2022 Health Care Conference

William Barcellona serves as the executive vice president of government affairs for America’s Physician Groups, a national professional association of over 300 medical groups and independent practice associations across the United States. Physician group members share a common goal to provide accountable, value-based health care services.

Barcellona develops and advocates state and federal policy for the organization, manages litigation and appellate cases, and manages legislative and regulatory issues. He’s been with the association since 2005.

Barcellona is a former deputy director for plan-provider relations at the Department of Managed Health Care in Sacramento. He oversaw health plan operational issues and handled policy matters for the DMHC.

Barcellona has also practiced law since 1985 in California and, prior to his service at the DMHC, spent 16 years at two major law firms in Newport Beach and Sacramento, primarily as a civil litigator. He was first rated AV, the highest ranking for an attorney for legal expertise and ethical practice, while a partner at Greve, Clifford, Wengel and Paras, LLP in 2000.

Barcellona’s current legal experience includes general health law matters with an emphasis in Knox Keene Act and managed care issues. He enjoys teaching and lecturing across the country on health care management, operations, and policy matters, and has served as an adjunct faculty member at the USC Price School since 2006, teaching health administration policy and management courses in the MHA, MPA, and MMM programs.

Barcellona serves on the University of Southern California (USC) Price School Health Advisory Board and has taught graduate courses in the program since 2006 as an adjunct associate professor. He was previously awarded the 2009 Alumnus of the Year award by the USC Health Services Administration Alumni Association. He currently serves on stakeholder advisory groups concerning Medicaid coverage expansion and managed care services under the Department of Health Care Services. He also served in the newly created California Provider Directory Collaborative.

Barcellona has been active in the community, serving as a planning commissioner and redevelopment agency commissioner for the City of Folsom; chairing bond measure campaigns to build new schools; serving as an officer of the Folsom Economic Development Corporation; and a director of the Folsom Chamber of Commerce.

Kevin Cable is co-founder and managing director of Cascadia Capital. He founded the firm’s efforts in health care and digital health, drawing from a deep history in software, analytics, big data, and consumer applications. He’s also responsible for cultivating strategic relationships for the firm.

Cable focuses on a broad spectrum of transactions that include private equity placements, M&A mandates, recapitalizations, and buyouts. Having built a career split between operating companies and investment banking, he brings a grounded and balanced perspective to help companies achieve their transaction goals.

Prior to cofounding Cascadia, Cable served 14 years on the executive teams of several technology companies, including Numera Software, which he cofounded and led as CEO. Cable currently serves on the board of directors for the Washington Research Foundation and formerly served as a director of the Washington Software Alliance, the Washington State Technology Alliance, the Alliance of Angels, Innovate Washington Foundation, and several private technology companies.

Michael Chernew, PhD, is a professor of health care policy and the director of the health care markets and regulation lab in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.

Chernew’s research examines several areas related to improving the health care system, including studies of novel benefit designs, Medicare Advantage, alternative payment models, low-value care, and the causes and consequences of rising health care spending.

Chernew serves as the chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), while previously serving as the vice chair from 2012–2014 and a member from 2008–2012. In 2000, 2004, and 2010, he served on technical advisory panels for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that reviewed the assumptions used by Medicare actuaries to assess the financial status of Medicare trust funds.

Chernew is a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisors and vice chair of the Massachusetts Health Connector Board. He’s also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a senior visiting fellow at MITRE. Additionally, Chernew is a co-editor of the American Journal of Managed Care.

Andrew Clark is a managing partner at Leavitt Equity Partners and has been with the fund since its inception. Clark leads the diligence teams for all deal activity and transaction closings, totaling 30+ successful closings and over 200+ due diligence processes.

Additionally, he has managed most of the internal back-office operations for LEP, serves on the compliance committee, manages limited partner relationships, works closely with key partner funds and portfolio investments, and serves as a board member or observer on several Fund I and Fund II companies.

Clark originally joined LEP in 2010, and worked directly with private equity clients to evaluate investment opportunities, identify new market segments, and make investment decisions in health care markets.

Prior to joining LEP, Clark spent over three years as a case manager consultant for Investor Group Services in Boston, Massachusetts. There, he provided M&A and transaction advisory solutions to private equity funds and their portfolio companies, including financial and economic modeling, market sizing and segmentation, and company performance.

Clark advised private equity and corporate M&A clients on over 50 transactions during this period, including several health care deals. Before his time at Investor Group Services, Clark was a financial analyst at Zions Bancorporation, working directly under the CEO to provide analytical support to several areas of the bank. Clark also spent time in Santiago, Chile working with a boutique investment bank, ASSET Chile.

Jeff Conklin, MPH, FACHE, SVP, is the chief payor strategy officer for Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) health. He is responsible for payor strategy, managed care contracting, and leading the Office of Health Services, which provides administrative services to value-based networks, including OHSU Health IDS, the system’s Medicaid entity under contract to Health Share of Oregon, and Tuality Health Plan Services, a clinically integrated network.

