More than five years ago, Aetna tackled a challenge facing employers everywhere today: chronic health issues among employees drive up costs and put employees at risk. As a leading health insurer, Aetna recognized that many of the same challenges the company faced as an employer were the same challenges their customers were facing. Working with Aetna employees as the pilot group, the company was able to create strategies, workplace programs and tools to help employees recognize their health risks and then do something about them. Many of these early experiments went on to become new solutions for Aetna's customers. Elease Wright shares valuable insight and lessons learned during the journey to a healthier workplace.
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Susan Kosman, RN, BSN, MS
chief nursing officer
Aetna, Inc.
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Susan Kosman, RN, BSN, MS, is the Chief Nursing Officer for Aetna Inc. In this role, she is responsible for Aetna’s nursing strategy, which includes establishing a formal nursing presence in national healthcare and nursing communities; stewardship and strategy development for internal nursing roles and the business roles that support them; and workforce planning and leadership development.
In addition, Mrs. Kosman has oversight for the following core functions for Aetna’s National Care Management: clinical training; compliance; quality review and auditing; systems and reporting; and innovation, program design and management. National Care Management provides clinical policy and operations support to all of Aetna’s segments.
Previously, Mrs. Kosman was the head of NCM Medical Management Services. In this role, she was the liaison between National Accounts and National Care Management, representing National Accounts needs on strategic and operational medical management to the shared services. She also oversaw the successful expansion and operation of the Dedicated Patient Management Units. These seven units, located in Albany, New York; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; Highpoint, North Carolina; New Albany, Ohio Richfield, Ohio; and San Antonio, Texas; provide coordination of care and case management services to some of the largest National Accounts Plan Sponsors. During her tenure and because of the unique services this area provided, the demand for customized Care Management programs grew; and membership increased from 600,000 in 2002 to 3.1 million in 2012.
Mrs. Kosman began her career with Aetna in 1995 as manager of Government Programs for the Northeast Region. Later, she assumed responsibility for case and disease management. In 1998, Susan joined Core Health Delivery Operations as manager for Quality and Audit. She returned to the Northeast region from 1999 to 2002 as director of Patient Management. Prior to joining Aetna, Susan spent 10 years in the home health industry in various roles.
Susan is a Board member of the Aetna Foundation; Qualidigm, a healthcare consulting and research firm; and the American Heart Association, Greater Hartford chapter. She represents Aetna externally on the Champion Nursing Coalition, and the American Organization of Nurse Executives Committee on Health Care Reform.
She holds a BS in Nursing from SUNY Downstate and an MS in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac College.