staying up
to date with yearly exams,
MetroPlus Health constantly
checks member data to determine
which women qualify
for or need breast cancer
screenings. Once the company
determines that a member
should see a provider,
they use all means of
communicat ion,
phone calls, texts,
e-mails, letters to
get in touch. In
order to best communicate
with a diverse
membership,
the health plan tries
to contact members
in the language
that they speak and
boasts a multi-lingual
staff along with easy access
to language lines.
If for some reason a
member is unable to get in
touch with her physician, a
MetroPlus Health employee
can call a provider and schedule
and appointment for her.
To encourage members to prioritize
their health, MetroPlus
incentivizes women to schedule
a yearly mammogram by
offering reward points which
can be used to purchase items
from the company’s rewards
catalogue. In order to not just
have the responsibility placed
on the member, MetroPlus
also fi nancially incentivizes
doctors to make sure
that their patients are up
to date on their early exams.
MetroPlus Health understands
that it is not always
easy for members
to make to a doctor’s
appointment and
will bring health care
to the community by
holding public events where
women can be screened on
the spot. In 2018, there were
37, 403 mammograms performed
on MetroPlus Health
members. The health plan
currently has 1,600 members
undergoing treatment for
breast cancer, a number that
has stayed stable over the last
fi ve years.
During member data analysis
and out in communities,
MetroPlus Health takes special
care to encourage higher
risk demographics, especially
African American women, to
undergo breast cancer screenings.
According to the Center
for Disease Control, black
women are 40 percent more
likely to die of breast cancer
than white women.
“It’s very clear that any
time you want to make a dent
in a health issue, there isn’t
one approach that works,”
said Schwartz. “You have to
attack it from multiple angles.”
A Doctor’s Passion
MetroPlus Health Plan is
not your typical health insurance
program and that
is in part because of the passion
and care of Dr. Tayla
Schwartz, president and CEO
of MetroPlus Health Plan, a
pediatrician by training. Dr.
Schwartz has known that she
wanted to be a physician since
“the time she could speak”
and brings her need to care
for other into every position
she holds.
“We are tremendously
lucky to be who we are,” said
Dr. Schwartz.
After serving in the military
in her native Israel,
Dr. Schwartz studied at the
Sackler School of Medicine
and came to New York for
a residency in Pediatrics at
Maimonides Medical Center
in Brooklyn. Schwartz
worked as a pediatrician
at the Children’s National
Medical Center in Washington
D.C. and simultaneously
conducted basic research at
the National Institute of
Health. Two years after her
fellowship, Schwartz began
working for a healthcare
consulting firm where
she was first able to view
healthcare “through a different
lens” and subsequently
became more interested
in the business side of
healthcare. Schwartz has
been president and CEO of
MetroPlus Health Plan since
2006.