Conklin’s responsible for setting and implementing strategies to align with payors and employers by building and operating networks and managed care arrangements in support of the quadruple aim.

Before joining OHSU in 2019, Conklin served as senior vice president and payor and network strategies executive at Adventist Health for more than 10 years. He’s a health care executive with extensive experience in senior leadership roles for health systems, hospitals, physician groups, and management services organizations.

Brian Conner has practiced public accounting since 1993, providing audit, tax, and consulting services to integrated health systems, hospitals, ancillary providers, mental and convalescent health facilities, and medical groups. Brian has extensive experience providing advice and counsel in areas of audits, financial reporting, and tax-exempt financings. He performs technical reviews for health care clients and has served as an instructor and lecturer for the firm’s Health Care Group.

Conner holds several leadership roles as partner-in-charge of the firm’s Sacramento and Stockton offices, co-leader of the health care consulting group, and a member of the health care industry group’s leadership team. Previously, Conner served as the national practice leader for the Moss Adams Hospital Practice for over a decade.

Conner is the former chair of the Health Care Financial Management’s (HFMA) Principles and Practice Board and is a current member of the AICPA’s Health Care Entities Expert Panel and the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB’s) Not-for-Profit Advisory Council.

Conner also has the privilege of serving as the emcee of the annual health care executive conference for Moss Adams.

Shawn Coughlin is the president and CEO at the National Association for Behavioral Health. He serves as the association’s principal lobbyist, oversees the association’s advocacy work on Capitol Hill, and helps to set and implement strategic policy goals that support high-quality, evidence-based behavioral health care for Americans who live with mental and substance use disorders.

Coughlin brings more than 30 years of advocacy experience to his role. Prior to joining NABH, Coughlin served as advocacy consultant to the association on behavioral health policy during his almost 16 years with Capitol Health Group as principal and chief operating officer. He is a leading health care advocate and policy expert who works with diverse external stakeholder organizations, including patient and provider groups, regulators, public and private payors, and trade associations. He has extensive experience in Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance policy, as well as a broad experience with many sectors of the health care industry.

Andy Davidson is a managing director with Gallagher Executive Search and Leadership Advisors. He brings 30 years of experience working with leaders from associations, community hospitals, health systems, physician practices, payers, and health care technology companies.

Davidson focuses his search on leadership and governance consulting at the board and executive level. He built his nationwide network of health care leaders and trustees on a foundation of mutual trust and respect. Prior to joining Gallagher, Davidson founded Hummingbird Hill Advisors, where he consulted on business and governance issues with hospitals and not-for-profit organizations.

From 2005–2019, Davidson served as president and CEO of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, where he led numerous health care initiatives with a focus on quality, patient safety, and value.

Davidson was a founding board member of the Oregon Health Leadership Council, a collaborative of health systems, health plans, and several large physician groups focused on improving efficiency and reducing costs. He served on the board of the Health Forum, the for-profit subsidiary of the American Hospital Association. Additionally, he was a founding board member of the Oregon Health Network, a collaborative health care technology effort that created a dedicated broad-band network, connecting all Oregon hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, public health departments, and community colleges.

Davidson is also a long-time board member of Central City Concern, a Portland-based not-for-profit that owns and operates a federally qualified health center along with thousands of supportive housing units and offers health care services and job training.

Toni Dolby is a managing director and senior advisor with the Compensation and Rewards service line of Gallagher’s Human Resources & Compensation Consulting Practice. She’s one of few people who contributed to the firm’s rise to leadership in the compensation consulting field, almost from the beginning.

During her 25-plus years with the firm, Dolby has served as a senior account executive and a vice president for client services. She became a principal in the firm in 1995 and a partner the following year.

Dolby was named a Top Consultant for 2022 by Consulting magazine in the Client Service category. Her pioneering work in the health care industry, designing compensation philosophies and strategies, developing annual and long-term incentive plans, and supplemental retirement plans, has broadened boards' views that rewarding talent and leadership is about more than pay.

Dolby has designed compensation, benefit, and retention plans for a wide variety of health system organizations, ranging in size from the local community hospital to some of the largest health care systems in the nation. Dolby has been instrumental in facilitating the coordination of compensation plans for various clients following a merger or reorganization. She has led hundreds of client assignments in designing compensation philosophies and strategies and developing annual and long-term incentive plans and supplemental retirement plans.

Thomas Graf, MD, FAAFP, is the CEO and chief clinical and quality officer for Renown Health. He is a physician executive with leadership experience from leading health care and insurance organizations, as well as a national consulting firm.

A family medicine physician, researcher, and academic, Graf focuses on driving quality improvement to lower the total cost of care. He developed and published works on care models that have delivered measurably better results for quality, cost, and experience in a variety of venues.

