2023 Speakers

Josh Berlin

Chief Executive Officer, rule of three LLC

Josh Berlin

Chief Executive Officer, rule of three LLC

Josh brings more than 20 years of experience, most of which has been in healthcare advisory, to his clients. Most recently, he has served as Principal and Co-Practice Leader of Citrin Cooperman’s Healthcare Practice and Managing Partner for IBM Watson Health’s Strategic Advisory Practice, leading a unique group of consultants in each instance to serve clients across the full healthcare ecosystem (Providers, Payers, Employers, Governments, Advocacy, etc.).

Previous to those roles, he served as a Principal in the healthcare consulting practice at Dixon Hughes Goodman, helping to lead their Strategy Consulting business. Prior to which, he served as a leader in all versions of KPMG (KPMG Consulting/BearingPoint and KPMG). Currently, he serves on the Boards of the Validation Institute, Population Health Management Journal and Bettie Brand Mothers’ Empowerment Fund

Lili Brillstein, MPH

Chief Executive Officer, BCollaborative

Lili Brillstein, MPH

Chief Executive Officer, BCollaborative

Lili Brillstein is Founder and CEO of BCollaborative, an organization that builds partnerships between payers, providers, start-ups, community organizations and others. Ms Brillstein works to build partnerships that support comprehensive, collaborative care models that reward the care team for optimized patient outcomes and experiences and efficient use of limited resources. Ms Brillstein was the strategic force behind the Episodes of Care program at Horizon BCBS of New Jersey, which grew to be the largest and most progressive value-based care program for specialty care in the US.

Zenobia Brown MD

Senior Vice President, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Northwell Health; Executive Director, Northwell Health Solutions

Zenobia Brown MD

Senior Vice President, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Northwell Health; Executive Director, Northwell Health Solutions

As medical director for Health Solutions, the Care Management Organization (CMO) and Senior Vice President, Dr. Brown oversees, designs, implements, and manages the Population Health Care Management portfolio for Northwell Health, the largest Health System in the New York Metro Area. In this role she has established and innovated multiple clinical and episodic care models designed to demonstrate high value clinical and financial outcomes through clinical transformation. These innovations are powered by technological integrations and cross collaboration with institutions and providers across the care continuum as well as clinical, financial, and national leaders in population health and healthcare reform. She received her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed a family medicine residency and chief residency at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Brown spent more than a decade in Florida, where she helped implement Department of Health community-based services, established multiple community based programs, and served as associate medical director at Tidewell Hospice and Palliative Care. Dr. Brown received a master’s degree in public health from the University of South Florida and is Board-certified in Family Medicine, and Hospice and Palliative Care. Dr. Brown also maintains a clinical practice within Northwell’s House Calls program caring for patients with advanced illness in value-based arrangements.. Dr. Brown has lectured nationally and internationally and has published on payment reform and practice transformation.

Adam L. Buckalew

Founder, alb Solutions

Adam L. Buckalew

Founder, alb Solutions

Best known in the corridors of Washington simply as Buck, Adam L. Buckalew is a seasoned congressional aide with senior experience on key committees in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Founder of alb solutions – an integrated strategic advisory firm – Buck is a well-respected expert who has advised decision makers across both federal and state governments, the private sector, and political campaigns over the past 15 years. Most recently, Buck served under Chairman Lamar Alexander as the Deputy Health Policy Director for U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. He was instrumental in negotiating the No Surprises Act, which ended surprise medical billing and represents the greatest patient protection in a decade.

Throughout the global pandemic, he drafted key provisions of the high-profile $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), and worked with senior officials across the legislative and executive branches on the federal government’s COVID-19 response, including the implementation of provisions pertaining to testing, treatment, vaccine administration, and consumer protections within the five pandemic relief packages.

Prior to his leadership in the Senate, Buck was the Coalitions Director and Deputy Chief Health Counsel for U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, where he worked with senior staff across all six subcommittees to engage industry stakeholders. His external advocacy amplified the committee’s discussions to improve pipeline safety, end robocalls, promote the safe utilization of autonomous vehicles, and protect consumers from dangerous products, among other policies.

In his senior committee roles, Buck has gained extensive knowledge of legislative and regulatory procedures, federal budgetary mechanics, and private and public health insurance regulations, particularly the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). This experience has led Buck to become one of the most sought-after experts on commercial health insurance issues within the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) as well as policies within the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FDCA).

Among his many legislative achievements, Buck counts the most rewarding his work formulating, drafting, negotiating, the SUPPORT Act – a landmark law to combat the opioid epidemic.

Dana Castro

Senior Director, HIMSS Institute

Dana Castro

Senior Director, HIMSS Institute

Dana Castro is a Senior Director at HIMSS with over 25 years of information and technology experience. She canvasses geographic adversities that, if digitally reformed, can transform lives for under-represented and marginalized populations. She is an advisor to Pocket Patient MD, a free, secure, dynamic, and universally accessible Digital Health Platform serving low-resourced countries. She is an advisor to GlobalRise, an NGO designing a digital food system connecting small-holder, mountain-dwelling farmers to local markets and health services using drones. Ms. Castro serves on the Host Committee of Maya’s Hope, which works to improve the quality of life of orphaned, impoverished, and special-needs children globally. She resides with her family in Princeton where she has built her lane to live happily in service of others.

