ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
Founded in 1986, eQHealth Solutions is a leader in medical management, directing a broad array of federal and state health care contracts. Today, the company’s quality initiatives help to improve health care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in Louisiana, Illinois, Mississippi and Florida.
OUR TEAM
The eQHealth Solutions blog team is made up of leadership from our organization who are committed to improving health care quality and finding smarter solutions for today’s health care challenges.
Gary Curtis, MSW
Gary is the president of eQHealth Solutions. He co-founded the company and has led its growth into one of the most effective health care management and quality improvement organizations in the country. He has spent his career in health care where he has held executive and senior management positions. Gary earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Louisiana Tech University and a Master of Social Work degree from Louisiana State University. He also has completed post graduate work in quantitative methods, COBOL, multiple programming languages and structured data system design.
Read recent interview with Gary Curtis in the Health Care Journal of Baton Rouge here.
Edie Castello
Edie is CEO and has been with eQHealth Solutions since 1987. She has served as Chief Operating Officer for the past five years where she headed all corporate operations, budgeting and resource allocation. She also led the organization’s efforts to develop an array of health care services and health information technology products. This includes the firm’s utilization management and reporting systems. Edie has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Louisiana State University.
Ron Ritchey, MD, MBA
Dr. Ritchey serves as the chief medical officer (CMO) for eQHealth Solutions. He is active in the design and application of innovative models of care focused on quality improvement and cost containment. These models of care are designed to be forward-looking and to embrace new opportunities created by American health care reform, forging functional alliances between physicians, hospitals and payors. Dr. Ritchey is board-certified in Internal Medicine and practiced that specialty for over twenty-five years. He is certified by the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Physician Executives and has extensive experience as a physician executive in physician-hospital organizations, independent practice associations, and professional service organizations.
Marina Brown, BSN, RN, CCM
Marina is the product development manager at eQHealth Solutions. In this role, Marina is responsible for the development of new products to the meet the emerging needs of the healthcare system including care coordination program design and care coordination software design. Marina has 15 years of nursing experience with more than 10 years in case management. Most recently, she was a care management trainer and disease management nurse at Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) of Louisiana for more than eight years working in the roles of case manager and disease manager. At BCBS Marina was also responsible for assisting with the development of disease management programs. She has also assisted in the selection, testing and implementation of multiple care management systems. Marina is a Registered Nurse and Certified Case Manager. She is also a member of the Case Management Society of America.
Trent L. James, MD, FAAFP, CPE
Dr. James is the associate medical director for eQHealth Solutions. In this role, he works with recruited physicians across the state to improve performance in diabetes preventive care and drug safety for Medicare patients. He also serves a clinical leadership role in patient safety and quality improvement initiatives. Previously, Dr. James practiced family medicine in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for 37 years at Baton Rouge Family Medical Center and First Care Physicians of the General Health System.
Dr. James has served as president on the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and vice president of the Louisiana State Medical Society. He was named Louisiana Family Doctor of the Year in 1988 and received the 2009 Louisiana Physician Quality Award for his work in preventive medicine. Dr. James earned his medical degree from LSU Medical Center in New Orleans and completed his residency in the Charity Hospital System of Louisiana and Highland Hospital in Rochester, New York. He is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Bob Johannessen
Bob Johannessen is Director of Corporate Communications for eQHealth Solutions . He is responsible for marketing and communications for the company’s offices in Baton Rouge, Chicago, Jackson, MS and Tampa.
Prior to joining eQHealth in 2008, Bob served for 10 years at the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals as chief of staff and communications director under Secretary David Hood, and later as communications director under Secretaries Dr. Fred Cerise, Dr. Roxane Townsend and Alan Levine. Bob estimates he has conducted more than 5,000 media interviews in his career.
Bob is the current President of the Baton Rouge Soccer Association, one of the largest youth recreational associations in Baton Rouge. He is a member of the local parks department’s (BREC) Communications Advisory Committees, President of the Baton Rouge Chamber’s Leadership program, on the board of the Public Relations Society of America, past chairman of Boy Scout Troop 12 and a past member of the LSU Athletic Department’s Communications Advisory Committee (under former AD Skip Bertman)
He is proud graduate of Louisiana State University.