Graf has practiced in an integrated delivery system, with over a decade at Geisinger, as well as clinically integrated networks and accountable care organizations. He also has worked with several academic medical centers through his consulting work with The Chartis Group.

Graf comes to Renown from Ascension in St. Louis, MO, where he served as senior vice president, chief population health, and value based care officer. He has extensive experience in population health, having been involved in clinical re-engineering and payment model evolution since 2005 with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Physician Group Practice Demonstration project as well as Geisinger’s Proven Care® and ProvenHealth Navigator® programs.

Mark Hamelburg is the senior vice president, federal programs for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). Hamelburg has more than 30 years of private sector and government experience, including service as a senior official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and time at the Department of Treasury.

Hamelburg currently leads AHIP’s policy development and regulatory agenda for all the industry’s federal program participation. This includes popular programs such as Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and Medicaid. At CMS, Hamelburg served as the director of the Medicare Part C—Medicare Advantage—and Part D Analysis Group in the Office of Legislation. Before that, he was the director of the Employer Policy and Operations Group at CMS.

Hamelburg also served as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Benefits Tax Counsel at the Treasury Department. In addition to his work in public service, he has more than 15 years of experience in the private sector at law and consulting firms, where he worked with a range of stakeholders on issues related to the delivery and payment of health care.

Diane Hansen, CPA serves as president and CEO of Palomar Health. With almost 20 years of experience in the health care industry, Hansen has held positions in the for-profit, not-for-profit, and governmental acute care hospitals in academic and community medical centers.

Hansen brings deep knowledge in strategic financial planning and management, capital formation, and high-performing revenue cycle teams to Palomar Health. Under her executive leadership of the largest hospital district in California, Palomar Medical Center Escondido—Palomar Health’s anchor hospital—earned the titles of “Best Regional Hospital” by US News & World Report, “World's Best Hospitals” by Newsweek and “America's 250 Best Hospitals” by Healthgrades.

Hansen serves on the executive committee and board for the California Hospital Association, as well as treasurer for the Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties. She most recently joined the Conference Board’s Committee for Economic Development (CED). Hansen also serves on the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCO) Advisory Committee. LAFCOs were established in 1963 and are political subdivisions of the State of California responsible for providing regional growth management services in all 58 counties.

At Palomar Health, Hansen received the title of CEO of the Year in 2021 by The Association of California Healthcare Districts for her leadership and efforts in positively benefiting the district and community. The San Diego Business Journal also named her Women Leader of the Year for her dynamic contribution to the San Diego workplace. Most recently, Hansen was named one of Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Women Leaders for 2022. Hansen is a licensed CPA and graduate of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with a bachelor of science in accounting.

Hansen experienced firsthand the toll health concerns take within the family—her father had significant cardiac issues and she was in a traumatic car accident with her son that almost took his life. The unseen benefit of these challenging times is that she developed a deep compassion and empathy for people. As CEO of Palomar Health, she feels grateful for the opportunity to make others’ experience in health care as comforting as possible.

Stacey Hrountas is CEO of Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Centers. Hrountas leads a team of more than 3,000 employees dedicated to supporting 700 primary and specialty care physicians and advanced practice providers.

Hrountas has over 30 years of experience in the health care industry. She joined Sharp HealthCare in 1994 and has held several system-wide leadership positions including vice president of managed care contracting and vice president of finance for health care and its affiliated medical groups.

Prior to joining Sharp HealthCare, Hrountas worked with Aetna Health Plans of San Diego, Mercy Physicians Medical Group, MetLife HealthCare Network, Travelers Health Network, and Community Care Network. She currently serves on the Integrated Healthcare Association and America’s Physician Groups boards.

In 2015, Hrountas was named Business Leader of the Year by the North San Diego Business Chamber, and in 2020, she was named to the San Diego Business Journal’s SD 500 list of innovative leaders.

Michael Hunn is the CEO of CalOptima Health. He oversees its mission as the county organized health system for Orange County, California, serving more than 900,000 members, with a network of more than 10,000 providers. He works with the board of directors, board committees, members, and key community stakeholders to set and implement the mission, vision, and strategic priorities for the agency.

In addition, Hunn engages with the Orange County Health Care Agency, Orange County Social Services Agency, Orange County Board of Supervisors, state and federal elected officials, as well as state and federal regulators to administer the Medicaid CalAIM and Medicare programs through CalOptima Health.

Hunn has more than 30 years of executive leadership experience in president or CEO roles for large hospitals and health systems in Southern California.

Paul Keckley, PhD, is the managing editor of The Keckley Report and the managing partner of The Keckley Group, which provides advisory services to health systems, health insurers, medical groups, and health care investors.

Keckley is an industry thought leader regarding health care industry trends, regulatory policy, and emergent growth opportunities. In 2010, he facilitated negotiations between the White House and leading health care trade organizations pursuant to the passage of the Affordable Care Act and is considered an expert on US health policies specific to delivery and financing.

