Derek Kazahaya

About Derek Kazahaya

Senior healthcare executive with 25+ years of progressive experience leading…

Experience

1. Practice Leader, Supply Chain Advisory Services

   Optum

   Jan 2025 — Present · Redondo Beach, CA, US

   Leading strategic transformation initiatives across healthcare supply chain and operational advisory. Partnering with health systems to drive measurable impact through data-driven sourcing, AI integration, and cross-functional collaboration. Regularly featured in Advisory Board articles and webinars, including “How political uncertainty is impacting health system purchasing strategy”, and listed as a contributor in their expert directory. Leader of 62 employees across multiple functions, including 8 direct reports.Key Achievements- Sales Performance: 2025 sales volume exceeded 2023–2024 combined by 50%; sales value surged 317% all within 6 months- AI Leadership: Deployed, configured, and operationalized AI tools for contract review, calendar/email productivity, and internal training; authored newsletters and built AI resource hub. Developed prompt libraries and LLM-assisted templates for client reporting, executive summaries, and savings validation- Process Innovation: Created budgeting and validation tools, KPI frameworks, and new sales materials to support client engagements- Workforce Optimization: Led redesign of managed service team structure and integrated cross-departmental tools and meetings- Collaboration & Enablement: Built internal processes and procedures to streamline execution and foster company-wide collaboration.

Education

• University of Southern California

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Skills

• Contract Negotiation
• Healthcare Management
• Revenue Cycle Management
• U.s. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (Hipaa)
• Hospitals
• Financial Analysis
• Analysis
• Revenue Cycle
• Healthcare Industry
• Team Building
• Management
• Staff Development
• Hipaa
• Management Consulting
• Healthcare
• Healthcare Information Technology
• Electronic Medical Record (Emr)
• Business Process Improvement
• Revenue Analysis
• Policy
• Department Budgeting
• Performance Improvement
• Ehr
• Computers
• Data Analysis
• Six Sigma
• Strategic Planning
• Emr
• Project Management
• Operations Management
• Practice Management
• Healthcare Information Technology (Hit)
• Supply Chain
• Managed Care
• Leadership
• Supply Chain Management
• Refunds
• Accounts Receivable
• Healthcare Consulting
• Process Improvement