Happy Pride Month! In this episode, we speak with a psychologist whose company develops software that help diagnose behavioral issues in adolescents on the spot. Later, we talk with one of NCQA’s newest executives. Finally, we offer another dose of “Matt’s Facts”, this time focusing on some historical dates and important statistics relating to the LGBTQ+ population.

Dr. Yared Alemu is Founder and CEO of TQIntelligence, which uses “unique human attributes like voice and speech to identify and treat behavioral issues in children.” Through quick but complex analysis of biomarkers, a mobile app interprets voice recordings and other data at the time of the appointment to help gauge if a child is in stress, suffering trauma, or even on the cusp of experiencing behavioral crisis.

Born and raised in Ethiopia, coming from a childhood of trauma and substance abuse, Dr. Alemu’s journey to sobriety over 30 years ago inspired him to become a therapist treating young people. He learned that before there can be treatment, there must be measurement to identify what’s going wrong and to figure out a gameplan for that troubled teen.

His company’s ultimate goal? Eliminating disparities in mental health treatment outcomes.

Ed Yurcisin is NCQA’s new Chief Technology Officer. In this interview, Ed outlines his new responsibilities and forecasts some exciting developments in NCQA’s future.

An experienced “C-suite” executive, Ed has served as CTO at Embedded Healthcare, which helps payers tailor payment models that lead to delivering better care at lower costs. Before that, he was Chief Product Officer for OnyxHealth, which he terms “Microsoft’s solution to the CMS Mandate.” He also served as Chief Data Officer at CareJourney, an influential leader in the healthcare data space, emphasizing digitalization as a key toward improving value-based models of care. In this interview, we learn what inspires him, what drives him, and what needs to be done to move the country towards better health care.