Brittany Cassin

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, DigiCARE Realized

Brittany Cassin

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, DigiCARE Realized

Brittany Cassin is the CEO and Co-Founder of DigiCARE Realized, an emerging health technology company focused on modernizing care in complex brain disease through AI-powered decision intelligence applications.  DigiCARE Realized is founded on technology developed at Indiana University. As a former life science manufacturer executive, Brittany has more than 20 years of healthcare commercialization experience that includes the first-ever digital medicine system approved by the FDA in 2017. She has led health system partnerships that include research collaborations in both serious mental illness and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia for various regulated digital technologies.  In a previous role, Brittany was the US business lead for a FDA-cleared digital cognitive assessment tool focused in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease detection. As a female Hispanic founder, Brittany was named a 2022 finalist to the inaugural cohort of the National Institute of Aging (NIA) Start-Up Challenge and Accelerator: Fostering Entrepreneurial Diversity.  She also serves as a member of the CEOi Blood Based Bio-Marker Workgroup and is a collaborator to the Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative - System Preparedness Workgroup Flagship Program.

Ken Cohen, MD, FACP

Executive Director, Translational Research, Optum Health

Ken Cohen, MD, FACP

Executive Director, Translational Research, Optum Health

Dr. Kenneth Cohen is an experienced physician leader and researcher who has attained national recognition for health care quality improvement. He is a founding physician of New West Physicians, one of the largest medical practices in Colorado, where he served as Chief Medical Officer for 24 years. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Translational Research for Optum Health and leads the Optum Center for Research and Innovation. Dr. Cohen has received awards of recognition and distinction for teaching, including the Lutheran Medical Center Physician of the Year award in 2011. Under his stewardship, New West Physicians won the AMGA Acclaim award in 2015 and the Million Hearts Hypertension Champion Award in 2017. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Cohen holds degrees from Dickinson College and Hahnemann University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha honor societies.

Ceci Connolly

President and Chief Executive Officer, Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP)

Ceci Connolly

President and Chief Executive Officer, Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP)

Ceci Connolly is a nationally-recognized thought leader, author and chief executive officer of the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP). But if you refer to her as a former ink-stained wretch, she won’t object. Ceci spent 25 years in the news business, covering politics and health care, including 13 years at the Washington Post. She is co-author of Landmark: America's New Health Care Law and What It Means for Us All. Between her journalism career and ACHP, she worked at McKinsey and PwC, concluding that fee-for-service medicine is what ails us. Her passion now is to put a stake in it. She is a founding member of Women of Impact, serves on the Board of the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and a previous Board member of Whitman-Walker Health. She hosts the Healthy Dialogue podcast and is a guest host for Her Story. Ceci was the first non-physician to receive the Mayo Clinic Plummer Society Award for promoting deeper understanding of science and medicine. She remains an adrenaline junkie and stickler for good grammar. 

Matthew Dawson, MD

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Wild Health

Matthew Dawson, MD

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Wild Health

Kevin Dorrance, MD, FACP

CEO & President, TranformCare; Former Chief Medical Officer, U.S. Navy

Kevin Dorrance, MD, FACP

CEO & President, TranformCare; Former Chief Medical Officer, U.S. Navy

Dr. Kevin Dorrance served in the U.S. Navy for more than 35 years before retiring at the rank of Captain. During his military service, he served as the Chief of Medicine at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Navy, creating Navy Medicine’s High-Reliability Organization (HRO) model and its adaptation for the Military Health System (MHS). He developed one of the first Patient-Centered Medical Home systems and serves as a subject matter expert on primary care productivity and alternative payment models. In 2022, Kevin was honored and named to the FedHealthIT100’s List. Dr. Dorrance has also had numerous operational deployments, including serving aboard the USS HEWITT (DD-966), USS ACADIA (AD-42), and USNS COMFORT as the Assistant Director for Medical Services during recovery operations following Hurricane Katrina. In addition, in 2010, he served as Director of Branch Clinic, Expeditionary Medical Facility, Kuwait. Dr. Dorrance holds an academic appointment as Associate Professor of Medicine and a faculty appointment in the Department of Health Services Administration at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). He completed medical school at USUHS, obtaining his Doctor of Medicine and graduating with distinction. He graduated with honors from the University of Colorado Boulder with a BS in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.

Trina Dutta

Chief of Staff, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Trina Dutta

Chief of Staff, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

In her role as Chief of Staff, Trina provides policy and programmatic guidance to the OAS to advance the behavioral health of the nation and support SAMHSA’s mission.

Trina returns to SAMHSA after spending six years working for the District of Columbia. As policy director for the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), she led DC’s system redesign efforts which included development and implementation of a Section 1115 waiver of the IMD payment exclusion for mental health and substance use treatment as well as integration of the fee-for-service behavioral health benefit into the Medicaid managed care program. Prior to her work with DBH,

Trina served as special projects officer to DC’s Medicaid Director within the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF). In this position, her work largely focused on home and community-based services for individuals receiving long term care. In addition, Trina coordinated and/or led implementation for a variety of other initiatives, including DHCF’s Medicare eligibility initiative, electronic visit verification for personal care services, and an interagency partnership aimed at reducing inappropriate 911 calls (with DC’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department and the Department of For-Hire Vehicles).

Before joining District government, Trina spent eight years with SAMHSA focused on behavioral health integration; this included leading the Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration program and SAMHSA’s partnership with CMS on the Section 2703 person-centered health homes program. She also staffed the Office of Behavioral Health Equity and supported establishment of SAMHSA’s disparity impact statements, which aims to address disparities in access, use, and outcomes among traditionally underserved populations. Trina joined SAMHSA in 2006 as a Presidential Management Fellow.

