Speaker Bios

Jay Afrow, DMD, MHA

Jay Afrow is currently an ambulatory surveyor for The Joint Commission. In this position, he surveys under the standards in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Ambulatory Care and Office Based Surgery practices. Dr. Afrow is also the Executive Director of Clinical Compliance at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, NH. In this role he is responsible for maintaining compliance with CMS and Joint Commission standards for both the hospital and ambulatory based services.

Jan Allison, RN, CHSP

Jan currently serves as the Sr. Director of Regulatory for AMSURG supporting over 260 ASCs with regulatory compliance. Jan has been an expert speaker on numerous nationwide audio and live conferences over quality, regulatory and accreditation issues. Jan has served on advisory panels for AORN, Joint Commission and the ASC Quality Collaboration. Jan is a certified healthcare professional and has been in the Ambulatory Surgery Industry since 1985.

Sara Arones, RN, BSN

Sara Arones is a registered nurse with over 10 years experience specializing in spine procedures. She assists with patient care in her ASCs and is a Regional Director for Surgery Partners Florida Region. Sara graduated with a Bachelor in Science & Nursing from Grand Canyon University in AZ and in 2011 relocated to Tampa, FL for a Director of Nursing position with Laser Spine Institute. After a successful time with LSI, she took an Administrator position at Surgery Partners, Westchase Surgery Center in 2013. In 2015 Sara became Regional Director for Surgery Partners gaining oversight of multiple Florida surgery centers.

Lisa Austin, CASC

Lisa has been an RN for over 36 years and in ambulatory care for the majority of those years. Lisa’s extensive operational development, management and consulting experience provides clients with expertise in facility administration, budget development, regulatory compliance, staff recruitment and retention, equipment procurement, policy and procedure development and implementation, and organizational interfacing. Lisa’s national ASC and Hospital Department development and management expertise affords clients, who are opening new Facilities, unparalleled success.

Lisa has developed numerous surgery centers working in concert with investors, corporations, hospitals, architects, builders and equipment manufactures/distributors through all phases of surgery center development and management.

Lisa has achieved CASC, the credential that connotes expertise in ASC administration.

Lisa has previously served on the Board of CASCA, the Colorado Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, serving as President of the Organization from 2011 - 2015. Lisa currently serves as the Chair of ASCA Public Relations committee.

Cristina Bentin, CMA, CCS-P, COC, CPPM, AAPC Fellow 

Cristina Bentin is the founder and president of Coding Compliance Management, LLC, a company specializing in the markets of ambulatory surgery centers with emphasis on business office and clinical operations assessment, HIPAA reviews, coding audits, and training. Cristina is recognized as a freestanding ASC revenue cycle educator, speaker, and writer with over 25 years' experience in ASC multi-specialty facility and physician office operations.

Sandy Berreth, RN, MS, CASC

Ms. Berreth has been a RN for over 39 years; working in multiple areas in the healthcare arena. One of her greatest achievements and pleasures is her career as an AAAHC surveyor; this opportunity has developed her understanding of federal regulations, and it has also sharpened her awareness of the accreditation processes and ASC policies and procedures. Currently she is an active board member of ASCA, who’s primary goal is to represent ambulatory surgery centers; to provide advocacy and resources to assist ASCs in delivering high quality, cost-effective ambulatory surgery. Sandy has a Master’s degree in business organization and management; and currently holds a CASC certification. She believes the primary goals of any ASC administrator is the commitment to delivering high quality surgical services to ensure a superior patient experience and clinical outcomes, as well as developing a sound business plan and futuristic goals to achieve financial success for her organization’s partners.

Bill Berry, MD, MPH, MPA, FACS

William Berry, MD, MPH is the Chief Medical Officer at Ariadne Labs - a joint center for Health Systems Innovation at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is a Principal Research Scientist at the School and serves as the Director of the Safe Surgery Program at Ariadne Labs. He practiced as a cardio-thoracic surgeon and surgical intensivist for nearly 20 years. He was a member of the core team that lead the development of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist. He has coached and guided implementation of surgical safety checklists in many settings including a large effort sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in ambulatory surgery centers. He has written extensively about checklists, teamwork, simulation in medicine and the importance of a strong safety culture in the operating room. He is also a TEAMSTEPPS master trainer.

Lisa Berus, RN, MSN, MEd, CASSPT

Lisa Berus is Director of Integration Management for Surgical Care Affiliates. In this role, she serves as the project manager for multiple de novo surgery centers. Lisa has over 27 years of experience in the ASC industry and has been doing infection prevention for 25 years. She has developed programs to train new infection preventionists and is certified in sterile processing.