Keckley writes the Keckley Report, a weekly analysis of key industry trends, and is a columnist for Healthcare Financial News and Healthcare Executive. He’s also a frequent speaker for industry events and a contributor to CNN, Modern Healthcare, Politico, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal media coverage about industry issues.

Keckley served as a principal investigator for studies of consumer behavior in health care for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and has published three books and numerous peer-reviewed monographs.

Keckley currently serves as an independent director of many organizations, including Q Source Memphis, TN; Sullivan Cotter, Chicago IL; CareNova, Charlotte NC, and Advent Health, Asheville, NC.

Previously, he served as an executive director for many organizations, including the Navigant Center for Health Research and Policy Analysis, Washington DC; the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, Washington DC, and the Vanderbilt Center for Evidence-based Medicine, Nashville TN.

David Kim is a partner in Moss Adams Health Care Consulting Practice and has been in the health care industry since 1992. He provides strategy and operational consulting services to health care providers and payers. Kim leads performance improvement initiatives for clients based on a data-driven approach, helping them increase productivity and lower costs through analytics and benchmarking.

In addition to performance improvement, Kim specializes in financial turnarounds, post-merger integration, productivity systems development, and process redesign and implementation. Prior to joining Moss Adams, he held senior positions in national health care consulting firms and large integrated health systems.

Eric Klein, Esq., is the team leader of Sheppard Mullin’s 200+ attorney national Health Care Practice, which was recently named Law360’s Health Law Practice Group of the year for the third time in seven years.

Klein has over 35 years of practical legal and business experience, and his multisector practice focuses on health care transactions and regulation and current industry trends of population health management, global risk-bearing entities, consolidation, convergence, payor and provider alignment, the transformation to value and risk-based reimbursement systems, and private equity.

Known in the business community for his creative solutions and deal-making ability, Klein uses deep industry knowledge, entrepreneurial solutions, sophisticated negotiation skills, and effective legal process to meet the complex business and legal needs of both established and emerging companies.

Klein represents physician groups, hospitals, health plans, ancillary service providers, and private equity and strategic investors. He works with publicly traded and privately held companies across the country and advises both for-profit and not-for-profit clients on mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and joint ventures, operational and contracting matters, strategic planning, HMO licensing and compliance, regulatory matters and information technology transactions. Klein was listed as a 2021 BTI M&A Client Service All-Star, named The Deal’s Healthcare, Pharma & Biotech Dealmaker of the Year in 2020, and twice named Healthcare Law National MVP by Law360.

Richard Kronick is a professor at and has been on the faculty of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California, San Diego since 1988. His research focuses on understanding how health care financing interventions can improve access, quality, efficiency, and equity in health care.

From 2010 to 2016, Kronick served in the Obama Administration: as deputy assistant secretary for health policy in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) from 2010 to 2013, primarily working on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and as the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality from 2013-2016. Kronick was a senior health policy adviser in the Clinton Administration in 1993-1994. Kronick received a PhD in political science from the University of Rochester and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2014.

Rob Lenio is a managing principal with the Physician Compensation and Valuation service line of Gallagher’s Human Resources & Compensation Consulting Practice. He has experience working in the health care industry, including physician practice management and general business development.

In his previous role, Lenio oversaw multi-specialty ambulatory clinics for a large, integrated health care system, where he focused on operational performance, EMR implementation, process improvement, labor management, and enhancement of patient, physician, and staff satisfaction.

Lenio is dedicated to helping clients ensure their practice is operating at maximum efficiency while their existing compensation programs are market competitive. His client base is national in scope and includes large, multi-specialty clinics, integrated health care systems, stand-alone hospitals, prestigious academic medical centers, and childrens’ hospitals.

David M. Levine, MD, MPH, MA, is an internationally renowned expert in designing and implementing advanced home-based care, using digital health technology to drive health outcomes, and evaluating the quality, safety, and experience of health care. He is a practicing general internist and clinician-investigator at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he founded and co-directs Brigham’s home hospital program and co-directs the general internal medicine fellowship.

He co-founded and co-chairs the Hospital at Home Users Group, a collaborative of home hospital programs throughout the United States and Canada. He is core faculty at Ariadne Labs, a center for health systems innovation at the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham, where he studies rural home hospital and scaling home hospital. To optimize quality time at home, shift care home, and decentralize care, his team examines and implements novel treatment pathways at home; machine learning and robotics approaches to care at home; and the equity, quality, and experience of these models at home. Dr. Levine’s vision is for all patients to achieve the right care at the right time in the right place by designing, implementing, and evaluating innovative interaction spaces among the care team, technology, caregiver, and patient.

