2021 Presentations

Dr. Carol Clayton is a licensed, psychologist with 30 years of health care experience in the public and private sector, including non-profit and private practice work. Prior to joining OPEN MINDS as a Senior Consultant, she retired as the Translational Neuroscientist for Relias, where she specialized in health care solutions targeting workforce development and population health outcome improvement. Before joining Relias, Dr. Clayton was the CEO of Care Management Technologies, a health IT data analytics company. She also served as the Executive Director of the NC Council of Community Programs from 2000-2006. The NC Council is the predecessor organization to i2i.

Deputy Secretary, NC Medicaid Division of Health Benefits, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

Richard’s vision for Medicaid is to ensure a sustainable, person-centered and innovative Medicaid program for more than 2 million North Carolinians who use Medicaid. As the programs undergo transformation to even better fit the needs of the state’s residents, he is committed to improving the health and well-being of all residents by working closely with Medicaid stakeholders.

Prior to leading Medicaid, Richard was the Deputy Secretary for DHHS Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Services and the State Operated Healthcare Facilities divisions. He joined DHHS in May 2013 as the Director of the Division of Mental Health, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services.

Richard had previously led The Arc of North Carolina, an advocacy and service organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as its Executive Director for 24 years.

Richard's has a bachelor’s degree in education from Louisiana State University.

Sam Hedrick has been an advocate for people since entering the field of human services forty years ago. She began as an RN at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill. There, she worked in a post-operative unit with people with life-challenging diseases and traumas. Later, she completed her Juris Doctorate at North Carolina Central University, and afterwards, served as an Assistant Public Defender in Durham for six years. In this role, she worked with youth in juvenile detention; people involuntarily committed to psychiatric units; and many other North Carolinians charged with criminal offenses. She observed that many of these individuals had mental illness, intellectual disabilities and/ or substance use disorders. With an eye towards improving people’s quality of life, Sam next became President of RHA Howell, a not-for-profit providing mental health, developmental and intellectual disability, and substance use disorder services to children and adults in communities across North Carolina. Sam served in that role for fifteen years. While there, she received an award from the Triangle Business Journal, as “ Healthcare Hero for 2014.” She also received an award from Disability Rights North Carolina as the 2016 “Champion for Equality and Justice.”
Today, Sam serves as Senior Advisor for the ADA in the Office of the Secretary. She oversees the implementation of a lawsuit brought to NC by US DOJ along with the work that the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ is doing devoted to Olmstead planning.

Peter is the Founder and CEO of Remarkable Health, a Scottsdale based software company for the behavioral health and human services industry. In 2014, Peter created an investment vehicle to pursue the idea of Remarkable Health, and in 2015, led the acquisition of ClaimTrak, an EHR software pioneer for the behavioral health industry. Post-acquisition, the company launched and enhanced CT|One, a fully integrated EHR. Then in 2021, the company launched Bells.ai, the first virtual clinical documentation assistant for the behavioral health and human services industry.

Previously, Peter co-founded Relay Network, the leading mobile consumer engagement platform for the commercial health insurance industry. At Relay, Peter held early roles as CFO and then VP of Product. He managed the product and technology team, released several products, is an inventor on a mobile communication patent, and led $18M in venture financing.

Earlier in his career, Peter worked at Spectrum Equity Investors in Boston, a $4 billion private equity firm focused on investing in technology and healthcare service companies. Before Spectrum, Peter was an analyst in the Leveraged Finance Group of Citigroup and served as an analyst at Graham Partners.

Peter graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, where he played Division 1 lacrosse, started and managed an industrial cleaning company (while attending night school), and co-founded the Villanova Entrepreneurial Society.

Currently, Peter lives in Scottsdale with his wife and three children.

With over 15 years of medical and behavioral health software experience, Jon joined the Remarkable Health team in 2008 to create the Customer Support Team, focused primarily on the daily success of the existing customer base. Since 2017, Jon transitioned over the Growth team as Solutions Engineer, where he is a key resource, utilizing his extensive experience and knowledge of CT|One to help demonstrate product capabilities, guide product enhancements with the Product and Engineering teams, and assist the sales team in project coordination for both new and existing customers. Jon has also rejoined the customer experience side of the operation and elevated the implementation process, and most recently assists with special projects, such as Bells.ai. Jon received his Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Phoenix.

