2023
Presentations
Registration
Grab your badge, some breakfast and coffee, and get registered for the week ahead!
Finding An Electronic Health Record System For Your Future: The 2023 OPEN MINDS Seminar On Best Practices In EHR Selection, Contracting & Optimization
Sponsored By: 
Over the past twenty years, adopting electronic health record systems (EHRs) has changed how health services are managed and delivered. As the health care system has continued to evolve with more value-based reimbursement, the push towards integrated care coordination, and the rise in consumerism, the technology infrastructure needed by provider organizations has changed—including EHRs. For most executives, the EHR is a significant investment, and choosing the right system (or keeping the wrong system) can make or break any organization.
This essential seminar is for any executive considering a new EHR system—whether it is your organization’s first EHR or upgrading a system that isn’t delivering the functionality needed for sustainability. Also, OPEN MINDS Associates will guide you through a step-by-step process for selecting an EHR that fits all your organization’s needs. The seminar will cover:
- The best practice model for assessing the tech functionality your organization needs for future success
- Steps for vetting vendors and their products and services
- Budgeting for EHR software and implementation
- Ensuring the best value and performance in contract negotiating
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM, Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Lunch On Your Own
Try Bank & Bourbon in the hotel or visit Reading Terminal Market!
Becoming A Data-Driven Organization – Using Metrics To Drive Performance & Success: The 2023 OPEN MINDS Seminar
Sponsored By:
The dynamics of accelerated change in the market have created new performance challenges for health and human services organizations. This seminar will focus on the latest performance landscape and critical domains for measuring and managing business and clinical effectiveness. Health and human services organizations have unique and evolving competition in the market—from new digital-first applications demonstrating speedy access, engagement, and satisfaction with consumers, to industry disrupters such as retail health clinics providing convenient access to care right where individuals shop. Showing value through data is a must have in this competitive environment, and the ability to demonstrate value through data means that organizations must also use data to drive performance improvement—clinically and administratively. In addition, leaders within organizations are challenged to make rapid course corrections, and having immediate access to the right data has become critical to organizational success. Key objectives for this seminar will include a:
- Look at the critical strategic performance domains and metrics for managing business and clinical health effectiveness
- Scorecard and framework for becoming a data-driven organization and for evaluating business health operations
- Decision-making model for prioritization and selection of measures
Carol Clayton, Ph.D.
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.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Grand Opening Of The Exhibit Hall
Sponsored By:
Join us for an unveiling of all of our great exhibitors! Unwind from the day and enjoy cocktails and hor ‘doeuvres with your peers and thought leaders.
Karaoke Night
Sponsored By 
Are you ready to unleash your inner rock star or belt out your favorite ballads? We’re hosting a karaoke night, and we’d love for you to be a part of the fun! The first drink will be provided by The BI Collaborative, and a cash bar will be available. Please stop by the registration desk to receive a drink ticket! Thank you to our sponsor, The BI Collaborative!
Executive Breakfast & Registration
If you haven’t registered yet, check in with us at the registration desk and then enjoy breakfast in the exhibit hall!
Retail Clinics, Behavioral Health, & Chronic Disease Management: Challenges & Opportunities In The Changing Market
The number of retail health, also known as “convenient care” locations in the U.S. has grown substantially in the last few years. But it is not just the numbers that have changed. Convenient care clinics are offering more services, including treatment for behavioral health conditions and management of chronic diseases. In this session, learn the retail clinic perspectives on serving these consumer groups – where they plan to go in the future and what they see as opportunities for collaboration.
Marc Watkins, M.D., MSPH, FACOEM
As Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs, Dr. Watkins oversees all medical-related aspects for The Little Clinic. This includes enterprise-wide leadership through the development and implementation of media programs and the strategic direction for all health and wellness solutions, including emerging digital and tele-health initiatives.
Dr. Watkins has a bold and passionate commitment for delivering quality healthcare by combining health, wellness and nutrition solution with a focus on simplifying the decision-making process for patients, customers, and employers in a rapidly changing healthcare ecosystem.
Prior to joining the leadership team at The Little Clinic, he served in various physician leadership roles with Concentra Health Services. Most recently, in his role as National Medical Director- Clinical Account Management, he provided strategic operational and clinical program development to major employers across the country.
Dr. Watkins earned his medical degree at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN on a U.S. Navy scholarship. After training, he served almost exclusively with the U.S. Marines, where he was twice awarded the Navy Commendation Medal (2) in direct support of combat operations while assigned in Iraq. Dr. Watkins is board certified in Occupational & Environmental Medicine and earned distinction as a Fellow of the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and American College of Physician Executives. He is a board member of the Nashville Health Care Council and executive board member of the Convenient Care Association. He is also Adjunct Clinical Faculty in the Division of Occupational Medicine/Family Medicine at Meharry Medical College.
Dr. Watkins is a panelist during Retail Clinics, Behavioral Health, & Chronic Disease Management: Challenges & Opportunities In The Changing Market.
George Barakat
George Barakat is the Co-founder of Jack Nathan Health®. Named after his son Jack Nathan Barakat. George served as CEO of Jack Nathan Health® for the past 15 years. He is also Past President and CEO of Laila’s Inc. (art publishing and manufacturing), and a proud partner of Walmart® for more than 28 years.
A longtime believer in empowering customers, patients and associates. George created strategic partnerships taking Jack Nathan Health from a lean start-up, to a national leader in healthcare, servicing over 2 million patients across Canada and expansion into Mexico. With a clear “Patient First” vision. He has helped redefined the face of healthcare by improving access to quality healthcare for all communities utilizing retail and digital environments.
George excels at working with business leaders in different organizations to facilitate change and acceptance of new approaches.
Today, he possesses a comprehensive knowledge and understanding for retail healthcare and manufacturing, with a clear vision on how to implement related business strategies. He has travelled extensively nationally and internationally building and sustaining important global relationships and partnerships. George maximizes business growth by creating effective operational strategies, while delivering an unparalleled customer experience.
George is a panelist during Retail Clinics, Behavioral Health, & Chronic Disease Management: Challenges & Opportunities In The Changing Market.
Nate Bronstein, MPA, MSSP, MsED
Nate Bronstein currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Convenient Care Association. Nate is a former teacher from North Philadelphia; he earned his Masters in Education, Public Administration, and the Science of Social Policy respectively, from the University of Pennsylvania. Nate has extensive experience as a consultant on state-wide policy initiatives as well as political initiatives as well as political campaigns strategy, and management. He has spent the last five years working as both the Co-Founder and CEO of one DC-based startup and one Philadelphia-based startup, working to solve inefficiencies in how people connect, organize, and manage their resources. Nate has extensive experience in the social good company from a for-profit, non-profit, and governmental perspective.
He has successfully launched two companies and consulted on many others, as well as having actively participated in 19 unique leadership and business development incubators and accelerators. Nate has written for the chronicle of social change and is currently serving on the board of Philadelphia’s oldest and largest music school.
Nate is a panelist during Retail Clinics, Behavioral Health, & Chronic Disease Management: Challenges & Opportunities In The Changing Market.
Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — Impruvon Health
Impruvon Health is changing how medication is administered, improving medication management for consumers with I/DD or autism. An app connected to a smart box enables real-time notifications and alerts to enable consumers to safely administer their own medication. In addition, the app provides different care team members to aid in administrating. During this session, learn how Impruvon Health is using software to administer medication at home and reduce errors by as much as 40%.
Justin Amoyal
Justin Amoyal is an engineer by trade and an entrepreneur at heart. He is the Founded and currently serves as CEO of Impruvon Health, a medication workflow automation platform designed to streamline tasks and minimize error in enterprise care settings such as Group Homes and Assisted Living Facilities.
Justin studied systems engineering and operations research at George Mason University, graduating in 2015. This is where he discovered his love for innovation and process optimization. During his junior year internship at Lockheed Martin he invented a system to detect errors in the F35 Fighter Jet production process and streamline the inspection process. Following his time at Lockheed Martin Justin led process optimization and error reduction programs for a multitude of organizations including the US Navy, Department of Homeland Security, and US Marine Corps.
In 2019, Justin’s life took a tragic turn when he lost his brother to an overdose. In the wake of this tragedy, Justin started Impruvon Health, driven by a deep desire to help others avoid similar experiences. Justin’s entrepreneurial spirit, combined with his passion for innovation and his desire to make a positive impact in the world has made Impruvon Health a success. He continues to lead the Impruvon team with passion and professionalism, continuing to develop and deploy cutting edge technology for those that need it most.
Justin is speaking during Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — Impruvon Health.
Thought Leader Discussion
Join our panelists for an interactive discussion where you can take time to ask your own questions and continue the conversation.
Marc Watkins, M.D., MSPH, FACOEM
As Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs, Dr. Watkins oversees all medical-related aspects for The Little Clinic. This includes enterprise-wide leadership through the development and implementation of media programs and the strategic direction for all health and wellness solutions, including emerging digital and tele-health initiatives.
Dr. Watkins has a bold and passionate commitment for delivering quality healthcare by combining health, wellness and nutrition solution with a focus on simplifying the decision-making process for patients, customers, and employers in a rapidly changing healthcare ecosystem.
Prior to joining the leadership team at The Little Clinic, he served in various physician leadership roles with Concentra Health Services. Most recently, in his role as National Medical Director- Clinical Account Management, he provided strategic operational and clinical program development to major employers across the country.
Dr. Watkins earned his medical degree at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN on a U.S. Navy scholarship. After training, he served almost exclusively with the U.S. Marines, where he was twice awarded the Navy Commendation Medal (2) in direct support of combat operations while assigned in Iraq. Dr. Watkins is board certified in Occupational & Environmental Medicine and earned distinction as a Fellow of the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and American College of Physician Executives. He is a board member of the Nashville Health Care Council and executive board member of the Convenient Care Association. He is also Adjunct Clinical Faculty in the Division of Occupational Medicine/Family Medicine at Meharry Medical College.
Dr. Watkins is a panelist during Retail Clinics, Behavioral Health, & Chronic Disease Management: Challenges & Opportunities In The Changing Market.
George Barakat
George Barakat is the Co-founder of Jack Nathan Health®. Named after his son Jack Nathan Barakat. George served as CEO of Jack Nathan Health® for the past 15 years. He is also Past President and CEO of Laila’s Inc. (art publishing and manufacturing), and a proud partner of Walmart® for more than 28 years.
A longtime believer in empowering customers, patients and associates. George created strategic partnerships taking Jack Nathan Health from a lean start-up, to a national leader in healthcare, servicing over 2 million patients across Canada and expansion into Mexico. With a clear “Patient First” vision. He has helped redefined the face of healthcare by improving access to quality healthcare for all communities utilizing retail and digital environments.
George excels at working with business leaders in different organizations to facilitate change and acceptance of new approaches.
Today, he possesses a comprehensive knowledge and understanding for retail healthcare and manufacturing, with a clear vision on how to implement related business strategies. He has travelled extensively nationally and internationally building and sustaining important global relationships and partnerships. George maximizes business growth by creating effective operational strategies, while delivering an unparalleled customer experience.
George is a panelist during Retail Clinics, Behavioral Health, & Chronic Disease Management: Challenges & Opportunities In The Changing Market.
Nate Bronstein, MPA, MSSP, MsED
Nate Bronstein currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Convenient Care Association. Nate is a former teacher from North Philadelphia; he earned his Masters in Education, Public Administration, and the Science of Social Policy respectively, from the University of Pennsylvania. Nate has extensive experience as a consultant on state-wide policy initiatives as well as political initiatives as well as political campaigns strategy, and management. He has spent the last five years working as both the Co-Founder and CEO of one DC-based startup and one Philadelphia-based startup, working to solve inefficiencies in how people connect, organize, and manage their resources. Nate has extensive experience in the social good company from a for-profit, non-profit, and governmental perspective.
He has successfully launched two companies and consulted on many others, as well as having actively participated in 19 unique leadership and business development incubators and accelerators. Nate has written for the chronicle of social change and is currently serving on the board of Philadelphia’s oldest and largest music school.
Nate is a panelist during Retail Clinics, Behavioral Health, & Chronic Disease Management: Challenges & Opportunities In The Changing Market.
Michael Clark, MPA
Mike Clark leads the Alternative Media and Social Finance Expert is a systems entrepreneur. He has researched, published, and worked in the areas of collective impact, financial innovation, impact investing, and social entrepreneurship. Mike is the lead researcher and policy analyst regarding the social impacts of paying direct service workers low wages, forcing them to be dependent upon society through public benefits and reducing the quality of care due to high staff attrition and increased stress levels. Mike also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria. He holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Scranton and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government.
Michael is a panelist during Retail Clinics, Behavioral Health, & Chronic Disease Management: Challenges & Opportunities In The Changing Market.
Paul M. Duck
Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Tech At The Table: How To Have A Tech-Enabled Business Strategy
It doesn’t matter which technology platforms your organization adopts if the technology doesn’t align with your strategic goals. A mistake often made is decision-making regarding technology that occurs outside the strategic planning process or, conversely, strategic planning that arises without assessing current technology capabilities to support the plan.
This session will focus on ensuring a business strategy is “tech-enabled,” focusing on the interchangeable process of technology to drive business and business strategy that drives technology decision-making and purchasing. During this session, hear:
- Common steps of strategic business planning
- Decision-making for technology prioritization for growth versus sustainability
- Tips for looking into the future while keeping your feet on the ground
Kristen Daugherty, LCSW-S, LISW-S, MBA
Kristi Daugherty, CEO for Emergence Health Network, has over twenty years of experience in the behavioral health arena. As chief executive officer for El Paso County’s Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities Authority for El Paso County, Ms. Daugherty is responsible for all clinical and oversight services delegated through performance contracts with Texas Health & Human Services.
During her tenure as CEO, Ms. Daugherty spearheaded several key initiatives that have significantly increased scope of services offered to the El Paso community. As a result of her leadership, jail-based mental health services are now offered to justice involved patients and crisis intervention teams now partner especially trained police officers with behavioral health clinicians during crisis response.
During this time, Emergence Health Network added key components the system of care such as extended observation unit services and Multi-Systemic Therapy for at-risk adolescents and their families. Ms. Daugherty also orchestrated operational turnaround resulting in significantly improved financial indicators, enhanced quality measures and an emphasis on patient data analytics to improve overall health. These efforts resulted in Emergence Health Network receiving Joint Commission accreditation– a distinction held by only a handful of community centers in the State of Texas. Most recently, EHN also achieved Certified Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) designation, which will help the organization focus on addressing social determinants of health with a behavioral health focus.