Dr. Levine received his undergraduate degree from Pomona College in biology and politics. He earned his master of arts in teaching in special and secondary science education and served as a high school chemistry teacher and science department chair in Chicago Public Schools. He received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and completed his residency at New York University and Bellevue Hospital in internal medicine – primary care. He completed a general internal medicine fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and received his masters of public health at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Eric Lucas is a managing director for Moss Adams Provider Reimbursement Health Care Consulting Services and has worked in the health care finance industry since 1996. He serves health care organizations with government reimbursement matters.

Lucas’s areas of expertise include regulatory compliance, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, accounts receivable valuation and analysis, government financial reporting, and revenue cycle management.

Lucas has participated in multiple industry payment workgroups, has significant experience with advocacy groups related to major reimbursement matters, has represented hospitals in media discussions, and was a pioneer member in the California Medi-Cal Provider Fee development team and continues to maintain a role in its success.

Before joining Moss Adams, Lucas spent more than 20 years on the provider side, and most recently, was the system vice president of reimbursement and government programs at CommonSpirit Health, a 142-hospital health system with sites in over 16 states.

During his tenure, he built a centralized reimbursement department and standardized processes, managed government reimbursement and revenue analysis activities, collaborated with internal and external leaders to participate in various reimbursement program opportunities, and was a key member in the development and implementation of government payment methodologies and programs.

Chad Nelson, MD, is the Chair for the Division of Hospital Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. His division includes 50 physician hospitalists and 22 advanced practice providers. He was instrumental in leading his division’s preparation and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Nelson is the site medical director for the Mayo Clinic Advanced Care at Home – Arizona program. In this role, he participated in the planning, implementation, and now day-to-day medical oversight of the Mayo Clinic Advanced Care at Home – Arizona program.

Dr. Nelson graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in Russian. He graduated from medical school at St. Louis University and completed his training at Mayo Clinic Arizona where he finished his Internal Medicine Residency in 2013. Following residency, Dr. Nelson joined Mayo Clinic as a member of the staff at Mayo Clinic Arizona in the division of Hospital Internal Medicine.

President and CEO of Marshall Medical Center, Nelson began her health care administration career in accounting and finance. Before coming to Marshall, Nelson previously served as CEO at South Meadows Medical Center in Reno, Nevada.

Nelson’s previous roles include CFO and Interim CEO at Sutter Amador Hospital in Jackson and Chief Administrative Officer at Sutter Lakeside in Lakeport, California. She currently chairs the American Hospital Association’s section for small and rural hospitals.

Susan O'Hare is an area president for Gallagher's HR & Compensation Consulting Practice and leads the Executive Search & Leadership Advisors team. Susan brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in the health care industry. Her robust insights and knowledge of the inner workings of health care organizations has made her a recognized expert in the industry. For many years, O’Hare has focused on national networking and building trusted client relationships through service delivery and insightful consulting. 

O’Hare focuses her search and leadership consulting at the board and executive level on matters related to leadership search and providing strategic direction on issues relating to organizational structure. O’Hare is known as a trusted advisor with a vested interest in cultivating relationships through her accessibility, timeliness, and client-centric approach.

Prior to joining the consulting profession, O’Hare held health care executive leadership positions for more than a decade, including the role of senior vice president of specialty hospitals at Erlanger HealthSystem, where she oversaw strategic direction, program development, and operations for revenues of more than $350 million and 1,200 full-time employees. During that time, she served as CEO of Erlanger Children's Hospital for eight years. Before joining the team at Erlanger Health System, O’Hare had a progressive nursing leadership career in several hospitals and physician offices with clinical expertise in pediatric hematology and oncology.

Marnee Pierson Iseman is a partner in Moss Adams Lean Health Care Practice. She has more than 17 years of experience practicing lean health care and brings first-hand expertise on the application of the Toyota Management System to health care organizations.

She serves a range of health care clients, from those with ambulatory services to large integrated systems, guiding them on leadership development, kaizen, innovation, and access services. She has received several health care awards and has presented to the health care community nationwide on topics including lean and the Toyota Production System as it applies to ambulatory care, process improvement, patient access, supply and demand, and quality.

Her experience gives her a first-hand perspective of the challenges in transforming health care. She has managed the strategic planning, operations, and financial performance of multiple suburban satellites offering primary, specialty, ancillary, and ambulatory surgery services; department of medicine; department of pediatrics; and ambulatory surgery centers. She understands present day health care challenges, including the obstacles providers face in implementing successful electronic health records (EHR) programs. She provided leadership and direction for the accelerated development of EHR with Providence and its ambulatory partners. She has led employed-physician practices across a five-state system including more than 3,100 physicians and advanced practice clinicians.

She was previously on the faculty of the Institute for Health Care Improvement and held roles as chief of community outreach and business development, chief operating officer, and ambulatory vice president for regional medical centers. She served as a principal at Rona Consulting Group (RCG) until it combined with Moss Adams in 2017. RCG’s founders were early adopters of the Toyota Management System in the health care setting.