Trina grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from The Ohio State University in 2000 with a joint Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Psychology. After serving in Peace Corps/Nepal as a water sanitation coordinator, Trina received a Master of Public Health-Master of Public Policy dual degree from UC Berkeley. She resides with her family in Mount Pleasant, DC.

Adam R. Easterday, JD

Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Optum; Chairman of the Board, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW)

Adam R. Easterday, JD

Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Optum; Chairman of the Board, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW)

Mr. Easterday currently serves as Vice President of Policy & Regulatory Affairs for OptumHealth at United Health Group. His current role encompasses regulatory affairs and policy advocacy on behalf of the OptumHealth division of UHG including Optum Behavioral Health which administers mental health and substance use disorder benefits on behalf of over 20 million Americans in commercial, Medicare and Medicaid plans. Mr. Easterday also serves as the current Board Chair for the Association for Behavioral Health & Wellness (ABHW). Mr. Easterday has been with United Health Group in successive roles for the past 17 years.

Prior to joining United, Mr. Easterday served as Senior Corporate Counsel for PacifiCare Behavioral Health. Mr. Easterday also has prior in-house counsel experience with ValueOptions, Inc. as Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer. Prior to his in-house work, Mr. Easterday engaged in private practice in Richmond, Virginia with the firm of Christian & Barton, LLP. Mr. Easterday also served as Deputy Project Director for the Center for Health Dispute Resolution, the CMS contracted external review agent for Medicare Advantage appeals and has a background of experience in hospital administration with a large academic medical center’s mental health department.

Mendel Erlenwein

Founder, CareCo, Podcast Host, Author - Unleashing Value: The Case for AI in Value-Based Care

Mendel Erlenwein

Founder, CareCo, Podcast Host, Author - Unleashing Value: The Case for AI in Value-Based Care

Mendel Erlenwein, CEO of Previva Health Group, is a visionary leader in healthcare and host of the acclaimed "Healthcare Trailblazers" podcast with over 5 million views. As the founder of CareCo.ai, Mendel's AI-driven approach is revolutionizing care coordination. His unwavering commitment to healthcare innovation is paving the way for a healthier future.

Shavini Fernando

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OxiWear

Shavini Fernando

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OxiWear

Shavini Fernando is a video game, virtual reality (VR) web designer and developer. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Portsmouth, an M.B.A. from Edith Cowan University, and a master’s degree in Communication, Culture, and Technology (CCT) from Georgetown University. In 2015, Ms. Fernando was diagnosed with severe pulmonary hypertension (PH) as a result of Eisenmenger Syndrome. In 2019, she invented OxiWear, the first ear-wearable pulse oximeter for continuous oxygen monitoring and low oxygen alerting. Ms. Fernando personally experienced multiple situations in which her heart stopped beating caused by a sudden drop in oxygen levels, putting her at high risk for cardiac arrest and stroke. By wearing OxiWear, patients can continuously monitor their oxygen levels and get medical help in an emergency situation.

Eric Gallagher

Chief Executive Officer, Ochsner Health Network

Eric Gallagher

Chief Executive Officer, Ochsner Health Network

Eric Gallagher serves as Chief Executive Officer of Ochsner Health Network (OHN), a nationally recognized clinically integrated physician network and accountable care organization comprised of over 4,000 physicians across the Gulf South region, serving Ochsner Health, its partners, and affiliated community practices.

In this role, Eric is responsible for developing and managing the strategic vision, long-term planning, and direction for OHN as well as leading operations for population health services delivered to OHN and Ochsner Accountable Care Network (OACN) participants.

Eric previously served as Chief Operating Officer of OHN and has been instrumental to the development of Ochsner’s value-based care and population health strategy since 2016, driving OHN’s growth across Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama, to today now managing over 600,000 lives in value-based agreements and being recognized nationally as a leader in value-based care, including one of Becker’s Healthcare ACOs to Know in 2023. Eric was also recognized as one of Becker’s 2023 Rising Stars in Healthcare for his leadership and success in value-based care.

Prior to joining Ochsner in 2016, Eric held leadership positions in health care strategy, building and advancing value-based competencies and population health infrastructures with local and national healthcare organizations, including roles at Accenture in its Health Management practice and at Tulane University Medical Group.

A New Orleans native, Eric holds a B.S. from Vanderbilt University, an MBA from Tulane University, A.B. Freeman School of Business, and is a graduate of the MHCD program from Harvard Business School.

Matt Goudy

Managing Director and President, Medacta USA

Matt Goudy

Managing Director and President, Medacta USA

Matt is a medical device executive with over 25 years of combined clinical & industry experience in Ortho/Neuro. Over the last several years, Matt has led domestic efforts to redefine the role of an implant manufacturer in Value Based Care models, including their prospective risk-sharing models pioneered at Geisinger with Dr. Michael Suk.

Pamela Greenberg, MPP

President and Chief Executive Officer, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW)

Pamela Greenberg, MPP

President and Chief Executive Officer, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW)

Pamela Greenberg is President and CEO of the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW), the national voice of payers working to improve access and quality of care for mental health and substance use disorders. ABHW is the leading association for national and regional health plans that manage behavioral health insurance benefits for over 200 million people. Pamela has been with ABHW for 25 years, previously serving as Executive Director. In her current role, she and her broader team work to advance federal policy, reduce stigma, and raise awareness to improve mental health and substance use disorder care.

