Anika Gardenhire, RN, BSN, MMCI serves as Chief Customer Experience Officer (CXO) for Centene Corporation, a diversified healthcare enterprise providing a portfolio of government sponsored healthcare programs focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals to more than 26 million Americans.

As CXO, Ms. Gardenhire works collaboratively across the organization to ensure the voices of Centene’s customers are heard throughout all enterprise decision-making processes. She has a deep understanding of the company’s key stakeholders, including members, providers, regulators and employees, given the multiple vantage points from which she’s viewed the healthcare system.

Ms. Gardenhire joined Centene in 2020. Most recently, she served as Chief Digital Officer and was responsible for leading the Digital Solutions and Products organization, where she oversaw business capabilities that are enabled by technology. Previously, she served as Centene’s Regional Vice President, Digital and Clinical Systems, where she partnered with clinical and business leaders to streamline how the company allocates resources, achieves goals and operates more efficiently.

Prior to Centene, Ms. Gardenhire served as Assistant Vice President of Digital Transformation at Intermountain Healthcare. She led and served on several governance councils, including intelligent automation and data governance. Ms. Gardenhire also led several impactful initiatives such as unified communication and application rationalization.

A strategic thinker and avid learner, Ms. Gardenhire listens, understands and communicates the impact of clinical and business workflow on proper use and optimization of technologies to enhance the delivery of patient and member care. Previously, she worked as a Principal with Leidos and Senior Manager with Deloitte, serving as an advisor to executives across many prestigious institutions, including The Mayo Clinic and members of the Ministry of Health in British Columbia, Canada. Ms. Gardenhire’s career has led her to hold various positions as an operations leader and implementer of clinical and IT programs. In addition, she holds significant experience working as a change agent regarding how clinicians, information technology professionals and interdisciplinary care teams integrate and utilize information systems to augment patient care.

Ms. Gardenhire graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts degree in nursing and from Duke University with a master’s degree in management and clinical informatics. She resides in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, Aaron; their son, Braden; and their 100-pound bull mastiff, Titan.