Ms. Daugherty has led efforts to form critical community collaborations that have resulted in expanding access points to behavioral health services and expansion of services. Outside the area of crisis services, EHN has developed services in local school districts to include school-based clinics. A strong partnership with the local housing authority has resulted in work on a therapeutic community for individuals that have mental illness and are at risk of homelessness.
As El Paso has recently faced several challenges directly impacting community mental health, and Ms. Daugherty has ensured that EHN has led in crisis behavioral health response. In the aftermath of the August 3rd Walmart shooting, EHN provided a myriad of supports and services to victims, families and the entire community. Similarly, Emergence Health Network’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a strong emphasis on mental health supports.
Ms. Daugherty is a Licensed Clinical Social Work Supervisor in the State of Texas and a Licensed Independent Social Work Supervisor in the State of New Mexico. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from New Mexico State University and is a graduate of the Executive MBA Program at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Andrew Bronson
Mr. Bronson is the Vice-President of Information Services for Mental Health Partners. He graduated from University of New Hampshire with a degree in Electrical Engineering Systems. He has over 25 years of experience within software engineering, infrastructure and client management.
He enjoys working in healthcare because it is an industry that touches us all, and his work enhancing technical capabilities allowing him to give back to his community. Mr. Bronson joined MHP because their mission and goals focus around the client, which resonates with him. In his free time, he enjoy skiing, hiking, reading and doing home projects.
Andrew is speaking during Tech At The Table: How To Have A Tech Enabled Business Strategy and Beyond the Hype: Real-World Applications of Augmented Intelligence.
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM, Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Models For Creating Organization-Wide Performance Reporting & Decision Support Tools
With changing consumer and payer performance measures and expectations, executive teams in the health and human services field are grappling with how to manage best and report performance data for payers while also creating and managing usable, actionable performance reporting for internal use. In this session, experts will take a multi-faceted approach to performance reporting and organization-wide reporting systems. By fueling reporting at various levels of the organization with decision support tools, executives can actualize performance metrics and make decisions informed by data. In this session, the case study panelists will cover:
- Creating actionable organization-wide reporting systems
- Using data to make better business and clinical decisions
- Empowering a performance and data-driven culture
Alice Kim, MA
As Chief Operating Officer, Kim oversees the operations and administration of the Cohen Veterans Network and all of its programs and initiatives.
Prior to joining the Cohen Veterans Network, she was the Director of Operations at the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (CIR) at the University of Southern California School of Social Work. Kim oversaw the day-to-day operation of CIR and managed several large research projects funded by the Department of Defense to enhance the competence and capacity of civilian behavioral health care providers working with military populations. Kim also led the development of numerous cutting-edge programs such as an online training platform for behavioral health professionals, virtual avatar trainers for evidence-based practice and clinical skill, observed structured video examination (OSVE) for military clinical skill assessment, and inter-professional education using military-focused standardized patients. Throughout her career, she has worked for numerous major research initiatives focused on behavioral health care, community development, social welfare, and education. Kim received her BA from the University of Chicago and her MA from the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration.
Alice is speaking during Models For Creating Organization-Wide Performance Reporting & Decision Support Tools.
Robert Baechle
Robert Baechle is a Clinical Informatics Analyst who uses data to help drive clinical and financial decisions at DuPage County Health Department. He is a public servant with a heart for helping people and uses this passion to serve his community. Rob’s career started in an inpatient behavioral health hospital and transitioned to public health in 1997. He has experience in all levels of outpatient care and was promoted into a supervisory role in 2006. During this time, Rob helped implement two behavioral health electronic health records, consulted on the implementation of an environmental health services electronic record, and established centralized scheduling for 100+ employees. Rob regularly uses analytics to support clinical, financial, and administrative staff. Rob’s expertise has helped the health department to achieve numerous best-practice clinical workflows across multiple service areas.
Carol Clayton, Ph.D.
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.
Removing Noise From The Signal: The Data Is Speaking, Are You Listening?
Sponsored By Alera Health
So much data resides and flows into health and human service organizations every day, but how is it leveraged? What does the data do for your business efficiencies? Communication efficiencies? Patient Care Efficiencies and Outcomes?
What if the data worked for you? What if the data spoke to you?
Join Alera Health’s thought leaders and innovators to learn more about the power of data and analysis, and, more importantly, harnessing that power to provide invaluable communication between patients and providers. Swimming through the “oceans” of data can be difficult to navigate without curated and intentional alerts to make significant impacts on clinical workflows. By improving data communication and using key insights, crucial events and interventions can be delivered without getting lost in the “data ocean.”
This session will explore:
- Harnessing data and analysis to increase engagement and measure outcomes for value-based care models
- Utilizing automated alerts and messages for clinicians at the right time to save lives
- Demonstrating the benefits of enhanced secure documentation, “top-of-inbox” alerts, and collaboration amongst networks of providers
- Empowering clinicians and support staff to utilize technology to enhance the delivery of care and improve outcomes
Zach Strong, FNP-C
Zach is a full-time practicing nurse practitioner at a pediatric practice outside of Charlotte. He has a passion for treating patients from infancy to adolescence with a focus on preventive medicine. Zach helps run a local nutrition clinic where he works with patients and families on healthy nutrition, physical activity and stress reduction. Zach partners with local community groups and non-profits helping address any barriers patient and families may have related to their nutrition. Zach is the director of care management for Children First of North Carolina where he oversees the care of nearly 30,000 lives across 5 practices. CFNC focuses on a brick and mortar set up for care management, allowing providers and care managers to collaborate in real time to address patient and family care needs.
Zach is a speaker during Removing Noise From The Signal: The Data Is Speaking, Are You Listening?
Jose Castillo, MBA, PMP
Jose Castillo serves as the Senior Vice President of Informatics & Analytics at Alera Health. In this role, he spearheads transformative initiatives in data ingestion, normalization, analysis, and visualization, leveraging cutting edge technologies such as AI and Machine Learning to translate complex datasets into actionable insights. An engineer by training, Jose joined Alera Health in 2018.
Before joining the company, Jose spent more than 17 years working as the Engineering Manager for the leading Engineering & Construction company in Venezuela, leading large, multidisciplinary, multi-billion-dollar projects in very complex and multicultural environments around the world.
In academia, he spent over 15 years teaching courses like structural design, project management, and calculus as an assistant professor and served as the advisor for 20+ research projects for both undergrad and grad students. He was also a board member in the College of Engineering at his alma mater in Venezuela.
Jose holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s in project management from the Andres Bello Catholic University in Venezuela, and an MBA from North Carolina State University, with concentrations in Finance, Operations & Supply Chain, and Data Analytics. He’s also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2015.
In his free time, you will find Jose coaching youth soccer, at the golf course, or traveling with his wife and three daughters.
Mary Ann Crowder, Ed.D
Mary Ann Crowder is a 27-year veteran of public education, having served as a teacher, librarian, Instructional Technology Specialist, and principal during her time as an educator. Serving in the role of Executive Director of IT Program Development at Alera Health, Mary Ann brings her knowledge and experience in Curriculum and Instruction to IT training and resource development. She also plays a key role in Alera’s development of new technologies designed to facilitate improved patient care.
Mary Ann holds a master’s degree in English and a Doctor of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She is an advocate for trauma-informed communities, schools, and organizations, is a certified ACEs trainer, and leads her local trauma-informed community network in Southside Virginia.
Mary Ann is a speaker during Removing Noise From The Signal: The Data Is Speaking, Are You Listening?
Deanne Cornette, MHA, GPC
Deanne Cornette, MHA, GPC, brings over 20 years of experience in the behavioral health field. Ms.Cornette currently serves as a Senior Associate for OPEN MINDS and brings to the OPEN MINDS team noted expertise in strategic planning, grant writing and revenue development.
Previously, Ms. Cornette was the Vice President of Strategic Development for Tampa Family Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center. In this role, she managed grants, contracts, front desk operations, training, quality assurance special assignments (risk assessments and responses to complaints), credentialing and billing functions. In a very short time period, she successfully procured funding to integrate behavioral health services, brought a system of processes to track health indicators and improve value-based care payment and service and became proficient in utilizing HRSA’s reporting portals.
As Counsel for Strategic Development at Agency for Community Treatment Services, Inc. (ACTS) and Vice President of Business Development for Gracepoint (merger), Ms. Cornette directed strategic development, contract negotiations, revenue development, marketing and grants. In this capacity, she targeted funding sources and built a lucrative cash flow that provided needed services to vulnerable populations in need of behavioral health treatment.
Some of her most successful negotiations created best practice services for veteran’s programs, women’s services, as well those involved with the criminal justice system. Her portfolio includes a wide array of awards from a multitude of agencies including, but not limited to: SAMHSA, HUD, Centers for Medicaid, and the Department of Transportation and collaborations with private, non-profit and government entities. Most recently, she worked with Gracepoint to develop Hillsborough’s Centralized Receiving Facility, one of the first funded in the State of Florida. From a system of care for jail diversion to evidence based practices for individuals who are homeless with behavioral health needs, her awards have netted over $80 million dollars to our community.
In addition, Ms. Cornette served as the Vice President for the National Contract Management Association Suncoast Chapter, Vice President of ACTS Affordable Housing Board of Directors, Vice President of ACTS Foundation Board of Directors, and was a member of Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board. She is the recipient of University of South Florida’s 2018 Florida Outstanding Women of the Year in Public Health. Her Centralized Receiving Facility collaborative won a 2018 WEDU PBS Be Brilliant / Innovation Award. Her concept of Housing, Engagement and Retention Tenancy (HEART) program won the 2018 Heart for Homeless award through the Housing and Education Alliance.
Ms. Cornette received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and her Masters Degree in Health Administration from the University of South Florida.
Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — Awake Labs
Awake Labs sets out to improve self-regulation through a smartwatch and other technology. To do this, they measure stress in consumers with cognitive disabilities to find success in the workplace. Smartwatches are effective in supporting independence without being stigmatizing. Awake Labs will discuss current technology options, implementation strategies, and examples of real life success.
Andrea Palmer
Andrea Palmer is the Founder and CEO of Awake Labs, a digital health company empowering people with cognitive disabilities to live healthier and more independently. She has been working at the intersection of enabling technology, mental health, and person-centered care for over 7 years.
Awake Labs uses wearables to measure stress and strong emotions in real-time. They have partnered with over 35 I/DD care providers across the US and Canada to improve quality of care and quality of life for the people they support. Awake Labs completed the UnitedHealthcare Accelerator powered by Techstars and is an Ontario Brain Institute portfolio company.
Andrea is on the Board of Life Sciences Ontario and serves on its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Committee.
An engineer by training, Andrea used to build autonomous soccer-playing robots and compete them around the world. In her spare time, you can find Andrea outdoors, practicing jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, or saying hi to every dog she meets.
Andrea is a speaker during Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — Awake Labs.
Solutions For Independence: Smart Homes Made Simple
Smart home technology is critical for serving consumers with complex needs in the community. As consumers’ needs shift and innovative home technology becomes more affordable, individuals take more prominent roles in their care and live independently. In this session, industry experts will discuss opportunities for smart home service delivery expansion, engaging more consumers in care, and using technology to deliver and monitor whole-person services. Panelists will offer insights on:
- Exploring smart home technology options and new care innovations
- Developing a framework for choosing smart home technology
- Affordable smart home resources to support consumers in achieving their goals
Wendy Davis
Wendy Davis served on the Board of Directors for Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation for three years before joining the staff as Director of Marketing and Outreach. Upon graduating from Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA), with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Spanish, Wendy joined Shared Medical Systems, a healthcare information systems developer acquired by Oracle, as a software developer. From there she took her technical expertise and applied that knowledge as a Project Leader in Point-of-Sale Development for Pizza Hut and then as the Internet Product Manager for RCN Telecommunications where she wrote the business plan to build an ISP and develop RCN’s suite of Internet products. She was recruited back to YUM! Brands/Pizza Hut as a technical manager and then as an Ecommerce Project Manager where she managed the development of a VPN connecting over 2400 Pizza Hut restaurants with three national call centers, and the development of Internet ordering.
But her most important role is Mom to four children, two of whom, were born with moderate to profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and wife to Evan who suffered single-sided deafness about a decade ago taking the family to three of six with hearing loss. Her daughter, Dr. Caroline Davis, is now a board-certified Occupational Therapist with a professional working fluency in ASL. Her son, Clark, is a sophomore in Biomedical Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology who wants to develop technology to help people with disabilities. Wendy is also the Entertainment Chair for the Hearing Loss Association of America’s Pennsylvania Walk4Hearing which annually welcomes over 1000 attendees.
Tracy Beck
Tracy Beck serves as Lending and Operations Director for the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation. Ms. Beck has over 30 years of experience in the human service and education field. She is responsible for implementing policies and procedures that expand opportunities for accessing assistive technology devices as well as managing the day-to-day operations of PATF’s financial loan program. Ms. Beck is a co-author of PATF’s financial education book Cents and Sensibility: A Guide to Money Management.
Prior to joining PATF, Ms. Beck was the Executive Director of Residential Living Options, an organization that assists people with disabilities in creating housing options. She has served on numerous committees and boards that promote independent living for people with disabilities.
Dan Ding, Ph.D.
Dan Ding, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Research within the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition, she holds the position of Research Biomedical Engineer at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. She currently directs a National Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Wireless Technology. The RERC’s mission is to promote accessibility and inclusivity of mainstream wireless technologies as assistive technology for individuals with disabilities and older adults. Dr. Ding’s research focuses on using smart technology (i.e., wearables, internet-of-things, and assistive robotics) to support health and wellness, independence, and participation of people with disabilities. She has an extensive track record of serving as principal investigator on numerous federal and non-profit grants and has published over 220 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers.
Dr. Ding is speaking during Solutions For Independence: Smart Homes Made Simple.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
What Health Plans Are Thinking (& Buying) – An Expert Panel Explores Payer Trends
Be part of the discussion on the most up-to-date information impacting health plan management trends for consumers with behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disabilities. This session will look at the latest industry trends and survey data from top health plan executives. Our experts will offer additional insights into how these trends have and will be impacting organizations across the health care landscape. The implications of the dynamic shifts in the market are having a profound effect on how payers and providers are contracting, interacting, and ultimately partnering. In this session, experts will reveal many potential opportunities in these trends and how payers are evolving in their relationships with provider organizations. In this session, attendees will:
- Discuss several of the significant trends in the behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disabilities markets
- Discover what is top-of-mind for payers and discuss some of the best practices organizations are undertaking to prepare
- Learn about possible positioning options for your organization in light of new out-of-market competition and technology-driven therapeutics
Nanette Forte-Gerst
Nanette is the Sr. Director of Growth with Community Behavioral Health (CBH) responsible for assisting the Growth Officer in developing and implementing strategies that identify opportunities to transform and strengthen CBH’s partnerships. With more than 30 years’ experience in non-profit executive management and leadership with National healthcare organizations, including the American Heart Association, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and JDRF, Nanette brings a wealth of experience in board development, major gifts, estate planning and corporate and family foundations.