With over three decades of working with health plans and in the behavioral health field, Pamela is nationally recognized for her expertise in mental health and substance use disorder public policy. Pamela was instrumental as Chair of the Coalition for Fairness in Mental Illness Coverage, one of the leading coalitions that helped develop, advocate for, and get the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008 signed into law. Pamela previously served as Deputy Director of Federal Affairs for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Legislative Assistant at Capitol Associates, a healthcare consulting firm in Washington, D.C.

Pamela is currently a member of several influential councils, including the Joint Commission's Behavioral Health Care Accreditation Advisory Council, URAC's Health Standards Committee, and URAC’s Parity Advisory Council.

Pamela holds a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University.

Alfonso Guida Jr., JD

President and Chief Executive Officer, Guide Consulting Services, Inc.

Alfonso Guida Jr., JD

President and Chief Executive Officer, Guide Consulting Services, Inc.

With more than three decades of experience in health public policy and government relations, Al is a top strategic thinker in the field. He is adept at advancing legislation and public policy and impacting government and regulatory issues. Most notably, Al secured $15 million funding for Mental Health First Aid and the 2014 inclusion of the Excellence in Mental Health Act during a period when few mental health legislations were passed. Additionally, he has secured four amendments in both the Senate Finance Committee and House Energy & Commerce Committee including amendments for medical homes and structure of insurance exchange benefits. Al also led Medicaid Reform by initiating a mental health, disability and child welfare coalition in 2007 to stop $6 billion in Medicaid funding cuts as well as worked with Eli Lilly Co. to insert strong language into a veterans spending bill, prohibiting the Department of Veterans Affairs from instituting policies and procedures that restricted access to vital medicines for veterans with severe mental illness.

Before starting Guide Consulting Services, Al served as the Executive Director of the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign, (NMHAC), which addressed the stigma associated with mental illness. Prior to the Campaign, Al served as Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy at the National Mental Health Association – now called Mental Health America – where he coordinated state and federal government affairs and helped to start NMHA’s State Health Care Reform Department. In his seven-year tenure, he fought for mental health parity legislation, Medicaid expansions, the inclusion of mental health care in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and additional federal funding for the Children’s Mental Health Services Program.

Lee Handke, PharmD

Chief Executive Officer, Nebraska Health Network

Lee Handke, PharmD

Chief Executive Officer, Nebraska Health Network

Lee Handke is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nebraska Health Network, an accountable care organization formed as a partnership between Methodist Health System, Nebraska Medicine and their affiliated physicians. Handke is responsible for implementing the strategy to achieve the NHN’s mission of leading the transformation of health in the region by developing partnerships that deliver patient-centered, high value care.

Previously, Handke was the senior vice president, health network services for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, where was responsible for hospital, professional and pharmacy network strategy, product development and healthcare delivery and wellness programs.

Handke received a Bachelor of Life Science from Kansas State University in 1993. In 1999, he graduated with distinction from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Pharmacy with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Following graduation, he completed a pharmacy residency in managed care pharmacy at Walgreens Health Initiatives in Deerfield, Illinois. Handke graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2005.

Handke is a registered pharmacist and adjunct faculty member at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Pharmacy, where he serves on the admissions committee. He serves on the board of directors for the Concordia Lutheran Schools of Omaha, Exchange Club of Omaha and Nebraska Methodist College.

Ross G. Hoffman, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Pharmacy/Innovation, Centene Corporation

Ross G. Hoffman, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Pharmacy/Innovation, Centene Corporation

Chief Medical Officer, Pharmacy/Innovation, Centene Corporation, covering 28M members, Chairman Pharmacy + Therapeutics (P+T) committee Cross industry healthcare leadership through pharma relations, work groups and advisory roles at leading organizations across the US Healthcare ecosystem Serial healthcare startup founder, creating over $3B in value MD Cardiologist with training from University of Pennsylvania, University of Florida, Brown University and Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s/Boston Children’s Hospital

Michael Kirchhoff, MD

Chief Innovation Officer, Cooper Innovation Center, Cooper University Health Care

Michael Kirchhoff, MD

Chief Innovation Officer, Cooper Innovation Center, Cooper University Health Care

Michael Kirchhoff, MD, is the Chief Innovation Officer at Cooper University Health Care, where he actively practices Emergency Medicine. He is also an Associate Professor at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. He currently helps to drive organizational intellectual property commercialization as the head of the Cooper Innovation Center. His team plays a key role in identifying and development of clinical innovation. He also currently serves on the board of Stemplant, LLC, a vascular technology company. He has been on key teams that have brought new business units to Cooper including Emergency Medicine Contracted Services, Urgent Care, Emergency Medical Services, and the Helicopter Transport Program. He has over 25 years of technology experience developing applications for clinical rounding and documentation, Graduate Medical Education procedure tracking, hospital revenue cycle audit, external provider post-acute communication, and ED over-crowding surveillance. Dr. Kirchhoff also serves as the Patient Safety Officer for the health system. He has served as the Director of the Center for Urgent and Emergent Services, as well as the Medical Director of the Cooper Emergency Department and Urgent Care clinics.