Chris Pritchard, CPA, MHA, is a partner national practice leader in Moss Adams Health Care Practice. He has practiced public accounting since 1991, serving integrated health systems, federally qualified health centers, managed care organizations, ambulatory surgery centers, Knox-Keene licensed health plans, rural and regionally integrated hospitals, rural and community-based primary care facilities, outpatient care facilities, outpatient surgery centers, large medical groups, independent physician associations, and third-party payers.

In addition to his experience auditing and supervising audit engagements of health care entities, Pritchard manages consulting engagements, including internal audits. He assists organizations with strategic management decision engagements, cash flow projections, budgeting projects, and other operational engagements.

Pritchard was an active member of the AICPA’s national Health Care Expert Panel, where he provided technical guidance on various publications. He’s published national articles and speaks frequently on health care financial reporting and other current topics.

Sarat Raman, MD, serves as the medical director for Vera Whole Health, a national advanced primary care system. He joined Vera Whole Health as a full-time family medicine physician in 2014, before stepping into his administrative role in 2015. Raman oversees the care centers of the Pacific Region, supporting his teams as they achieve quality outcomes, reduce health care costs, and ensure an enlivening patient experience.

Prior to Vera Whole Health, Raman practiced family medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. He worked with several systems, including the Veterans Administration hospital, a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) organization, and multiple community health centers.

Raman helped develop and certify multiple community health centers as Patient-Centered Medical Homes in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina devastation. He also served as the associate clerkship director for medical students in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Tulane University.

Karl Rebay is a partner and leads Moss Adams Strategy & Integration Health Care Consulting Services. He has over 25 years of experience in the health care industry. He provides high-impact health care advisory services to help the firm’s industry clients navigate and succeed in the rapidly evolving national health care landscape. His clients include health systems, hospitals, health plans, long-term care organizations, and independent physician associations, among others.

Rebay is primarily responsible for the development and delivery of a broad range of strategy services in the areas of growth, planning, financial performance, provider operations, and achieving maximum effectiveness and efficiency in health care environments. His specific expertise includes full-spectrum financial and operational consulting, market strategy and intelligence, project and strategy feasibility, capitation and value models, negotiation and analysis of managed care contracts, and physician compensation consulting.

Prior to joining Moss Adams in 2011, Rebay held senior leadership positions within the health care industry—including serving as the chief financial officer of one of the largest associations of physicians in private practice and serving as the director of finance for a publicly traded health system. Rebay has also served as senior administrative director of a large academic medical center.

Rebay is a frequent speaker at health care industry conferences and provides and facilitates regular training, both within the firm and to clients.

Eleace Sawyers, ABD, MAcc, MPA, CHC, is an accomplished health care executive with over 20 years of experience in the health care industry. Sawyers currently serves as chief executive officer for Community Health Partnership of Illinois. In her role, she oversees an interdisciplinary staff, providing primary preventative healthcare from six health centers from more than seven counties in Illinois.

Sawyers is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Association of Community Health Centers 2022 Outstanding Migrant Health Public Service award, Nonprofit HR 2022 Social Impact Woman to Watch award, 2017 Who’s Who in Black Cleveland Game Changer award, the Diaspora Arts Coalition 2016 Community Development Leadership and Supporter award, the 2014 Florida Association of Community Health Centers Partnership award, and the 2012 South Florida’s 100 Most Accomplished Caribbean American award.  

Sawyers serves on many community and professional boards, and is a certified member of the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) and a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).

Tamara Schaffert serves as PSW’s chief strategy officer and is responsible for organizational strategy, business and product development, partnership growth, and strategic expansion. Schaffert joined PSW in 2012, and most recently served as the chief operating officer.

Under her stewardship, PSW introduced its Advisory & Management line of business. The result of this work spearheaded the national expansion of PSW’s population health services.

Schaffert’s 25 years of leadership experience has showcased her success in driving desired organizational change across multiple sectors including health care, not-for-profits, corporate communications, and public service.

Active in her community, Schaffert has served on multiple boards with a focus on seniors and education.

Anil Shankar, Esq., is a partner and health care lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP, and a member of the Health Care Practice. He provides strategic counsel to health care providers as they navigate complex regulatory and reimbursement matters, with a particular focus on the Medicaid program and issues affecting safety net providers.

Shankar advises hospitals, clinics, health systems, managed care plans, and governmental entities on their participation in Medicaid programs. He has helped develop innovative new programs, including Medicaid supplemental payments, quality networks, state and local provider taxes or assessments, and public-private partnerships.

Shankar is a leading expert in the use of health care funding to address the social determinants of health and helped design and implement California’s Whole Person Care pilots, which operate innovative programs for vulnerable populations.