Prior to joining CBH, Nanette served as the Advancement Director for the Eastern PA Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, where she directed and managed a multi-million-dollar major gifts program for the Eastern Pa. and Delaware region, including high wealth individuals, and corporate and family foundations.
Nanette has held several leadership roles including Executive Director, Advancement Director, and Divisional Major Gifts Officer and has served on the board and as board president of the South Jersey AFP chapter.
Nanette is a panelist during What Health Plans Are Thinking (& Buying) – An Expert Panel Explores Payer Trends.
Brendan McGeehan
Brendan is the Senior Evaluation Analyst at Community Behavioral Health (CBH) in Philadelphia. He has over seven years of experience in statistical and machine-learning analysis, prediction, and reporting. Brendan has worked with a variety of healthcare datasets, formulated and implemented study designs, and co-authored published peer-reviewed research. Prior to CBH, he worked for the University of Pennsylvania as a biostatistician at the Center for Preventative Ophthalmology and Biostatistics, as well as the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness.
Brendan is a panelist during What Health Plans Are Thinking (& Buying) – An Expert Panel Explores Payer Trends.
Jeff M. Brown
Jeff Brown is Chief Growth Officer at CBH, where he is responsible for business strategies that identify new growth opportunities to transform and strengthen CBH’s partnerships. With more than 35 years of healthcare business development experience, Jeff brings a wealth of expertise in driving revenue and growth for healthcare organizations through leveraging clinical, payment, provider data management, and digital health solutions.
Prior to joining CBH, he most recently served as Vice President Payer Sales at Lark Health, where he advanced solutions that addressed gaps in care, including the first CDC-certified digital chronic condition management platform for diabetes care. Before his time at Lark Health, he served as Vice President, Payer Sales at CarePort Health, where, working with senior and sales leadership, he was responsible for developing and growing a new payer line of business.
Jeff is a panelist during What Health Plans Are Thinking (& Buying) – An Expert Panel Explores Payer Trends.
Christy Dye, MPH
Data-focused healthcare executive with more than 30 years’ experience supporting providers, payers, state agencies and communities in achieving their business, operational and quality goals in health and human services. With significant expertise in managed behavioral health services administration and delivery, Christy’s career has included working as a state Medicaid leader, a national expert in substance abuse treatment systems and as chief executive for Arizona’s leading integrated behavioral health provider. A pioneer in behavioral and physical health integration, over time her interests grew to include health information technology and population health, using clinical data in value-based reimbursement contracts. She served as a member of the governing board of Health Current, Arizona’s HIE and later joined the organization to continue promoting adoption of health IT and data analytics through provider recruitment, education, and technical assistance.
Currently a Senior Associate with Open Minds, Christy served as Chief Business Development Office for Contexture (Health Current), where she led the company’s business growth efforts– including account management, sales, market research and marketing and communications. She developed provider education and training programs in using data to improve patient outcomes and led the Health Current HIE research data initiative in partnership with Arizona State University’s Knowledge Enterprise Center. Christy also served as co-principal investigator for a National Institute of Mental Health research project at ASU focused on health information sharing preferences among persons with serious mental illness.
For 10 years, Christy was CEO of Partners in Recovery, a Phoenix, Arizona agency serving adults with serious mental illnesses. At Partners she implemented fully integrated behavioral and primary care clinics and launched the company’s population health and complex care programs, including Arizona’s only Medical Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team. Prior to PIR, she served as Division Chief for Clinical and Recovery Services and Arizona’s state substance abuse director at the Arizona Department of Health, Division of Behavioral Health.
She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and her master’s from the University of Arizona. Christy is the recipient of multiple awards and recognitions for her commitment to service and successful health and social outcomes for people, including the prestigious Behavioral Health Service Leadership Award from Arizona State University, the Outstanding Service and Leadership Award from the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, the Mercy Care Lifetime Achievement Award and the Mercy Care Mental Health Legacy Award. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling and cooking.
Paul M. Duck
Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Assessing The ROI Of Strategic Technology Investments
Technology investment has the potential to address workforce challenges, innovate service delivery, create operating efficiencies, and reduce costs. But how do you select the right technology to develop a competitive advantage, create a technology plan and budget, and assess the ROI? In this session, provider organizations will:
- Gain insights on how to align the technology plan with the strategic plan
- Discuss examples of using technology budgeting to leverage staff and resources to operate more efficiently and create a competitive advantage
- Identify how to assess the return on investment between different technology options by estimating potential revenue increases or cost reductions
Jeff Arledge, CFA, CHFP
Jeff is a seasoned strategic finance and operations executive, known for his commitment to continuous improvement and team empowerment. With a track record of revitalizing businesses, he combines financial acumen with a focus on fostering a metrics-driven culture for long-term success.
Having worked in both healthcare and financial services, Jeff brings a wealth of experience in strategic planning, financial analysis, process enhancement, operations, and IT. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and the Certified Healthcare Financial Professional certification.
As the Executive Vice President and CFO of Easterseals Midwest, Jeff oversees strategic initiatives, finance, accounting, revenue cycle, IT, risk management, compliance, legal, fleet, and facilities. Since joining in April 2018, he has been instrumental in transforming the organization into a financially sustainable entity primed for future growth. His current efforts include workforce management, innovative technology-driven support models, systems implementation, and growth partnership opportunities.
Jeff is speaking during Assessing The ROI Of Strategic Technology Investments.
Ken Carr
Ken Carr brings over 30 years of finance, technology, data analysis and reporting experience in the health and human service field to OPEN MINDS. He currently serves as a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, Mr. Carr serves as a subject matter expert in the OPEN MINDS consulting practice where he has led numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, managed care and value-based contracting preparedness, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Carr served as the Chief Financial Officer for Elite DNA Therapy Services, a mental health provider based in Fort Myers, FL. In this position, Mr. Carr led development of the strategic plan, identified opportunities to optimize the EHR, and restructured financial reporting and analysis by service lines and key metrics.
Prior to his role at Elite DNA Therapy Services, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.
Analytics – The Data Points That CEOs Should Be Looking At & How To Get Them
What key metrics do CEOs need to monitor their organization’s health? How do you know if you are a sustainable business organization? Is that what growth goal is being met? This session will specifically target CEOs, and other C-Suite Executives charged with overall business success. The session will discuss the following:
- A metric-driven framework for achieving business results
- The distinction of different reporting types and their use cases – with a case study example
- The metrics most important to the CEO
Mark Germann
Mark Germann is the Executive Vice President of Business Intelligence for Easterseals UCP (ESUCP). As the leader of both the Business Intelligence and Health Information Technology teams, he is responsible for the organization’s continuous improvement monitoring, outcomes, and results delivery. His team also provides the internal operational, clinical, and functional teams with big data access coupled with analysis to drive actionable strategies that support positive client outcomes and sound decision making.
Mark started his career in Disability and Behavioral Health services. He entered the industry as a case manager, and in the past 20 years, his career has steadily progressed through a variety of operational support roles within Behavioral Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) services.
Mark has five children and lives with his wife, Suzanne. Outside of work, Mark is an avid hockey fan, especially when his kids are on the ice.
Mark is speaking during Analytics – The Data Points That CEOs Should Be Looking At & How To Get Them.
Rachel Wood, Ph.D.
Rachel Wood, PhD, Vice President of Learning Health Systems for Discovery Behavioral Health, is a licensed clinical psychologist in the behavioral health field for more than twenty years. She has provided direct service for children, adolescents and adults in various levels of care including outpatient, intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs, sub-acute residential and acute inpatient. During her time at Discovery, Rachel spent many years overseeing the Admissions and Payer Relations Departments where she implemented nationwide medical necessity level of care guidelines and drove Discovery’s national insurance contracting efforts. In her current position, Rachel’s focus is to leverage technology to gather evidence and develop predictive models to improve care, access, and outcomes.
Rachel’s current programs utilize asynchronous, patient-led platforms that increase the frequency and intensity of support following discharge and afford real-time intervention for at risk alumni. In March 2020, as Director of Alumni Services, Dr. Wood launched Discovery’s mobile support apps allowing alumni and families to remain connected to staff, obtain recovery resources and educational content, and offer and receive around the clock peer support following discharge. The app is an extension of the in-person alumni programs offered by Discovery to provide a supportive community that fosters long-term recovery. Rachel received her Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology and Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, San Francisco. She completed the International Scholars Program at Imperial College London, England. Her dissertation on the relationship between personality and scientific predilection and theory was presented at the International Conference for the Psychology of Science & Technology.
Carol Clayton, Ph.D.
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.
A New Era Of Intelligent Enterprises—Harnessing AI’s Potential: 3 Practical Use Cases
Sponsored By Core Solutions 
Over the past decade, many have progressed their efforts toward building data-driven organizations. In the next 3-5 years, you can differentiate your organization in an increasingly competitive marketplace by harnessing AI’s capabilities powered by your data to build an intelligent organization. Learn how AI can reshape the landscape of behavioral health, empowering clients and providers to address mental health challenges with greater precision and compassion and revolutionizing how we approach mental health diagnostics and interventions. From predictive symptom analytics enhancing early detection to personalized, interactive chatbots, attendees will gain valuable insights into the potential benefits, challenges, and ethical considerations associated with integrating AI in the health and human services field.
Ravi Ganesan, MBA
Ravi Ganesan is the founder and CEO of Core Solutions, where he leads the revolution in behavioral health through artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies. With over 25 years of dedication, Ravi has addressed the unique challenges of the health and human services industry by developing innovative EHR technology, significantly improving treatment outcomes. His deep expertise in healthcare and technology, combined with a strong commitment to customer satisfaction, has established Core Solutions as a leading software provider nationwide. As CEO, Ravi has successfully established partnerships with large providers, government agencies, and leading management consulting firms to improve treatment for behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disability services. Ravi is an active speaker on AI and data-driven decision-making. Ravi received his M.B.A. from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
Thomas Starling, Ed.D.
Dr. Tom Starling is a growth-focused executive who has spent his extensive career specializing in defining vision and steering strategy for mission-driven small and mid-sized organizations. Dr. Starling has demonstrated year-after-year success in securing millions of dollars in funding and grants to drive growth, revamp programs, transform operations, and fuel long-term, positive change. Dr. Starling currently serves as Executive Vice President at OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Dr. Starling was the Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships for Rogers Behavioral Health System, a nationally recognized nonprofit provider of highly specialized psychiatric care. In this role, Dr. Starling gave voices to 21 clinics across 10 states and drove the development of a multidisciplinary division, spanning advocacy, government relationships at a state and federal level, and behavioral health prevention and education. He identified, targeted, and secured donors, oversaw 10 staff, and controlled a $2 million budget. Dr. Starling was responsible for co-managing national sponsorship decisions and hired Public Affairs Director and Advocacy Manager to optimize organizational performance and cohesively connect messaging, media, and corporate platforms to advocacy and government relations.
Dr. Starling was also the President and Chief Operating Officer for Mental Health American (MHA) of Midsouth, a nonprofit organization that connects community members with specialized mental health and wellness resources, providing services that improve quality of life and promoting effective services where mental health needs exist. Dr. Starling used his extensive leadership and fundraising experience to define overall strategy and implement a new organizational structure for the largest affiliate in the South. He developed partnerships and managed all relations with funders, donors, and foundations, in addition to providers, hospitals, and health systems. Additionally, Dr. Starling partnered with state and federal legislatures, as well as local and city government officials supervised and supported 25 staff members and controlled the $2 million annual budget. Dr. Starling fueled revenues after creating and rolling out numerous impactful programs and outlined continuing education opportunities and expanded the suicide prevention program by 10 states. Dr. Starling was also nominated to serve on the National MHA Board of Directors and was elected Board Chair from 2018 to 2020, making it the first time in 110-year history to have the affiliate CEO serve as Board Chair.
Dr. Starling is also the former Vice President of Operations for HEOPS in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Starling led daily operations and expanded business for the start-up healthcare company. He served as ISO-9001 Quality Manager, HR Manager, Call Center Supervisor, and Chief Contract Negotiator. He was responsible for tripling staff size by opening Medicaid and Medicare networks in 12 states, making the entire network expand across 40 states in total and expanding from 1 call center to 3. Dr. Starling also became a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 listed mediator during his tenure.
Dr. Starling graduated with honors from Tennessee State University with his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Administration. He also holds a Master of Arts in Medical Ethics from Vanderbilt University, a Master’s Degree in Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Baylor University. Additionally, he obtained a Medical Gerontology Certification from Meharry Medical College and a Business Leadership Certification from the Vanderbilt University Owen School of Business.
Leading Through An EHR Procurement: A Guide For Executives
Join us to hear about the latest resource that Qualifacts has created to help the health and human services market place become more tech-enabled. As part of its mission to the organizations that provide mental health, substance use, intellectual delay, autism, and social services, Qualifacts has created an EHR agnostic Buyers Guide that can be used to walk organizations through the process of EHR procurement. This first section is targeting Executive Teams and outlines best practices and helpful hints for those leaders who are making the decision to procure enterprise wide systems. Our presentation will introduce the guide and also provide links to some assessment tools that might be helpful for your organization.
John Raden
John Raden is the Vice President of Strategic Business Development at Qualifacts. Before joining the Qualifacts team five years ago, he served in senior leadership positions in healthcare for over two decades, including leading technology data for the “Cancer Moonshot” program. He also served in international business for 13+ years, directing the Chinet Company to $268MM in revenue. John holds a degree in Business and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Zurich and has certifications from Harvard Business School and Wharton.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
The Innovate & Elevate Luncheon
Sponsored By: 
Join OPEN MINDS and NextGen for a peer-learning and networking luncheon with dozens of health and human services industry leaders from across the country. The discussion roundtables will focus on knowledge-sharing and best practices in five key areas that we have identified as driving forces for organizational success in today’s market.
- Leveraging technology tools to streamline clinical workflow
- Using ambient listening and other AI tools to improve their margins and growth
- Technology solutions to facilitate the interoperability and data sharing needed for integrated care
- New practices to improve financial sustainability and growth plans
- Technology tools to enable you to deliver services “where the client is” – in their homes and in the community
Register in advance with Erin Deppen, Events Coordinator, edeppen@openminds.com. Space is limited.