Lisa has worked in every area of the surgery center including circulating, scrubbing, safety officer, infection preventionist, business office manager, administrator and corporate clinical leader. Lisa is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. She has previously worked for her County Health Department as the epidemiologist and bioterrorism nurse. Lisa has a BSN from the University of Cincinnati and an MSN and MEd from Xavier University.

Hassan Bilal, CRCST, CST

Hassan Bilal is an author, speaker, consultant who supports and advises a sales force of over 1400 sales representatives on Central Sterile products, standards and technology which cover the United States and Canada. He is a voting member on the ST79 Sterilization Standards Committee for the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation known as AAMI and also a voting member for the standards organization ASTM International. He has also taught certification classes for students of the Central Sterile Association of Canada throughout Ontario. He speaks nationally at local, regional and state IAHCSMM chapters. He has also spoken at numerous Central Sterile departments, AHRMM conferences and AORN chapters. He is a member of International Association of Healthcare Central Service Material Management. He is a Certified Registered Central Sterile Technician and a Certified Surgical Technologist.

Lee Anne Blackwell, RN, BSN, EMBA, CNOR

Lee Anne Blackwell has over 30 years experience in healthcare with focus in ambulatory surgery nursing and management in multiple surgical services arenas. She developed ASC clinical education programs, including infection control, instrument processing, sterilization, high-level disinfection. She taught the AORN Periop 101 course to multiple ASCs and also at the collegial level. Lee Anne currently serves as the VP of Clinical Services with Practice Partners in Healthcare, Inc., a Birmingham, AL based ambulatory surgery center management and development company, providing support to ASCs in GA, SC, FL, AL, MS and CO in clinical-quality, quality councils, credentialing, accreditation, and regulation. She is authored and presented topics on patient care, survey and regulatory information impacting ASCs in the AORN Journal, OR Manager Publication, and at numerous healthcare conferences. Lee Anne maintains membership in AORN, ASPAN, SGNA, APIC, IAHCSMM, and serves on the AORN ASC National Advisory Council, and the ASC Quality Collaboration Technical Expert Committee.

Terry Bohlke, CASC

Terry is Vice President of Ambulatory Surgery Centers for Community Health Systems in Nashville, Tennessee. The CHS portfolio includes over 130 hospitals and 25 ASCs throughout the United States. Terry served as President of the ASC Association (ASCA) from 2014-16 and currently serves as ASCA’s immediate past President. Terry was Vice President of Operations for two national surgery center companies and has managed surgery centers and surgical hospitals in 15 different states.

He holds a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Colorado. He served on the faculty of the University of Florida as adjunct assistant professor in their Masters in Healthcare Administration program. He retired as Commander in the United States Navy Reserve after 24 years of military service.

Jennifer Butterfield, MBA, RN, CNOR, CASC

Jennifer Butterfield, MBA, RN, CNOR, CASC, is the administrator of Lakes Surgery Center in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a multispecialty ambulatory surgery center. She has worked in the ASC industry for 12 years, serving as OR manager and chief nursing officer prior to becoming administrator. She serves on several committees, including the ASCA Education Committee, as the MASA secretary and is an active board member of the Greater West Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce. She is dedicated to providing high-quality, affordable health care to patients and leads efforts towards educating health care providers to ensure they have the knowledge and resources needed to provide such care. She has been named as one of the "Ambulatory Surgery Center Administrators to Know" by Becker’s ASC Review.

Martha Colen, RN, BA, BSN, MBA, CASC

Martha Colen has been in ambulatory health care management for over 40 years, the last 15 years has been an ambulatory surgery center administrator. She is currently the administrator of a 4-OR multispecialty ASC and manages a staff of more than 50 employees. She has been involved in the recruitment, training and leadership development of clinical nurses and administrative staff and believes that the selection of appropriate individuals for leadership positions is the key to long term organizational success. She has developed a succession plan for her ASC to assure a smooth transition upon the retirement of senior leadership. Ms. Colen has been a AAAHC surveyor since 2010 and is currently a BASC Board Member.

Rena Courtay, RN, BSN, MBA, CASC

Rena has her MBA from Youngstown State University and her BSN from The Ohio State University. Rena has 23 years of experience in the ASC business and obtained her CASC certification in 2005. Rena has clinical experience as a certified operating room nurse as well as previous administrator experience and fifteen years of regional management experience. Rena is also Past President of the Florida Society of Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Chair of the FSASC Education Committee and a member of the ASCA Education Committee. She serves on 11 ASC Governing Boards currently and has served on over 30 during her career.

