Rise

Ian Blunt VP Advanced Analytics

Highmark Health

Ian is the VP of Advanced Analytics at Highmark Health, where his group form a center of expertise for all things data science and sophisticated analytical techniques.  That includes our MLOps framework (including ethical AI), developing new capabilities for novel use cases, building predictive analytics and machine learning models, next best action selection, behavioral engineering, evaluation of interventions, analytics enablement, natural language processing, coordinating our analytic product portfolio, and transition of our analytics to the cloud. As an integrated financing and delivery system, we have the privilege of working on uses cases for both the payor and provider-side and combining the two in a way we call “blended health”. 

Before joining Highmark in 2015, he was a Senior Research Analyst for the Nuffield Trust, where he used advanced analytics to study the impact of public policy on the UK's health system.  He also previously worked for the UK's healthcare regulator, building and leading their data-driven inspection targeting program for compliance.

John Boerstler Chief Veterans Experience Officer Veterans Experience Office (VEO)

Department of Veterans Affairs

John W. Boerstler was sworn-in on February 16, 2021, as the Chief Veterans Experience Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Prior to his current position, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Combined Arms, a collaborative backbone organization whose purpose was to unite collaborative methodology and technology in order to more effectively connect Veterans to thousands of government and non-profit services. As Chief Veterans Experience Officer, John will provide executive oversight of the many innovative projects and programs housed within the Veterans Experience Office (VEO) and work collaboratively within VA’s leadership to help achieve greater access and outcomes for Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.

John has a distinguished career as a leader in the Veteran services field as a recipient of both the Eisenhower and Marshall Memorial Fellowships, having travelled to the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Israel, Bosnia, Hungary and Ukraine to write comparative papers on their military transition systems. As the first Marshall Prize recipient, John recently completed a 3-year project in Ukraine to assist in the development of their Ministry of Veterans Affairs – the first of its kind in Europe. John was also honored to be selected in the inaugural cohort of Stand-To Scholars at the George W. Bush Institute’s Veteran Leadership Program in 2018.

John is a native Texan who served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1999-2007 as a non-commissioned officer and infantry unit leader, including one combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004-2005 and Operation Natural Fire in the Republic of Kenya in 2006. John has also served as the Executive Director of NextOp, a program manager with Wounded Warrior Project, the Mayor of Houston’s Office of Veterans Affairs, and as a policy and district staffer for a U.S. Representative. In 2009, John helped found the Lone Star Veterans Association which became the largest network of Post-9/11 Veterans in Texas and successfully merged with Combined Arms in March 2019.

Dena Bravata Chief Medical Advisor

Diagnostics Robotics

Dena Bravata is a healthcare entrepreneur and executive. She serves as lead clinical advisor for Diagnostic Robotics. Dr. Bravata is the co-founder of Lyra Health where she also served as the Chief Medical Officer from 2015 to 2016. She was the Chief Medical Officer and Head of Products at Castlight Health from 2009 through 2014 and again from 2019 to 2022 (formerly NYSE:CSLT). Dr. Bravata was a practicing internist for 16 years in her own private practice and an attending physician at Stanford University and the Palo Alto VA. As a nationally recognized health services researcher, Dr. Bravata has published widely on the clinical effectiveness of a variety of key health technology, clinical, and public health topics. She is a founding member of the Aspen Institute Healthcare Strategy Group, was an assistant public health officer for Santa Clara County, and serves on the board of several health technology and services companies. In 2021, Dr. Bravata received a national service award from the White House and CDC for her work on the pandemic response and Vaccines.gov. Dr. Bravata has an undergraduate degree from Yale University, an M.D. from Columbia University, and a M.S. in health policy from Stanford University. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency and Ambulatory Care Fellowship at Stanford University.

Sara Dado Executive Director

HAP Foundation

Sara is thrilled to join the leadership team at the HAP Foundation. She comes with over 20 years of experience in various leadership positions across the health care continuum.  Most recently, Sara served as the Senior Director of Clinical Programs at Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care, a non for-profit hospice organization with over 40 years of rich history in the community. In this role, Sara was responsible for daily operational oversight of multiple clinical departments and was instrumental in the development of the agency’s Palliative Care and Pediatric program growth.  In addition, Sara was the lead on several key strategic projects, including Direct Contracting, Value Based Insurance Design contracts and the introduction and implementation of remote patient monitoring.  Prior to joining Lightways, Sara served as the Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Communications Officer at Transitions Hospice, where she was responsible for the oversight of daily operations, regulatory compliance and communications for a multi-state post-acute care organization.  

