Monthly Monday Primary Care Talks is dedicated to interviewing guest speakers from across Texas, covering a wide range of primary care topics. Today, you will hear from Dr. Ryan D. Van Ramshorst and Emily Rocha, about their work at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Monthly Monday Primary Care Talks is dedicated to interviewing guest speakers from across Texas, covering a wide range of primary care topics. Each month, TPCC will bring you informative episodes as your go-to resource on all things primary care in Texas.
Today, you will hear from Dr. Ryan D. Van Ramshorst, MD, MPH, FAAP, CHCQM, and Emily Rocha, MBA, MSN, RN, NE-BC, CHCQM, about their work at the TexasHealth and Human Services Commission. In this episode, they discuss their work within Texas Medicaid on administrative burden, quality improvement, and their goals for advancing high-quality primary care. Learn more about them below!
Dr. Ryan Van Ramshorst, MD, MPH, FAAP, CHCQM, serves as the Chief Medical Director for Medicaid and CHIP Services at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. In this role, Van Ramshorst serves as the lead physician for the Texas Medicaid program, which provides needed health services to over 5 million Texans. He has been in this role since February of 2019. Van Ramshorst completed undergraduate studies in biology and Spanish at Chapman University in Orange, California. He then completed medical school at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and subsequently completed internship, residency, and chief residency in Pediatrics at UT Health San Antonio (UTHSA). He then completed a fellowship in Academic General Pediatrics at UTHSA. During his fellowship training, he graduated from The University of Texas School of Public Health with a master’s degree in public health. Van Ramshorst is Board Certified in General Pediatrics and in Health Care Quality & Management. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Diplomate of the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians. He continues to see patients on a part-time volunteer basis as adjunct faculty at UTHSA. He also continues to teach part-time at UTHSA, lecturing on topics including the health care systems, health disparities, and physician leadership. Van Ramshorst has been married for nearly 15 years to Christine Van Ramshorst, an obstetrician/gynecologist in private practice. His personal interests include spending time with his wife, soccer, traveling, fitness, cooking, and Star Wars.
Emily Rocha, MBA, MSN, RN, NE-BC, CHCQM, is the Director of Clinical Innovation at Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Medicaid and CHIP Services (MCS), Office of the Medical Director. She leads programs focused on the care of women and children, palliative care, quality improvement, and preventive care. Her background is in pediatric critical care, emergency nursing, and hospital leadership. Rocha co-led MCS' participation in CDC's Immunization Community of Practice Learning Collaborative and CMS' Infant Well-Child Visit Affinity Group. She also advises MCS' participation in a palliative care alternative payment model (APM) pilot, a continuous glucose monitor APM pilot, and cross-agency maternal health workgroups. Rocha has a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Delaware and a Master’s of Science in Nursing from the University of Miami. She holds national certifications in nursing executive leadership and healthcare quality management.
Questions for Ryan D. Van Ramshorst and Emily Rocha?
Feel free to connect to them here: ryan.vanramshorst@hhs.texas.gov and emily.rocha@hhs.texas.gov.
Questions, comments, or feedback for the TPCC team?
We would love to hear what you thought of today’s episode! If you would like to participate in our Monthly Monday Primary Care Talks as a guest or recommend a guest, please contact Nishi Singhal at nsinghal@texashealthinstitute.org.
Missed a previous episode?
View Monthly Monday: January 2024 with Dr. Laurel Williams
The Texas Primary Care Consortium is a statewide collaborative between the Texas Health Institute and the Texas Medical Home Initiative. THI provides the financial and administrative support for the TPCC team and work. To learn more about THI, please visit texashealthinstitute.org.
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