Rebecca Craig, RN, MBA, CNOR, COC, CASC

Rebecca Craig serves as chief executive officer of Harmony Surgery Center and Peak Surgical Management, located in beautiful Fort Collins, Colorado. She helped open Harmony Surgery Center in August of 2000, as well as multiple other surgery centers in Northern Colorado. Rebecca started her nursing career in the operating room and has held various management roles in perioperative services. Rebecca is president of the ASCA Board of Directors and also serves as a Colorado ASC Association board member. She strives to stay involved on state and federal health care policy levels to ensure that the highest quality of care is maintained and patients continue to have a choice for a cost-effective site of service. She enjoys spending time with her husband of 25 years and her two wonderful children.

Joan Dentler, MBA

Joan Dentler is President and Chief Executive Officer of Avanza Healthcare Strategies, which provides healthcare organizations with strategic guidance, with a focus on outpatient services and community collaborations. For more than 25 years, Joan has been consulting on, developing, or operating ambulatory surgery centers, hospital outpatient services, and community health initiatives. She founded ASC Strategies in 2007 and Outpatient Strategies in 2011, unifying the two companies under a single brand, Avanza Healthcare Strategies, in 2013.

Pat Ewald, RN

RN for over 40 years with extensive experience in med/surg, ambulatory surgery, Perioperative Manager and currently Clinical Liaison acting as a resource to United Surgical Partners, Int. ASCs and surgical hospitals in the Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas region. As Clinical Liaison I perform mock surveys for CMS Joint Commission and AAAHC survey readiness. I also provide educational presentations for the region and for facilities in other USPI markets as well.

Nick Fees

Nick Fees serves as the Vice President of Referral Management for OptumCare. Prior to this role, Nick was the Vice President of Financial Quality Assurance for Surgical Care Affiliates (“SCA”) with responsibility for leading a team that monitors, reports out and improves financial processes within SCA. Nick also led the Internal Audit department and spent his first four years at SCA leading the facility facing accounting and business process teams. Before joining SCA, Nick worked in the audit practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Birmingham, Alabama, and at HealthSpring (Alabama, Mississippi and Florida locations). Nick is a native of Alabama, has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Auburn University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Alsie Fitzgerald, RN, CASC

Alsie Fitzgerald worked in the OR and a primary care clinic until beginning her career in ambulatory surgery in 1976. She has served in many roles in the ambulatory surgery industry since her retirement as the Director of Clinical Operations for HCA's Ambulatory Surgery Division. She is currently an AAAHC surveyor and member of the AAAHC Surveyor Education and Training Committee. Alsie frequently facilitates breakout sessions on Quality Improvement at AAAHC's Achieving Accreditation quarterly seminars. She is also past President of the ASCA board.

Clinton Flume, MBA, CVA

Clinton Flume is a director at VMG Health in the Dallas office. Over his 10 year tenure, his focus has been on developing client relationships and providing valuation, transaction advisory, and operational consulting services in the healthcare services industry. He has significant experience with control and minority level ASC transaction and appraisals, de novo ASC appraisals and ASC certificate of need analyses. Mr. Flume’s clients include for-profit and not-for-profit health systems, ancillary services providers, management and development companies across several healthcare industry sub-specialties, and other publicly owned and privately held healthcare entities. Mr. Flume received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the Texas Christian University and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. He has achieved the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation with the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analyst (NACVA).

Terri Gatton, RN, CNOR, CASC

Terri is a Registered Nurse with over twenty-five years experience in surgery. She is well versed in all aspects of ambulatory surgery and has extensive consulting and management experience in surgery centers, is certified in Operating Room Nursing and is a Certified Ambulatory Surgery Center Administrator.

She has been involved in start-up and daily operations of single, multi-specialty and physician/hospital joint venture centers, as well as working with consultants, national ASC companies and has served on the Board of the Ohio Ambulatory Surgery Association as well as the Oregon Ambulatory Surgery Association.

In addition she has volunteered abroad with Operation Smile and set up operating rooms in The Philippines and Panama.

She is a national speaker for AORN and The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association as well as speaking at state and local organizations. In addition she has published articles for AORN, Outpatient Surgery magazine and various other publications.

