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Dr. Natasha Avery is the Chief Operating Officer at Alliant and leads the organization’s operational strategy with a focus on successful program implementation, achievement of metrics, and efficiency. She provides data-driven quality improvement strategies and offers strategic direction aligning Alliant’s systems and processes with its mission and goals.
Dr. Avery has 20 years of health care experience and specializes in continuous improvement, process optimization, and program management. Prior to her current role, Dr. Avery led state and federal contracts and previously served as the executive director of Alliant’s ESRD Network 8 program.
She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Kidney Foundation and has presented at national and regional healthcare conferences, served on technical expert panels, and advisory boards. Additionally, she is a member of several organizations committed to volunteer efforts focused on public health, community engagement, and youth leadership.
Dr. Avery obtained a doctorate in public health, a licensed master prepared social worker, a certified health education specialist, and a certified professional in health care quality.
Carol Allen is the executive vice president at Alliant Health Solutions. She is responsible for the primary business units of operation, including the Medicare Network of Quality Improvement and Innovation Contractors, End-Stage Renal Disease Networks, State Medicaid and Private Insurer contracts. In addition, Allen participates in developing and executing corporate strategies designed to enhance current market share, generate new business opportunities and forge strategic partnerships.
With her experience in hospital, State and Federal contract operations, Allen is skilled in quality improvement, health care data and analytics, utilization management, review of home & community-based services, behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disabilities services, program integrity compliance reviews, and Nurse Aide Training and Registries. Her expertise in operations, project management and contract implementation in the health care industry span over 35 years.
As the chief operating officer, Allen directs a professional, multi-disciplinary team in developing, implementing and evaluating national and local quality improvement projects and initiatives for preventive, acute, chronic, and long-term care with a focus on health equity and promoting healthy behaviors. Before joining Alliant, she managed operations for a hospital-based inpatient psychiatric & substance abuse facility, outpatient services clinic, hospital information systems and private surgical practice. Allen has an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Gainesville College and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Greg Greenlow is Alliant’s chief financial and compliance officer responsible for our organization’s day-to-day finance management and our corporate compliance program related to state and federal regulations and requirements, ethics and program integrity. Greenlow brings extensive accounting and finance experience to Alliant, with more than 35 years specializing in government contracting. While previously having roles as the capitalize controller and certified public accountant, he is a results-driven professional with a passion for improving financial performance through innovative improvement initiatives.
He joined the Alliant team as controller in 2015. Previously, he served as assistant controller of accounting at L-3 Technologies, a Fortune 500 company and leader in the development and production of visualization systems for the government, where he was responsible for managing closings, budgeting, forecasting, and developing procedures for efficiencies, control, and government compliance. In this role, Greenlow led the accounting, audit, and export teams, and served as the point of contact for all external government audits. Additionally, he supported new business development and export functions for programs totaling $110+ million in revenue. Prior to that, he was a public accountant for the 9th largest accounting firm in the U.S. In 2023, he was recognized as a top 25 chief financial officer in Georgia.
Greenlow holds a B.S. in accounting and business administration from the University of Baltimore. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Georgia Society of CPAs.
Dianne Bennett-Johnson, MD, FACP, is the medical director of Medicaid management services at Alliant Health Solutions. Board certified in internal Medicine, Dr. Bennett-Johnson has been a practicing general internist for more than 30 years and is founder and owner of Appointed Physicians Medical Center in Gwinnett County, a full-service primary care medical center. Before joining Alliant, Dr. Bennett-Johnson worked at the Mt. Sinai Hospital Near North Health Center and at Cook County Hospital and affiliates, both in Chicago. She was also with Peachtree Corners Medical Center in Norcross for five years.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, received her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine, and completed her residency in internal medicine at Northwestern University, Evanston Hospital. She is certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Basic Life Support (BLS). Dr. Bennett-Johnson is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the Medical Association of Georgia, Atlanta Medical Association, and National Medical Association. She is affiliated with Northside Hospital, and volunteers’ healthcare services to the uninsured.