Sara is the immediate past President of the Illinois Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and past chair of the Government Affairs Committee which she led the advocacy team in the passage of several key pieces of legislation to support improvements to quality and access to end of life care for all ages across the state.  She has been the 3-time state of Illinois Delegate Leader in Washington DC, leading teams of advocates both in Springfield and on Capital Hill.  Sara is a nationally recognized speaker and expert on a variety of topics including quality improvements to end-of-life care, how to reduce barriers to conversations on goals of care and advance care planning. Sara has held several key board and committee positions, including the Illinois Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, The Greater Illinois Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Steering Committee and Leading Age Clinical Advisory Committee.    

Sara received her master’s degree in social work from the University of New York at Albany and her bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Northern Iowa. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Illinois. She resides in the northwest suburbs with her husband and 3 children.  

Dr. Shannon Decker Principal

VBC One

Dr. Shannon Decker is principal at VBC One, a consulting firm assisting physician groups, health plans and vendors maximize the performance of their value based contracts and offerings.  Dr. Decker has more than 20 years experience in health care and most recently led teams in risk, quality, data and analytics, telehealth, COVID response and delegation compliance.  Of her more than 20 years of experience in healthcare--15 include working with risk adjustment, quality and Medicare. Dr. Decker has a PhD. in Interdisciplinary Studies, dual MBA degrees--in Finance and in Marketing, as well as an M.Ed. in Secondary Education and a M.Ed. in Administration and Leadership. Dr. Decker is on the faculty at Arizona State University and is also an associate professor of Higher Education & Adult Learning (HEAL) and chief methodologist for Walden and Capella Universities where she chairs and oversees the dissertations of doctoral students. An author of two books and several peer-reviewed articles, and a prolific national public speaker, her interests include the study of human behavior and how theories on motivation and learning may be brought to bear on population health management.

Cara English CEO

Cummings Graduate Institute for Behavioral Health Studies

Cara English is the Chief Executive Officer of Cummings Graduate Institute for Behavioral Health Studies (CGI) and Founder of Terra’s Tribe, a maternal mental health advocacy organization in Phoenix, Arizona. Cara spearheaded a perinatal behavioral health integration project at Willow Birth Center from 2016-2020 that received international acclaim through publication of outcomes in the International Journal of Integrated Care. Dr. English served as Vice-President of the Postpartum Support International - Arizona Chapter Founding Board of Directors, and co-chaired the Education and Legislative Advocacy Committees. She currently serves on the Maternal Mortality Review Program and the Maternal Health Taskforce for the State of Arizona. She served as one of three Arizonan 2020 Mom Nonprofit Policy Fellows in 2021. For her work to establish Cummings Graduate Institute, Cara was awarded the Psyche Award from the Nicholas & Dorothy Cummings Foundation in 2018, and is more recently the recipient of the 2022 Sierra Tucson Compassion Recognition for her work to improve perinatal mental health integration in Arizona

Dr. Ellen Fink-Samnick Wholistic Health Equity Strategist, Content Developer, Educator

EFS Supervision Strategies, LLC

Ellen Fink-Samnick is an award-winning industry thought leader who empowers healthcare's transdisciplinary workforce. Known and highly respected as'The Ethical Compass of Professional Case Management', she is a sought out professional speaker and author with hundreds of offerings and publications to her credit.Ellen's work has achieved global acclaim. She is a national expert on the Social Determinants of Health, Workplace Bullying and Violence, Professional Ethics,Professional Case Management Practice, and Wholistic Case Management™. Her latest books include, The Essential Guide to Inter professional Ethics for Healthcare Case Management and The Social Determinants of Health: Case Management's Next Frontier,both through HCPro. Ellen is a panelist for Monitor Mondays and Talk Ten Tuesdays,plus contributor to RAC Monitor and ICD 10 Monitor. She also serves as moderator of Ellen’s Ethical LensTM on LinkedIn, a consultant for the Case Management Institute, anda moderator of their Case Managers Community. Ellen’s academic affiliations include roles as subject matter expert for Western Governors University, and adjunct faculty for the University of Buffalo’s School of Social Work, and George Mason University’s Department of Social Work.Ellen's passion is evident across her varied roles as professional speaker, industry consultant, educator, blogger, continuing education content developer, accreditation specialist, clinical social work supervisor and professional mentor to the case management community. Her contributions transverse the industry’s professional associations and credentialing organizations. A past commissioner for the Commission for Case Manager Certification, and Chair of their Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee, Ellen currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Case Management Society of America, the editorial boards for the Professional Case Management Journal and RAC Monitor, and the Council of Advisors and Founders for Reverberation 5.0 (a collective for women over 50 in the workforce). More detailed information is available on her LinkedIn Profile.

Arlene Godinez Population Health Specialist

Brown & Toland Physicians

Arlene Godinez, Population Health Specialist, Altais Health Solutions— formally Brown and Toland, has been in the healthcare industry for over four years with a heavy focus on quality care and risk adjustment. 

Currently, Arlene is finishing her Bachelor’s degree in Health Care Administration at Capella University as a member of The National Society of Leadership and Success. 

