Becker’s Healthcare Podcast Melinda Hancock on Consumer-Centered Transformation and Financial Leadership at Sentara Health
Feb 26, 2026
Melinda Hancock, EVP and CFO at Sentara Health, is a finance and transformation leader who unites care delivery and health plan functions. She discusses consumer-centered strategy and employee engagement. She explains coordinating hospital, ambulatory and plan outreach to simplify patient contact. She outlines a touchless revenue cycle, responses to Medicaid redetermination, and scaling through tech and partnerships.
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Purpose Driven Consumer Transformation
- Sentara centered a purpose statement to be the trusted partner for individuals and communities on their health journeys.
- That purpose guided a transformation to make care seamless, simple, personal, and more affordable across delivery and plan assets.
Stopping Duplicate Post-Discharge Calls
- Sentara found patients received multiple uncoordinated post-discharge calls from plan, hospital, and ambulatory teams.
- They paused to redesign processes so members get a coordinated, holistic follow-up instead of duplicate outreach.
Solve Problems Before Choosing Technology
- Start transformation by defining the problem first and then select technology to enable the solution.
- Avoid starting with technology; let consumer needs and process redesign drive tech choices.