Hi! I’m Dr. Farah Shafi, and as you may have heard, I recently joined Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI), becoming the company’s new Chief Medical Officer on 28 de junio. I am excited to be here and can’t wait to meet and work with many of you.

The last month has been very busy as I’m continuing to get up to speed on our culture, our people, our strategy, the community we serve, and of course you, our providers, who are on the “front lines" and often the face of the Blue Cross brand to our members.

One thing has become very clear in the very short time I’ve been at BCBSRI – just how deeply committed we are to fulfilling our 2025 strategy. That strategy is centered around providing equitable care, particularly around maternal health and morbidity issues; behavioral health, particularly for children and adolescents; and value-based care, or VBC. VBC will keep patients healthier, improve health outcomes, and lower costs while providing improved provider compensation for reaching certain goals.

I’m anxious to dig into this important work to help us advance our strategy and make more affordable, equitable care a reality in Rhode Island. At the same time, I—and our entire leadership team—realize that things aren’t perfect today…far from it. We all know that there are many aspects of healthcare that are flawed. But these are things that are fixable, and our strategy is the path toward improving care for our customers, members, and providers.

Of course, working with you is a key piece of that fix. While my most recent experience was as Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Mass General Brigham Health Plan, much of my background is on the provider side as an OB-GYN at various hospitals and health systems, and I’m aware of the pain points you may experience. I want you to know that I’m open to collaboration with you to understand all sides of different issues, and you have my commitment to keeping the provider “voice" an important part of our decision-making process at BCBSRI.

Lastly, I’m excited to be a part of the Rhode Island community again. I was born in Providence and completed my residency at Women & Infants Hospital. So, it’s great to be back, and I’m thrilled to be here!

As always, thank you for your partnership and all you do to help our members stay safe and healthy.