The “Rhode” to Continuous Improvement: Kyla D’Elia’s Career at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Like many Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) associates, Kyla D’Elia started her journey in the call center. Almost 12 years (and six different positions) later, she’s grown into her first management role. She has?met many challenges along the way.

Kyla is currently Medicare operations manager, a position she’s held since July 2022, and she oversees a team of 12.

Getting to her current role has been a long and very diverse road for Kyla. She started in call center training in October 2011 and was hired in January 2012 into a full-time call center position, where she handled member claims for about a year and a half. From there, Kyla transitioned to a role in small group underwriting, specifically working in small business recertification, which led her to another position in large group auditing and process improvement. In total, she spent about seven years in the small and large group areas.

Kyla’s process improvement opportunity in large group piqued her interest in continuous improvement (CI) and led to her next role, a position on the CI team for about two and a half years. “I worked with our CI consultant and learned tools and techniques that completely changed how I do things day-to-day, and those have stuck with me since.” That experience in turn brought her two years ago to a position in her current area, Medicare operations, as a business process improvement analyst. “I started the same week as our 10th Blue across Rhode Island in 2021, so it was quite a week!”

Blue across Rhode Island (BaRI) is our company-wide day of service. Each year, hundreds of associates partner with local nonprofits to complete projects—from painting playgrounds to building houses—across the state of Rhode Island. They’re led by captains—colleagues who volunteer their time to lead and coordinate our service projects. Our captains are overseen and assisted by admirals who have experience leading BaRI volunteers.

Kyla, who is a five-time project captain, was recently named one of this year’s admirals. “It was so thrilling to be named an admiral! I’ve been lucky enough to participate in all of our BaRI days of service, and I’ve met so many great people through those experiences, inside and outside the company.”

We asked Kyla which opportunities at the company she’s taken advantage of, and what those have meant to her career path and success.?Aside from learning CI tools and techniques that led to two different job opportunities, Kyla has taken advantage of some other company-provided programs as well. One was the Choose In leadership program led by AWE (Advancing Workplace Excellence) . “I was a part of the class in early 2020. We had two sessions in person but then had to take a pause because of the pandemic and to figure out how to do it virtually.” Kyla recalls what a great experience it was, and an awesome way to connect with people from different areas all over the company. “I particularly loved the section on building emotional intelligence. That is something that has served me well, especially in my current role as a manager.”

Kyla also participated in the Imagine Blue program, geared for new or prospective managers, which she says provided great tools that helped her take the next step to a management position. She also participated in?additional trainings, which contributed to success in her process improvement and CI roles. “I’m a hands-on person, that’s just how my brain works. And I’ve been lucky to be able to learn about so many areas of the company and how they are all connected. It’s helped me see why we do things the way we do and identify how we can do things even better.”

We asked Kyla what she’s most looking forward to at BCBSRI.?“I’m excited to see the results of my team’s hard work and knowledge in their respective areas as we close out another annual enrollment period (AEP). I can’t wait to see their success!”

We asked Kyla what advice she has for other associates who are also interested in expanding their careers at BCBSRI.?“Just be open minded and always be willing to learn something new. Don’t be afraid to take chances—doing that and keeping an open mind has always landed me in a better place than where I was before. Also, be accountable. It’s OK to make mistakes, as long as you own up to them and learn from them to avoid making them again.”

What has/have been the reasons for your success at BCBSRI??“Honestly, I’ve been fortunate that others have seen something in me that I couldn’t see for myself, and I’ve just rolled the dice and gone for it. And I didn’t want to let those people down, so I’ve always given a little extra to make sure I didn’t. Also, I have a hard time saying no which can be a positive and a negative, but I’ve found that saying yes to things has helped me learn and collaborate more.”

What has been your proudest accomplishment??“My current role! I didn’t think I’d have the confidence to survive my first AEP last year, but I did it and learned an incredible amount.”