Dr. Bennett-Johnson’s volunteer efforts also include Open Hand, which uses home-delivered meals and nutrition education to help people prevent or better manage chronic disease. She was named “Georgia’s 2012 Favorite Doctor” by Coventry Health Care of Georgia. A six-person panel at Coventry reviewed the physician finalists who were nominated by their patients. Her teaching has included Mercer University School of Medicine and Emory University’s Physician Assistant Program.
Dr. Kimberly J. Rask is the chief data officer at Alliant Health Solutions. She has provided clinical and analytic direction at Alliant for economic evaluations, patient safety initiatives, quality data reporting and implementation science since 2008. She leads a data analytics team and a business processes unit that monitor both internal and external quality improvement initiatives across health care settings using evidence-based practices and robust performance monitoring measures.
A primary care physician and health economist, Dr. Rask previously held joint appointments in health policy and management at the Rollins School of Public Health and Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine. Her research and teaching focused on quality improvement and outcomes measurement. She has published over 100 articles on primary care practice, cost-effectiveness, quality improvement and outcomes measurement.
Dr. Rask has served on national expert panels for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Quality Forum, and the Battelle Partnership for Quality Measurement. Dr. Rask also serves as a grant reviewer for federal programs and foundations and a journal reviewer for clinical and health services research journals.
A Magna cum laude graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After completing her residency in internal medicine, Dr. Rask was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and completed the doctoral program in health economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania along with a fellowship in general internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Linda Kluge is the senior executive director of Quality & Strategic Alliances for Alliant Health Solutions. She has more than 45 years of experience in dietetics and quality management and has held supervisory, management and clinical roles for various health care providers.
Kluge joined Alliant, then known as the Georgia Medical Care Foundation, in 2003 as a quality improvement and education specialist. She then served as a home health/nursing home/quality team manager before being promoted to the director of the Quality Improvement Organization and serving as an Alliant executive management team member. She has extensive experience working with nursing homes, hospitals and communities on initiatives for patient safety, care transitions and beneficiary protection.
Before joining Alliant, Kluge held several positions at Beverly Enterprises, a long-term care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation provider, including serving as a senior director of its quality management department. She started her dietetics career as a dietary consultant for Judy Ford Stokes & Associates in Georgia and Florida.
After earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, Kluge completed the coordinated undergraduate program in dietetics at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and professional development in gerontology certificate from Emory. She received the Distinguished Service Award from Aging Services of Georgia, the President’s Mentor Award from the Florida Dietetic Association, the 2018 American Health Care Association Mary K. Ousley Champion of Quality award, and the 2020 Distinguished Service Award from the Gerontology Institute at Georgia State University. Kluge represents Alliant on the American Health Quality Association Board of Directors.
Kluge is a national, state and local member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a member of the National Association of Healthcare Quality and the Georgia Association for Healthcare Quality, and a member of the Southeast Association of Facilitators. She is also is a leadership team member of the Dunwoody Evening Community Bible Study.
Mary Albin is Alliant Health Solutions’ executive director of the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Networks 8 and 14 under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services contract. Network 8 serves ESRD patients in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, and Network 14 serves ESRD patients in Texas. Albin is responsible for the overall strategic and operational oversight of the Network contracts operations.
Albin’s experience in health care operations management, with an emphasis on end-stage renal care, spans more than 30 years. Before joining Alliant in 2017, Albin served as DaVita Kidney Care’s group facility administrator in the Dallas area. She managed nursing services and patient care operations for the organization’s hemodialysis facilities.
Albin holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Chapman University and is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality from the Healthcare Quality Certification Commission. She is a governor-appointed member of the Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force of Texas. In addition, she serves as a National Forum of ESRD Networks Board of Directors member and chair for the Executive Director Advisory Council.