Christy Dye, MPH
Data-focused healthcare executive with more than 30 years’ experience supporting providers, payers, state agencies and communities in achieving their business, operational and quality goals in health and human services. With significant expertise in managed behavioral health services administration and delivery, Christy’s career has included working as a state Medicaid leader, a national expert in substance abuse treatment systems and as chief executive for Arizona’s leading integrated behavioral health provider. A pioneer in behavioral and physical health integration, over time her interests grew to include health information technology and population health, using clinical data in value-based reimbursement contracts. She served as a member of the governing board of Health Current, Arizona’s HIE and later joined the organization to continue promoting adoption of health IT and data analytics through provider recruitment, education, and technical assistance.
Currently a Senior Associate with Open Minds, Christy served as Chief Business Development Office for Contexture (Health Current), where she led the company’s business growth efforts– including account management, sales, market research and marketing and communications. She developed provider education and training programs in using data to improve patient outcomes and led the Health Current HIE research data initiative in partnership with Arizona State University’s Knowledge Enterprise Center. Christy also served as co-principal investigator for a National Institute of Mental Health research project at ASU focused on health information sharing preferences among persons with serious mental illness.
For 10 years, Christy was CEO of Partners in Recovery, a Phoenix, Arizona agency serving adults with serious mental illnesses. At Partners she implemented fully integrated behavioral and primary care clinics and launched the company’s population health and complex care programs, including Arizona’s only Medical Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team. Prior to PIR, she served as Division Chief for Clinical and Recovery Services and Arizona’s state substance abuse director at the Arizona Department of Health, Division of Behavioral Health.
She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and her master’s from the University of Arizona. Christy is the recipient of multiple awards and recognitions for her commitment to service and successful health and social outcomes for people, including the prestigious Behavioral Health Service Leadership Award from Arizona State University, the Outstanding Service and Leadership Award from the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, the Mercy Care Lifetime Achievement Award and the Mercy Care Mental Health Legacy Award. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling and cooking.
Post Lunch Pick Me Up
Sponsored By: 
Join us for ice cream sandwiches in the exhibit hall, and stop by the Altriux exhibit booth while you’re there to be entered into their drawing for a chance to win an iPad. Thank you to our sponsor, Altruix, for this fun break!
Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — Altruix
Altruix manufactured Medherent, a smart medication vending machine. The machine achieves independence while improving staff efficiency and medication safety. Enabled by Blue-tooth, the device alerts consumers when to take medication, provides the medication instantly, and allows for video conferencing for emergency response, remote monitoring, and telehealth services. Learn how Altruix is developing improved ways to administer medication.
Yeardley Green
Yeardley Green has been part of the Altruix team since 2010. His leadership helped Terrapin Pharmacy, now Altruix, offer innovative pharmacy service models designed to optimize both patient outcomes and provider workflows. In 2012, Yeardley worked with his team to patent Altruix’s groundbreaking medication adherence technology, Medherent. In his current role as EVP of Sales and Business Development, Yeardley leads a team that is responsible for growth in both the Long-Term Care and Specialty Pharmacy business segments.
Prior to Altruix, he was responsible for selling large scale IT infrastructure, IT services, and software for Systems Alliance Corp. Before Systems Alliance, he worked at Under Armour where he managed the marketing efforts at key accounts like Dick’s Sporting Goods and the Sports Authority. Yeardley has been with Altruix for 13 years because he is deeply connected to the mission of providing life changing care to underserved people with complex conditions. He is a proud father of two and spends his free time on his small farm north of Baltimore. Yeardley is a graduate of the Sewanee, The University of the South where he earned a B.A. in Economic Development, during which time he spent a full year in Beijing learning Mandarin and studying emerging markets.
Yeardley is speaking during Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — Altruix.
Beyond The Hype: Real-World Applications Of Augmented Intelligence
Sponsored By Eleos Health 
The industry buzz about AI has people looking for less sizzle and more steak. What does it actually do, who is using it, and what impact is it having?
During this interactive session, participants will learn how the AI-powered Eleos Health CareOps Automation platform is helping office-based and field-based providers to focus more on care, less on ops. By harnessing the power of augmented intelligence technology, organizations can cut provider documentation time by more than 50% and improve outcomes by 3-4x while strengthening compliance and reducing stress levels for staff.
Join Eleos Health Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer, Alon Rabinovich, for an interactive session featuring live product demos and real-world stories from Amanda Rankin, Chief Operating Officer of Trilogy and Andrew Bronson, Chief Information Officer of Mental Health Partners.
Andrew Bronson
Mr. Bronson is the Vice-President of Information Services for Mental Health Partners. He graduated from University of New Hampshire with a degree in Electrical Engineering Systems. He has over 25 years of experience within software engineering, infrastructure and client management.
He enjoys working in healthcare because it is an industry that touches us all, and his work enhancing technical capabilities allowing him to give back to his community. Mr. Bronson joined MHP because their mission and goals focus around the client, which resonates with him. In his free time, he enjoy skiing, hiking, reading and doing home projects.
Andrew is speaking during Tech At The Table: How To Have A Tech Enabled Business Strategy and Beyond the Hype: Real-World Applications of Augmented Intelligence.
Amanda Rankin, LCSW, MBA
With over 20 years in the mental health field, Amanda has held a variety of clinical and management roles in settings including: community mental health, psychiatric, residential, and probation. She is currently the COO of Trilogy, Inc., a Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) in Chicago primarily serving those with serious mental illness (SMI) in the community. Her dual degrees, in both social work and business, have allowed her to more deeply understand, support, and translate between clinical care and operational support in behavioral healthcare. Amanda also serves as the board chair for Family Service Association of the Greater Elgin Area.
Amanda is speaking during Beyond the Hype: Real-World Applications of Augmented Intelligence & Leveraging Your EHR Investment – Getting More Out Of Your Current Tech Spend.
Christian Nupp
Christian has 15+ years of Healthcare IT experience focusing on application development, interoperability and technical architecture. He is a product and technical subject matter expert and is passionate about crafting technical solutions that align business requirements with emerging technologies.
Christian is speaking during Beyond the Hype: Real-World Applications of Augmented Intelligence.
Data Governance: A Nonpartisan Policy & Best Practice Session
Data governance is more than just a procedure to keep auditors satisfied. Data governance is critical to consistency, trustworthiness, integrity, useability, and permissiveness. This session will discuss the what and how of data governance and provide a framework for defining and implementing a data governance process that engages and gains buy-in across the organization. Data governance is the key to protected and usable data in this high time for data breaches and cyber-attacks coupled with an increased focus on data-driven decision-making.
Using case study illustrations, industry leaders will discuss the following:
- What is data governance, and why should you care
- The difference between data governance and data management
- The role of critical stakeholders in executing a living data governance process
- A process framework for data governance
Gina Brown
Gina Brown is the Director of Health Information Technology at Easterseals UCP North Carolina & Virginia, Inc. She has 29-years’ experience in Healthcare IT and has amassed extensive knowledge in data governance processes and procedures, project and product management, and building key performance indicators (KPIs). As the Director of HIT, she leads, mentors, and develops the HIT team to be innovative, collaborative, and to have a focus on data collection, analysis, and data storytelling. The team is guided by ESUCP mission to provide meaningful and exceptional services so that children, adults, and families living with disabilities and mental health challenges can live, learn, work, and play in their communities.
Gina is speaking during Data Governance: A Non Partisan Policy & Best Practice Session.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM, Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Improving Consumer Engagement With Technology
Technology innovations are being used evermore to facilitate better consumer access, a positive experience, and engagement. Consumer engagement is also vital to successful outcomes and overall performance. By enhancing consumer interfaces, provider organizations can use technology for chat features and other digital communications, screening tools, prescription notifications, appointment and wellness reminders, delivery of test results, consumer education, and more. Join a panel of experts as they unpack:
- Various consumer-facing tools for improving experience and engagement
- Digital opportunities for optimizing consumer communications and self-directed care
- Role of technology and consumer engagement in optimizing performance
April Richardson, M.D.
April Richardson, M.D. VP of Clinical Services for BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (BCBSSC) and COO of Companion Benefit Alternatives (CBA). With responsibility for the clinical oversight of the healthcare management teams supporting commercial private business units at BCBSSC and operations of the Behavioral Health Division and Specialty Case Management Programs for CBA. April also co-leads the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) strategy for the clinical areas. April has over 17 years of experience in health care.
April is speaking during Improving Consumer Engagement With Technology.
Clarissa Hulleza
Since 2000, Clarissa Hulleza has worked in various positions at Easterseals MORC and currently serves as the organization’s CIO and HIPAA Security Officer. She demonstrates a commitment to keep the organization at the forefront of technologies to improve efficiencies and experiences for employees and persons served.
Clarissa has led many technological initiatives for Easterseals MORC, including improvements to the network infrastructure, migration to MS 365 and cloud environments, advancements in data reporting and business intelligence, EHR and Salesforce implementations, and adoption of telehealth.
Most recently, she oversaw the integration of AI with Easterseals MORC’s EHR, with the intent of improving and transforming services, satisfaction, and outcomes for clinicians and service recipients.
Clarissa is speaking during Improving Consumer Engagement With Technology.
Paul M. Duck
Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Preparing For CalAIM – Creating The Tech Infrastructure Needed For Success In A Population Health & Performance-Based Service Delivery System
California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) is a long-term commitment to transform and strengthen CA Medicaid (Medi-Cal), offering 14M+ beneficiaries a more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered approach to maximizing their health.
The CA Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is transforming the Medi-Cal delivery system moving Medi-Cal towards a population health approach that prioritizes prevention and whole person care. CalAIM will offer Medi-Cal enrollees coordinated and equitable access to services that address physical, behavioral, developmental, dental, and long-term care needs. In the multi-year implementation, some of the provisions went live in 2022 including new managed care plan contracts with specialty provider organizations/CBOs to deliver Enhanced Care Management and Community Support services for adults with severe mental illness (SMI). Similar contracts began July 2023 for children and youth with serious emotional disturbance (SED) and the final provisions of CalAIM are projected to go live by 2027.
New population health management strategies have been implemented by managed care plans and the state of California is moving toward a seamless data exchange framework that will improve Californians health care experience, support whole person care system transformation and empower consumers with health data by 2024. One big question for specialty and primary care organizations executives is what technology enhancements will be required to have the right tech infrastructure to succeed under CalAIM in the future. The session will cover:
- Technology lessons learned to-date (2022-2023) in the implementation of Enhanced Care Management under CalAIM.
- Technology functionality required to provide coordinated care under new population health payer strategies.
- What technology will providers need to deliver services in a new data exchange framework.
- A panel discussion of executives of specialty and primary care organizations on their plans for technology investment under CalAIM
Iva Svetlikova, MS, LMFT
Iva Svetlikova, CQCO for Masada Community Mental Health Services has over 20 years of dedicated experience in the field of behavioral health. She is committed to improving lives of individuals and communities and continuously advocates for quality care and positive outcomes. Iva has made substantial contributions to the field through her work in non-profit community-based organizations.
For more than 12 years, Iva has held esteemed positions in Masada where she currently serves as Chief Quality and Compliance Officer. In this pivotal role, Iva directs her expertise toward quality assurance, training, regulatory compliance, and the enhancement of client outcomes through data analytics. Established in 1989, Masada is a non-profit organization with an annual budget of $25M that provides quality mental health services to vulnerable communities in Southern California.
Iva’s leadership has been instrumental in navigating the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, swiftly transitioning in-person care to the realm of telehealth while ensuring the continuity of vital care.
One of Iva’s notable achievements includes successfully leading the expedited implementation of a state-of -the-art Electronic Health Record (eHR) system, streamlining data management, and enhancing the overall efficiency of operations.
Additionally, over the last two years, Iva has played a crucial role in the successful implementation of the various CalAIM initiatives. Most recently, the implementation of Payment Reform and currently the implementation of Enhanced Care Management.
Iva Svetlikova is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University Long Beach.
Iva is speaking during Preparing For CalAIM – Creating The Tech Infrastructure Needed For Success In A Population Health & Performance-Based Service Delivery System.
Patricia Tindbaek, MSW, LCSW
Patricia Tindbaek, LCSW, Chief Development Officer at Masada Community Mental Health Services, is a dynamic executive leader with over 30 years of nonprofit management experience, with specialized expertise in public-sector contracting. Established in 1989, Masada is a non-profit organization that provides quality mental health services to vulnerable communities funded in large part through a contract with Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.
Patricia’s engaging and collaborative leadership style has contributed to Masada’s successful adaptation to significant transitions over the past three decades. Recent examples include an expedited implementation of a new electronic healthcare record system, and Masada’s successful adaptation to complicated CalAIM Payment Reform mandates. As a data-driven organization, Patricia and her colleagues utilize data from a variety of sources to make strategic operational decisions, to monitor client outcomes, and to continuously improve the quality of services.
With the heart of a social worker and the mind of an entrepreneurial business leader, Patricia has the ability to strategically address organizational challenges by applying the knowledge gained through decades of experience operating in both realms. Most recently, Patricia has shifted her focus to securing new and expanded resources for Masada through collaborations with foundations and private donors, consistent with Masada’s current strategic plan to increase our positive impact through expansion of philanthropic activities and diversification of funding sources.
Patricia received her bachelor degree in Sociology from UCLA, and her masters in social work from California State University at Long Beach.
Patricia is speaking during Preparing For CalAIM – Creating The Tech Infrastructure Needed For Success In A Population Health & Performance-Based Service Delivery System.
Khai Nguyen, MS, LMFT
Khai Nguyen, LMFT, Director of Information Systems and Analytics at Masada Community Mental Health Services, is an innovative leader with over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit social service sector. Throughout his extensive career at Masada, Khai has continuously adapted to the ever-changing landscape of mental health service delivery by implementing technological solutions to increase operational efficiencies across a variety of programs.
Khai’s forward-thinking approach shines through in his early adoption of telepsychiatry services, demonstrating his proactive stance in addressing emerging needs, even before the widespread use of telehealth solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Khai’s leadership style is characterized by his ability to analyze systems and identify and implement effective solutions to increase productivity and efficiency. Khai standardized the workflows and protocols for Masada’s support staff across programs and departments, resulting in the ability for staff to provide cross coverage with minimal training. Khai has implemented several technological solutions that increase efficiency and eliminate the possibility for errors. One example is Khai’s collaboration with a vendor to develop a smart phone app that practitioners use to submit funding requests and provide documentation of expenditures.