Rafael Gonzalez Partner

Cattie & Gonzalez, PLLC

Rafael has over 35 years of experience in the auto, liability, no-fault, and workers’ compensation insurance industries. He has written extensively on liability, workers’ compensation, social security, and Medicare/Medicaid issues. He has also taught these subject matters at several law schools and medical schools in Florida. He lectures throughout the country on all aspects of Medicare and Medicaid compliance, including Mandatory Insurer Reporting, Conditional Payment Resolution, Medicare Set Asides, MSA Post Settlement Administration, Medicaid Third Party Lien Reimbursement, and Special Needs Trusts.

Over the last 30 years, Rafael has been recognized by City of Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storm for his work on behalf of the Hispanic community in Tampa and Hillsborough County. He was awarded the Governors Appreciation Award by Governors Bob Martinez and Jeb Bush for his work in improving Florida’s workers compensation system. He was awarded the Governors Leadership Award by Governor Charlie Crist for his work in improving Florida’s Medicaid system. He was awarded Florida’s Distinguished Service Award by US Senator Mel Martinez for his work and advocacy to improve the US Social Security disability system. He has also been awarded the Presidential National Service Award by President George W. Bush for his work on improving the Medicare Secondary Payer system through the addition of the Mandatory Insurer Reporting process, and by President Back Obama for his work and support of the Affordable Care Act.

Recently, WorkCompCentral CEO Kristen Chavez presented Rafael with the Magna Comp Laude Award with Great Honor for his willingness to share his knowledge, experience, and scholastic work with the country’s workers compensation community. Also RISE CEO Ellen Wofford honored Rafael with the RISE Distinguished Service Award for his many years of leadership, scholarship, and professionalism in educating the thousands of professionals who have attended his numerous Medicare and Medicaid programs. And International Association of Industrial Accidents Boards and Commissions President Evelyn McGill awarded Rafael its President’s Award for his leadership and service to the international workers compensation community.

Rafael is active on social media. He is owner and manager of several LinkedIn groups, including Medicare and Medicaid Compliance (8,500 members), Medicare Mandatory Reporting, Medicare Conditional Payments, Medicare Set Aside Allocations, Medicare Set Aside Administration (3,500 members), Florida Workers Compensation (2,500 members), Social Security Benefits (1,500 members), Hispanic Issues and Demographics (500 members), and Affordable Care Act Compliance (250 members). Rafael is also active on Twitter with 2,000 followers and Facebook with 2,000 friends.

Born in Havana, Cuba, Rafael and his family escaped communism to Madrid, Spain, and ultimate immigrated to the US. He owes everything he has achieved to his mother, Miriam Lera. Her love and sacrifice have allowed him to live in freedom, succeed and prosper. Rafael graduated from Miami Senior High School, received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and his Jurisprudence Doctorate degree from the Florida State University. He lives in Lithia, Florida with the love of his life, his wife Lisa, and his greatest pride, his two sons, Alex and Andres.

Dhruva Gulur CEO and Founder

Mind Hygiene™ Eutopia

Dhruva Gulur, M.D. is an engaging communicator and a leading expert in patient experience and physician burnout. He affectionately goes by dhruvaMD, two syllables less than his name:-). His mission is to equip healthcare providers with mindful and empathic techniques that lead to high-level patient experience ratings and avoid provider burnout. He is the patient cheerleader who kicks it with empathy.  

Dhruva is a board-certified family doctor and has over 25 years of experience in the medical field. He is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MSBR) course-certified mindfulness expert and a certified life coach. He is an award-winning preferred provider with high patient satisfaction ratings of > 95% of the 275 patient reviews he has online. He has seen over 110,000 patients in his career and counting! Dhruva is the author of the free e-book—-The Dumb Doctor and the upcoming book to be released in 2024 (TBA), Emotional Freedom. He is a rapper with a forthcoming album, Emotional Freedom - Patient Experiences, to be released on 2.2.24. 

Dr. Dhruva Gulur has seen patients worldwide, including multiple mission trips to Haiti, and underserved work in India. He has resigned from his full-time corporate medicine career to dedicate his focus to his passion so other physicians do not suffer as he did. Today, Dr. Dhruva Gulur serves as a family physician in a correctional facility to serve patients judged and misunderstood to maintain his clinical skill set and his startup business – Mind Hygiene™ Eutopia. 

Dhruva is passionate about speaking and inspiring the healthcare world. He also cherishes his fiance, Lyudmyla, Havanese Yorkshire dog—-Suvarana, Domestic Shorthair —- Spoky, and Persian kitty—-Ajay. Let’s not forget natural dopamine with weightlifting and snowboarding—wink wink.  