Shaheed Koury, MD

Chief Clinical Officer, Adena Health System

Shaheed Koury, MD

Chief Clinical Officer, Adena Health System

Shaheed Koury is an accomplished Senior Physician Executive and Board Member with more than 25 years of success across the healthcare, technology, medical, and legal sectors. Leveraging extensive experience working with both the operations and clinical sides of medicine while bridging the relationship between hospital administration and physicians, he is a valuable asset for medical businesses working on operational improvements or companies aiming for growth through M&A activity or spinoffs. His broad areas of expertise include healthcare IT, malpractice, risk management, healthcare management, electronic health records, M&A, clinical services, and strategic planning. Throughout his executive career, Dr. Koury has held leadership positions at organizations including Adena Health System, Quorum Health, Community Health Systems and the University of Kentucky. He is currently the Chief Clinical Officer for Adena Health where he leads all Clinical Operations for the 700M health system. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Medical Officer & President for Clinical Operations for the $2.5 billion privately held hospital company Quorum Health from 2016 to 2022. He led the Clinical Services Department which included medical affairs, nursing, case management, quality, safety and all ancillary services. Dr. Koury also served as an officer of the company. He shifted operations to make it a physician led company, created a leadership academy and physician advisory council, and implemented strategic collaborative initiatives to improve the electronic health records process to improve physician satisfaction. As VP for Quality & Clinical Transformation with Community Health Systems from 2013 to 2016, he was promoted from a Medical Advisor role to help lead the $20 billion publicly-traded hospital company and guided it to become one of the safest hospital networks in the nation by implementing safety and high reliability tools for all of the medical staff at over 200 hospitals. He also led the development of multiple Clinically Integrated Networks (CINs) in the largest markets to help the for-profit company move to deliver value-based care. Here he oversaw a 68% reduction in Serious Safety Events over the first two years resulting in significant savings, while implementing collaborative staffing programs for annual cost savings of $15 million accompanied by improvements in quality metrics. He previously spent 10 years as an award-winning Emergency Physician with Emergency Medicine of Indiana. He was also an Executive Advisor to venture development group Genesis Ventures, with a focus on industries that utilize software technology as a core business model including real estate, healthcare, commercial lending, social networking, and inbound marketing. Shaheed holds an MBA in Health Care Management from Indiana Wesleyan University and an MD from the University of Kentucky, after earlier graduating from UK with a BA in Chemistry. He completed his Residency in Emergency Medicine at The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. As a seasoned Board Member, he has held board and advisory positions with Synchronous Health, CareHarmony, Physician’s Weekly, care.ai, Professional Medical Billing and Emergency Medicine of Indiana. He was recognized as Emergency Physician of the Year at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been published in numerous medical journals, and has presented at a number of medical forums and conferences nationally.

Tom Lawry

Managing Director, Second Century Tech; Author, Hacking Healthcare – How AI and the Intelligent Health Revolution Will Reboot an Ailing System

Tom Lawry

Managing Director, Second Century Tech; Author, Hacking Healthcare – How AI and the Intelligent Health Revolution Will Reboot an Ailing System

Tom Lawry is a leading AI transformation advisor to health and medical leaders around the world, a top keynote speaker, and the best-selling author of Hacking Healthcare – How AI and the Intelligent Health Revolution Will Reboot an Ailing System. He’s the Managing Director of Second Century Tech and a former Microsoft exec who served as National Director for AI for Health and Life Sciences, Director of Worldwide Health, and Director of Organizational Performance for the company’s first health incubator. Prior to Microsoft, Tom was a Senior Director at GE Healthcare, the founder of two venture-backed healthcare software companies, and a health system executive. Tom’s work and views have been featured in Forbes, CEO Magazine, Harvard Business Review, CNET, Inside Precision Medicine, and numerous webcasts and podcasts. In a 2023 Harris Poll, Tom was named one of the most recognized leaders driving change and engagement in healthcare today. He has also been named one of the Top 150 Healthtech Exponentialists.

Neal Lemon, PhD, MBA

Director, Cooper Innovation Center, Cooper University Health Care

Neal Lemon, PhD, MBA

Director, Cooper Innovation Center, Cooper University Health Care

Dr. Neal Lemon is the founding Director of the Cooper Innovation Center where he is helping to rapidly accelerate invention development and startup activity in line with Cooper University Health Care’s objectives. Neal has 15+ years’ experience in technology transfer and innovation management working in Germany, Ireland, Canada, and the USA. Prior to joining Cooper, Neal was a member of the PENN Center for Innovation (PCI) team at University of Pennsylvania. As an Associate Director at PCI, in addition to responsibility for IP protection and licensing, Neal successfully helped with startup formation and seed funding. Originally from Canada, Neal’s education includes a PhD in Neurophysiology (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany) and an MBA with a focus on International Business and Finance (University of Victoria, Canada). In addition to his experience in technology transfer, Neal was Director of the Targeted Therapeutics and Theranostics Program at Dublin City University, which included a focus on pain management.

Natalie Lukaszewicz

Vice President, Network Development and Contracting, Buckeye Health Plan

Natalie Lukaszewicz

Vice President, Network Development and Contracting, Buckeye Health Plan

Natalie Lukaszewicz has served Buckeye Health Plan as the Vice President of Network Development and Contracting since 2017. As the executive in charge of the statewide network for Buckeye, a government programs health plan including Medicaid, Medicare and ACA networks, Natalie developed the Value Based Contracting strategy and program achieving 60% of Medicaid medical spend in LAN APMs 3A+. Expansion into Medicare and ACA to achieve significant statewide membership growth. Focused on provider satisfaction with a concierge engagement strategy utilizing an interdisciplinary team approach. Part of the Senior Leadership team responsible for medical spend, strategy, diversified growth and product expansion. Natalie has more than thirty years of network management experience in both the health plan and health system arena. She is a key leader in developing and executing network growth focusing on partnering in Value Based Contracts. Natalie is an accomplished network executive with more than 25 years of leadership at several successful health plans. Before joining Buckeye, she was the Vice President, Network Performance at Priority Health Plan in Michigan. Natalie has a BA from the University of Central Florida in Health Services Management.