Khai Nguyen’s career trajectory is a testament to his unwavering dedication to the mental health field and his exceptional adaptability, which is especially crucial in the context of rapidly evolving technology.
Established in 1989, Masada is a non-profit organization with an annual budget of $25M that provides quality mental health services to vulnerable communities in Southern California.
Khai Nguyen is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California. He has a Master of Science Degree in Counseling, Marriage, and Family Therapy from California State University Fullerton.
Khai is speaking during Preparing For CalAIM – Creating The Tech Infrastructure Needed For Success In A Population Health & Performance-Based Service Delivery System.
Dr. John Bodtker, MPH, PharmD
Dr. John Bodtker, MPH, PharmD, California Health Collaborative CalAIM Director, has extensive experience across various healthcare domains, including patient care, program development, and contracting with pharmaceutical, managed care, and government organizations. John has been instrumental in establishing safety net services in remote-rural, disadvantaged, Native American, and other at-risk communities throughout Northern California. In addition to his work at CHC, John serves on the Board of Directors for Guiding The Wise, a non-profit health technology organization, and is an official advisor to Revlyx, a health technology startup founded by UC Berkeley students.
Dr. Bodtker is speaking during Preparing For CalAIM – Creating The Tech Infrastructure Needed For Success In A Population Health & Performance-Based Service Delivery System.
Gordon Richardson, MSW, LCSW
Gordon Richardson is Senior Vice President Of Clinical Administration for Pacific Clinics. In this capacity, Richardson oversees various functions, including business analytics, outcomes and evaluations, quality assurance, health information management, credentialing and enrollment, electronic health records, clinical applications and employee training. He facilitates the CalAIM Steering Committee at Pacific Clinics and serves as a sponsor and business owner for a number of CalAIM related initiatives at the agency. Since joining the agency in 2011, he has designed and administered effective, high-quality and sustainable infrastructure for integrated behavioral health care and social service programs that advance health equity and mental well-being for children, adults and families.
In 2007, Richardson was named Social Worker of the Year by the Sacramento Unit of the National Association of Social Workers. He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in California. Richardson has a master’s degree in social work specializing in policy analysis, planning, and administration from the University of Manitoba in Canada.
Gordon is speaking during Preparing For CalAIM – Creating The Tech Infrastructure Needed For Success In A Population Health & Performance-Based Service Delivery System.
Scott Fairhurst, Ph.D.
Scott Fairhurst, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Outcomes & Evaluation, Business Analytics, and Training at Pacific Clinics, a large behavioral health agency in California. His work focuses on value-based care; measuring and visualizing client needs, strengths, and progress as well as building a training-based quality improvement process inclusive of agency-level initiatives through to more specific improvement of a supervisee’s clinical skills and actions. Scott’s aim is to democratize the data so that clients, executives, clinicians, and supervisors can measure and manage what they consider to be important.
Scott is speaking during Preparing For CalAIM – Creating The Tech Infrastructure Needed For Success In A Population Health & Performance-Based Service Delivery System.
Daniel Lakin, Ph.D.
Dr. Dan Lakin is the Director Of Outcomes & Evaluation for Pacific Clinics. He completed his doctoral and postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Global Mental Health Lab, where his research focused on mental health program implementation and evaluation in humanitarian settings. Dr. Lakin has worked with the World Health Organization, HealthRight International, and USAID on mental health programming for survivors of torture, gender-based and intimate partner violence, and conflict. Dr. Lakin remains interested in the evidence-based development of mental health programming for last mile populations. At Pacific Clinics, he continues to focus on empowering providers in the use of research-motivated thinking in their everyday practice, and expanding access to meaningful psychosocial interventions for the most vulnerable beneficiaries.
Daniel is speaking during Preparing For CalAIM – Creating The Tech Infrastructure Needed For Success In A Population Health & Performance-Based Service Delivery System.
Richard Louis, III
Richard Louis, III, brings extensive experience in public and for-profit behavioral healthcare administration and business development to the OPEN MINDS team. Mr. Louis was formerly the Executive Director of Strategic Development and Planning, Pacific Region, for Providence Service Corporation.
Prior to OPEN MINDS, Mr. Louis served as the Assistant Director of the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health, the 4th largest county behavioral health system in California, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations of a system serving over 50,000 unduplicated consumers annually through 31 county-operated facilities and 60 contract provider organizations.
Prior to his work with San Bernardino County, Mr. Louis was the Vice President of Government Operations for College Health Enterprises. In this role, he pioneered the development of public sector partnerships, contracts, and community mental health system joint ventures in California by creating some of the first inpatient psychiatric hospital-based, outpatient, day treatment, and institutional specialty treatment programs for county, state, and federal government agencies including L.A. County Department of Mental Health, L.A. County Probation Department, California Youth Authority, California Department of Developmental Disabilities, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, and U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security.
Mr. Louis has served in a number of leadership roles with several organizations in the community including: the California Hospital Association – Center for Behavioral Health, Advisory Board, and SCAN Health Plan – Advisory Board; the Board of Directors of the Forensic Mental Health Association of California, College Hospitals, and the Intercommunity Child Guidance Center of Whittier; and testified on behalf of the National Association of Psychiatric Healthcare Systems before President Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Mr. Louis is currently a volunteer police officer with the City of Monterey Park Police Department in East Los Angeles serving since 1987 and currently holds the rank of Captain. Mr. Louis was recently appointed to the City of Claremont Police Commission in Los Angeles County.
He is a graduate of Whittier College and of the Police Academy of Rio Hondo College.
Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — GrandCare Systems
GrandCare Systems aims to reduce the staffing costs for disability and the aging population. Their touchscreen platform assists with cognitive needs, such as checklists, medication reminders, instructional videos, and more. The technology collects data through motion and telehealth sensors and alerts a remote support team. Learn more about how GrandCare Systems are reducing onsite caregiver hours, enabling independence, and cutting costs on staffing.
Hans Cabrera
Hans is a biomedical engineer by training, having been educated at UC Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon, and having worked in both clinical and manufacturing settings. His roles at GrandCare include compliance, testing, and support.
Hans is speaking during Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — GrandCare Systems.
Scott Feldstein
Scott Feldstein is the director of US Sales and Training at GrandCare. In addition to 20 years of experience in technology, Scott has studied psychology, religion, education and computing. He holds a master’s in education from Marquette University.
Scott is speaking during Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — GrandCare Systems.
Elevating Addiction & Co-Occurring Care Through Digital Transformation: The Revised & Reimagined ASAM Criteria
Join the party – a launch party that is for The ASAM Criteria Fourth Edition! The ASAM Criteria promotes individualized and holistic treatment planning and guides clinicians and care managers in making objective decisions. The new edition reflects the current state of scientific evidence and clinical practice. In this informative session, hear from executives of ASAM and Hazelden Betty Ford about the new version and its implications for the treatment of addictions.
This session improves provider practice and patient care as you:
- Hear first-hand about the revisions and how the latest edition was developed under a digital transformation initiative
- See a clinical provider demonstrate the revised standards and improved utility can have a meaningful impact on patient care and practitioner work
- Try it yourself! Experience the full value of the digital textbook with tools like highlighting and custom folders and supplemental content for professionals and patients
*Snacks and refreshments will be provided during this launch party!
Maureen Boyle, Ph.D.
Dr. Boyle provides strategic oversight and leadership of ASAM’s quality and science initiatives including clinical practice guideline development and The ASAM Criteria standards.
Don Bartosik, MS, LMFT
Don Bartosik is an outcomes-driven leader with over 25 years of experience developing community-based healthcare programs, leveraging implementation science, building trusting relationships at all organizational levels, and improving access to care for underserved communities. He is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and has provided clinical guidance, interdisciplinary administrative leadership, and targeted training and consultation across the country for evidence-based and emerging practices in behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment. Don’s primary areas of interest are trauma-informed care, transformative leadership, integrated care, model implementation, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. His well-rounded expertise includes operations, performance improvement, quality assurance, and change management. Don is a proud husband, father of 3, and rescue dog enthusiast living in Durham, NC.
Mark Korf
Mark has over 30 years of digital publishing experience, including 22 years of product leadership at Thomson Reuters. He is a strategic leader that translates strong relationships into operational excellence, growth, and innovation. His experience includes driving change and business transformation, developing next generation online platforms, and creating custom-centric digital experiences. Mark enjoys finding innovative solutions to rethink old ideas.
Thomas Starling, Ed.D.
Dr. Tom Starling is a growth-focused executive who has spent his extensive career specializing in defining vision and steering strategy for mission-driven small and mid-sized organizations. Dr. Starling has demonstrated year-after-year success in securing millions of dollars in funding and grants to drive growth, revamp programs, transform operations, and fuel long-term, positive change. Dr. Starling currently serves as Executive Vice President at OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Dr. Starling was the Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships for Rogers Behavioral Health System, a nationally recognized nonprofit provider of highly specialized psychiatric care. In this role, Dr. Starling gave voices to 21 clinics across 10 states and drove the development of a multidisciplinary division, spanning advocacy, government relationships at a state and federal level, and behavioral health prevention and education. He identified, targeted, and secured donors, oversaw 10 staff, and controlled a $2 million budget. Dr. Starling was responsible for co-managing national sponsorship decisions and hired Public Affairs Director and Advocacy Manager to optimize organizational performance and cohesively connect messaging, media, and corporate platforms to advocacy and government relations.
Dr. Starling was also the President and Chief Operating Officer for Mental Health American (MHA) of Midsouth, a nonprofit organization that connects community members with specialized mental health and wellness resources, providing services that improve quality of life and promoting effective services where mental health needs exist. Dr. Starling used his extensive leadership and fundraising experience to define overall strategy and implement a new organizational structure for the largest affiliate in the South. He developed partnerships and managed all relations with funders, donors, and foundations, in addition to providers, hospitals, and health systems. Additionally, Dr. Starling partnered with state and federal legislatures, as well as local and city government officials supervised and supported 25 staff members and controlled the $2 million annual budget. Dr. Starling fueled revenues after creating and rolling out numerous impactful programs and outlined continuing education opportunities and expanded the suicide prevention program by 10 states. Dr. Starling was also nominated to serve on the National MHA Board of Directors and was elected Board Chair from 2018 to 2020, making it the first time in 110-year history to have the affiliate CEO serve as Board Chair.
Dr. Starling is also the former Vice President of Operations for HEOPS in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Starling led daily operations and expanded business for the start-up healthcare company. He served as ISO-9001 Quality Manager, HR Manager, Call Center Supervisor, and Chief Contract Negotiator. He was responsible for tripling staff size by opening Medicaid and Medicare networks in 12 states, making the entire network expand across 40 states in total and expanding from 1 call center to 3. Dr. Starling also became a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 listed mediator during his tenure.
Dr. Starling graduated with honors from Tennessee State University with his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Administration. He also holds a Master of Arts in Medical Ethics from Vanderbilt University, a Master’s Degree in Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Baylor University. Additionally, he obtained a Medical Gerontology Certification from Meharry Medical College and a Business Leadership Certification from the Vanderbilt University Owen School of Business.
Beyond The Patient Portal – Consumer Technologies To Enhance Care Delivery
New treatment adoption has its hurdles. Payers and health plans are only willing to adopt new treatments if they know the estimated costs/benefits. And provider organization management teams stay focused on sustaining revenues through fee-for-service billing if a new treatment tool is used. In addition to those hurdles, we know that it’s challenging to change the practices of clinical professionals.
The net effect of these combined forces creates the 17-year lag from science to practice in the health care field. Without clinical adoption and financial alignment among the stakeholders (through some non-fee-for-service funding models), that 17-year wait time will likely continue.
This session will explore:
- How to gain buy in with clinicians to adopt and use new technologies for consumer care
- How to gain buy in with consumers to engage in new technologies to improve their life and health
- Examples of new technologies for consumer engagement that increase independence in self care
Dimitri Cavathas, LSCW-C
Dimitrios has been the CEO of the Lower Shore Clinic (LSC) since 2016, a private non-profit organization established in 1979. The $21 million organization has 160 employees serving over 2400 persons in the Wicomico, Worcester, Somerset, & Dorchester communities of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Services provided include primary care, health home services, outpatient behavioral healthcare, medicated assisted treatment, substance abuse treatment, vocational services, psychosocial & residential rehabilitation, supportive housing, residential crisis beds, healthy food services, & assertive community treatment teams. He is a Licensed Certified Social Worker-Clinical & holds a Certificate in Child & Adolescent Treatment from the University of Maryland School of Social Work (UMSSW) & is a subject matter expert on homelessness, primary care integration, & assertive community treatment. Prior to his current role he was also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the UMSSW for 11 years teaching Advanced Mental Health & Social Policy at the graduate level & has been in Non-Profit Executive Leadership for 23 years in urban, suburban, and rural settings. In his leadership he strives every day to promote the recovery of all. This means that the community & the people LSC serves are healthy, have a stable & safe place to live, find a purpose they find meaningful for their life, & experience support, friendship, love, & hope.
Dimitri is speaking during Beyond The Patient Portal – Consumer Technologies To Enhance Care Delivery.
Tec Chapman
Tec is the Executive Vice President, Chief Program Officer, Easterseals Midwest. Easterseals Midwest is the largest IDD provider in the state of Missouri providing early interventions services, integrated & competitive employment, and community living services to over 6,500 individuals and/or their families annually with nearly 1,700 employees. Tec is part of a team responsible for agency strategic planning, development, and implementation; work with local, state, and federal funders to securing necessary rates to provide programmatic and financial stability, and growth of services to meet current and future needs of people with IDD and their families. Most recently he was the Executive Director of Services for Independent Living, which is one of Missouri’s 22 Centers for Independent Living serving persons with disabilities to maximize their independence. With additional experience as the Chief Program Officer and Federal Relations Director for the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA), Deputy Director for the Missouri Division of Developmental Disabilities. He has over 35 years of experience supporting individuals with disabilities, their families, and working with federal, state, and local agencies.
Tec is a recipient of the Anne Rudigier Award from the Association of University Centers for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities (AUCD) for his demonstrated dedication and commitment to enhancing the lives of families and individuals with developmental disabilities.
In 2005, Tec was a Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation Public Policy Fellow working in the United States Senate for Mike Enzi, Chairman, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee. At the completion of his fellowship he was hired by the Chairman with a legislative portfolio that included disability policy (IDEA, Rehabilitation Act, Developmental Disabilities Act, Combating Autism Act), K-12 education (NCLB), the Head Start Act, Title II of the Higher Education Act, and child-care issues.
Tec is speaking during Beyond The Patient Portal – Consumer Technologies To Enhance Care Delivery.