Motivated to refocus services to create and maintain a variable healthcare system for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), Hope Levy has served as the Executive Director of Premier HealthCare, a YAI affiliate, since 2017. Every year, Premier sees more than 9,000 patients, many of whom would otherwise have limited access to medical and dental care. Levy’s efforts to overhaul legacy systems ended years of operating deficits in 2019. Since then, she has instituted numerous innovations as Premier became among the first specialty clinics in the United States to make telemedicine available. Given the increased vulnerability to infection within the I/DD community, Levy’s efforts over the earliest months of the pandemic saved lives. For more than 20 years, Levy has held increasingly senior roles in the I/DD field. Prior to joining Premier, she served as Senior Director of Business Development and Government Relations at YAI. Throughout her career, she has played a crucial role in expanding early intervention, Article 16 services, Article 28 clinics, and has provided technical assistance to more than 150 I/DD nonprofit agencies throughout New York City. In 2021, Crain’s New York Business called Levy one of New York’s “Notables in Health Care”. She earned her Master of Social Work from New York University.

Melissa has been a registered nurse for over 30 years. She is certified in Hospice and PalliativeCare, but her career has spanned many specialties including ICU, cardiac surgery, pediatrics, home health, instruction, behavioral health, and SUD treatment. In every role, Melissa has been involved in quality improvement. She is passionate about deliveringthe highest quality of care to patients during their most difficult days.

As Director of Quality at Vertava Health, Melissa is responsible for both the overarching strategyand daily operations of quality assurance and performance improvement. In addition to ongoing audits, trainings, and documentation improvement projects, Melissa has implemented multiple digital assessment tools providing real-time insights through data analytics.

Melissa earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Middle Tennessee State University. Sheenjoys reading and spending time with family at her home in Tennessee.

As Senior Vice President of Quality, Margie has oversight of the Clinical Quality department to ensure Vertava Health patients have access to a high-quality continuum of care.Her approach is quickly setting industry standards for clinical excellence using evidence-based care and state-of-the-art technology to support long-term SUD recovery and mental health that empowers patients to live out their best futures.

Margie oversees the compliance department and manages the clinical team, including over 270 licensed clinicians. She directs training efforts across all locations to ensure clinicians are applying the most currentevidence-based treatment practices, research, and industry technology. Margie also leads efforts around Vertava Health’s certifications, allowing insurance providers to be confident that excellence in clinical care is provided at all Vertava Health locations.Importantly, Margie also ensures that Vertava Health practices are compliant with provider and government protocols.

With over 20 years of clinical experience, Margie has dedicated her career to helping others achieve mental health and freedom from addiction. Her passion for SUD treatment underpins her commitment to, and focus on,evidence-based treatment methods. She has extensive experience with implementing and managing behavioral health programs, both for private entities and governmental agencies. This unique blend of experience makes her particularly effective in providing guidancein clinical matters – from treatment modalities to compliance and certification.

In her role with Tridiuum, Dr. McMahon calls on her 20 years of experience as a Clinical Health Psychologist to provide clinical oversight on all projects. She informs internally on development and design and consults with other health care leaders nationally on behavioral health integration, implementation and workflow.
In addition, she is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Cooper Medical School, drawing on 15 years spent in undergraduate and graduate programs at La Salle & Rowan Universities, to help guide the next generation of clinical psychologists. A former Director of Behavioral Medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center, she now assists
part time with clinical work in the Department of Infectious Disease at Cooper. Dr. McMahon is also a member of the Advisory Panel for Outreach and Education (APOE) for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS).

Daniel Coyne is a Certified Addictions Registered Nurse, and has worked in addictions nursing since2013. Daniel served as the Director of Nursing at Vertava Health of Massachusetts, and is currently the Director of Utilization Review for Vertava Heath. He is committed to evidence-based practice and to combating the stigma associated with substance use disordersand addiction treatment.

Prior to his nursing career, Daniel held director-level positions in communications for severalhealth and wellness companies. He earned a BA from Middlebury College, an MFA from the University of Florida, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts. He is an avid juggler.