Bill McElnea

Vice President, Population Health, Shields Health Solutions

Bill McElnea

Vice President, Population Health, Shields Health Solutions

Bill McElnea serves as Vice President of Population Health at Shields Health Solutions, a national specialty pharmacy integrator. In this role, Bill is responsible for helping Shields health system partners leverage their specialty pharmacy programs to support population health and value-based care goals as well as expand their programs into non-traditional specialty pharmacy areas such as diabetes, COPD and congestive heart failure. Prior to joining Shields, Bill served as Director of Environment and Natural Resources at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and prior to that as an International Economist with the U.S. Department of Commerce. He received his Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan and B.A. from Oberlin College.

Thomas McGinn, MD

Executive Vice President, Physician Enterprise, CommonSpirit Health

Thomas McGinn, MD

Executive Vice President, Physician Enterprise, CommonSpirit Health

Tom McGinn, MD, MPH is the System Executive Vice President, Physician Enterprise for CommonSpirit Health. Dr. McGinn is responsible for the executive leadership and strategic direction of the Physician Enterprise’s clinical and business operations across 21 states, including 5,800 employed providers, 1,100 ambulatory care sites and 21 Value-Based Organizations. In addition to overseeing all physician enterprise employment models, he is accountable for advancing clinical integration and population health management, including developing strategies that facilitate physician alignment and provide fully integrated, high quality, and cost-e

Frank McStay, MPA

Assistant Research Director, Health Care Transformation for Medicare Transformation and Delivery System Implementation, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy

Frank McStay, MPA

Assistant Research Director, Health Care Transformation for Medicare Transformation and Delivery System Implementation, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy

• Frank McStay is an Assistant Research Director for Medicare Accountable Care Transformation at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. Frank has broad expertise in value-based payments, clinical economics, and Medicare and Medicaid policy, and knowledge in statistical and computational modeling. Prior to re-joining Duke-Margolis (Frank was previously part of the founding staff of Duke-Margolis), Frank was a Senior Policy Advisor at Baylor Scott and White Health, the largest non-profit health system in Texas, and provided research, regulatory, and government affairs expertise, and Senior Research Assistant at the Brookings Institution. Mr. McStay received is Masters in Public Administration from SUNY Albany, with a concentration on analytical methods and health policy, and his Bachelors from Austin College majoring in International Relations and Leadership.

Stacy Meyr

President, Saint Alphonsus Health Alliance

Stacy Meyr

President, Saint Alphonsus Health Alliance

Luke M O'Connell, MD

Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer, South Shore Health System

Luke M O'Connell, MD

Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer, South Shore Health System

Luke M. O’Connell, MD, MBA is Chief Clinical Officer and Senior Vice President at South Shore Health. In this role Dr. O’Connell is responsible for leading South Shore Health’s population health team and developing the system’s emerging Population Health capabilities, guiding strategy for the transition to value based care and clinical integration across the health system, and engaging all of the medical staff (employed or affiliated) in improving the efficiency and integration of care. Dr. O’Connell is also responsible for network development and strategic alliances. With several clinical affiliations with academic medical centers and a large independent medical staff, the health system continues to look for opportunities to grow its service offerings through its relationships with community providers. Dr. O’Connell has been a member of the active medical staff at South Shore Health since 2002 when he joined as a private practice urologist. He moved into his administrative role after 15 years of clinical practice. Dr. O’Connell earned a BA in history from Brown University and his MD from Boston University School of Medicine. He completed his Urology residency at Boston University. He completed his MBA at The Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Joshua Patten

Executive Director, National Value-Based Development, Aetna, A CVS Company

Joshua Patten

Executive Director, National Value-Based Development, Aetna, A CVS Company

Josh leads Aetna’s national value-based care business development and VBC model design team. His team is responsible for accelerating the growth and partnership with national high performing advanced primary care groups as well as designing innovative payment models to drive aligned incentives. Before rejoining Aetna in his current role, Josh was the VP of Operations at Light beam Health Solutions where he led a team of client success executives and healthcare advisors who were responsible for developing and executing personalized strategies to generate results in various kinds of value-based contracts. Josh was responsible for the implementation of enterprise population health management software and programs for over 50 healthcare organizations, representing over 10 million patient lives.

Aisha Pittman

Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, National Association of ACOs (NAACOS)

Aisha Pittman

Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, National Association of ACOs (NAACOS)

Aisha Pittman, MHP, is the senior vice president of government affairs. In her role, Ms. Pittman leads NAACOS’ work to promote legislative and regulatory policies that will advance ACOs. She has 19 years of experience in healthcare payment, alternative payment models, healthcare quality measurement and health information technology. Ms. Pittman was previously vice president of policy with Premier, Inc., a group purchasing organization of more than 4,400 hospitals and 225,000 other provider organizations, since September 2019. During her eight years with Premier, she was responsible for working with policymakers, providers and other healthcare stakeholders to reduce costs and improve the quality of health care. Prior to Premier, Ms. Pittman held senior management roles with the National Quality Forum, the Maryland Health Care Commission and CenterLight Healthcare, in addition to experience at the National Committee for Quality Assurance. She holds a BS in biology, a BA in psychology, and a master’s in public health from The George Washington University. Ms. Pittman received GWU’s School of Public Health and Health Services Excellence in Health Policy Award.