Ann Geier, MS, RN, CNOR, CASC

Ann has worked in the ASC industry for 30 years. She has been responsible for every aspect of financial & clinical operations in numerous freestanding surgery centers and has been a surveyor for Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) since 2006. Currently, she is Chief Nursing Officer for SourceMed, a leading provider of software and EHRs for ASCs, HOPDs, hospitals and therapy clinics.

Ann’s extensive clinical background is in the operating room, where she served as a scrub nurse, circulator, educator, and director. She is an active member of AORN and ASCA and she represents the association as a Board member with the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC).

Ann has an ADN from Palm Beach State College, a BS in Health Arts and a MS in Health Services Administration from the University of St. Francis. She is CASC & CNOR certified. She speaks at national meetings on topics such as Leadership, Supply Chain Management, Human Resources, Billing & Collections, Case Costing, QAPI, Credentialing, Peer Review, and Staffing. She contributes articles to Outpatient Surgery Magazine, ASC Focus, Becker’s ASC Review, and she has written several white papers, as well as an e-book, Admin 101: What Every New ASC Administrator Needs to Know.

Michelle George, RN, MSN, CASC

Michelle George is a Group Director Clinical Services with Surgical Care Affiliates where she is responsible for oversight of clinical strategies including leader development, clinical quality outcomes and reporting. Michelle has over 30 years of experience as a registered nurse. She has worked in various areas of nursing including critical care, emergency trauma, and surgical services. Michelle has served in multiple hospital and ambulatory surgical center leadership roles, served on professional advisory boards, as affiliate faculty to a nursing program and professional speaker to multiple healthcare organizations. She has authored various nursing journal articles and been contributing author to a healthcare textbook. Michelle completed a Master’s in Nursing Administration program at San Diego State University and holds a Certified Administrator Surgery Center Certification. She serves on the ASC Quality Collaboration’s Technical Expert Committee and Board of Directors She is also a board member for California Ambulatory Surgery Association and member of the AORN Ambulatory Advisory Committee.

Daniel Gilbert

Daniel Gilbert is the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology. In 2008, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dan's 2007 book, Stumbling on Happiness, spent six months on The New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into more than 35 languages and was awarded the Royal Society's General Book Prize for best science book of the year. In 2010, Dan hosted and cowrote the award-winning PBS television series This Emotional Life; the premiere was watched by more than 10 million viewers.

In 2013, Dan teamed up with Prudential to do a series of television commercials to encourage Americans to plan for their futures and save for retirement. This advertising campaign has been one of the most successful in the history of the financial services industry.

Dan is a contributor to Time, The New York Times and NPR's All Things Considered, and has been a guest on numerous television shows including The Today Show, The Late Show, Charlie Rose, 20/20 and The Colbert Report. In 2014, Science magazine named him one of the world's 50 most-followed scientists on social media.

Dan's TED talks have been seen by more than 20 million people, and his first TED talk remains one of the 15 most popular of all time.

John Goehle, MBA, CASC, CPA

John Goehle is the Chief Operating Officer with Ambulatory Healthcare Strategies, a New York based regulatory and financial consulting services company. AHS provides financial and regulatory oversight on a retainer basis as well as consulting in all aspects of ambulatory surgery operations. Mr. Goehle has a MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh Scotland, and a BS in Accounting from Ithaca College in Upstate New York. He holds the prestigious Certified Administrator Surgery Center (CASC) credential. He is also a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York. Mr. Goehle is a deemed status accreditation surveyor with AAAHC and is a frequent speaker on health care finance, technology and administration and has written many books related to the ASC Industry including Ambulatory Surgery Center Governance - A Guide for Ambulatory Surgery Center Owners & Governing Body Members and The Survey Guide for ASCs – A Guide to the CMS Conditions of Coverage & Interpretive Guidelines for Ambulatory Surgery Centers.

Nelson Gomes

Nelson Gomes is an information technology veteran with more than 25 years of IT experience. He is the founder of PriorityOne Group, a leading provider of integrated managed IT services to organizations including ASCs, medical groups and hospitals. The PriorityOne Group team of talented, committed professionals helps healthcare providers deliver high-quality care while maintaining IT security and compliance. Nelson is a sought after thought leader frequently called upon to speak at local, state and national meetings as well as serve as a source and contribute to well-known publications.