Shankar advises clients on numerous Medicaid reimbursement and compliance issues, including overpayment investigations and analyses. He has also assisted numerous companies seeking to enter the Medicaid program. Shankar has deep knowledge of Medicaid managed care and has helped plans and providers evaluate regulatory changes and structure alternative payment methodologies to meet their goals. He also heads the firm’s robust 340B Drug Pricing Program Practice.

Shankar has extensive experience advising clients on behavioral health reimbursement, operational, and compliance issues. He counseled hospital and health systems seeking to expand their behavioral health offerings, including strategic counseling to avoid licensing, regulatory, and reimbursement pitfalls. In addition, he helped design systems to protect and share confidential patient information, including behavioral health information.

Shankar has successfully obtained millions of dollars of funding for providers and mental health delivery systems through administrative appeals. He works with local behavioral health directors, providers, and managed delivery systems on issues related to funding, reimbursement, program development, and strategic implementation.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Shankar advised hospitals, health systems, governmental entities, nursing facilities, and other health care companies with regards to their application, receipt, and use of federal relief funds, including the Provider Relief Fund and Coronavirus Relief Fund. He has advised on the development of tracking and documentation systems, counseled providers on over- and underpayments of funds, and drafted policies and procedures for use and reporting of funds.

Betsy Suydam, CPA, CGMA, has worked in health care for over 20 years in a variety of roles in public and private health care as well as public accounting. She has experience with a range of health care entities including multispecialty providers, hospitals, public hospital districts, mental health providers, long-term care facilities, physician networks, health plans, captives, and more and possess deep knowledge in finance leadership and strategy.

Suydam is the chief financial officer of Vancouver Clinic, a large private multispecialty physician clinic serving southwest Washington. Her priorities include building strong resilient teams and infusing fun while delivering on aggressive strategic initiatives.

She believes it’s a privilege to work alongside doctors, clinicians, and staff whose purpose is to serve others. Her goal is to be a valuable partner to clinical and nonclinical teammates, providing the information necessary to make informed decisions and positively impact the patient experience.

Before joining Vancouver Clinic, Suydam was vice president of accounting and finance for The Everett Clinic and Northwest Physicians Network, part of Optum. During her tenure, she led several transformative efforts to strengthen the organizations including mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures.

Suydam has served in various volunteer roles and is currently a committee member for Compass Health, a leading behavioral health care provider.

Stacy Stelzriede is a partner and national practice leader for Moss Adams Hospital Practice. She has worked in the health care industry since 1990. She provides audit and consulting services to not-for-profit and for-profit health care organizations, including hospitals, long-term care organizations, medical groups, and health plans with revenues ranging from $20 million to over $1 billion.

Stelzriede has vast experience in internal control risk management, revenue cycle, regulatory compliance, tax-exempt bond offerings and debt covenant filings, and providing client education training related to technical accounting issues and board governance.

Additionally, Stelzriede is experienced in conducting audits in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

Michael Stroup is the chief development officer for Geode Health, an outpatient mental health services provider. He’s an accomplished health care executive who’s passionate about partnering with physicians and caregivers to offer high-quality, cost-effective care to patients, and exciting growth opportunities to providers. Stroup has over 20 years of health care experience, including 12 years building successful development teams and driving growth for private equity-backed companies.

Prior to Geode, Stroup served as the chief growth officer of Southern Veterinary Partners, continuing the company’s rapid rise with Shore Capital to becoming the sixth largest owner of veterinary hospitals with $90+ million in EBITDA.

Prior to Southern Veterinary Partners, Stroup spent 11 years with United Surgical Partners, partnering with leading health systems and surgeons to buy and build short stay surgical facilities. As head of strategy and senior vice president of development, Stroup helped grow company EBITDA to over $1 billion as a private company backed by Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe, and then as a subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare.

Michael also spent nine years as an investment banker with RBC Capital Markets and JPMorgan, as well as several years as a health care strategy consultant with Mercer and A. Foster Higgins.

Lawrence W. Vernaglia is a partner and health care lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. He’s the department chair for the firm’s Industry Teams Department, responsible for overall strategy and leadership across all industry teams.

Prior to that, Vernaglia served for eight years as chair of the firm’s Health Care Industry Team. He represents hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, and a variety of other health care providers.

Vernaglia's practice involves regulatory and transactional matters, including Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement compliance advice and appeals; M&A financing; state regulatory issues including licensing, change of ownership, and CoN/DoN; survey appeals; fraud and abuse Stark Law analyses; managed care contracting; and general corporate and business planning in health care.

Vernaglia serves as outside policy counsel for the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association. He runs strategic planning programs for senior management and governing boards.

Ryan Witz is the group vice president of policy at the California Hospital Association (CHA). Witz represents CHA members’ financial interests related to Medicare, Medi-Cal, commercial payers, and other government entities.

Witz provides support on financial and reimbursement issues affecting California hospitals and health systems and represents CHA with stakeholders where hospital finance and technical knowledge is needed. He’s also involved with the development and implementation of the hospital fee and other financing programs.

