With decades of diverse dental experience,
our leadership team is passionate about what we do every day. We are dedicated to serving our
customers and continuing to grow our capabilities while providing world-class service through
forward-thinking innovative tools that will increase value and improve outcomes for our business
partners, providers, and members.
Scott TowersPresident
Scott Towers, President
Scott Towers joined the company in 1996. He is an instrumental
leader and has more than 20 years of experience in the dental business.
Scott has been responsible for leading dental underwriting, analytics and product
development teams, which are important growth drivers for our overall dental business.
He is a key member of the leadership team that developed the company's distinctive dental
value proposition based on leading dental products and networks, quality service delivery
and Medical and Specialty integration.
Scott has a degree in
Mathematics with an Actuarial specialization from the University of
Minnesota and an MBA in Finance and Strategy from the Carlson School of
Management at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Stewart Balikov
Dental Director
Dr. Stewart Balikov, Dental Director
Stewart R. Balikov, DDS joined the team in 2017 and
is the National Dental Director and Director of Dental Special Investigations,
having previously held the position of National Dental Director of Utilization
Management at Aetna for the previous 14 years. He is an Accredited Health Care Fraud
Investigator through the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association and a Certified
Quality Assurance Consultant through the California Association of Dental Plans.
Dr. Balikov is a Certified Dental Consultant and past president of the American Association
of Dental Consultants.
Dr. Balikov is a member of the National Health Care
Anti-Fraud Association, the American Association of Dental Consultants,
American Dental Association, California Dental Association, San Fernando Valley
Dental Society, and Alpha Omega Dental Society. He maintains a limited private practice
in the Los Angeles, CA area. Dr. Balikov currently holds licenses in California, Colorado,
and Arizona.
Dr. Balikov is a graduate from the University of
Southern California, School of Dentistry and he holds a Six Sigma Green Belt
Certification.
Lucas E.B.
Staff Vice PresidentProduct Development,Strategy and Management
Lucas E.B., Staff Vice President - Product Development,
Strategy and Management
As Staff Vice President of Product Development, Strategy and Management,
Lucas actively monitors industry and competitive trends alongside
regulatory and public affairs, with the goal of developing market-leading
and competitive product solutions.
Lucas has more than 15 years of industry experience
and has been with the organization since 2015. Previously he held a variety
of roles in business development as well as medical and specialty product strategy,
development, and management as a Strategic Consultant for Humana. With a strong background
and awareness of the market and experience with organizational functions including clinical,
network, operations, proposals and sales, he is passionate about building winning product
strategies with strong go-to-market value propositions. He received his Bachelor of Business
Administration degree from St. Norbert College with a concentration in Business Administration
and Political Science.
Travis Weir, Staff Vice President – Network Optimization
As Staff Vice President of Network Optimization,
Travis Weir leads the Professional Services and Oral Health Analytics
teams comprised of Dental Network Strategy, Network Analytics, and Dental
Provider Data Management. These teams focus on provider utilization analysis,
fraud, waste and abuse detection, rating and quoting tool development, client
reporting, credentialing,
network recruitment, and overall provider data management.
Travis joined the organization in 1999 and has held
various leadership positions in Actuarial, Underwriting and Data Analytics.
He received his BA from Minnesota State University in Mathematics with
concentrations in Economics and Business Administration.
Suzi Woodring, Staff Vice President – Dental Operations
Suzi Woodring joined the organization in 2013 and has extensive experience
in both the financial services and healthcare industries.
Throughout her career she has served customers as a front-line customer
care associate and has held various support and leadership roles. Prior to joining the Dental
Operations team in 2022, Suzi was a Director of Operations in National
Government Services (NGS) overseeing Claims and Appeals Operations, and a Director
in our National Service Experience team leading Employer Service Representatives and
Member Digital Messaging Operations. Suzi has a passion
for delivering exceptional service to our customers through leading high performing teams.
Suzi has a Master of Arts degree in Organizational
Leadership from Bellevue University and a Bachelor of Science degree in
Psychology from the University of Dayton.
Dedicated
We have more than 700 dedicated, professional dental associates who are focused on your needs as a dentist, dental insurance provider, member, or business partner.
Diverse
We embrace a culture of inclusion, where the diversity
of our associates can help us better understand the healthcare needs, expectations,
and challenges of our members. Our talented associates, with their differing views and
experiences, strengthen our ability to be innovative and sensitive to our customers’
healthcare needs and preferences.
Responsible
In addition
to providing impeccable service, our associates are vigilant about protecting our members
and partners. Each DeCare associate completes annual HIPAA and Information Security training
to ensure the safety of the data for which we are responsible.
Associates also complete yearly Fraud, Waste, & Abuse training to ensure all employees know
how to identify and report any fraudulent activity that could be harmful to our partners or members.
It’s important we treat you fairly
We follow federal civil rights laws in our health programs and activities. We don’t discriminate, exclude people, or treat them differently on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. For people with disabilities, we offer free aids and services. For people whose primary language isn’t English, we offer free language assistance services through interpreters and other written languages.
Interested in these services?
Call the Member Services number on your ID card for help (TTY/TDD: 711).
If you think we failed to offer these services or discriminated based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, you can file a complaint, also known as a grievance. You can file a complaint with our Compliance Coordinator in writing to:
Appeals Unit, P.O. Box 551, Minneapolis, MN. 55440-0551
Otherwise, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights at:
