2021 Patient Experience Symposium
Speakers
Frankie Abralind, Executive Director, The Good Listening Project
Frankie Abralind is executive director of The Good Listening Project, a nonprofit that uses Listener Poets to cultivate resilience and wellbeing in healthcare. Previously, Frankie served as the lead designer for the Innovation Hub at Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital, where he worked on improving the healthcare experience for patients, staff, and visitors. Frankie studied design at Cornell University and earned his MBA from the University of Maryland. He's also a game inventor; his creativity game BrainSpin helps teach collaboration and is available in game stores all across the country. Frankie lives with his wife and six typewriters in Washington, D.C.
Ifrah Ahmed, BA, BS, Children’s Mental Health Case Manager, Metro Social Services
Ifrah is a Somali-Kenyan refugee who works as a community health liaison and was the Ethnic Empowerment group president. She has been living in the US for about 10 years. She graduated from FHSU with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Minor in Leadership. She graduated from Egerton University in Nairobi Kenya with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. She was born in a refugee camp. She has been able to further her education and make a name for herself. Most of her work is focused on the needs of Africa refugees. Her goal is to promote a positive community and others understand her culture and help refugees assimilate into their new homes. She is determined to help build a culturally-diverse community.
Benjamin Anderson, MBA, MHCDS, VP, Rural Health and Hospitals, Colorado Hospital Association (former CEO of Kearny County Hospital)
Benjamin is the Vice President of Rural Health and Hospitals for Colorado Hospital Association. He provides leadership and direction in the development and execution of the Association’s rural strategies, advocates on behalf of rural hospitals and health systems and works to develop strategic partnerships with organizations that affect the health of rural Coloradans. Benjamin has 20 years of experience in health care and non-profit administration, and is a nationally-recognized leader in health equity and transforming rural health care through an innovative approach to attracting physicians to diverse, underserved areas with a generous paid time off package to be used for international volunteer work. Prior to joining CHA, he spent six years serving as the CEO of Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kan. Benjamin earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and an MBA from Drury University as well as a Master’s of Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College.
Randy Bartosh, MSOT, Chief Outcomes Officer, Performance Based Healthcare Solutions
Randy is the head of research for Performance Based Healthcare Solutions which he founded in 1999. Over the last 20 years, he has led applied research collaboratives with 280 care organizations involving over 75,000 patients. The research has focused on categorizing and quantifying the outcomes patients want and need to achieve in order to be successful. He is also a board member of the RIGHTCARE Foundation which is using advanced methods for community-based paramedicine programs with fire departments and senior ministry efforts around the country.
Paul Becker, Rear Admiral US Navy, (Ret); Founder, The Becker T3 Group, and a Stage IV Bone Marrow Cancer Survivor
Rear Admiral Paul Becker, USN (Ret) is a senior executive and former Naval Intelligence Officer with a unique combination of military, business, education leadership and medical patient experiences. He’s served around the world, afloat and ashore, in peace, crisis and combat. Upon transition from active duty, he founded a Service- Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) in 2016. “The Becker T3 Group” focuses on global risk management, business intelligence, and improving organizational/personal performance. Paul is a Stage IV Bone Marrow Cancer Survivor, a high demand motivational speaker and widely published author.
Danielle Blanch Hartigan, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Bentley University
Danielle Blanch Hartigan's interdisciplinary research in psychology and public health aims to improve the patient and clinician experience and foster patient-centered care through better communication. She studies how patients and clinicians use verbal and nonverbal behavior to form impressions and how these perceptions influence clinical interactions. Dr. Blanch Hartigan has a PhD in social psychology from Northeastern University, a Master of Public Health from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and was a Cancer Prevention Fellow in the Behavioral Research Program and Office of Cancer Survivorship at the National Cancer Institute. At Bentley University, Dr. Blanch Hartigan directs Bentley’s Health Thought Leadership Network, a collaborative network of Bentley faculty and external stakeholders advancing healthcare research and teaching at the intersection of business and the arts and sciences.
Brian R. Carlson, VP Patient Experience, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Currently serve as Vice President of Patient Experience for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Brian joined Vanderbilt in 2007 as Administrator of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute. Prior to Vanderbilt he served as CEO/COO of a multi-specialty physician group practice in Western New York and started his professional career at Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation in Chicago.
Martie Carnie, Patient Advocate; Senior Patient Engagement Advisor; Co-Chair of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Patient and Family Advisory Council Steering Committee
Martie Carnie is a 31-year, four-time survivor of breast cancer and melanoma. She is a 30-year Patient Advocate, Senior Patient Engagement Advisor, and Co-Chair of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Patient and Family Advisory Council Steering Committee.
Steve Coca, Associate Professor of Medicine, ICAHN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Richard Corder, MHA, FACHE, CPXP, TiER1 Healthcare
Richard Corder, MHA, FACHE, CPXP is a Managing Director or TiER1 Healthcare, providing leadership and oversight of all service lines of the organization. With over 20 years’ experience in healthcare, leading, developing and implementing strategic plans for improved employee and physician engagement, Richard is passionate about helping hospitals and health systems improve performance and overcome obstacles to provide safe, quality patient care.
Mary O. Cramer, MBA , CPHQ, Executive Director, Organizational Effectiveness and Chief Experience Officer at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization
Ms. Cramer provides executive oversight to internal consultants dedicated to improvement of patient experience and operational performance. Position responsibilities include strategic planning and programmatic oversight of Patient Experience and Process Improvement internal consulting teams including program design, project prioritization and execution, staff recruitment and development, and organization-wide training and mentoring.
Naomi Cramer, Chief Human Resource Officer, Banner Health
Ms. Cramer was named Chief Human Resource Officer in June of 2016. She joined Banner in December of 2014 as Vice President of Talent Acquisition and was later promoted to Vice President of Talent Management in 2015; where she led all talent functions for the organization including recruitment, learning and development, organizational effectiveness and change, assessment and survey and workforce planning. She also serves as the Executive sponsor for the Diversity Council. Prior to joining Banner, Ms. Cramer had a progressive career in operations and human resources at Target Corporation. Her last role was Senior Vice President of Field HR, where she led all areas of Human Resources for 350,000 employees in 1,780 retail stores and 37 distribution centers.
Frank Cutitta, CEO & Founder, HealthTech Decisions Lab
Frank Cutitta is CEO and Founder of HealthTech Decisions Lab, a consultancy specializing in the personas and neuroscience of healthcare technology purchases. Prior to launching this practice, he worked as Senior Director of Content Analytics and founder of HIMSS Media Lab after serving on the HIMSS Worldwide Board and HIMSS Media Board for 7 years. HIMSS is the world’s largest trade association serving the healthcare information technology sector. He has been recognized by FOLIO as one of the media industry’s top 40 innovators and influencers. Among other areas, he currently specializes in the neuroscience and emotion of healthcare technology buyer personas around the world, and the need for prescriptive content to throw “data exhaust”, in an effort to avoid “random acts of content”. In this capacity, his Media Lab team produced over 300 pieces of custom, research-based content a year and dozens of global sales enablement courses for the world’s leading healthcare technology companies. His 100-day hospitalization with COVID has led him to be a leading subject matter expert, advocate and advisor to providers on patient engagement, distributed workforce, institutionalized loneliness and empathic technologies and strategies. He now serves as a COVID recovery advocate while co-chairing the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Network Patient & Family Advisory Council. His specialization areas have grown to include empathic technologies and artificial emotional intelligence.
Lauryn Dermit, Customer Success Manager, NRC Health
Lauryn Dermit is an experienced Customer Success Manager who helps support NRC Health’s top partners. Lauryn is passionate about helping clients build loyalty on exceptional customer service through a demonstrated understanding of their goals and strategic decisions. She has experience partnering with executives, physicians, and nursing staff to improve the healthcare experience of patients, families, and employees alike. Her mission is to help organizations reach their strategic goals and achieve Human Understanding with the patients and families they serve.
Jonathan D. Ericson, PhD., Assistant Professor, Bentley University
Jon is an Assistant Professor at Bentley University where he directs the Immersphere, a virtual reality research lab, and teaches graduate courses in Bentley’s M.S. in Human Factors in Information Design (HFID) program and undergraduate courses in the Information Design & Corporate Communication (IDCC) program. Jon earned his Ph.D. in cognitive science from Brown University, and has held a variety of industry positions as a product design leader and consultant. As a professional designer, Jon’s work has earned a mention in Forbes, driven investments, supported a successful startup acquisition, and garnered multiple industry awards.
Mark Friedberg, MD, MPP, Senior Vice President, Performance Measurement and Improvement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Mark Friedberg, MD, MPP is senior vice president of performance measurement and improvement at
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Mark is responsible for all activities related to measuring and
improving the performance of BCBSMA’s provider network, including metrics used in value-based
contracts such as our Alternative Quality Contract. He also oversees data analytics related to BCBSMA’s
own performance, including HEDIS, NCQA, and CMS measures. Before joining BCBSMA in 2019, Mark
was a researcher at RAND, where he led multiple projects to measure, evaluate, and improve health
system performance. He is a general internist who provides primary care at Brigham and Women's
Hospital, where he completed his residency and fellowship. Mark has an M.D. from Harvard Medical
School, M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and B.A. from Swarthmore College.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Mark is responsible for all activities related to measuring and
improving the performance of BCBSMA’s provider network, including metrics used in value-based
contracts such as our Alternative Quality Contract. He also oversees data analytics related to BCBSMA’s
own performance, including HEDIS, NCQA, and CMS measures. Before joining BCBSMA in 2019, Mark
was a researcher at RAND, where he led multiple projects to measure, evaluate, and improve health
system performance. He is a general internist who provides primary care at Brigham and Women's
Hospital, where he completed his residency and fellowship. Mark has an M.D. from Harvard Medical
School, M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and B.A. from Swarthmore College.
Mark H. Friedman, Owner, Senior Helpers
Mark H. Friedman is the Owner of Senior Helpers Boston & South Shore (www.SeniorHelpersBoston.com) a leading private duty homecare franchise in the metropolitan area. He spend over 25 years orchestrating major corporate turnarounds in North America, South America and Europe before finding his passion in the world of elder care. He also serves as Vice President of Services and Operations for Assured Allies. Assured Allies is on a mission to help people make the most out of life by aging on their own terms. Since 2018, Assured Allies has been integrating technology and expertise in aging, working with long-term care industry leaders and insurance companies to better support successful aging. Its Age Assured program is designed for people who want help continuing to live independently as they age.
Tejal Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, Chief Safety and Transformation Officer, Press Ganey
Tejal Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, is the Chief Safety and Transformation Officer at Press Ganey. In this role, she is responsible for advancing the Zero Harm movement, improving patient and workforce safety, and developing innovative health care transformation strategies. In addition, Dr. Gandhi is leading the Press Ganey Equity Partnership to advance equity in health care.
Before joining Press Ganey, Dr. Gandhi served as Chief Clinical and Safety Officer at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), where she led IHI programs focusing on improving patient and workforce safety and was President and CEO of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) from 2013 until 2017, when NPSF merged with IHI
Dr. Gandhi has been named as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare,” “Top 25 Women in Healthcare,” and “50 Most Influential Clinical Executives” by Modern Healthcare magazine.
She received her MD and MPH degrees from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and trained at Duke University Medical Center.
Before joining Press Ganey, Dr. Gandhi served as Chief Clinical and Safety Officer at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), where she led IHI programs focusing on improving patient and workforce safety and was President and CEO of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) from 2013 until 2017, when NPSF merged with IHI
Dr. Gandhi has been named as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare,” “Top 25 Women in Healthcare,” and “50 Most Influential Clinical Executives” by Modern Healthcare magazine.
She received her MD and MPH degrees from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and trained at Duke University Medical Center.
Brad Giafaglione, Director of Experience, UC Irvine Health
Tim Gronniger, CEO, Caravan Health
Tim has served as the President & CEO of Caravan Health since 2019. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association for Accountable Care Organizations. Tim joined Caravan Health in 2017 as the Senior Vice President for Strategy and Development, becoming the company President in 2018. In those roles he oversaw the company’s delivery and operations as well as marketing and its strategic growth plan. He is the former Chief of Staff and Director of Delivery System Reform at CMS where he led the agency’s work on drug spending issues, significant elements of the agency’s implementation of the new physician payment system created by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, creation of new payment models, and other topics. He was previously a senior adviser for health care policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he was responsible for coordinating administration activities in health care delivery system reform. Before joining DPC he was a senior professional staff member for Ranking Member Henry Waxman at the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, responsible for drafting and developing elements of the Affordable Care Act. Tim began his career in Washington at the at the Congressional Budget Office. Tim holds master's degrees in Public Policy and Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University.
Sarah Gaustello, VP, Planetree International
As Senior Vice President of the Division of Person-Centered Care Standards, Sara Guastello supports Planetree International’s mission of advancing person-centered care around the world.
James Harrison, Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
James Harrison is a research faculty member in the Division of Hospital of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). His career has focused on research and quality improvement efforts that seek to improve the delivery and experiences of healthcare for people who have been hospitalized. He conducts patient - centered outcomes research withi n learning health systems in order to help accelerate the translation of research and evidence into practice. James also leads two Patient & Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) at UCSF, is a member of the PCORI Patient Engagement Advisory Panel and an PCORI Ambassador.
Kevin Hinchey, MD, Chief Education Officer, Baystate Health
Before pursuing his degree in Medicine, Dr. Hinchey was a teacher and coach at the high school level.
Joshua Hollander, Manager, Enterprise Practice Consulting , CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield
Josh currently serves as a Manager in the Practice & Payment Transformation division of CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield. In this role, he is responsible for developing and implementing new value-based payment arrangements with community-based health systems while carrying out CareFirst’s 5-year transition from “Volume to Value.” Collaborating with a team of experts in value-based payment models, practice transformation, data analytics, contracting strategists, and provider-relationship collaborators, josh is dedicated to making healthcare more affordable and accessible for the communities CareFirst serves.
Regina Holliday, Artist and Activist, The Walking Gallery
Regina Holliday is an activist, artist, speaker and author. She speaks about the benefits of health information technology and timely data access for patients due to her family loss. In 2009, she painted a series of murals depicting the need for clarity and transparency in medical records. This advocacy mission was inspired by her late husband Frederick Allen Holliday II and his struggle to get appropriate care during 11 weeks of continuous hospitalization at 5 facilities.
William Hoos, MS, MBA - Director, Canopy Cancer Collective
Willy is an entrepreneur, executive, and venture leader in healthcare innovation, and he leads Canopy Cancer Collective’s collaboration initiatives. Willy is also the chief commercial officer of xCures, a company focused on patient-centric oncology clinical trials. He founded and is chairman of ClinWiki.org, which provides crowdsourced clinical trial information. Willy has worked in oncology with for-profit and nonprofit organizations, advising numerous medical diagnostic, device, pharmaceutical, and patient advocate organizations globally on product development and market strategy.
Jen Horonjeff, Founder & CEO, Savvy Cooperative
Jen Horonjeff is the founder and CEO of Savvy Cooperative, the first and only patient-owned public benefit co-op that helps organizations and innovators connect directly with diverse patients in order to get the insights they need to build more inclusive healthcare solutions. Jen was named one of the 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs of 2018 by Entrepreneur Magazine, alongside Elon Musk and Reese Witherspoon, for her work in patient advocacy. Jen is deeply committed to human-centered design in healthcare, and has firsthand knowledge as both a patient and professional. She is a life-long autoimmune disease patient and a brain tumor survivor.
Lauren Hughes, MD, MPH, MSc, FAAFP, State Policy Director, Farley Health Policy Center
Lauren Hughes is an associate professor of family medicine in the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the State Policy Director of the Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Health Policy Center. In this role, she leads initiatives to translate data for policymakers to inform the design and implementation of evidence-based policy. Her research interests include strengthening rural health care, the future of primary care and public health post COVID-19, and graduate medical education financing, governance, and social accountability. Dr. Hughes previously served as Deputy Secretary for Health Innovation in the Pennsylvania Department of Health, where she co-designed and launched the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, a new payment and delivery model that transitions rural hospitals from fee-for-service to multi-payer global budgets and transforms how they deliver care to better meet community health needs. Dr. Hughes serves on the American Board of Family Medicine, the Rural Health Redesign Center Organization, and the American Medical Student Association Foundation Boards of Directors. She has been a visiting scholar at the CMS Innovation Center, the Commonwealth Fund, and ABC News Medical Unit. She earned her MD from the University of Iowa, her MPH in health policy from The George Washington University, and her master's in health and health care research from the University of Michigan as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program. She completed her family medicine residency at the University of Washington. In 2018, she was named a Presidential Leadership Scholar by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Lindsay Hunt, Director of Systems Transformation, HMS Center for Primary Care
Lindsay Hunt, MEd, is the Director of Health Systems Transformation. In this role, Lindsay is responsible for the overall management of the Center’s Systems Transformation portfolio, including the launch of the HRSA-funded Advancing Teams in Community Health Program, the Primary Care Improvement Network, and the Abundant Health program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. These programs all share a focus on strengthening teams and building leadership capacity to improve primary care.
Stacy Hurt, MHA, MBA, Patient Experience Consultant and HIMSS Digital Influencer
Rachel Hutman, CEO and Founder, Ford Hutman Media
Rachel has worked on some of the world's biggest therapies and medical technologies of all time, including the first RNAi therapy (Alnylam’s ONPATTRO), the first therapy for DMD (Sarepta’s EXONDYS 51), the first technology in the world to personalize insulin 24 hrs. a day (Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G), IBM's AI launch into healthcare (Watson Health) and Google's sister life science company (Verily).
Joy Jones, MS, Executive Director, Office of Caregiver Experience
In her current role, Joy leads Cleveland Clinic’s Office of Caregiver Experience, an enterprise-wide function
serving sixty-six thousand employees, known as caregivers. The Experience team in partnership with global
stakeholders are working to achieve a bold vision - create the best place to work in healthcare.
serving sixty-six thousand employees, known as caregivers. The Experience team in partnership with global
stakeholders are working to achieve a bold vision - create the best place to work in healthcare.
Andrew Kanter, Chief Medical Officer, IMO
Dr. Andrew Kanter joined IMO in 1995 and now serves as the Chief Medical Officer. He provides thought leadership on IMO’s clinical roadmap and helps guide the company in addressing key challenges within the industry. He has also held the roles of Chief Operating Officer and President at IMO.
Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, President, Thomas Jefferson University; CEO, Jefferson Health
Dr. Stephen Klasko is an advocate for a transformation of health care and higher education. He has been a pioneer in using technology to build health assurance and equity – especially as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis.
Jennifer Krippner, Chief Experience Officer, The Institute for Healthcare Excellence
Jennifer Krippner is Chief Experience Officer with The Institute for Healthcare Excellencem, and is the leading expert on patient experience and relationship centered care. Jennifer has more than 20 years of expertise in strategic planning, patient experience, physician development and employee/community engagement.
Monica Lee, Senior Improvement Advisor, Southcentral Foundation
Monica Lee is a Senior Improvement Advisor for Southcentral Foundation. In her role, she supports specialty clinics in SCF’s Medical Services division, assisting them with improvement projects to increase quality of care. Prior to her current role, Monica worked as a Business Advisor for SCF’s Learning Institute, and in SCF’s Human Resources department. Monica holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, as well as a Graduate Certification in Alaska Native Executive Leadership and a SHRM-CP Certification from the Society of Human Resource Management. Monica is an SCF customer-owner with a background of Inupiaq and Korean descent.
Michael “Jack” Lennon, MBA, Lifelong Kidney Patient
Through living with kidney disease for 30+ years, Jack is a life-long kidney patient. He is a three-time kidney transplant recipient, with experience on hemo- and peritoneal dialysis.
David Lessens, Medical Director, Primary Care 1 West
Dr. David Lessens joined Southcentral Foundation in 2013 and is a primary care provider and a medical director. Beyond his clinical responsibilities as a part of an integrated primary care team, he serves on multiple committees, has co-authored institutional guidelines, and has written several chapters in primary care textbooks. He received his medical training at the University of Michigan Medical School and completed a family medicine residency and academic integrative medicine fellowship at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. In addition, he completed an MPH with a focus on nutrition and environmental sustainability at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. David is passionate about enabling healthcare systems to address determinants of health and focus on all dimensions of wellness.
William J. Maples, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer The Institute for Healthcare Excellence
William Maples, MD, is the President and CEO of the The Institute for Healthcare Excellence (IHE), where he and the faculty work with healthcare organizations to nurture relational skills necessary to create a culture, which embraces trust, respect, compassion, and teamwork. This in turn creates an environment where quality, safety, and efficiency efforts flourish. In addition to creating an exceptional experience for patients and families through relational skills, the experience culture for the caregiver team is enriched. Through this work physicians, nurses, and the caregiver team reconnect to their deep sense of purpose and restore joy to the practice of medicine. The end result of the culture-transforming work is a restoration of humanity to medicine. Dr. Maple’s passion for enriching the experience culture for Medicine in a sustainable and financially feasible way is unrivaled.
Jospeh Maxwell, CEO, Parlance
Joseph Maxwell is a technology industry veteran with over 30 years of experience. As CEO of Parlance, a Software as a Service company leveraging speech recognition technology to improve the caller experience for hundreds of leading organizations nationwide, Joseph shares his expertise with health systems, higher education institutions, and businesses. These enterprises rely on Parlance every day to modernize call handling, ease caller effort and reduce operational costs. Health systems specifically subscribe to Parlance to enable patients to speak naturally and connect directly when they call on the phone. No long hold times, no confusing menus, no numbers to press on a dial pad.
Tom McLain, President and Chief Community Officer, Renalytix AI
Kirsten Meisinger, MD, Regional Medical Director and Director of Provider Engagement, Cambridge Health Alliance
Kirsten Meisinger, MD is outgoing Medical Staff President, current Regional Medical Director and Director of Provider Engagement at the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). She has worked as a Family Physician at the award winning Union Square Family Health Center, a Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) practice, since 1999, and has been Medical Director at CHA since 2008.
Shawn Nason, Founder and CEO, MOFI
As a self-proclaimed disruptor, Shawn utilizes consumer-centered design to dig into the stories of those affected by the problem and then finds a way to engage the consumer’s voice in each step of the design process.
Emily Parks, PTSD Patient Advocate
Emily Parks is a chronically ill young professional based out of the Washington D.C. area working in behavioral health and patient advocacy. Having been diagnosed with short bowel syndrome in infancy and unable to absorb nutrition orally she was dependent on Parenteral Nutrition until receiving an isolated small bowel transplant from MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
Christa Peters, Collaboration Director, NRC Health
With over 15 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Christa is responsible for driving the collaborative functions of the NRC Health customer community. Christa joined NRC Health in 2018 to help NRC’s premier partners build loyalty by delivering exceptional customer service through connection and validation of their goals and strategic direction. Christa spent several years at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana starting as an inpatient case manager and holding multiple roles including Inpatient Program Director where she led an interdisciplinary acute rehabilitation team. Christa’s career includes working with St Vincent Health, where she served as the Executive Director of the Office of Patient Experience. Christa has a passion for facilitation and engaging with others who are passionate about the healthcare experience.
Michele Pirkle, VP of Patient Experience, Grady Health System
Michele Pirkle is Vice President, Patient Experience at Grady Health System in Atlanta, Georgia. Grady is the premier trauma, stroke, and burn center in the state of Georgia. As a healthcare leader for over 20 years, Michele’s passion is improving the patient experience and she has had tremendous success in moving hospital experience scores from the bottom quartiles to the very top. Michele is also President of CEP Consulting, founded in 2008, where she has had the opportunity to partner with schools, financial institutions, local businesses, as well as large corporations who desire to take their service and leadership to the next level. She is an energetic change agent committed to successful, sustainable cultural change.
Brad Power, Founder, CancerHacker Lab
Building on his background in process reengineering and as a lymphoma survivor, Brad Power strives to accelerate innovation in cancer treatment by promoting (1) startups that are helping cancer patients with education, navigation, and community support, (2) patients that actively engage in solving their problems and make them available to others, and (3) multidisciplinary communities which seek to improve specific diseases.
Barbra G. Rabson, President & CEO, Massachusetts Health Quality Partners
Barbra G. Rabson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Massachusetts Health Quality Partners. Under her leadership, MHQP has become a national leader in the measurement and public reporting of health care information, with a particular focus on measuring and improving patients’ experiences of care. She has led MHQP’s most recent work to better understand patient and clinician experiences with telehealth.
Nicholas S. Reed, AuD, Asst Professor, Department of Epidemiology; Core Faculty, Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Dr. Nicholas Reed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a joint appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His research focuses on direct-to-consumer hearing care, understanding hearing aid use in the United States, the relationship between hearing loss and health care outcomes/interactions (e.g., satisfaction with care, inpatient safety, quality of care, delirium, etc.), and whether interventions targeting hearing loss can mitigate these associations.
Duane Reynolds, MHA, Founder and CEO, Just Health Collective
Duane Reynolds is the founder and CEO of Just Health Collective a strategic consulting and advisory services firm that helps healthcare organizations advance health equity and belonging. Their services include organizational assessments, health equity and belonging audits, training, group facilitation, coaching and a digital engagement community called the Just Health Collective Village. The JHC Village brings together cross industry professionals committed to sharing best practices, lessons learned and innovative approaches to advancing belonging in health and health care. Previously Reynolds was a healthcare consulting director at The Advisory Board Company, developing the division’s first inclusion and diversity department — and serving as its inaugural chief executive. Most recently he was the president and CEO of the American Hospital Association's Institute for Diversity and Health Equity and has held operational leadership positions at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Emory Healthcare, OhioHealth and Optum, a United Health Group company.