Tony Hampton Chair-elect Advocate Medical Group Midwest Governing Council

Advocate Health Medical Group Midwest

Tony Hampton is a Family Physician who, for 19 years, has treated patients with multiple chronic conditions. He is a board certified Family Physician, a Certified Physician Executive (CPE) and an MBA graduate from the University of Phoenix. He currently works for Advocate Medical Group (AMG) as a physician, medical director, chair of AMG’s Health Outcomes Committee, and Vice Chair of the Governing Council. His roles have uniquely prepared him to have the insight to help lead his patients, family, and colleagues. He regularly partners with Advocate Health Care’s editorial team to write articles for health e-news and has written a book entitled Fix Your Diabetes, Fix Your Diet, published in 2016.

Dr. Hampton is a regular speaker for the American Diabetes Association speaking at its annual Expo speaking about “Diabetes in the African American Community” as well as “Diet and Diabetes”. His passion to empower patients with knowledge was the driving force behind his desire to become an author and write about ways diet can help improve not only diabetes but other health conditions as well.

Amanda Harpster-Hagen, MPH Director, Population Health & Clinical Transformation Analytics Advanced Analytics

Highmark Health

Amanda Harpster-Hagen is the Population Health and Clinical Transformation Analytics Director at Highmark Health and is responsible for analytically supporting Highmark’s Living Health clinical solution opportunity identification and clinical intervention effectiveness/performance. As an integrated healthcare system, our team has the benefit of supporting both payor and provider intervention opportunities.

Prior to joining Highmark, Amanda has spent her career working with Commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid populations in the health insurance and population health space. Amanda received her Master’s degree in Public Health, with an emphasis in Epidemiology from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from The College of Wooster. She resides in northwest Ohio with her husband and two children.

Jennifer Houlihan Vice President, Value-Based Care and Population Health

Atrium Health - Wake Forest Baptist

Jennifer serves as the Value Services Organization (VSO) Leader of Applied Implementation of Research and Innovation which includes interface with Wake Forest School of Medicine and Center for Healthcare Innovation, Medicaid policy, biostatistics, and community/faith health interface. Jennifer has worked effectively in academic environments for the past decade and is Adjunct Instructor of public health for Wake Forest University and Adjunct Graduate Faculty for the Wake Forest University Biomedical Graduate programs.
She also serves as the Vice President of Value Based Care and Population Health for Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Health (now part of Advocate Health) focused on driving the transition from fee-for-service to value-based care, with a particular focus on partnering with the School of Medicine/Learning Health system innovative initiatives including an appointment to the Center for Health Care Innovation to drive transformative changes and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
Jennifer is a member of the Leader’s Board for Population Health and earned a Master's in Planning from Florida State University with an emphasis in Health Policy and a Master’s Certificate in Population Health from Thomas Jefferson University.

Jennifer Howard MSN, RN, NE-BC, Lead Director, VBC Performance Engagement

Aetna

Jennifer Howard has been a nurse for over 25 years. For the past 15 years, she has worked in population health on both the provider and payer sides. She has built infrastructures, established and grew CINs, and currently helps to optimize the health of populations. Jennifer graduated from JMU with her BSN and ECU with her MSN in Nursing Leadership. As a lifelong learner, she is currently pursuing her MBA. Jennifer grew up overseas where she discovered her passion for people and love for travel. She currently works as a Lead Director of Value Based Care Performance Engagement with CVS Health Aetna and resides in North Carolina.

Kuljit Kapur Chief Development Officer/Medical Director

Chestnut Health

Dr. Kuljit Kapur graduated from Benedictine University in 2002 on a full ride academic scholarship. She was the valedictorian of her high school, LaSalle Peru Township High school, graduating in 1998. She then attended medical school at Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, graduating in 2006. Her osteopathic medical training and philosophy has guided her in providing integrative, progressive, and quality medical care in the Chicagoland area for over 14 years. She became board certified in Internal Medicine in 2010, did her Geriatric fellowship in 2011, then her hospice and palliative care fellowship at the Rush University Medical Center.  She started her career as a geriatric subacute rehab and long-term care physician for Dreyer Medical Clinic, now Advocate Aurora healthcare. She did palliative care consults in all Aurora/Naperville nursing homes and had a palliative care clinic at Rush Copley's cardiology suite, further positioning the company to drive down readmission rates. Dr Kapur worked as a part time hospice team physician from 2012-2016 at Vitas Innovative hospice (Team 703 Lombard) winning the Vitas Star award.  Meanwhile, she was asked to serve as the medical director of Symphony of Orchard Valley for 5 years where she was able to lower the readmission rate from 22% to 6%.  She then left all of these jobs to serve as the Medical Director of Apex hospice and palliative care part time in 2016 then full time in 2018 after a promotion.  She was able to help grow this young company's ADC by 200% in 4 years while also saving $7 million to healthcare entities by quality medical care and good management, earning herself the company's prestigious Shine Award in the process.  Next, Dr. Kapur served at the Chief Medical Officer at Transitions Care, medically overseeing all programs, nationally and driving quality care for thousands of patients. As a board-certified physician and healthcare executive with an MBA, she has over 15 years of experience in leading and managing various medical and wellness services, such as nursing homes , hospice, palliative care, cosmetic medspa, and technological innovation boards. Currently , she is the Chief Development Officer and Medical Director at Chestnut Health Company, a provider of integrated physical medicine and rehab . She has developed effective and innovative programs that benefit all stakeholders, especially the patients. 