Janet Pogar

Market Leader, SW Florida, Florida Blue

Janet Pogar

Market Leader, SW Florida, Florida Blue

Janet Pogar is Florida Blue’s Market Leader for SW Florida, overseeing operations in Sarasota, Manatee, Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hardee, and Hendry and DeSoto counties. As the state’s largest insurer, she oversees, coordinates with cross functional teams to develop, lead and execute local strategy for Florida Blue that includes sales, products, analytics, hospital and provider networks, care management, as well as local market and community relations. Florida Blue provides comprehensive health care solutions for all commercial employer groups of all sizes, Medicare Advantage and other plans to support the state’s older populations and individual and family plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Florida Blue is the country’s largest single-state provider of ACA plans. Prior to this role, Pogar served as the Regional Vice President for Carelon Behavioral Health (previously known as Beacon Health Options) and managed the Western United States network and worked to integrate the Behavioral Health networks from Anthem to Carelon. Previously, she was the Regional Vice President for Anthem and managed all product lines – Medicare/Medicaid/Commercial for all healthcare services and was responsible for a $4Billion dollars in healthcare spend. Janet has an extensive network/provider contracting background, managing total cost of care, product management, value-based care, network strategy and managing and engaging a high performing team. Pogar is committed to Florida Blue’s mission of helping people and communities achieve better health and is getting involved in several business, civic, and philanthropic organizations throughout her territory. She is currently on the board of directors of the Naples Chamber of Commerce and is actively involved in the Naple’s Women Club (NWC) which supports many philanthropic endeavors in the community.

Davina Vaswani Prabhu

Vice President of Operations, Ambulatory Care Network, Division of Community and Population Health, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Davina Vaswani Prabhu

Vice President of Operations, Ambulatory Care Network, Division of Community and Population Health, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Davina Vaswani Prabhu, M.H.A., is Vice President of Operations, Ambulatory Care Network, Division of Community and Population Health for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. She has served in this role for 8 years. In this role, she is responsible for the overall strategic direction, leadership, and operational management of NewYork-Presbyterian’s outpatient services, population health programming and community programming. She leads the implementation of innovations and strategies for growth, while enhancing operating performance and improving the patient experience. She has focused her efforts on addressing societal factors that influence health, health education, disease prevention, and building community partnerships. She currently serves on The Community Mission and Health Justice Committee of the Board of Trustees of the New York and Presbyterian Hospital. She is committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and co-leads the enterprise-wide Inclusion Groups. Davina’s life and career have been dedicated to building and supporting communities through service. She has a love for art, education and wellness. She incorporates this love into her commitment to social and health justice. Davina has focused on partnering with and creating programming that influences the generational cycles that exist in society and among our communities. She pursued a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education Leadership (MAECEL) to complement her Master of Health Administration (MHA) to better inform this work with the youth members. Davina is committed to creating a culture of Respect and has taken a lead role to advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging within NYP. She is currently the Enterprise-wide Inclusion Group Co-Lead, setting the agenda and goals with a network of hundreds of department inclusion group leaders and members at the front-line across the organization to facilitate dialogue, education, service and system/ process changes that acknowledges and eliminates bias, promotes DEI and is based on our Credo of Respect. She works closely with the NYP Dalio Center for Health Justice to study the health disparities that exist and the systems/ processes that perpetuate this. Her focus is on creating programming in partnership with the communities we serve as our patients and redesign care to provide equity.

Will Shrank

Venture Partner, Andreessen Horowitz

Will Shrank

Venture Partner, Andreessen Horowitz

Dr. Shrank's areas of expertise coincide with multiple mega trends driving the evolution of our healthcare system—value-based care, Medicare and Medicaid, pharmacy benefits, medication adherence and affordability, and healthcare policy. He’s led teams across the industry, including at CMMI where he served as the Director of Evaluation, helping to design early value-based payment models, and CVS Health where he designed partnerships between retail, pharmacy, clinics and risk-bearing health systems. He was also the CMO of UPMC Health Plan, and most recently, led clinical operations, primary care, and government affairs as the CMO and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Humana. Alongside this experience at major institutions, he’s been an academic researcher, practicing physician, and an advisor to startups.

Mark Steffen, MD, MPH

Senior Vice president, Medical Management and Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

Mark Steffen, MD, MPH

Senior Vice president, Medical Management and Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

As senior vice president of medical management and chief medical officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Dr. Mark Steffen oversees medical and care management strategies for the company’s 2.5 million members. Additionally, Dr. Steffen is responsible for leading our care management, health equity, population health and affordability strategies, including our community-focused strategies. Dr. Steffen is an experienced medical executive and holds three board certifications in Family Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Occupational Medicine. He came to Blue Cross in 2018 after spending several years in managed care where he focused on population health and value-based care. Dr. Steffen spent five years at the Mayo Clinic in the Division of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine where he served as the Medical Director of the Preventive Services Clinic and as education chair for the division. Dr. Steffen’s career leadership began with a three-year tenure as medical director for the Fairview Red Wing Medical Center, a position in which he collaborated with local businesses to improve health and control costs. He began his career focusing on rural family medicine in Zumbrota, Minn. Dr. Steffen received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry/molecular biology from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and both his medical degree and master’s in public health from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Steffen chairs the board of Blue Plus, the health maintenance organization (HMO) affiliate of Blue Cross, and sits on the board for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation. He is also a board member for Minnesota Community Measurement, an organization that uses data from providers, insurers and state agencies to analyze and improve health care cost and quality.