Carol Clayton, Ph.D.
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.
Smart Home Expo: Innovative Technologies For The Consumer — SimplyHome
SimplyHome manufactured a sensor-based technology solution for remote support services, Firefly. Assessed on a person-to-person basis, the sensors include information on daily living, movement patterns, and potential safety risks and alert caregivers when needed. The technology enables providers to manage their technology, oversee the status of the consumers being supported by technology, and make changes or updates. SimplyHome will discuss how Firefly is enabling individuals to maintain independence and safety.
Jason Ray
Since beginning with SimplyHome in 2008, Jason has been a national speaker on enabling technology and technology first transformation to associations, state and national agencies, and provider groups. Jason was named in 2012 as a recipient of the Stephen E. Sallee Excellence in Technology Award and accepted the 2012 Edison Award for Best New Product for SimplyHome. Jason’s work with SimplyHome has been featured on multiple episodes of ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition along with many other national publications. From 2017-2019, Jason served as the Subject Matter Expert on Enabling Technology and Remote Support for Tennessee Department on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (TN DIDD) Technology First Initiative. Since July 2021, Jason has served in the same capacity for New Mexico’s Developmental Disability Supports Division’s Technology First Initiative. In 2022, Jason helped to launch the Technology First Alliance, a non-profit organization focused on advancing technology first principles in long-term care.
Jason is speaking during Beyond The Patient Portal – Consumer Technologies To Enhance Care Delivery.
Mastering Web Design For Engagement, Referrals, and Success — An OPEN MINDS ‘How To’ Workshop
Technology is King (and queen) in the Digital Age, and for many consumers, your website will serve as a first impression of who you are and what you offer. As an integral part of tech strategy, an effective website allows consumers and stakeholders to get a feel for your organization’s brand and value, clearly understand the services offered, offer opportunities for interaction, and allow for easy navigation. Implementing refreshed marketing and functionality approaches can tie together elements of design, content, and navigation, ultimately leading to improved organizational performance, increased referrals, donations, and streamlined talent recruitment. Don’t miss this ‘how-to’ session where OPEN MINDS Senior Associates will offer key strategies for optimizing websites to produce better engagement, referrals, and metrics.
In this session, attendees will learn how to:
- Identify your brand personality and website design
- Create content that is engaging and top-notch
- Make website navigation quick and seamless
Nicole Garris
Nicole Garris brings a wide variety of expertise to the OPEN MINDS team, including an extensive background in marketing, creative direction, and brand development and management. In addition to a multitude of experience in digital, traditional and social media marketing, she has years of experience as a graphic designer. She currently serves as a Senior Associate for OPEN MINDS.
In her role at OPEN MINDS, Ms. Garris helped earn the 2017 Silver Healthcare Marketing Impact Award for PsychU’s 2016 Stigma Campaign. She also grew subscribers of PsychU.org from 2,500 to 36,000+ in 3.5 years through developing and executing comprehensive marketing plans.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Garris served as the Director of Marketing, Culinary Services Group. In this role, she defined and oversaw the execution of strategy for corporate/business dining for all business lines including senior living, hospitals, behavioral health care and retail. Ms.Garris developed the editorial calendar as well as implemented the strategic content marketing plans. She increased LinkedIn followers by 59% in 12 month, from 2,668 to over 4300+. In addition, Ms. Garris utilized blog posts in email campaigns to convert leads to clients, generating an additional $630,000 in revenue for 2019.
Prior to joining Culinary Services Group, Ms. Garris developed and managed the formalwear and factory store brands of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, a prominent men’s retailer composed of 600+ stores nationwide. In this role, she engineered and ensured the consistent look of all branding, promotions, in-store signage, and outward communications.
Ms. Garris has also worked as an independent marketing and design consultant for multiple organizations—specializing in social media integration, campaign design and execution, and multichannel marketing strategies.
Ms. Garris is a 2009 graduate of the Art Institute of York, Pennsylvania where she earned an Associate Degree in Specialized Technology with a Major in Graphic Design.
Rob Hickernell
Rob Hickernell brings over 20 years of website development and maintenance, digital marketing and reporting, data analytics, and conversion attribution experience to the OPEN MINDS team. Mr. Hickernell currently serves as an Executive Vice President & Senior Associate, leading projects related to website development and maintenance, digital marketing, website reporting, data analytics and conversion attribution, website optimization, and user acquisition and retention.
During his tenure with OPEN MINDS, Mr. Hickernell led the development and management of two online communities. He also provided marketing consultation and search engine optimization strategy engagements for a number of OPEN MINDS customers.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Hickernell served as Vice President, Search at AOL, Inc in the Washington DC area. In this role, Mr. Hickernell was responsible for strategic partnership management (Google, Bing), business development, revenue growth and data analytics of AOL’s search business, which incorporates website search and content distribution across global web and mobile properties.
Before his role as head of search, Mr. Hickernell had a series of responsibilities within AOL. As the Director / Sr. Director Of Product Management he served as the product marketing leader of AOL Search with a focus on marketing partnerships, analytics and site optimization to drive revenue and traffic growth. He also held the positions Principal Business Planning Manager, Program Director, and Sr. Program Director at AOL.
After his departure from AOL, Mr. Hickernell was the Digital Marketing & Strategy Consultant for Live Oak Associates, LLC. In this role, Mr. Hickernell served as a consultant and advisor to digital B2B and B2C companies, creating and executing digital marketing strategies (search, social, mobile) by using data insights and analysis to solve business challenges.
Mr. Hickernell received his Master of Business Administration, with a concentration in marketing, from the University of Baltimore, Merrick School of Business in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in management, from Towson State University in Baltimore, Maryland.
CEO Technology To-Do List: What To Accomplish Between Now & Next Year’s Summit
The summit is over, but now what? This session will offer concrete next steps that attendees can take back to their organization to best evaluate, strategize, and implement improvements to their technology infrastructure and data/reporting processes.
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM, Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Executive Networking Reception
Sponsored By:
Take this time to relax with a cocktail and hors d’oeuvres, and mingle with your peers, speakers and vendors during our executive networking reception, located in the exhibit hall!
Start Your Day With Yoga!
Rejuvenate your creativity, focus and mindfulness by starting your day with an all-levels yoga session. This class will wake you up and get you moving for the rest of the day! Join OPEN MINDS‘ own registered yoga instructor, Joe-Paul Naughton-Travers, RYT-200, for this fun morning activity.
Yoga mats and bottled water will be provided
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM, Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Executive Networking Breakfast
Join us for a hot breakfast and coffee in the exhibit hall to start your day! There’s still time to visit with our exhibitors and get scanned to be entered into the raffle drawing.
Leveraging Technology To Manage Quality: How Anthem Blue Cross Is Using Data, Analytics & Metrics To Improve Population Health
With the new CalAIM waiver, Anthem Blue Cross set out to grow its networks with community-based healthcare provider organizations to improve population health management. In creating new ways to engage and contract with provider organizations, Anthem Blue Cross developed new technology platforms to collect and exchange data using various sources and methods to measure program quality and effectiveness. Join our keynote as he outlines how Anthem Blue Cross is using technology solutions to ensure quality in the delivery of services.
Beau Hennemann
Beau Hennemann currently serves as the Regional VP of Local Engagement and Plan Performance for Anthem Blue Cross. In this role, Beau provides oversight and leadership for the Quality Management, Marketing & Community Relations, and County Management & Local Engagement teams across California. He is also responsible for the operational performance, contract oversight, and financial performance of the L.A. County Medi-Cal line of business, which serves over 500k members.
In his 7+ years at Anthem Blue Cross, Beau has also held statewide responsibility for directing and overseeing the operations, business strategy, and alignment for special programs such as Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS), Health Homes, Whole Person Care, Palliative Care, CalAIM, and Social Determinants of Health. This has included responsibility for program performance, provider and community collaboration/engagement, behavioral health integration, clinical care management, policy development, process improvement/program enhancements, managing interdependencies and risks, and developing growth opportunities.
Beau has over nineteen years of experience in program development and implementation within Medicaid-based programs in both public and private organizations. Prior to working at Anthem, Beau served as Senior Manager of Home and Community Based Services at L.A. Care Health Plan where he oversaw the transition of IHSS and the Multipurpose Senior Services Program into managed care benefits, the development of a Care Plan Options program, and the development of collaborative relationships with community-based organizations working to assist individuals with their psycho-social needs. Beau also spent over 11 years working for the Los Angeles County IHSS Public Authority. Beau is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Public Administration.
Beau is speaking during Leveraging Technology To Manage Quality: How Anthem Blue Cross Is Using Data, Analytics & Metrics To Improve Population Health.
Thought Leader Discussion
Join our keynote and take this time to ask your own questions and continue the conversation.
Beau Hennemann
Beau Hennemann currently serves as the Regional VP of Local Engagement and Plan Performance for Anthem Blue Cross. In this role, Beau provides oversight and leadership for the Quality Management, Marketing & Community Relations, and County Management & Local Engagement teams across California. He is also responsible for the operational performance, contract oversight, and financial performance of the L.A. County Medi-Cal line of business, which serves over 500k members.
In his 7+ years at Anthem Blue Cross, Beau has also held statewide responsibility for directing and overseeing the operations, business strategy, and alignment for special programs such as Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS), Health Homes, Whole Person Care, Palliative Care, CalAIM, and Social Determinants of Health. This has included responsibility for program performance, provider and community collaboration/engagement, behavioral health integration, clinical care management, policy development, process improvement/program enhancements, managing interdependencies and risks, and developing growth opportunities.
Beau has over nineteen years of experience in program development and implementation within Medicaid-based programs in both public and private organizations. Prior to working at Anthem, Beau served as Senior Manager of Home and Community Based Services at L.A. Care Health Plan where he oversaw the transition of IHSS and the Multipurpose Senior Services Program into managed care benefits, the development of a Care Plan Options program, and the development of collaborative relationships with community-based organizations working to assist individuals with their psycho-social needs. Beau also spent over 11 years working for the Los Angeles County IHSS Public Authority. Beau is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Public Administration.
Beau is speaking during Leveraging Technology To Manage Quality: How Anthem Blue Cross Is Using Data, Analytics & Metrics To Improve Population Health.
Monica E. Oss
Monica E. Oss, M.S. is the founder of OPEN MINDS and serves as its chief executive officer, executive editor of its publications and websites, and executive lead of its consulting engagements. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. She is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field – and its focus on the verticals of the field serving consumers with chronic conditions and complex support needs.
Ms. Oss has extensive experience in developing and implementing growth strategies for a wide array of organizations in the field. She has expertise in industry trend analysis, reimbursement and rate setting, and creating actionable plans for market success. In her role, she has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, and health plans, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.
Prior to founding OPEN MINDS, Ms. Oss served as an executive with a nationally managed behavioral health organization, responsible for market development, actuarial analysis, and capitation-based rate setting. She also held a position as vice president of the U.S. risk management and underwriting division of an international insurance company.
Ms. Oss has been the keynote speaker at the conferences of dozens of national associations and has been published in a wide range of professional journals and trade publications. She has provided Congressional and state legislative testimony on issues as diverse as the financial impact of parity and payer medication access policies.
Ms. Oss has led a range of industry research and consultation initiatives, serving as principal investigator on research projects that include the examination of national managed care enrollment and service patterns, development of provider rate structures for government entities, creation of return-on-investment models for technology investments; design of performance-based compensation models within public and private health plans; and analysis of the economic impact of changes in benefit design, adoption of evidence-based practices, and new technologies.
Improving Workforce Productivity (& Satisfaction) With Technology
Executive teams use technology solutions to support workplace efficiency, effectiveness, and morale in managing workforce recruitment and retention issues. Some are automating services and operations to increase productivity, reduce human error, and free employees to focus on core, rewarding, and revenue-generating activities. The same is valid with hybrid and digital workforce connections for more remote and flexible opportunities, education and planning, and regional and nationwide recruitment pools. Join provider organizations as they explore:
- Using technology to drive employee productivity
- Implementing digital solutions to increase employee satisfaction
- Technology’s role in creating the workforce of the future
Joshua Klein
Joshua Klein is the VP of Strategy and Business Operations at New York Psychotherapy and Counseling Center (NYPCC), where he dedicates his expertise to increasing access to quality mental healthcare for underserved communities in New York City. Using his background in financial operations and a keen interest in technology, Joshua focuses on creating efficiencies and streamlining operations at NYPCC, with a special emphasis on leveraging technology to improve both consumer engagement and workforce productivity.
Prior to joining NYPCC, Joshua served as a Manager in PwC’s assurance practice, managing audits of large alternative asset managers. A licensed CPA, Joshua brings a strong financial acumen to his role, where he successfully integrates finance and technology to deliver exceptional outcomes.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
The Insider’s Guide To The Cigna/Evernorth Network & Centers Of Excellence Model: A Briefing & Discussion Session
Cigna/Evernorth’s Center of Excellence model is paving the way by creating new partnerships that allow Evernorth to develop quality performance measures that will enable consumers and their caregivers to assess the quality of their treatment. These measures will help consumers, caregivers, providers, and health plans better evaluate the quality of delivered care and assess patient outcomes as aligned with national health care quality standards in behavioral health. Hear more about Evernorth’s innovative approach to their Center of Excellence model in this interactive discussion with Dr. William M. Lopez, National Medical Director – Virtual Care, Cigna/Evernorth, and OPEN MINDS Chief Strategy Officer Paul Duck.
William M. Lopez, M.D., CPE
As the National Medical Director for Virtual Care Dr. Will Lopez is the clinical leader in the implementation of Evernorth and Cigna Healthcare’s national virtual care strategy. In this role he is directly involved in coverage policy development, reimbursement, government affairs issues, and assessing new technologies coming to market. In addition he oversees a medical director’s team responsible for medical necessity reviews, case management, and claims activities. He provides clinical expertise to Cigna’s sales and marketing teams during client and stakeholder meetings.
Prior to joining Cigna in 2006, Dr. Lopez was a staff psychiatrist and Medical Director for psychiatric services at Snowden at Fredericksburg, a private behavioral health center in Virginia. Dr. Lopez was a captain in the U.S. Air Force where he practiced aerospace medicine. As a veteran of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he is passionate about supporting and leading veteran related initiatives.
Dr. Lopez lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and youngest daughter who is a junior at NC State University. When not at work, he enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, bicycling, and whitewater rafting.
Will is speaking during The Cigna/Evernorth Centers Of Excellence Model: A Briefing & Discussion Session.