She also currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer at Harter Investment Strategies, a firm that invests in innovative and disruptive healthcare technologies and solutions, such as Guidance Airway Solutions, a company that developed the Firstlook LTA device, a novel and minimally invasive approach to airway management. As part of this role, she helps develop and manage Luxeskin and Luxe wellness in Naperville IL where cosmetic and aesthetic services, and detoxification services are offered. 

Dr. Kapur has given multiple talks over the years, reflecting her integrative and progressive approach to managing end of life symptoms. She is a frequent lecturer on medical marijuana and medical ethics at the end of life, involved with Case Management Society of Chicago and USA (CMSA). 

Her collective mission is to improve the quality of life and care for patients and clients across the lifespan, using evidence-based, holistic, and compassionate approaches. She is most passionate about medical education, research, and innovation, having multiple publications and certifications in her fields of expertise.

Thomas Lacy Medical Director

Nemours Childrens Health FL Primary Care Florida Primary Care Program

Dr Tom Lacy received his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine and pediatric post graduate training at UAB/Children’s Hospital of Alabama.  Dr Lacy was a general pediatrician in private practice in Alabama and Florida before joining Nemours in 2012, and for the past 8 years he has served as Medical Director for Nemours Children’s Health Primary Care in Florida. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. 

Dr Lacy’s passion is improving the care for children at all levels of the health care system.  In addition to being a practicing pediatrician for over 30 years, he has helped develop sustainable programs in Haiti, and developed a large pediatric primary care network in Central Florida serving over 80,000 children. 

Chuck Marshburn Staff Vice President of Social Data Analytics and Product Development

Elevance Health

Chuck Marshburn serves as a Staff Vice President of Social Data Analytics and Product Development at Elevance Health.  His role includes consulting on whole health, equity, and social work; creating data driven insights for individual, household, and community impacts; and actively developing partnerships to effectuate improved engagement, coordination of care, and health outcomes.​

He resides in Virginia Beach, VA, grew up in Miami, FL, and is married with three children.  Outside of work, he is active in community service and enjoys coaching youth sports.​

Mary McLaughlin Davis Project Manager, Care Management Nursing

Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Mary McLaughlin Davis became a certified care manager in 1993. She has provided care coordination services for inpatients, outpatients, and health care plans.

As a Clinical Nurse Specialist, Dr. McLaughlin Davis has worked extensively with patients having chronic disease, notably congestive heart failure and stroke. She is a Senior Director of Care Management for the Cleveland Clinic and a guest lecturer at Ursuline College.
Dr. McLaughlin Davis served as national past president for the Case Management Society of America (CMSA). She is involved with The Public Policy Committee for CMSA and for the Nursing Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. She speaks on care coordination topics across the country. She has written numerous articles about care coordination and published the Case Management Guide to Population Health through HCPro. Dr. McLaughlin Davis recently released, The Practice of Hospital Case Management: A White Paper through CMSA.

Katie McLaughlin, DNP, FNP, RN, CCDS-O, CRC Former Sr. Clinical Advisor, Risk Assessment Lead Risk Adjustment Nurse Practitioner

Scripps Health

Kathryn “Katie” McLaughlin, DNP, FNP-BC, is the former Senior Clinical Advisor in Risk Assessment at Scripps Clinic in San Diego, CA. As a Doctorally prepared Nurse Practitioner certified as an Epic Physician Builder and Risk Adjustment Provider, McLaughlin leads the ambulatory clinicians in Best Practice documentation and data integrity. Having over 16 years of clinical experience, including the last 5 within a population health leadership role, McLaughlin has bridged the gap between the clinician and the coding auditor by designing and training tools and workflows that both support providers and improve patient care. Contact her at KathrynMcLaughlinDNP@gmail.com. 

Matthew Meyer Senior Director, Office of Population Health Management and Health System Partnerships

London Health Sciences Centre

Dr. Meyer is a Senior Director in the Office of Population Health Management at London Health Sciences Centre and with the Middlesex London Ontario Health Team. He holds adjunct professorships in the departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Interfaculty Program in Public Health at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry (Western University), the Ivey Business School (Western University), and the school of Rehabilitation Sciences (Ottawa University). Dr. Meyer has served as an advisor to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Health Quality Ontario, the Rehabilitative Care Alliance, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, CorHealth, and the Southwestern Ontario Stroke Network. His primary research interests include population health management, health systems research, and health economics.

