BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has announced three promotions: Clay Phillips has been promoted to director of Provider Relations and Communications, Stacy Eiselstein promoted to director of Contract Development and Management, and Penny Ewing promoted to director of Quality Management.

In his role, Mr. Phillips will work to improve relationships statewide with doctors and other medical professionals through enhanced engagement with the Tennessee Hospital Association, the Tennessee Medical Association and other professional provider associations.

“Clay has worked tirelessly to build relationships with providers over the past several years and I am confident that he is the person needed in this extremely important position,” said Mark Austin, senior vice president of network management for BlueCross. “BlueCross has thousands of providers in its networks across the state and his work will help build stronger foundations with them as we collectively strive to meet the quality and affordability needs of the Tennesseans we serve.”

Mr. Phillips has 13 years of health care experience as an attorney and government relations professional. Previously he served as interim director of network management at BlueCross which gives him valuable insight in communication with medical providers. In this position he focused on improving provider communication and began facilitating relationships with Tennessee’s professional provider associations.

Before working at BlueCross, Mr. Phillips was an associate at Miller & Martin where he specialized in health care law. He focused on matters pertaining to hospital and health care regulatory compliance with a particular emphasis on HIPAA Privacy compliance.

Mr. Phillips received his Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham Southern College, and Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama. He is the former chairman of the government relations committee for the Nashville Bar Association; and a board member for the Tennessee Lobbyist Association and the Tennessee Health and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association.

In her role, Ms. Eiselstein will oversee the provider contracting departments for both government and commercial lines of business.

Ms. Eiselstein brings more than 12 years of law and health care experience to this new position. Previously she filled the role of associate general counsel at BlueCross which provides vital background needed regarding BlueCross’ contracting and regulatory requirements. While in this role she worked in contract development but also in areas of governance, regulatory requirements, strategic investments and intellectual property.

“As we look at our quickly changing industry we see a need for more focused efforts regarding the structure of our contracting, especially in respect to market dynamics that we expect to see in 2014 and beyond,” said Mark Austin, senior vice president of network management for BlueCross. “Stacy’s history with BlueCross and experience in health care make her especially qualified to direct the company’s provider contracting strategy  on behalf of our members.”

Before working at BlueCross, Ms. Eiselstein was an attorney at Miller & Martin and at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, where she specialized in commercial transactions. She worked extensively with local companies in real estate development, and represented corporations in asset purchases and loan workouts.

Ms. Eiselstein received her Bachelor of Arts from Florida State University, and both her Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctor from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is active in the community and currently serves on the boards for the Chattanooga Area Swim League, Lookout Mountain Fairyland Club, and actively volunteers with Junior Achievement of Greater Chattanooga.

Under Ms. Ewing's new title, she will be responsible for developing and maintaining the BlueCross quality management program.

“Two important components of BlueCross’ success requires remaining compliant and always striving to improve quality,” said Dr. Inga Himelright, vice president and chief medical officer for BlueCross. “Penny’s past experience with regulations and compliance along with her nursing background, give her the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in her new role and allow her to put her entire prior experience to use.”

In this new role Ms. Ewing will be assisting leadership in directing strategic plans to ensure compliance with applicable regulatory and accrediting bodies, including management of the accreditation survey process.  She will also provide vision and leadership to promote quality improvement activities.

Ms. Ewing joined BlueCross in 2004 and has worked as a compliance officer and project manager since that time. She worked at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga prior to joining BlueCross.

Ms. Ewing is a 2003 graduate of West Georgia University where she received her Bachelor of Science in nursing. She is certified in health care compliance and as an ISO 9001:2000 auditor. Ms. Ewing is also a registered nurse in the states of Tennessee and Georgia.