The California Medical Association (CMA) recently said goodbye to Kris Marck, our long-time Director of Medi-Cal managed care plan relations, who retired earlier this year. Kris had become an expert on all things Medi-Cal and worked tirelessly to build strong liaison relationships with payor representatives to enable her to resolve physician issues and concerns.

The CMA Center for Economic Services is thrilled to welcome Kari Perry-Ailstock as the new Director of Medi-Cal Managed Care Relations. Kari will focus on providing assistance to CMA members with Medi-Cal fee-for-service or Medi-Cal managed care questions, concerns or issues, including Proposition 56 payments.

Kari has over 20 years of experience working closely with physicians and patients in a physician practice setting, most recently at Surgical Affiliates Management Group, Inc.

Kari comes to CMA with not only a plethora of practical experience but also with a passion for overall physician satisfaction. “I love health care because it is everchanging and is constantly advancing in technology. I enjoy helping physicians and making a difference by improving physician and practice management satisfaction,” she explained.

“I’m excited about providing one on one assistance to physician members and their staff and continuing to build strong liaison relationships with payors to help resolve physician member issues,” she added.

Early in her career Kari worked for 10 years for a thoracic oncology surgeon, where she learned and practiced daily patient empathy, compassion and customer service. Kari’s experience puts her in a unique position to understand all sides of the health care system and can approach challenges with a multifaceted lens.

Kari is here to help and can’t wait to assist in any way she can. Welcome, Kari! She can be reached at (916) 551-2037 or kperryailstock@cmadocs.org.