George Woods, MD, is chief scientific officer at Crestwood Behavioral Health. He is a physician licensed to practice in California, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, Washington State, and Wyoming, with offices in Oakland, California. His clinical subspecialties are neuropsychiatry and consultation liaison psychiatry, the study of psychiatric manifestations of medical diseases and the assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Dr. Woods taught clinical aspects of forensic psychiatry and introduction to geriatric psychiatry at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia from 2002 through 2016. He has been a lecturer at Berkeley Law – University of California, teaching Mental Health and the Law for nine years.

Dr. Woods was appointed chief scientific officer from Crestwood Behavioral Health Care in 2021, the first in the company's history, after consulting with the company for two years. Crestwood is the largest provider of behavioral health congregate care in California, with 7,000 clients and 3,000 staff members.

Additionally, in 2021, Dr. Woods was appointed to the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) and the Morehouse School of Medicine’s (MSM) SAMHSA Center of Excellence (CoE), focused on African American behavioral health (AABH) disparities.

Dr. Woods was appointed medical expert for the San Francisco District Attorney Post Conviction Unit's Innocence Commission in September 2020. In 2019, Dr. Woods was appointed to the governing board of the Stanford University Medicare Shared Services Program (MSSP) University Health Alliance Accountable Care Organization, LLC. Additionally, Dr. Woods is the recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Utah Medical Center, the first psychiatrist ever selected.

He is currently president of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health. From 2017 through 2019, he served as secretary general to the International Academy of Law and Mental Health during its amalgamation with the Institute of Ethics, Medicine, and Public Health at Sorbonne University, Paris, France.

Dr. Woods has worked with several companies including Vulcan Industries, Microsoft, Forefront Telehealth, and Walmart on psychometrically and culturally competent employment testing procedures. He is neurosciences advisor to BetterManager, a leader in advanced coaching for all management levels. Dr. Woods was also a founding partner in JohnsonWoodsGroup, focused on advising start-up companies and institutions on best neuropsychiatric practices that may be relevant to business.

Dr. Woods serves on the advisory board of Roots Medical Clinic, a multipurpose provider of medical, pediatric, and behavioral services for community and post-incarceration minority populations in Oakland, California.

Patrick Yam is the CEO, Chairman, and Co-Founder of Somnology, Inc.—a premier digital health enterprise focused on providing a comprehensive coordinated health care program for the remediation of sleep disorders. He founded Somnology in early 2015 with Dr. Melissa Lim. The Somnology program encompass evaluation, continuous monitoring, and telehealth consultation of sleep disorders from health care specialist to diagnosis and therapeutic.

Prior to teaming with Dr. Lim, he was the CEO of Sensei Partners LLC, a Menlo Park, California-based private investment firm. His career includes responsibilities as a macroeconomist, financial and technology executive, investment banker, and institutional investor with significant experience in company-building—his main passion. He has been a senior advisor on innovation and entrepreneurship to two sovereign nations.

A professional speaker and published author, he teaches and lectures on entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, where he is an SCU Regent. He was the first dean’s executive professor of entrepreneurship and later a faculty member of the Venture Capital Institute. He’s associated with the University of California, Santa Barbara, where, as a UC Trustee, he was a founding member of the endowment investment committee and a senior director of the Economic Forecast Project. He was a senior adviser to Beacon Economics, a national economic consulting firm.

In 2019, Yam was appointed an advisor to UCSF’s Innovation Catalyst Program focusing on digital health care and medical devices. In April 2020, he was appointed by UCSF Health Hub as a chief business mentor. He has been responsible as a chief executive officer in building and operating enterprises in the investment, financial, technology, and health care industries. He received his MBA with distinction from Santa Clara University.

Laura Zehm is the recently retired senior vice president of Montage Health, where she served as the number two executive for the enterprise leading strategic planning activities, partnerships, mergers, business development, and finance. She served as the chief financial officer for 22 years before being promoted to senior vice president in 2019.

Zehm drove the transition of Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) from a hospital-based organization to an integrated delivery system that includes a population health and insurance company, thereby resulting in the re-naming of the parent organization to Montage Health. She led the development of Aspire Health and served as CEO since its formation in 2012.

Zehm has extensive experience as a strategic planner. In addition to her role as CEO of Montage Health, Zehm led the development of its current five-year strategic plan. She was also a key member of the task force that developed the comprehensive five-year work plan with financial projections for the Ohana program, a new service line for the treatment of child and adolescent behavioral health conditions.

Zehm is committed to building partnerships and sees this as the way to solve many of the problems facing our health care industry. She negotiated the partnership between Montage Health and Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare Systems for the co-ownership of Aspire Health. She also negotiated and managed the accountable care organization (ACO) agreements with two major payers, resulting in aligned incentives. Zehm developed a regional physician plan that resulted in stronger relationships between Montage Health and the medical staff.