SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 28, 2025--
The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is pleased to announce that Jim Stanley has joined the organization as Director of Media Relations. In this role, Stanley will lead WSPA’s media engagement and messaging strategy across all five states the association serves—Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. His work will focus on communicating the importance of an affordable and reliable fuel supply while supporting the workers and communities who make it possible.
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“I’m honored to join WSPA to help share the story of the industry that keeps the West running,” said Stanley. “Whether it’s powering job sites, getting goods to market or helping families get where they need to go, reliable fuel matters. The people who depend on that fuel and those who produce and deliver it deserve a seat at the table, and I look forward to ensuring their voices are heard in the debates that shape our energy future.”
Stanley brings nearly 15 years of experience in high-level political communications and public affairs. He most recently served as Communications Director for the California State Assembly Republican Caucus, where he oversaw all external messaging and advised lawmakers on media strategy, rapid response and public policy communications. His background also includes senior roles with the National Republican Congressional Committee, where he helped lead multimillion-dollar national campaigns, and extensive experience as a strategist on issues ranging from energy and public safety to affordability and regulation. In 2024, Stanley was recognized by Capitol Weekly as one of the “Capitol’s Best Press Reps.”
“We’re excited to welcome Jim to WSPA as we continue advocating for balanced, practical energy policies throughout the West,” said WSPA President and CEO Catherine Reheis-Boyd. “Jim brings a strong track record of delivering effective messaging and navigating complex public policy issues. His voice will be critical in helping the public and policymakers understand the importance of affordable, reliable energy and the dedicated people behind it.”
Founded in 1907, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is the oldest petroleum trade association in the United States and a leader in shaping an ever-evolving energy sector. WSPA represents a dynamic membership of companies that are at the forefront of petroleum exploration, production, refining, and transportation, as well as renewable energy, carbon management solutions, and other technological innovations shaping our energy future. Serving Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, WSPA aims to ensure that Americans have reliable and affordable access to petroleum and other energy sources by supporting policies that consider social, economic, and environmental factors.
Jim Stanley has joined WSPA as Director of Media Relations where he will lead WSPA’s media engagement and messaging strategy across all five states the association serves—Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
SAN FRANCISCO & JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 12, 2026--
Abridge, the leading enterprise-grade AI for clinical conversations, is collaborating with Availity, the nation’s largest real-time health information network, to launch a first-of-its kind prior authorization experience. The engagement uses cutting-edge technology grounded in the clinician-patient conversation to facilitate a more efficient process between clinicians and health plans in medical necessity review.
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Rather than creating parallel AI systems across healthcare stakeholders, Abridge and Availity are working together to ensure shared clinical context at the point of conversation powers administrative processes, such as prior authorization review and submission, improving outcomes for patients and the teams delivering care.
This collaboration unites two trusted and scaled organizations: combining Abridge’s enterprise-grade AI platform, serving over 200 health systems and projected to support over 80 million patient-clinician conversations in 2026, with Availity’s next-generation, FHIR-native Intelligent Utilization Management solution, which helps payers and providers digitize and operationalize coverage requirements within administrative workflows.
Availity’s FHIR-native APIs enable fast, scalable, and secure connectivity of payer information across the entire healthcare ecosystem. With Abridge’s Contextual Reasoning Engine technology, clinicians can gain visibility into relevant clinical information during the conversation to support documentation aligned with prior authorization requirements.
“At Availity, we’ve invested in building AI-powered, FHIR-native APIs designed to bring clinical policy logic directly into provider workflows,” said Russ Thomas, CEO of Availity. “By embedding our technology at the point of conversation, we’re enabling faster, more transparent utilization management decisions rooted in clinical context. We’re excited to collaborate with Abridge and to demonstrate what’s possible when payer intelligence meets real-time provider workflows.”
The development of real-time prior authorization is just a component of a broader revenue cycle collaboration that is focused on applying real-time conversational intelligence across the patient, provider, and payer experiences. The companies intend to support integration by collaborating on workflow alignment between their respective platforms in the following areas:
“Abridge and Availity are each bringing national scale, deep trust, and a track record of solving important challenges across the care and claims experience to this partnership,” said Dr. Shiv Rao, CEO and Co-Founder of Abridge. “We’re building real-time bridges between patients, providers, and payers, unlocking shared understanding, focused at the point of conversation.”
About Availity
Availity empowers payers and providers to deliver transformative patient experiences by enabling the seamless exchange of clinical, administrative, and financial information. As the nation's largest real-time health information network, Availity develops intelligent, automated, and interoperable solutions that foster collaboration and shared value across the healthcare ecosystem. With connections to over 95% of payers, more than 3 million providers, and over 2,000 trading partners, Availity provides mission-critical connectivity to drive the future of healthcare innovation. For more information, including an online demonstration, please visit www.availity.com or call 1.800.AVAILITY (282.4548). Follow us on LinkedIn.
About Abridge
Abridge was founded in 2018 to power deeper understanding in healthcare. Abridge is now trusted by more than 200 of the largest and most complex health systems in the U.S. The enterprise-grade AI platform transforms medical conversations into clinically useful and billable documentation at the point of care, reducing administrative burden and clinician burnout while improving patient experience. With deep EHR integration, support for 28+ languages, and 50+ specialties, Abridge is used across a wide range of care settings, including outpatient, emergency department, and inpatient.
Abridge’s enterprise-grade AI platform is purpose-built for healthcare. Supported by Linked Evidence, Abridge is the only solution that maps AI-generated summaries to source data, helping clinicians quickly trust and verify the output. As a pioneer in generative AI for healthcare, Abridge is setting the industry standard for the responsible deployment of AI across health systems.
Abridge was awarded Best in KLAS 2025 for Ambient AI in addition to other accolades, including Forbes 2025 AI 50 List, TIME Best Inventions of 2024, and Fortune’s 2024 AI 50 Innovators.
Abridge and Availity Collaborate to Redefine Payer-Provider Synergy at the Point of Conversation
Abridge and Availity Collaborate to Redefine Payer-Provider Synergy at the Point of Conversation