Elizabeth Montgomery National Vice-President, Population Health Programs

National Kidney Foundation

Elizabeth Montgomery is the Vice President of Learning Strategies and Primary Care Programs at the National Kidney Foundation.  Ms. Montgomery joined the organization specifically to advance CKDintercept, a multi-pronged strategy to improve chronic kidney disease integration into population health strategies in primary care.  She spearheaded the NKF Laboratory Engagement Initiative, an ongoing collaboration among the nation’s leading pathology societies and laboratories to streamline CKD testing in primary care and ensure that race-free testing approaches are employed in kidney disease. Ms. Montgomery also led the development efforts for the Kidney Health Evaluation for People with Diabetes MIPS and HEDIS measures advanced by NKF.  She is the architect of the NKF data strategy engaging payers and large health systems in an evaluation of their data to identify and engage people with undiagnosed chronic kidney disease resulting in the implementation of community-based CKD programs in several states.  Ms. Montgomery works with payers and integrated health networks on the development of their internal kidney disease strategies.  She also leads the NKF collaborations with the Virginia Department of Health and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services which have resulted in increased CKD testing and recognition in community clinic settings.  

Colleen Morley Associate Chief Clinical Operations Officer

University of Illinois Health System

Dr. Colleen Morley DNP RN CCM CMAC CMCN ACM-RN FCM is the Associate Chief Clinical Operations Officer, Care Continuum for University of Illinois Health System and the current President of the Case Management Society of America National Board of Directors.  She has held positions in acute care as Director of Case Management at several acute care facilities and managed care entities in Illinois, overseeing Utilization Review, Case Management and Social Services for over 14 years; piloting quality improvement initiatives focused on readmission reduction, care coordination through better communication and population health management.   

Her current passion is in the area of improving health literacy. She is the recipient of the CMSA Foundation Practice Improvement Award (2020) and ANA Illinois Practice Improvement Award (2020) for her work in this area. Dr. Morley also received the AAMCN Managed Care Nurse Leader of the Year in 2010 and the CMSA Fellow of Case Management designation in 2022. Her 1st book, “A Practical Guide to Acute Care Case Management”, published by Blue Bayou Press was released in February, 2022. 

Dr. Morley has over 20 years of nursing experience. Her clinical specialties include Med/Surg, Oncology and Pediatric Nursing.  She received her ADN at South Suburban College in South Holland, IL; BSN at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, FL, MSN from Norwich University in Northfield, VT and her DNP at Chamberlain College of Nursing.  

Jay Newton-Small CEO

PlanAllies

Previously, Jay was Washington correspondent for TIME Magazine, where she remains a contributor.  At TIME she covered politics as well as stories on five continents from conflicts in the Middle East to the earthquake in Haiti and the November 2015 Paris terror attacks. She has written nearly a dozen TIME cover stories and interviewed numerous heads of state, including Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

 She authored the 2016 best-selling book, Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works.

 Before TIME, Jay was a reporter for Bloomberg News, where she covered the White House and politics.

Jay received an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and undergraduate degrees in International Relations and Art History from Tufts University. She is a 2017 Halcyon Incubator fellow, a 2016-2017 New America fellow and a 2015 Harvard Institute of Politics fellow. She is the 2016 winner of the prestigious Dirksen Award for congressional reporting and the 2016 Deadline Club award for community service reporting.

Hanna Park Interim Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Director of Value-Based Performance

Triad HealthCare Network | Cone Health

Hanna Park, PharmD serves as the interim Chief Administrative Officer at Triad HealthCare Network (THN), Cone Health. Hanna brings more than 10 years of health care operations experience as a value-based care leader, after serving as the Executive Director of Value-Based Performance in 2022 and as the Director of Quality Informatic since 2019. Prior to joining THN, she served as a quality leader for ACOs under multi clinical integrated networks.

In her current role, her duties includes overseeing daily THN activities and operations to ensure the operational and financial success of THN. She provides organizational leadership, values, and strategic direction to fulfill the mission, vision, and business objectives of THN. Since joining our team, Hanna has made several notable contributions that include providing strategic leadership and direction for 20-plus value-based contracts from both public and private payer sectors and contributing to Cone Sponsored Health Team Advantage MA PPO 5 Star Plan in 2020 and 2021.  In addition, Hanna also helped THN achieve #1 Quality in Next Generation ACOs in the Nation in 2021; maintained the minimum of 4.0 Average Star for all Medicare Advantage value-based contracts; and drove more than $70M-plus performance-related revenues to the organization. Hanna’s educational background includes a Doctor of Pharmacy from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from North Carolina State University. She also completed an American Society of Health-System Pharmacist-accredited Health System Pharmacy Administration residency at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

Denise Peroune Executive Director, Population Health - Nirvana Healthcare Management Services

Executive Director - Urban Healthcare Initiative Program (UHIP)

Dr. Denise L. Peroune has broad experience in the private and public health sectors. At present, she is the executive director of population health at Nirvana Healthcare Management Services in Orange, NJ. She previously managed the organization’s Community Healthcare Outreach Program (CHOP) which serves seniors in senior buildings, the homebound, and behavioral health patients in the facilities where they reside or receive treatment. 