Margot Townsend is the chief human resources officer at Alliant Health Solutions. Townsend has more than 25 years of HR leadership experience spanning from start-up and established healthcare service and technology organizations. She is certified in HR and performance coaching and has a bachelor’s in business management from Penn State.
For over 20 years, she has been passionate about those in “employment transition” and serves the community as a job coach, encouraging and empowering the unemployed. Additionally, she is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management and serves the Blue and Gold Foundation, Empty Stocking, Feed the Children, March of Dimes, and National Alliance on Mental Illness.
John Slaughter is the chief information officer at Alliant Health Solutions. In his role as CIO, Slaughter and his team deliver solutions to Alliant’s employees, customers, and stakeholders. Slaughter’s background in information technology spans over 20 years in system development, project implementations, system implementations, and security for financial services, telecommunications and health care. His experience in implementing IT systems and processes includes interfacing with state agency personnel, partners, third-party vendors, and other stakeholders, while staying focused on ensuring IT is aligned with the goals and needs of Alliant’s customers and employees.
Slaughter is a member of Kettering Group, Inspiredu’s Executive Leadership Council, Evanta’s Atlanta CIO Governing Body, and is a TechBridge Executive Ambassador. He is also the president of the Candler Park Lake Claire Run Club.
Prior to joining Alliant, Slaughter worked in various customer facing technology roles for Accenture, Hewitt Associates and Saba Software. He received his bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Tulane University.
Will Battles is the Chief Strategy Officer at Alliant Health Solutions.
In his role as CSO, Battles works with the CEO in driving Alliant’s overall growth and program development strategy. He has been instrumental in Alliant’s growth across the United States through the successful pursuit of contracts with federal and state government agencies as well as commercial health plans. Battles is responsible for leading Alliant’s business development, marketing and strategic partnership initiatives.
During his more than 20 years of health industry experience, Battles has served in a variety of leadership roles in the areas of program development and operations management. In 2006, he assumed responsibility for the direction of all business development and communications activities for Alliant and its subsidiaries. Since 2010, he has played a vital role in successfully implementing and managing five state government contracts for Alliant. For these initiatives, Battles directed establishing necessary staffing, systems and operational infrastructure for Alliant in three states.
Dr. Dennis White is the president and chief executive officer of Alliant Health Solutions, a $60 million nonprofit family of companies helping governmental agencies ensure health care quality is improved and tax dollars are used appropriately in the administration of public sector health care programs. Under his strategic leadership, Alliant has expanded its operations nationally, with offices in Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. In 2024, Alliant received the honor of being named one of the “Best Places to Work” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle for the 13th time.
Dr. White’s experience in health care and information technology spans more than 25 years. He has dedicated his career to executing state and federal government contracts that center on improving health care quality and efficiency for patients.
Heavily involved in the community, Dr. White is the immediate past chair of the Georgia Health Information Network (GaHIN). He also serves as a board member for Open Hand and an advisory board member for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Institute of Health Administration, and the Center for Health Information Technology at Georgia State University’s (GSU) Robinson College of Business. In addition, Dr. White has served as an adjunct professor at GSU for more than 8 years.
Dr. White holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Christian Brothers University, a master’s degree in information technology from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a doctorate in health care administration from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Dr. Susy Alfonso serves as Alliant’s Chief Medical Officer of Medicaid. In this role, she will provide clinical oversight for all of our Medicaid-related work and routinely interact with our peer consultant panel.
Dr. Alfonso is board certified in family medicine and was recently named a ‘Top Doc’ by Atlanta magazine. She possesses more than 20 years of clinical experience in full-spectrum ambulatory care and has been involved in direct patient care, development and growth of primary care practices, and leadership in assessment and transformation of primary care. Prior to joining Alliant, Dr. Alfonso served as director of academic and clinical integration for the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at Emory.
Dr. Alfonso completed her undergraduate training in biology at Emory University before earning her medical degree from Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Alfonso also holds a master’s degree in healthcare management from the Harvard School of Public Health.