Knowledge Center

"Why WEDI" is a series of short interviews with WEDI members and leaders in health IT. This week we interviewed Steven Kansteiner, Vice President of Physician Data Operations at UnitedHealthcare. Steve is also on the WEDI Board of Directors.

When did you join WEDI?

I joined WEDI in July of 2021.

Why did you join WEDI? 

I have a passion for applying operational excellence principles including six sigma / lean manufacturing, supporting industry progress, and advocating for best practices.  Joining WEDI seemed like a great way to contribute more holistically alongside many other talented peers across all sectors in the healthcare space.  We are able to collaborate with multiple points of view considered and included, such as medical professionals, practice managers, payers, government representatives, third party administrators, and vendors.  We are better together.

What is your favorite aspect about WEDI? 

Sharing in the advising on policy with experienced industry members and shaping the future of healthcare.

What challenge(s) would you like to see WEDI focus on next? 

Supporting a standard for electronic attachments to support claim and prior authorization processing efficiency.  This is estimated to alleviate substantial cost and administrative manual burden for most entities involved in healthcare.  Secondly, driving the growth and maturity of value based care models in our industry has strong potential to further optimize healthcare cost and quality.