Dr. Peroune also serves as executive director of the Urban Healthcare Initiative Program. UHIP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to providing relevant, credible, and accessible health information to advance health literacy among underrepresented urban communities in Essex County, NJ. In this role, Dr. Peroune is committed to building an innovative, outcomes-driven program that reaches those most in need, and which is proactive in responding to an everchanging healthcare landscape.  

In the public health arena, Dr. Peroune served as the chief operations officer of the Mary Eliza Mahoney Health Center, the City of Newark’s Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). She then transitioned to the City of Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness where she chaired the health department’s Grants Research and Evaluation Group. GREG crafts competitive grant applications and provides oversight of the health department’s work program, which is 85% grant funded. 

Dr. Peroune has a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, a graduate Diploma in International Relations from the Institute of International Relations, Trinidad, and a master’s in human resource development and administration and a Ph.D. in Leadership and Education with a specialization in Human Resource Development from Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida. 

David Reid Sr Director, Medicare Member Experience

Florida Blue

David Reid is the Senior Director of Medicare Member Experience at Florida Blue with over 18 years of experience in the insurance industry.  He is accountable for working cross-functionally to develop customer-centric strategies that deliver exceptional end-to-end experiences for Medicare members to drive satisfaction and retention while achieving and maintaining high performance on related CAHPS and administrative Star measures.  David is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) with a background in risk management and internal auditing, process improvement, operations management, regulatory/accreditation compliance, systems development, and database administration.

Kelly Shearin Director, Business Development

Elevance Health

Kelly Shearin currently serves as Director of Business Development for Medicaid health plans with Elevance Health. Through its affiliates, Elevance Health offers a comprehensive suite of commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid plans that focus on whole health and its drivers to help improve outcomes for employers, individuals, families, and communities. 

With over 20 years of health care experience, she currently supports health plans with strategic planning and development. Most recently, Kelly has led health plan teams focused on the member experience as well as addressing social determinants of health and managing community investments to drive health equity.  

With her deep experience in community relations, Kelly is passionate about helping community non-profits succeed. She currently serves on the board for Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG-TN) as well as a volunteer consultant for the Tennessee Community Health Worker Association. Kelly is an avid traveler who appreciates new cultural experiences and has traveled to over 25 countries and lived in Europe for nearly four years.  

Becky Trotter Vice President of Population Health

CareAllies

As the VP of Population Health Solutions for CareAllies, Becky is responsible for leading the implementation design and delivery of the population health technology that enables clinical and value-based care programs and supports
the organization’s provider engagement strategy. The Population Health team, under her direction, successfully launched Arcadia in spring 2018 to enable the Renaissance Physicians Organization’s Clinically Integrated Network. They later enabled Arcadia to
support four Medicare ACOs, including the development of clinical workflows to support the Accountable Care Coalition of Alabama. In 2019, Becky led the migration of Cigna’s Medicare Advantage organization from its’ previous tool onto Arcadia and enabled the technology to support other programs within Cigna, including the Individual & Family Plans and US Commercial lines of business.

Becky also leads Risk Adjustment and Quality strategy for CareAllies, developing operational and data driven processes for patient identification, outreach and comprehensive management of conditions at the point of care.

Becky joined Cigna in 2014 and successfully implemented the original Medicare Advantage population health technology. She also led the re-design and implementation of the Complete Health Team within Cigna Medicare Advantage, a multi-disciplinary care team process to evaluate high risk patients and drive action to improve outcomes and impact quality of care while maintaining appropriate clinical documentation. Previously, Becky served in a corporate training role for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) coordinating financial integrity training programs for hospital and corporate level executives. She is a certified facilitator through Developmental Dimensions
International and spent five years facilitating leadership training for HCA employees and executives.

Prior to joining HCA Becky served as the Executive Director of the Nashville Sounds Foundation, a certified 501(c)3 charity promoting youth literacy and team sports in the greater middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky areas. Becky received a B.S. in Marketing and Psychology from Lipscomb University.

Ilene Warner-Maron Assistant Professor, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Ilene Warner-Maron has been practicing nursing for 42 years, specializing in the care of geriatric patients. In 2007, Dr. Warner-Maron completed her PhD in Health Policy that included a dissertation on HIV in the elderly, a study of how physicians, nurse practitioners and older adults share information about HIV risk.   She is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and is the Executive Director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society, an affiliate of the American Geriatrics Society.  Her multiple positions allow for the integration of clinical care, long-term care administration, research, policy and legal issues.

