Leadership

Kyle Raffaniello is a proven leader in the healthcare industry with over 25 years of experience in accelerating corporate growth. She has a passion for excellence in bringing innovative solutions to market that add value to clients’ operations.

Previously, Kyle was Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of ValueOptions, a behavioral health company, where she was responsible for profits across all lines of business. She was Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Consortium Health Plans, an organization focused on account growth and retention for the nation’s 20 largest Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. Kyle has also held senior sales and marketing positions at a number of regional health plans, as well as led provider relations for several large medical delivery systems.

Kyle earned a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from George Washington University. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Theology from Mount St. Mary’s College.

Kristin Gasteazoro is a seasoned sales executive with over 18 years of healthcare leadership, sales and strategy experience, with a passion for working alongside internal and external partners to solve problems. She is a recognized industry speaker on digital insights and best practices for health plans struggling to engage members. She has proven to drive proactive pipeline growth, sales process improvement and strategic thought leadership across a broad set of products and solutions in the healthcare industry.

Melanie brings 20 years of experience in healthcare services to her role as Senior Vice President and Chief Client Officer. Melanie is responsible for leading all of Sapphire Digital’s client-facing organizations, including implementation, services and engagement and delivering the end-to-end client client experience.

Prior to Sapphire Digital, Melanie was VP of Client Services at RelayHealth, division of McKesson. Melanie developed a growth-oriented services strategy, focusing on providing customers with the highest quality services and increasing operational efficiencies. She managed EMR vendor partner relations that drove scalable interoperability services to joint clients.

Melanie received her Master of Public Administration from Long Island University, and earned a BS in Food and Nutrition from Herbert H. Lehman College.

Larry brings more than 20 years of technology leadership to his role as Chief Technology and Data Officer. Larry focuses on expanding Sapphire Digital’s technology platform to meet the growing needs of the healthcare marketplace with improved data, client and member engagement, and cost transparency capabilities. Larry also manages the Strategic Program Management Office for the cross-functional management of our strategic initiative portfolio. In addition, he is a member of Sapphire Digital’s Technology Operations Team that is chartered with developing and executing the strategies and plans required to advance engineering, technology and operations initiatives to support the business.

Before joining Sapphire Digital, Larry was Director of Technology for Frog Design, Inc. Earlier, he was Co-Founder and Vice President of Technology at ioLogics. He has also held senior executive roles at Vignette and Platinum Technology.

Larry received his B.S. in Computer and Information Science from Bloomsburg University.

Paul is a seasoned business leader who brings a unique blend of operational management, product strategy, human-centered design and strategic marketing experience to his role at Sapphire Digital. As Chief Product & Technology Officer, Paul leads the product, design and engineering teams as well as the company’s marketing and engagement functions.

Prior to Sapphire Digital, Paul was Vice President of Digital Strategy at Highmark Health, responsible for developing and deploying the company’s overall strategic digital customer experience. An entrepreneur at heart, Paul also co-founded and was Chief Creative Officer of Thinktiv, focused on maturing and extend product development lifecycles, and co-founded and ran Inquiri, a spinoff of Thinktiv.

Paul received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Eric brings over 10 years of healthcare legal experience to his role as Executive Vice President & General Counsel. He manages Sapphire Digital’s legal affairs, including all contracts, intellectual property and privacy issues. Eric serves as the Chief Compliance Officer, overseeing the company’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including HIPAA. In addition, he manages policies and procedures with respect to protected health information (PHI) and manages the maintenance of HITRUST CSF certification.

Prior to Sapphire Digital, Eric served as in-house counsel at St. Joseph’s Health System and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of St. Joseph’s Health. Eric was also an attorney in the Health Law Department of Brach Eichler, LLC.

Eric received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, and his BS in Finance and International Business from Penn State University. Eric is licensed to practice law in New Jersey and New York.

Dennis brings nearly 20 years of experience in the fields of healthcare technology and group insurance sales, benefits consultation and employer benefits management to his role of Senior Vice President, Sales. In this position, Dennis has responsibility for revenue generation and retention for all Sapphire Digital health plan and employer solutions. During his career, Dennis has consulted with, directed, and sold to many of the nation’s largest insurers, employers and consultants.

Prior to joining Sapphire Digital, Dennis was Vice President, National and Consultant Sales at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Additionally, Dennis was deeply involved with Consortium Health Plans, serving as a member of their Sales Leadership Committee and Blue Consultant Team.

Dennis received his B.S. in Business Administration, Healthcare Management from the University of Connecticut.  He is a director on the board for the New England Employee Benefits Council (NEEBC).

Rob combines entrepreneurial and start-up experience with over 20 years in the health insurance and technology industries.  As Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Rob leads strategy development and execution, including identifying strategic partners and programs that advance Sapphire Digital’s solutions for health plan and employer customers.

Rob has a passion for supporting consumers in finding high-value healthcare.  He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Compass Healthcare Advisers, a pioneer in rewards-based healthcare transparency, which was acquired by Sapphire Digital in 2014.  Earlier in his career, he held several leadership roles within Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in sales and strategic planning.  He also held various business and technical consulting positions within the healthcare and financial services.

Rob holds a BS in Business Management from Bryant University and an MBA from Babson College.