Wade Baker Email and Phone Number

Combined leadership and Agile product ownership experiences to provide guidance and infuse new energy into a previously non-Agile scrum team focused on delivering new software functionality for a medical billing solution with more than 12,000 national pharmacy customers across the EnlivenHealth (Omnicell) portfolio. Increased the team’s velocity by more than 58% and backlog readiness health by more than 400% by creating a pathway focused on an incremental delivery mindset. Implemented a cultural shift for the delivery team that introduced an inclusive environment, which provided a more open avenue for the team to collectively organize to navigate critical sprint delivery and backlog discussions.Pivoted to a second product to lead a successful production deployment for six months of code. Utilized organizational, communication and interpersonal skills to quickly earn the trust and repair an inherited fractured relationship with two customers in the Top 10 on the 2022 Fortune 500 list.

Utilized collective career skill-set for the Cornerstone Program, an Agile-based project representing the largest investment in Cigna Medicare history. In the 600-plus employee project, valued as a critical result-driven resource, which has been reflected in diverse program roles, ranging from discovering, defining and valuing process optimizations to leading multiple infrastructure-level scrum teams.Demonstrated shiftiness and fast-paced adaptability by filling an urgent product owner need to simultaneously lead two new data-layer scrum teams. Both teams, despite not having a full-time scrum master for six months, each generated iteration work within two weeks, and after six weeks, both teams completed the most effective Program Increment Planning of the 10-team Agile Release Train.Efficiently flipped empty backlog for two new scrum teams into one that provided workload fuel for the 30-plus employee teams. The backlog was created, prioritized and refined within two weeks while both teams completed adjacent iteration work.Quickly surfaced, evaluated and socialized risks at the program and scrum team level that provides transparency of impact and mitigation strategy that multiple leadership levels and stakeholders – business and technical – easily can digest and understand.Effectively led high-performing remote scrum teams – on-shore and off-shore – that include a blend of varying time zones, cultures, personalities and societal factors.Led process optimizations, including the discovery, implementation and effectiveness monitoring for multiple areas of Medicare Advantage, including claims servicing and processing, enrollment, fulfillment, billing and reporting. Optimizations bridge current, interim and future state at the program level, and serve as the leading performance indicator of the Cornerstone Program.Obtained Certified ScrumMaster® certification after passing exam in 2022.

Revitalized, re-engineered and standardized the EOB process across Cigna Medicare Advantage. This approach transformed the EOB into an organizational success story that was validated with flawless results in the 2021 CMS Program Audit.Led the successful deployment of a new multi-market EOB that met internal and external requirements. This included facilitating critical decisions with multiple market stakeholders, ranging from executive leaders to subject matter experts. Implemented an internal process that tracks defects from discovery to closure. This process includes identifying the defect root cause, understanding the impact and outlining the resolution timeline and prioritization. This standardized defect portal has allowed the business to retain historical knowledge and has provided additional value of understanding the pathway to resolving defects holistically. Incorporated Agile methodology to strategically improve the EOB product across markets. This has led to iterative implementations to incrementally improve compliance for a process that generates more than 4.3 million member communications per year in a rapidly growing Medicare Advantage sector. Leveraged monitoring results to measure the historical progression on EOB quality scores, which climbed from less than 50% to more than 95% compliant. Provided closure for seven inherited Internal Audit Findings in less than one year. These cross-market findings originated from a 2017 audit and were extensions of the systemic findings in the 2015 CMS Program Audit.Completed "Leading Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)" course in February 2020.

Provided project management in executive-level areas, including the strategic planning, deployment and coordination of the Quality Management System (QMS), contract implementations, process improvement initiatives and customer outreach for more than 1,100 employees at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina’s leading Medicare contractor.Managed the two most successful ISO audits in the company’s history. The ISO 9001:2015 upgrade and recertification audits combined for 17 identified positives, zero opportunities for improvement and zero non-conformances.Monitored adherence of QMS program, which includes managing, coordinating and completing monthly audits, providing guidance for 100-plus management members relating to performance, root cause and corrective/preventative action.Served as communications lead for implementation of $77.6 million, five-year contract with 147 new employees. Created and deployed communications plan, directed weekly meetings, monitored completion of more than 350 tasks and successfully facilitated all issues between contract stakeholders. Revamped a customer-facing program that assists providers and suppliers with resolving claim denial errors. Strengthened process controls and utilized Lean and process improvement methodologies to facilitate executive-level site visits to resolve process issues utilizing root cause and corrective action tools.Conceptualized company’s time study process utilized in contract bidding, monitoring employee progress and determining effectiveness of enhancements.Relentlessly marketed and branded professional development program that generated a 189-percent increase (1,349 employees) in participation from 2015 to 2018.Earned Lean Applied to Business Processes certification from University of Tennessee in 2017 to continue support of process improvement initiative. Obtained ISO 9001-2015 Lead Auditor certification after passing exam in 2016.