Paul M. Duck
Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Intelligent Automation: More Than Just AI
Sponsored By: 
AI is the latest buzz in nearly every industry. What is it, and how can it help human services providers? Emerging technologies, or intelligent automation, include AI, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and more. These innovations are already boosting speed and productivity, increasing quality, and eliminating human error, aiding in staff recruitment and retention, and helping organizations add service lines while decreasing overhead. Join Netsmart’s Chris Yakscoe, Director of Client Alignment, Erica Gregory, Sr. Vice President of RCM, and two early adopter organizations as they share their success stories with intelligent automation, employee satisfaction, and organizational sustainability.
Participants will learn:
- The importance of investing in intelligent automation, which is projected to eliminate billions in healthcare spending
- How to use intelligent automation to alleviate some of your greatest pain points, including workforce shortage, increase in demand for services, etc.
- Real-world applications of advanced technologies in the human services space, from clinical documentation to collections and virtual support
- The benefit of using one platform for all your solutions and service lines, for a connected healthcare ecosystem.
Jen Jette, MSW
Jen joined the CORA team in January 2017 as a SAP Assessor in the Clinical Services Division. She joined the Data Department as a Data Analyst in August 2020 after discovering a knack for systems and an interest in examining data. She was the project manager for the most involved data system implementation in CORA’s history and went on to manage that system. She was appointed Associate Director of Data and Evaluation in November 2022.
The Data Department’s role is to manage and support the data systems utilized by the direct service staff at CORA Services and create, analyze, and distribute reports to CORA’s leadership, staff, and external entities.
Jen earned her MSW from The University of Pennsylvania with a specialization in Child Well-Being and Child Welfare and her BS in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University.
Jen is speaking during Intelligent Automation: More Than Just AI.
Chris Yakscoe
As director of client alignment with Netsmart, Chris works with current clients to optimize their technology platforms and ensure they are using workflows efficiently. He is most proud of Bells, the artificial intelligence (AI) documentation solution, and the difference it makes in the work of clinicians.
Prior to Netsmart, Chris served as vice president of Remarkable Health, where he worked on the team that developed Bells, the popular AI digital assistant. He partnered with clients to successfully implement Bells alongside their EHR and designed strategies to improve documentation and billing processes. Chris routinely speaks at events and as a panelist on webinars sharing the power of effectively using technology to improve the client and staff experience.
Chris is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and holds a degree in business administration. He resides in Scottsdale, AZ, and enjoys networking and volunteering in the community.
Rob Hickernell
Rob Hickernell brings over 20 years of website development and maintenance, digital marketing and reporting, data analytics, and conversion attribution experience to the OPEN MINDS team. Mr. Hickernell currently serves as an Executive Vice President & Senior Associate, leading projects related to website development and maintenance, digital marketing, website reporting, data analytics and conversion attribution, website optimization, and user acquisition and retention.
During his tenure with OPEN MINDS, Mr. Hickernell led the development and management of two online communities. He also provided marketing consultation and search engine optimization strategy engagements for a number of OPEN MINDS customers.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Hickernell served as Vice President, Search at AOL, Inc in the Washington DC area. In this role, Mr. Hickernell was responsible for strategic partnership management (Google, Bing), business development, revenue growth and data analytics of AOL’s search business, which incorporates website search and content distribution across global web and mobile properties.
Before his role as head of search, Mr. Hickernell had a series of responsibilities within AOL. As the Director / Sr. Director Of Product Management he served as the product marketing leader of AOL Search with a focus on marketing partnerships, analytics and site optimization to drive revenue and traffic growth. He also held the positions Principal Business Planning Manager, Program Director, and Sr. Program Director at AOL.
After his departure from AOL, Mr. Hickernell was the Digital Marketing & Strategy Consultant for Live Oak Associates, LLC. In this role, Mr. Hickernell served as a consultant and advisor to digital B2B and B2C companies, creating and executing digital marketing strategies (search, social, mobile) by using data insights and analysis to solve business challenges.
Mr. Hickernell received his Master of Business Administration, with a concentration in marketing, from the University of Baltimore, Merrick School of Business in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in management, from Towson State University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Technology Tools For Improving The Performance Of Value-Based Contracts
It’s one thing to have a value-based mindset. Having the proper technological infrastructure to participate in value-based care successfully is another. Value-based reimbursement requires data and reporting on measures that payers find necessary and are willing to fund. Yet, many organizations do not have the resources and systems to manage value-based contracts. So, where do you start? Join industry leaders for an in-depth discussion on:
- Understand the processes and tools necessary for optimizing data metrics collection, analysis, and reporting for value-based contracts
- Discuss how to utilizing technology resources to support population health analytics
- Discuss strategies for joining with other organizations to create synergy and efficiency in managing the outcomes for value-based contracts
Rachelle Glavin
Rachelle Glavin is a Jefferson City, Missouri, native and lives an active life with her husband and their three boys. Rachelle joined the Missouri Behavioral Health Council in 2008 and feels blessed that she not only got the job but that she also found her career in behavioral healthcare. Rachelle has served in various roles during her tenure at the Council and has had the opportunity to develop and support the implementation of statewide integrated care initiatives and data solutions that inform and drive care management, population health, and better overall health outcomes. She also enjoys visiting with various groups around the country about Missouri’s journey and the progressive work of the Council’s members. The collaboration in Missouri between the state and provider system is an essential element to the success of that journey, which in turn has made a significant positive impact on the health and well-being of Missourians.
Rachelle is speaking during Technology Tools For Improving The Performance Of Value-Based Contracts.
Tom Petrizzo
Tom Petrizzo is the Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Mental Health in Kansas City. Tom has held that position since January 2014. Tri-County has been a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) demonstration site since 2017, and the safety net behavioral health provider for all the north Kansas City metro communities – collectively called the Northland since 1973. Last year, Tri-County served over 9,000 people (adults and children) in the three counties (Platte, Clay and Ray) that comprise the Northland.
Prior to his position at Tri-County, Tom was the CEO of the Ozark Guidance Center in Springdale, Arkansas. Tom served in that role from November 2007 until December 2013. Tom began his career as an attorney in Houston, TX, his hometown. He has a B.S. in Economics from Georgetown University, a J.D. from the University of Texas Law School, and a MSW (Masters of Social Work) from the University of Houston.
Tom has worked in non-profit behavioral health management since 1992. He is married to Teri Classick, and they live in Kansas City, MO. Tom enjoys spending time with his two daughters Jennifer and Madeline and their families, and he likes to hike, jog, and follow the Royals and Chiefs.
Tom is speaking during Technology Tools For Improving The Performance Of Value-Based Contracts.
Ken Carr
Ken Carr brings over 30 years of finance, technology, data analysis and reporting experience in the health and human service field to OPEN MINDS. He currently serves as a Senior Associate with the OPEN MINDS consulting practice. In this role, Mr. Carr serves as a subject matter expert in the OPEN MINDS consulting practice where he has led numerous engagements in strategic planning, merger and acquisition prospecting, business process improvement, managed care and value-based contracting preparedness, financial analysis of service lines, and technology selection.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Carr served as the Chief Financial Officer for Elite DNA Therapy Services, a mental health provider based in Fort Myers, FL. In this position, Mr. Carr led development of the strategic plan, identified opportunities to optimize the EHR, and restructured financial reporting and analysis by service lines and key metrics.
Prior to his role at Elite DNA Therapy Services, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Centers, a community mental health center in Ocala, Florida. In this position, Mr. Carr led a realignment of the organization’s financial management functions. This included revenue cycle management, EHR bill implementation and reporting, cash management enhancement, and strategic financial analysis.
Prior to his role at The Centers, Mr. Carr served as Chief Financial Officer of Guild Incorporated, an organization providing residential and community based mental health services in St. Paul, Minnesota. As CFO, Mr. Carr led the financial, billing, IT, quality, informatics, compliance, and facilities activities. During his tenure at Guild Incorporated, Mr. Carr used his expertise in change management and business process improvement to lead the EHR implementation team, align service data reporting and financial performance, and lead the financial and data capture activities for new service initiatives.
Mr. Carr has also held the positions of Administrative Director and Finance Director at the St. Paul National Testing Laboratory, a biomedical testing facility of the American Red Cross. In those positions he oversaw activities to enhance inventory management, align financial results to industry standards, and improve financial and facilities performance through problem analysis and quality management initiatives. He also was involved in directing human resource functions during laboratory closing near the end of his tenure.
Mr. Carr earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota, and a Master of Divinity Degree from Sioux Falls Seminary. He maintains an active CPA license with the State of South Dakota.
The Investor Perspective — Positioning Your Organization For Private Equity
Have you ever considered investing or utilizing private partnerships to fuel development and growth? Don’t miss this dynamic panel discussion featuring three industry business experts keen on investment opportunities post-pandemic. Learn what’s hot and not so hot from an investor’s perspective in behavioral health, substance use, developmental disabilities, and complex condition management–including provider organizations and service design, technology, pharmacy, and more.
Throughout the panel we will get a glimpse into the unique perspectives of a privately held foundation interested in investing in companies in mental health, education and health equity; a private investor interested in acquisition or stake in partnership, and a provider organization interested in growing through acquisition. In this session, the panelists will discuss:
- What priorities and interests have spurred investor spending
- What private investors see as opportunities in the market space for providers and technology solution vendors
- The investors’ views of the future landscape of specialty provider care
- Investor tips for provider positioning and attractiveness
David Masterman
Mr. Masterman is a Vice President at WindRose Health Investors. Prior to joining WindRose Health Investors in 2021, Mr. Masterman worked at Silver Oak Services Partners where he evaluated and executed investment opportunities in the healthcare and business service sectors. Prior to Silver Oak, he was at Brown Brothers Harriman Capital Partners, where he pursued private equity investments in the healthcare, technology and business services sectors. Mr. Masterman received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and B.A. from Amherst College. Mr. Masterman currently serves on the board of directors of Terrapin Pharmacy.
David is speaking during The Investor Perspective — Trends In The Complex Consumer Market Space For 2023 & Beyond.
Michael Kotzen, MBA, FACHE
Michael is responsible for developing and implementing the overall strategy of CBC while ensuring the delivery of the highest quality service to CBC’s clients and families. Michael is driven to expand CBC’s reach so that more clients can benefit from CBC’s promise of customer focus, commitment to quality and dedication to its well- trained, outstanding staff.
Michael brings more than twenty-five years of diverse healthcare leadership experience. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Rutgers University and an MBA from St. Joseph’s University. Michael is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Michael is speaking during The Investor Perspective — Trends In The Complex Consumer Market Space For 2023 & Beyond.
Jim Triandiflou, MBA
Jim Triandiflou is a four-time CEO who has over 25 years of experience building companies as both a Senior Executive and Consultant to management. He most recently served as the CEO of insightsoftware (backed by TA Associates, Hg Capital, and Genstar), a leading provider of reporting, analytics, and performance management solutions, helping the company more than double in two years.
Prior to insightsoftware, Jim was CEO of Relias Learning (backed by Vista Equity Partners and acquired by Bertelsmann) for eight years. Under Jim’s leadership, the company became one of the largest providers of online education for healthcare in the world, growing from under $25m in revenue to over $200m with double digit organic growth and 15 acquisitions.
Jim is an experienced executive who creates high performance teams and builds personal relationships with C-level executives. His leadership skills and integrity result in long-term relationships, repeat customers and employees, and a focus on customer success.
Jim is currently on the Board of the Special Olympics of North Carolina, Benevity, ISSA and Band Together.
Jim is the proud father of four young adults, an avid runner (completed the 2018 New York Marathon, 2008 and 2009 Boston Marathons, 2010 Tobacco Road Marathon), and loyal Boston Red Sox fan.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the State University of New York College at Oswego and an MBA in international marketing from Arizona State University, including coursework at “Thunderbird.”
Jim is speaking during The Investor Perspective — Trends In The Complex Consumer Market Space For 2023 & Beyond.
Paul M. Duck
Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Optimizing CPT: Best Practices For Improving Revenue Cycle Management
The administrative burden for some human and behavioral health services is higher than for ambulatory physical health office services. The reasons for this are varied and complex but one reason is that medical offices often tie workflows to the specific service being delivered. Understanding the front end of the Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) processes and the ties to workflow, coding, and documentation can be key to decreasing the administrative burden of behavioral and/or human service care delivery.
Another factor in the administrative burden differences also tie into the additional regulatory requirements of performing behavioral health services, such as treatment plans, case coordination, etc. In this session we will discuss how a focus on the front end of RCM can be a link to managing the administrative overhead of providing services. This session will also tie to the importance of coding, documentation, and scope of practice as part of RCM standardization.
Learning objectives include:
- Understanding the tie between RCM and administrative overhead
- The role of technology in the efficiency of your RCM
- The link between compliance and workflow for clinical service delivery.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Chief Executive Officer Networking Lunch
If you’re the Chief Executive Officer or Executive Director of an OPEN MINDS member organization, join us for this private networking luncheon. This is an opportunity to share leadership experiences and solutions with your peers from across the nation. Our hosts for the luncheon are Monica E. Oss, Chief Executive Officer, Kim Bond, Executive Vice President, and Richard Louis, Vice President at OPEN MINDS. (To register, contact Erin Deppen, Event Coordinator, at 717-334-1329 or edeppen@openminds.com.)
Monica E. Oss
Monica E. Oss, M.S. is the founder of OPEN MINDS and serves as its chief executive officer, executive editor of its publications and websites, and executive lead of its consulting engagements. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. She is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field – and its focus on the verticals of the field serving consumers with chronic conditions and complex support needs.
Ms. Oss has extensive experience in developing and implementing growth strategies for a wide array of organizations in the field. She has expertise in industry trend analysis, reimbursement and rate setting, and creating actionable plans for market success. In her role, she has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, and health plans, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.
Prior to founding OPEN MINDS, Ms. Oss served as an executive with a nationally managed behavioral health organization, responsible for market development, actuarial analysis, and capitation-based rate setting. She also held a position as vice president of the U.S. risk management and underwriting division of an international insurance company.
Ms. Oss has been the keynote speaker at the conferences of dozens of national associations and has been published in a wide range of professional journals and trade publications. She has provided Congressional and state legislative testimony on issues as diverse as the financial impact of parity and payer medication access policies.
Ms. Oss has led a range of industry research and consultation initiatives, serving as principal investigator on research projects that include the examination of national managed care enrollment and service patterns, development of provider rate structures for government entities, creation of return-on-investment models for technology investments; design of performance-based compensation models within public and private health plans; and analysis of the economic impact of changes in benefit design, adoption of evidence-based practices, and new technologies.
