Deonys de Cárdenas Named Director of Compliance at Select Health
February 2, 2015
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Select Health of South Carolina, the state’s oldest and largest Medicaid managed care organization, announced today that it has appointed Deonys de Cárdenas as director of compliance. De Cárdenas provides strategic direction and leadership for compliance, regulatory and risk management activities, and serves as the plan’s privacy officer for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance. Select Health offers the First Choice Medicaid health plan to South Carolina residents and is part of the AmeriHealth Caritas family of companies.
“We are pleased to welcome Deonys to our leadership team,” said Cindy Helling, market president for Select Health. “Her collective background in health care, law and compliance will be instrumental as we continue to provide quality health care services to our members and our South Carolina state government partners.”
De Cárdenas comes to Select Health from Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice, LLP, in Atlanta, where she was an attorney in the law firm’s health care practice group. She has also worked in the compliance office at Piedmont Healthcare, Inc. in Atlanta. Prior to receiving her law degree, she was an interventional radiology nurse at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta and also worked in a surgical intensive care unit at Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, Fla.
“It’s a pleasure to be part of an organization that is truly mission driven,” said de Cárdenas. “I enjoy working with our associates and the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to assure that we continue to deliver the highest quality of care for our members.
De Cárdenas completed undergraduate degrees in nursing and English at the University of Florida. She earned her Juris Doctor degree at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law. De Cárdenas currently resides in Mount Pleasant.
ABOUT SELECT HEALTH
Select Health of South Carolina is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015, which demonstrates our strength, stability and expertise in providing access to high quality health care for South Carolinians.
Incorporated in 1995, Select Health was licensed as a Health Maintenance Organization by the South Carolina Department of Insurance in 1996. Later that year, the company contracted with the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to offer First Choice, which is now the state’s oldest and largest health plan for Healthy Connections, South Carolina’s Medicaid program. First Choice serves members in all 46 counties statewide.
First Choice by Select Health of South Carolina is the highest nationally ranked health plan for South Carolina Healthy Connections at #61 on the National Committee of Quality Assurance’s (NCQA’s) Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2013-2014. (Note: The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS) uses other criteria for evaluating and ranking the performance of health plans serving Medicaid beneficiaries. To view these results, please visit www.scdhhs.gov/reports-statistics). Select Health also holds NCQA’s Multicultural Health Care Distinction.
Select Health is a wholly-owned member of the AmeriHealth Caritas family of companies.