Laurie Heels, MSN, RN

Laurie Heels has practiced as a clinical nurse and nurse leader in the perioperative setting for over 30 years. She spent 5 years on active duty in the US Army and then moved to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH where she has held numerous leadership positions. She has practiced and led in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit, Operating Room and most recently, opened an Outpatient Surgery Center (OSC) associated with the main hospital. Ms Heels has also served as Senior Clinical Quality Associate and actively partnered with clinicians in preventing and investigating errors. She has worked with teams implementing solutions developed from both Root Cause and Apparent Cause Analyses. She currently oversees a 25 room OR and 6 room OSC which cares for over 20,000 patients a year. Her main goal is to provide high value, quality care in the safest setting possible.

Vicki Hess, RN, MS, CSP

Vicki Hess, Certified Speaking Professional, is your go-to resource for positively impacting employee engagement in health care. Ms. Hess works with health care organizations and associations nationwide to mitigate the root causes of disengagement. While constantly monitoring industry trends and doing research on her own, Vicki zeros in on what’s working (and what’s not) and customizes solutions to complement each organization’s culture and place on the engagement journey. She works with organizations and associations across the country to positively impact employee engagement through consulting, workshops, retreats and keynote presentations.

Her unique views on patient and employee engagement are evidence based, relatable and real world. Organizations that implement Vicki’s ideas experience increased productivity, safety, quality, retention, client satisfaction, creativity and more.

As a keynote speaker, trainer, consultant and author of four books, Vicki inspires clients to take action by sharing high-impact, easy-to-implement ideas that transform the way people work. As a cancer survivor and victim of a surgical mistake, she brings the voice of the patient into her programs.

Ms. Hess holds a BSN from the University of Florida and a Master of Human Resource Development from Towson University. She was an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Business. Vicki has been voted a Top 5 Speaker in health care by Speaking.com for four years in a row.

Since founding Catalyst Consulting, LLC, in 2001, Vicki spends the majority of her time working with health care organizations that are serious about positively impacting employee engagement and all other metrics they measure.

Vicki’s customized, evidence-based programs and solutions are unique and specific for each client. She provides health care leaders and staff real-world strategies and tools to transform the norm by weaving the thread of engagement throughout all strategic and transactional elements of health care.

Greg Hickman, MD

Career has been specializing in Post-op pain management. Started the first Acute Pain Service in Alabama at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) in 1990. Was Director of Acute pain Service at HealthSouth Medical Center in Birmingham 1992-2007. Started outpatient continuous catheter program at Andrews ASC in 2007.

Has been a pioneer of ultrasound guided regional anesthesia blocks since 2007. Have taught at over 70 courses, 8 cadaver courses, and lectured internationally (Netherlands and Australia) on ultrasound guided regional anesthesia. Co-founder of popular Regional Anesthesia web site: Blockjocks.com.

Barbara Holder, RN, BSN, LHRM, CAPA

Mrs. Holder has worked at the Andrews Institute ASC since 2006. She was the pre/post-op manager for two years prior to moving into her current role as the quality/safety/infection control/risk/compliance officer. She has been inspirational related to the set up of the current Andrews Institute ASC Regional Block Program from the facility and nursing standpoint. Contributions have included policy and procedures, RN competency, training, development of forms, data tracking, QI studies and auditing.

Sylvia Johns

Career/Experience:

• Director of Surgical Services for Olympia Orthopaedic Associates, PLLC (providing outpatient total joint services since March 2015).
• Over 20 years of experience in health care administration and operations.
• Active member of the Army Reserve with 22 years of service. Served as the First Sergeant for the 6250th US Army Hospital and 7451st Medical Backfill Battalion

Duty locations include:

• Madigan Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
• Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas
• Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany
• Eagle Base, Tulza, Bosina-Herzergovina Medical Facility

Education:

• Bachelors in Healthcare Administration and Management
• Masters in Healthcare Administration and Informatics

Sandra Jones, MBA, LHRM, CHCQM, FHFMA, CASC

Sandra is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management through the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management and licensed in the State of Florida. One of the first to be a CASC, she has worked in ASCs since the early 90's, overseeing development, licensing, certification, risk management, quality, regulatory compliance and accreditation performance. She is an accreditation surveyor with AAAHC and a member of the board of directors and the Standards and Survey Procedures Committee. Sandra is founder of Ambulatory Strategies, an outpatient surgery consulting firm establishing ASCs and hospital outpatient surgery departments, directing compliance, mock surveys, benchmarking and financial analysis. As a Fellow of the Health Care Financial Management Association, she reviews materials for publication by HFMA, specifically those focused on the impact of outpatient services on the health care system. Sandra speaks frequently at state meetings of the American College of Healthcare Executives and surgery center associations.