Kim Bond, MS, LMFT
Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings over thirty years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12M in annual revenue to over $100M and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.
Richard Louis, III
Richard Louis, III, brings extensive experience in public and for-profit behavioral healthcare administration and business development to the OPEN MINDS team. Mr. Louis was formerly the Executive Director of Strategic Development and Planning, Pacific Region, for Providence Service Corporation.
Prior to OPEN MINDS, Mr. Louis served as the Assistant Director of the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health, the 4th largest county behavioral health system in California, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations of a system serving over 50,000 unduplicated consumers annually through 31 county-operated facilities and 60 contract provider organizations.
Prior to his work with San Bernardino County, Mr. Louis was the Vice President of Government Operations for College Health Enterprises. In this role, he pioneered the development of public sector partnerships, contracts, and community mental health system joint ventures in California by creating some of the first inpatient psychiatric hospital-based, outpatient, day treatment, and institutional specialty treatment programs for county, state, and federal government agencies including L.A. County Department of Mental Health, L.A. County Probation Department, California Youth Authority, California Department of Developmental Disabilities, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, and U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security.
Mr. Louis has served in a number of leadership roles with several organizations in the community including: the California Hospital Association – Center for Behavioral Health, Advisory Board, and SCAN Health Plan – Advisory Board; the Board of Directors of the Forensic Mental Health Association of California, College Hospitals, and the Intercommunity Child Guidance Center of Whittier; and testified on behalf of the National Association of Psychiatric Healthcare Systems before President Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Mr. Louis is currently a volunteer police officer with the City of Monterey Park Police Department in East Los Angeles serving since 1987 and currently holds the rank of Captain. Mr. Louis was recently appointed to the City of Claremont Police Commission in Los Angeles County.
He is a graduate of Whittier College and of the Police Academy of Rio Hondo College.
Chief Technology Officer/Chief Information Officer Networking Lunch
Join us for this private luncheon for executive leaders of OPEN MINDS member organization – created for Chief Technology Officers and Chief Information Officers. The objective of this networking session is to provide opportunities for executive leaders from across the country to share solutions to the challenges in serving consumers with complex needs. Our host for the luncheon is Sharon Hicks, Senior Associate, Paul Duck, Chief Strategy Officer and Mike Foley, Vice President at OPEN MINDS. (To register, contact Erin Deppen, Event Coordinator, at 717-334-1329 or edeppen@openminds.com.)
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Paul M. Duck
Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Mike Foley
Michael Foley has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare ecosystem where he has gained extensive knowledge in business development, sales, and marketing. Mr. Foley currently serves as the Vice President of Sales and Business Development at OPEN MINDS.
Previously, Mr. Foley was the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Soleran. There, he built out Soleran’s Business Development sales organization, hiring a team of Account Executives and Sales Development Representatives. Mr. Foley was responsible for all forecasting, net new sales, and all prospect pricing, proposals, and contracts. Mr. Foley also managed a national budget, resources, and Soleran’s go-to-market strategy. Additionally, he developed and designed effectiveness reports and team KPIs for the Business Development team using proprietary software.
Mr. Foley was also the Regional Business Director for Tricida, Inc., where he provided oversight and vision to the Specialty Account Managers (SAMs) and follow guidance and direction passed down from the Head of Sales and Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Foley acted as Regional Business Director representative on both the Reimbursement/Market Access and Marketing teams. Additionally, Mr. Foley pivoted his team’s focus during the COVID-19 pandemic and developed a sustainable disease state marketing platform which allowed the team to continue to work during the crisis.
Mr. Louis is also the former Regional Sales Manager for OPKO Health, Inc. As Regional Sales Manager, Mr. Foley launched and exceeded sales goals for Rayaldee through coaching, building relationships with key stakeholders (both internal and external), strategic planning, and effective communication. Mr. Foley grew the region’s sales by 30% quarter on quarter, while building a sustainable, long-term strategy that produced positive results.
Mr. Foley also served as Sales Director of Client Alignment for Netsmart Technologies. In this position, Mr. Foley ensured the success of Netsmart Technologies by meeting the sales objectives of the team while maintaining client relationships and managing complicated projects. Mr. Foley showed 30% sales growth year-over-year and managed pricing, packaging, and positioning for select Netsmart products. Additionally, Mr. Foley initiated a “go to market” launch process for new innovations and established a GM scorecard to track sales and organizational growth by line of business.
Mr. Foley graduated from Southwest Baptist University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration.
Post Lunch Pick Me Up & Raffle Prize Drawing
Join us in the exhibit hall for Philadelphia soft pretzels and an assortment of dipping sauces – a local favorite! This is also when we will have our much anticipated raffle drawing, so come see if you’ve won any of the great prizes provided by our generous sponsors! Be sure to be scanned by as many exhibitors as you, more scans = more entries in the drawing. (Must be present to win!)
Paul M. Duck
Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Lauren Frantz
Lauren Frantz brings expertise in event planning, marketing, and campaign development to OPEN MINDS as the General Manager of Executive Education.
Previously, Ms. Frantz was the Program and Marketing Director for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation in Tampa, Florida. In this diverse role, Ms. Frantz supervised the foundation’s event and marketing teams and was responsible for event planning/logistics, implementing a strategic plan for the foundation’s digital marketing efforts, and developing custom campaigns for corporate partners.
Prior to her role as Program and Marketing Director, Ms. Frantz served as the foundation’s Program Manager and was responsible for enhancing national programs through innovative campaigns, implementing event marketing strategies, and coordinating more than 20 annual events. Ms. Frantz worked heavily on the foundation’s Fashion Funds the Cure program and event series. A main component of which was a nation-wide event tour that partnered with some of the country’s leading property companies, retail vendors, and corporate entities to create high-end fashion show galas and ultimately raise critical funds for pediatric cancer research.
Ms. Frantz enjoys both the creative and the analytical aspects of her work, she strives to embrace out-of-the-box thinking while also ensuring strategic implementation of processes and communication across teams. Her work style has been heavily influenced by her background in performing arts and work with local non-profit organizations in the Tampa Bay area. She strives to bring a broad view and creative edge to her work and is always searching for new ways to engage an audience.
Ms. Frantz graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences with a concentration in health management and biological science.
Knowing Where You Stand In The Digital Age: The 2023 OPEN MINDS Technology Adoption Survey
The last year has proven that value-based reimbursement is here to stay to help control cost and quality. To succeed in that environment, specialty provider organizations must adopt new technologies that can help master population health management, data exchange, and clinical decision support. For executives to lead successfully, they need to link those tech investments to strategy for sustainable performance and competitive advantage. OPEN MINDS surveyed specialty provider organizations in health and human services to determine where they are moving toward technology adoption. The survey provides information on several important variables and where you fit in.
Variables such as:
- Number of staff devoted to information technology functions in specialty provider organizations
- The annual information technology budget of specialty provider organizations (including hardware, software, networks, IT consultation services, outsourced projects/functionality, and IT staff)
- A unique list of technology innovations human services executives are implementing and what they are doing to progress on the path to digital transformation
Paul M. Duck
Paul M. Duck brings over 30 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.
Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.
Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.
Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.
Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA
Sharon Hicks, OPEN MINDS Senior Associate, has more than 20 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburg. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Leveraging Your EHR Investment & Technology Integrations
As value-based reimbursement models advance, the need to track data metrics and performance outcomes becomes more critical. With this evolution, executive teams are turning to EHR systems and integrated technology solutions that give them a more remarkable ability to have outcomes data to measure and track around contract requirements, consumer assessments, operational workflows, and treatment practices. Join to hear more about how provider organization executives are doing just that, including how to:
- Leverage EHRs and integrations to track organizational performance, costs, and consumer outcomes
- Gain more clarity on consumer experience and administrative workflows
- How to use tech tools and features to enable real-time data, improve coding, and help to better manage care
Tamara Dunn, RN
Tamara Dunn, BSHCA, RN, is the Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer at CommWell Health. In her role, she oversees the operations for Medical, Dental, Information Management & Behavior Health departments at CommWell Health. Previously, she worked at a Community Hospital for 20 years in various roles, including Nursing Supervision. Tamara has also worked as a Legal Nurse Consultant for several attorneys in North Carolina. She enjoys shopping, spending time with her family (including her dog Buddy), and values investing in her personal and professional development.
Tamara is speaking during Leveraging Your EHR Investment – Getting More Out Of Your Current Tech Spend.
Todd M. Clark, Ph.D., LMHC, LCAS, CCS
Dr. Clark has provided professional counseling and overseen all levels of Behavioral Healthcare across North Carolina for over 30 years.
Currently, Dr Clark oversees Behavioral Health Services at CommWell Health and is a frequent speaker on topics related to mental health, integrated care, and faith in recovery.
Todd is speaking during Leveraging Your EHR Investment – Getting More Out Of Your Current Tech Spend.
Amanda Rankin, LCSW, MBA
With over 20 years in the mental health field, Amanda has held a variety of clinical and management roles in settings including: community mental health, psychiatric, residential, and probation. She is currently the COO of Trilogy, Inc., a Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) in Chicago primarily serving those with serious mental illness (SMI) in the community. Her dual degrees, in both social work and business, have allowed her to more deeply understand, support, and translate between clinical care and operational support in behavioral healthcare. Amanda also serves as the board chair for Family Service Association of the Greater Elgin Area.
Amanda is speaking during Beyond the Hype: Real-World Applications of Augmented Intelligence & Leveraging Your EHR Investment – Getting More Out Of Your Current Tech Spend.
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM
Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM, Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.
Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics. Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.
Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.
He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.
Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.
Building Your Workforce Of The Future – The Leadership Management Certificate Program Briefing & Networking Session
Must be a member of the OPEN MINDS Leadership & Management Certificate Program to attend this private networking event. Refreshments will be served! Join us to meet and mingle with other members of the OPEN MINDS Leadership & Management Certificate Program.
To learn more information or to join the program, please click here.
Casey Bell
Casey Bell has been with OPEN MINDS since 2001 and has served in a variety of functional areas throughout her tenure and has developed expertise in web development, network and database management, publications, marketing and promotions, and project management.
Currently, Mrs. Bell serves as OPEN MINDS Chief Operating Officer and is instrumental across all of OPEN MINDS departments, including finance, network and database, subscription services, and consulting. In this role, she manages multiple projects, assists staff members in using computer applications to their full capabilities, and evaluates and develops new initiatives for OPEN MINDS staff and customers.
In addition, Mrs. Bell manages the OPEN MINDS Industry Database with its more than 500,000 organizational records. Leading this core department, she has developed and maintains six different industry stakeholder datasets, specializing in Microsoft Access and SQL Server.
In previous roles, Mrs. Bell has overseen the development and management of the OPEN MINDS web site and promotional plans. She was responsible for several areas of the company’s marketing and customer outreach, including design and administration for the company’s web site, coordinating the electronic distribution of the company’s e-publications, and providing technical support to customers. She has also directed the OPEN MINDS sales team and provided support for the company’s annual publications.
Mrs. Bell is a Gettysburg native and studied accounting at Messiah College.
Richard Louis, III
Richard Louis, III, brings extensive experience in public and for-profit behavioral healthcare administration and business development to the OPEN MINDS team. Mr. Louis was formerly the Executive Director of Strategic Development and Planning, Pacific Region, for Providence Service Corporation.
Prior to OPEN MINDS, Mr. Louis served as the Assistant Director of the San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health, the 4th largest county behavioral health system in California, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations of a system serving over 50,000 unduplicated consumers annually through 31 county-operated facilities and 60 contract provider organizations.
Prior to his work with San Bernardino County, Mr. Louis was the Vice President of Government Operations for College Health Enterprises. In this role, he pioneered the development of public sector partnerships, contracts, and community mental health system joint ventures in California by creating some of the first inpatient psychiatric hospital-based, outpatient, day treatment, and institutional specialty treatment programs for county, state, and federal government agencies including L.A. County Department of Mental Health, L.A. County Probation Department, California Youth Authority, California Department of Developmental Disabilities, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, and U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security.
Mr. Louis has served in a number of leadership roles with several organizations in the community including: the California Hospital Association – Center for Behavioral Health, Advisory Board, and SCAN Health Plan – Advisory Board; the Board of Directors of the Forensic Mental Health Association of California, College Hospitals, and the Intercommunity Child Guidance Center of Whittier; and testified on behalf of the National Association of Psychiatric Healthcare Systems before President Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Mr. Louis is currently a volunteer police officer with the City of Monterey Park Police Department in East Los Angeles serving since 1987 and currently holds the rank of Captain. Mr. Louis was recently appointed to the City of Claremont Police Commission in Los Angeles County.
He is a graduate of Whittier College and of the Police Academy of Rio Hondo College.
The Tech Stall In Health & Human Services – Opportunities Abound…
Leadership in the digital era is unchartered territory, and if you feel like you ‘just can’t keep up’ you aren’t alone. With an infinite number of digital possibilities and innovations occurring at a rapid pace, it is critical that executives keep their focus on organizational strategy and building a technology infrastructure to support that strategy. How do you keep your organization informed of not only the clinical changes that are happening in the field, but of technological advances as well? Join OPEN MINDS Chief Executive Officer, Monica E Oss, for an examination of how executives can best harness technology innovations to fuel organizational growth amongst increased competition, changing payer expectations, and rising consumer demand.
Monica E. Oss
Monica E. Oss, M.S. is the founder of OPEN MINDS and serves as its chief executive officer, executive editor of its publications and websites, and executive lead of its consulting engagements. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. She is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field – and its focus on the verticals of the field serving consumers with chronic conditions and complex support needs.
Ms. Oss has extensive experience in developing and implementing growth strategies for a wide array of organizations in the field. She has expertise in industry trend analysis, reimbursement and rate setting, and creating actionable plans for market success. In her role, she has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, and health plans, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.
Prior to founding OPEN MINDS, Ms. Oss served as an executive with a nationally managed behavioral health organization, responsible for market development, actuarial analysis, and capitation-based rate setting. She also held a position as vice president of the U.S. risk management and underwriting division of an international insurance company.
Ms. Oss has been the keynote speaker at the conferences of dozens of national associations and has been published in a wide range of professional journals and trade publications. She has provided Congressional and state legislative testimony on issues as diverse as the financial impact of parity and payer medication access policies.
Ms. Oss has led a range of industry research and consultation initiatives, serving as principal investigator on research projects that include the examination of national managed care enrollment and service patterns, development of provider rate structures for government entities, creation of return-on-investment models for technology investments; design of performance-based compensation models within public and private health plans; and analysis of the economic impact of changes in benefit design, adoption of evidence-based practices, and new technologies.