In her roles Dr. Warner-Maron has demonstrated expertise in clinical health issues facing older adults in community and facility based long term care.  This includes working with older adults and their families and training staff to work in long term care.  She has also developed programs to staff.   Her current research focuses on the knowledge deficits of older adults regarding cannabis, the knowledge of PCPs regarding cannabis use in older adults and the care of individuals with substance use disorder in a skilled nursing setting.

Ilene Warner-Maron holds licenses as a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator. She is certified in gerontological nursing, wound care, assisted living, infection prevention in long-term care and frailty. Dr. Warner-Maron has been a Fellow in the College of Physicians in Philadelphia since 2011. She graduated from the Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing (1980); she received a BS in Sociology from Philadelphia University (1983); a Master’s degree in Social Gerontology from the University of Pennsylvania (1985); a post-Master’s degree in Health Administration from St. Joseph’s University (1989); a Master’s degree in Law and Social Policy from Bryn Mawr College (1995) and a PhD in Health Policy from the University of the Sciences (2007).

Hans Wiik President & CEO

Hans Wiik Health Group LLC

Hans is also the President and CEO of Hans Wiik Health Group, LLC – a Colorado based consulting group that focuses on assisting providers, payers, and employers on guidance and strategies around ACO development and performance, clinical integration, care coordination, population health management, value based benefit design, employee wellness, medication therapy management and overall performance improvement in healthcare quality and cost reduction.

Hans was the President and CEO of the Centura Health Integrated Physician Network (iPN) from 2008-2014. The iPN was formed in 2004 when a small group of independent practices and physicians in the North Denver and Boulder area of Colorado began implementation of a common/enterprise wide EHR to drive quality and clinical performance improvement as one of the first clinically integrated networks of independent practices in the nation. In six years, the iPN grew to over 260 providers represented in 25 different multi-specialty practices across 45 separate practice sites. Over 120 of these providers are primary care physicians, all certified by the NCQA as Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home providers, the largest number in Colorado.

It is partnered and sponsored by Colorado’s largest not for profit healthcare system – Centura Health. Practices include both primary care and specialty practices, including a large Federally Qualified Health Center – Clinica Family Health Services practicing in 5 locations. Practices currently include Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Ob-Gyn, General Surgery, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology, Cardiology, and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery. The practices are integrated through population based quality initiatives, benchmarking for quality and patient satisfaction and sharing of best practices.

The iPN supported its many members in single signature payer contracting, IT/EHR and CQI implementation and support, quality performance reporting and analytics, care coordination and also provided a variety of MSO services to help improve practice financial performance and productivity. As a developing ACO in the Colorado market, it has negotiated and implemented several payer and employer agreements, with included shared savings and quality metrics integral to annual performance objectives.

Hans has a BS degree in Pharmacy, an MHA and MPH from the University of California,

Berkeley and has been a long standing Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. (FACHE)

He has over 40 years of experience in healthcare, serving as a COO and CEO in hospitals

in California, Oregon and Colorado. He previously served as President and CEO of Health Future, a consortium of 30+ hospitals and health care systems in Oregon, and also as the President for the VHA Mountain States region after his various hospital CEO positions. He consults nationally working with hospitals, physician groups and large employers for promoting healthier workforces and improving clinical, financial and managed care performance, with emphasis to new models of healthcare delivery and payment.

Katherine Ziegler Senior Vice President of Population Health

ConcertoCare

Katherine Ziegler’s comprehensive background includes deep provider and payer experience, as well as national expertise helping organizations prepare for and succeed in value-based care.  She has focused the past 30 years of her career on improving the lives and health of medically complex individuals, with specific emphasis on Medicare performance and innovation.  As Senior Vice President of Population Health, she is responsible for developing and operating programs that improve clinical, quality, and cost outcomes across the populations that ConcertoCare serves.

Prior to joining ConcertoCare, Katherine served as Regional Vice President of Population Health and Clinical Operations for Centene Corporation.  In addition to providing executive support for the Population Health functions for 10 of Centene’s local markets, she led the organization’s Medicare population health strategy and clinical operations for Centene’s Medicare plans across the country. 

Before joining Centene, Katherine served as Director of Clinical Transformation for Navigant Consulting, where she worked with health systems across the country to develop Accountable Care and Value Based Care infrastructure and programs.  She worked with some of the country’s largest and most progressive health systems, clinically integrated networks, and Accountable Care Organizations to improve clinical and operational performance.

Earlier in her career, Katherine led design and implementation of payer/provider partnership models, and assisted healthcare organizations to develop the infrastructure and capabilities needed to succeed in these new models.  She also worked with provider organizations to implement and leverage Population Health technology solutions to drive clinical and operational efficiencies, created the care management and clinical integration infrastructures for one of the initial Pioneer ACO organizations, and led the managed care and clinical integration functions for fully at-risk medical groups.

Katherine received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of North Dakota, and her Master of Healthcare Administration degree from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.