Created performance-based curriculum for more than 1,100 in-office and work at home employees in approximately 35 departments across two contracts. Duties included rapidly understanding departmental processes, developing efficient training solutions ranging from work instructions to module-based curriculums, observing and leaning processes, playing intermediary between operations and developers to produce cost-effective applications, coordinating and leading trainings on new implementations, providing key analytical studies to management and researching and executing new innovative technologies to leverage company. Generated key analytical multi-departmental research outlining efficiencies gained through process improvements on the company’s successful rebid proposal for a $250 million, four-year contract impacting more than 400 employees. Directed a contract transition for the critical front-line customer service department, including assisting in development of a new application, mitigating deadline risks, creating the new process and leading training of a 20-employee department. Successfully completed career transition from award-winning writer, editor and manager of 13 years in newspapers to being utilized on critical projects and implementations in the complex world of Medicare.Earned Criterion Referenced Instruction (CRI) and Instructional Module Design (IMD) certification as a Certified Technical Trainer in December 2012.

Led the online initiative on themonitor.com as well as on RGVSports.com, the combined high school sports website of three regional newspapers. Delegated the online team, which includes editors and reporters, to develop strategies and ideas to increase page views and unique users. Analyzed web traffic and collaborated with the director of Internet operations/sales daily. Embraced all forms of social media, using it to brand an upstart magazine, three newspapers, a sports website and key employees on staff. Viewed as social media leader by national company Freedom Communications through content development, ability to increase audience size, engage that audience through interaction and then brand the company products through that personalized correspondence.Managed the 11-person Valleywide sports department and oversaw all daily and long-term budgeting, editing, planning and scheduling in print and online.Coordinated the publication of RGVSports.com The Magazine, a quarterly print magazine sold separately from the newspaper, as well as an upcoming weekly high school football broadsheet. Planned and coordinated the RGVSports.com All-Star Sports Awards and the RGVSports.com All-Star Charity Basketball Game.

Implemented a streamlined structure for a Valleywide sports department, combining staffs from three newspapers. Supervised a team of 11 full-timers, part-timers and freelancers. Scheduled and edited coverage, including all regional projects, series and special sections. Conceived, pitched and oversaw the successful launch of RGVSports.com The Magazine, which has generated an average of $234,000 annually in three years. Conceptualized a 12-page high school football weekly broadsheet, which is expected to produce $108,000 in just 11 weeks during the fall of 2011. Oversaw Internet operations for RGVSports.com, including working with Freedom Interactive, analyzing numbers in Omniture and implementing a social media campaign for the sports department, which has the most successful newspaper Facebook fan page in the Freedom Communications chain.Created the annual RGVSports.com All-Star Sports Awards and All-Star Charity Basketball Game in consultation with community/business partnerships.

Planned and coordinated coverage in print and online for a six-member staff known as the most productive in the newsroom. Produced numerous special sections. Engineered the explosive growth of RGVSports.com, which quickly became hailed as one of the top niche websites in Freedom Communications. Began harnessing the power of social media ahead of the curve to brand our website.

Covered NCAA Division I Texas-Pan American and consistently scooped news, garnering a reputation as one of the top reporters in the newsroom. Directed coverage for the sports staff, which included all special sections, such as our inaugural English-Spanish special section.

Coordinated in-depth stories and features for the sports staff. Covered Division I Texas-Pan American basketball and baseball, along with high school sports.

Covered sporting events under tight deadlines, including University of South Carolina football and baseball, college baseball regionals and NASCAR.