Corporate Bios
Rick V. Morrone, President and CEO
Rick V. Morrone became President and CEO of DenteMax,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, August 1st, 2005.
Prior to joining DenteMax, Rick was the Director of National Accounts
Marketing and Sales with the parent company. This division was responsible
for selling and servicing National Accounts including the Federal Employee Program.
He started this position in 1999.
Rick has been with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan since 1983,
and has held various positions within the Michigan Underwriting division,
including rating and underwriting jumbo accounts, trust funds, associations,
chambers, and community rated pools.
Rick earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Michigan
in Dearborn. He then attained an MBA from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Amy Frenzel, Vice President, Operations
Amy Frenzel joined DenteMax in 2004, bringing with her solid experience and background
in operational support, customer relationship management and administration oversight.
Prior to joining DenteMax, Amy spent 11 years at AFFINA – The Customer Relationship
Company as a senior director with responsibility for customer service,
contracting, sales support, marketing and business development.
Amy’s experiences at AFFINA have resulted in the development of her superior
leadership skills and keen aptitude for operations and administration.
Amy’s responsibilities at DenteMax include the development and direction
for all aspects of information systems, information technologies, and
customer service. Amy’s efforts and expertise in process development have
directly contributed to the result of a 35% growth rate in network access
since 2004. Amy has also worked to streamline and improve nearly all of
DenteMax’s operational procedures while assuring corporate productivity
goals are achieved.
Amy’s innovative approaches to the management
of operations at DenteMax are evident through her corporate and
charitable contributions as well. Amy was nominated for the prestigious
“40 under 40” in healthcare award by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
(DenteMax’s parent company). Amy is also an active certified hospice volunteer
through the Heartland Hospice program.
Amy has a master’s degree in Human Service Administration from Bradley University
and an undergraduate degree in speech and organizational communication from the
University of Illinois.
Melissa Wagner, Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Melissa Wagner is a veteran in the dental benefits industry, bringing more than
25 years of extensive dental industry knowledge to DenteMax. Melissa began her
career in Dental Office Management and went on to excel in Member Services,
New Business Development and Account Management positions with United Concordia.
As a result of her varying experiences, Melissa is in the unique position of being
able to understand the dental industry from three important perspectives:
the dental provider, the administrator, and the dental network manager.
Since 1999 Melissa has managed all aspects of client relationships,
including major accounts, as well as guiding the strategic direction for
both Sales and Marketing at DenteMax. During her tenure as Vice President
of Sales and Service, Melissa has assisted existing client partners in developing
programs to retain and grow their dental business, as well as establishing new and
innovative client partner relationships, resulting in strong revenue retention and
growth opportunities for DenteMax.
Melissa has customized DenteMax’s approach to both sales and service by
developing a focus on market segments. This focus has allowed for the creation
of customized solutions for client partners based on the specific needs of their
segment with a concentration on network recruitment strategies ensuring dental
claims savings for the member, group and administrator, in addition to the growth
of the DenteMax network. This has contributed to DenteMax being recognized in all
business segments as the largest leasable dental PPO network in the country.
Peggy Anthony, Vice President, Product Development and Provider Relations
As Vice President Product Development and Provider Relations, Peggy
Anthony directs all aspects of dental product development, professional
and provider relations and provider network development.
Peggy spent nearly 30 years with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan,
beginning her career with the company as an analyst working on cost and
utilization data reports for the auto customers. Peggy was later named
Director of Finance and Administration in the GM Account department.
In 2001, Peggy made another move and became the Director of Dental,
Vision and Hearing. She held this position until joining DenteMax in
February 2007. While in this position, Peggy provided oversight to product
and policy development, program administration, claims processing, inquiry
handling, provider relations, marketing and sales support, and vendor management.
Peggy holds a BS degree in Marketing Management and a Master’s Degree in
Business Administration, both from the University of Detroit. Peggy currently
serves as a mentor in the Oak Park Business Education Association Faces of the
Future Mentoring program for 8th and 9th grade students.
Richard J. Werther, Vice President, Finance and Administration
Prior to joining DenteMax in February 2007, Richard held various financial
positions where he gained valuable knowledge and insight into the world of
finance. His experience and skills make him a natural fit to oversee
DenteMax’s Finance, Administration and Compliance departments.
He began his career in public accounting in the audit department at Price
Waterhouse, and then moved to AT&T shortly before the Bell System divestiture.
During his thirteen years with AT&T, Richard held a number of financial
positions, including working in both the equipment and consumer long distance
divisions. In 1991, he transferred to Michigan to take the controller
position at AT&T College and University Solutions in Ann Arbor.
Richard joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in 1997 as Director of
Management Accounting with main responsibilities being budgeting, cost
accounting and administrative cost reporting. While in this position,
Richard started the company’s participation in an external benchmark study
that has evolved to be crucial in budget targeting and cost reduction.
A native of Long Island, NY, Richard is a graduate of Bucknell University
in Lewisburg, PA, where he majored in business administration with a
concentration in accounting. He also holds a CPA certificate from the state
of New Jersey.