A passion for public health: Dr. Andrea Willis

Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Dr. Andrea Willis, the chief medical officer for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Dr. Andrea Willis, the chief medical officer for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

As a child growing up on her grandparents' farm in Athens, Alabama, Andrea Willis took an early interest in medicine when she heard the calls of a mother cat struggling to birth a kitten in a little shed behind the house.

Willis remembers at age 7 getting a pair of scissors and dishwashing gloves to help deliver the kitten, although all that was ultimately needed was some massaging of the cat's belly. The kitten, named Fluffy, became her grandfather's pride and joy and spurred Willis to become the first in her family to earn a college degree and ultimately to become a physician and now senior medical director for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

"I knew from those moments in the shed I was going to be a doctor," Willis recalls. "I never turned back."

Willis says she acquired a strong work ethic working on her grandfather's pig farm as a child and developed her compassion for others through her Christian faith. "I've always felt we were put on the earth to help others," she says.

Dr. Willis was trained to become a pediatrician as Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she practiced pediatrics, and later earned her master's degree in public health at John Hopkins to pursue her career in public health.

Willis was recruited to Tennessee in 2003 to serve as deputy commissioner of health where she led the state's efforts to develop CoverKids, the statewide program that offers free coverage for qualifying pregnant women and children who do not have insurance.

Through the contacts she developed with Tennessee insurers in state government, Willis landed a job with BlueCross in 2009 and became the chief medical officer for BlueCross in 2013. As the top medical officer for the state's biggest insurer, Willis oversees a staff of nearly 400 persons and is responsible for the medical policies of BlueCross to determine what policies and drugs are covered by the insurer and to oversee standards of care to ensure providers are meeting adequate standards.

Under her leadership, BlueCross achieved an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and Willis said she continues to work to improve the quality and compassion of service.

""It's really about doing the best for every member, every day and being treated the way you would want to be treated," she says.

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