George Stojan, MD

Medical Affairs Lead, Rheumatology, UCB

George Stojan, MD

Medical Affairs Lead, Rheumatology, UCB

Rachel Thornton, MD, PhD, FAAP

Vice President, Chief Health Equity Officer, Nemours Children’s Health

Rachel Thornton, MD, PhD, FAAP

Vice President, Chief Health Equity Officer, Nemours Children’s Health

Debbie Welle-Powell

Chief Executive Officer, DWP Advisors; Adjunct Faculty, Denver Business School, University of Colorado

Debbie Welle-Powell

Chief Executive Officer, DWP Advisors; Adjunct Faculty, Denver Business School, University of Colorado

Debbie Welle-Powell is a healthcare thought leader, educator, national speaker, and content expert in delivery systems models of care, population health and digital care. As the former Chief Population Health Officer at Essentia Health, an integrated delivery system with 14 hospitals, 1,500 provider health system spanning the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. She designed, built, and operationalized Essentia’s $2.5 billion dollar transition from a primarily fee-for-service model of care to one that focused on value, the patient and risk-based contracting with payers. The results led to forty- five percent of the system’s fee-for-service revenue tied to financial and clinical performance which produced record earnings on shared savings. Welle-Powell built a high-performance team of 150 hundred associates responsible for aligning the Health System’s clinical and economic transformations to support Essentia’s vision to become the leading health system for patients in the Midwest. This included developing care management programs and clinically redesigning care to ensure that high-value care is delivered across the Health System’s service area. Her direct reports covered the areas of telehealth, payer contracting and strategy, care management, remote patient monitoring, hospital at home, community health and wellness, and community benefit. Her twenty-five years of exceptional and national executive healthcare experience and background in multi-state, large integrated delivery systems, coupled with industry involvement and insights into emerging opportunities, trends, and challenges have been valuable to health systems and purchasers seeking to grow, diversity and promote its expertise in the development and implementation of data-driven strategies and solutions in population health and value-based care. Debbie is extremely active in the community and currently serves on many national and local boards including the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations, National Committee on Quality Assurance, International Women’s Forum, Summit Community Care Clinic in Frisco, Colorado, International Women’s Forum, and adjunct professor at Univ of CO Executive MBA program. Her work has earned her many honors including being recognized as 1 of 58 Top Leaders in Population Health by Becker’s in 2022, Women of Distinction from Girl Scouts Colorado, Colorado’s Most Powerful and Influential Women Award, Outstanding Businesswoman Award from the Denver community, the Frances Wisebart Jacobs Award for Philanthropy from Mile High United Way, Health Care Champion award from Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, and Inspiring Leadership award from CampExperience.

Keegan Wicks

National Advocacy and Outreach Manager, Faces & Voices of Recovery

Keegan Wicks

National Advocacy and Outreach Manager, Faces & Voices of Recovery

Since 2013 Keegan has actively worked in the recovery field through roles in advocacy, counseling, and management. A person in long-term recovery since December 2009, Keegan has first-hand experience living and maintaining an active, healthy, substance-free lifestyle. Keegan’s personal commitment to helping show others a path to a brighter future began with his own program of recovery, embraced by a highly supportive family system, several years before his professional involvement in the field. Through his career he has served in a wide variety of programs and activities on local, state and national levels. Highlights include active leadership and contribution on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office/Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Workforce Development Steering Committee, and the Recovery and Resiliency Steering Committee led by the Pennsylvania Recovery Organizations Alliance and the Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers’ Association. He has also been trained in Community Reinforcement and Family Training by the clinical research leadership at the Center for Motivation and Change. Keegan has been privileged to serve as a speaker at several Pennsylvania universities and on local special interest panels, including forums for faith-based leaders, public school district parent education, and an audience Q/A response to a showing of the critically acclaimed documentary film, The Anonymous People. He was featured as a spokesperson in a Pennsylvania National Guard documentary on addiction and recovery; a guest at a U.S. Senate roundtable discussion on heroin and opioids in Washington, D.C. alongside the former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; and recently an honoree, along with his mother, Lauryn at the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids’ annual NYC Gala during an interview of them both, conducted by Elizabeth Vargas. He has advocated on behalf of recovery to policymakers at the state level as well as at the federal level on Capitol Hill. In 2017, Keegan was credentialed as a Pennsylvania Certified Recovery Specialist.

Cheryl Young

Intellectual Property & Tech Transfer Specialist, Cooper Innovation Center, Cooper University Health Care

Cheryl Young

Intellectual Property & Tech Transfer Specialist, Cooper Innovation Center, Cooper University Health Care

Cheryl Young serves as the Intellectual Property and Tech Transfer Specialist for the Cooper Innovation Center. She brings 20+ years of healthcare experience working previously at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and most recently as Director of Marketing Operations at Virtua Health. Cheryl brings her expertise in marketing, advertising, and event management to the Cooper Innovation team. She received her Bachelors in Communications from Southern New Hampshire University.