Bill Kampine

Bill Kampine is an experienced health care executive having more than 20 years of expertise in new venture development, mergers and acquisitions, strategy and advanced analytics. Bill is the cofounder of Healthcare Bluebook and currently serves as senior vice president of analytics, where he oversees client analytics and health care economics.

Previously, Bill was vice president of innovation and insight and a key architect of next generation employer solutions at Healthways, a global leader in providing disease and lifestyle management services. Bill served in a number of executive roles at Healthways, including the founding of the internal strategy and M&A function, where he led several key strategic acquisitions, as well as the establishment of Healthways business outside the United States.

Prior to Healthways, Bill assisted in the development of CareSteps, Inc., a predictive modeling and disease management company that successfully merged with Healthways in 2001. He also served as an economist and consultant to global Fortune 1000 companies in the health care, insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Bill conducted graduate work in economics at George Washington University and holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Naya Kehayes

Naya Kehayes is a Principal and the Ambulatory Surgery Practice Leader for ECG Management Consultants. She has spent more than 25 years in the healthcare industry and 18 years in consulting. She has devoted her career to working with ASCs, surgical hospitals and surgical practices and has a proven track record creating value for her clients. Prior to ECG, Naya was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eveia Health Consulting and Management. She is an industry leader serving on the ASCA Government Affairs Committee, Washington Ambulatory Surgery Center Association Board and is the Chair of the Payment Policy Committee. Naya is a guest lecturer at Yale University School of Public Health and in 2015 was a recipient of the Winslow Centennial Honor Roll for Excellence and Service award. She earned a B.A. from the University of Rochester and M.P.H. from Yale University School of Public Health.

Jan Kleinhesselink, RN, BSHM, CPHQ

Jan Kleinhesselink, RN, BSHM, CPHQ, is the chief quality officer of the Lincoln Surgical Hospital. Ms. Kleinhesselink oversees the leadership at the hospital and associated ambulatory surgery centers in quality service, health information and compliance. She is listed in Becker’s Healthcare 130 Women Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know for 2016 and 2017.

Ms. Kleinhesselink has been a surveyor for Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care for nine years. She is also the immediate past board chair for the Institute for Quality Improvement.

Ms. Kleinhesselink has published articles and authored and presented webinars on quality improvement, benchmarking and peer review. As a selected speaker at OR Excellence, Becker’s Healthcare, OR Manager, OR Business Manager and Physician Hospitals of America, she has presented on several topics including risk management, quality improvement and leadership.

Vivek Kumbhari, MD

Vivek Kumbhari, M.B.Ch.B., is assistant professor of medicine, director of endoscopy for Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and director of bariatric endoscopy for The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Kumbhari was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, where he became one of the youngest ever to become an attending GI physician in Australia. After completing the 2 year Hopkins Advanced Endoscopy Fellowship program, he joined the GI faculty at Johns Hopkins and began to take on several leadership roles. From a research perspective, he boasts 130 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and invited reviews. His areas of expertise include minimally invasive, nonsurgical therapies to facilitate weight loss and the treatment of obesity-related diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes. Dr. Kumbhari is also internationally renowned for minimally invasive, nonsurgical methods to manage complications of surgery. Dr. Kumbhari understands the holistic nature of losing weight and works intimately with colleagues who are expert nutritionists and bariatricians. He believes in arming patients with knowledge and providing them with the most up-to-date therapeutic options.

Michael Larsen

Michael Larsen is currently the executive director of Municipalities, Colleges, Schools Insurance Group (MCSIG), a joint power authority on California’s central coast. MCSIG insures about 70 public agencies throughout California, primarily in education, and is approaching 8,000 insured employees with 90 percent growth over the last year.

Prior to joining MCSIG, Michael worked as the chief financial officer for Soledad Community Health Care District. During his time there, revenues increased 20 to 30 percent across all facilities year over year. He helped win grants to fund new lines of service for women’s health, including mammography and improved prenatal and perinatal services.

Before Soledad Community Health Care District, Michael worked for Snow, Christensen & Martineau (SCM) for 14 years, serving as their chief financial officer for the last nine years he was there. SCM is a preeminent law firm that represents most of the hospitals, cities and counties in the Intermountain West and a majority of national drug companies with an exceptional win rate. The firm experienced steady growth year over year for 13 of the years Michael worked there.

Filling out a 20-year look back, Michael spent a couple of years working for the Utah Jazz and had the privilege of auditing the retail division both years they went to the finals against the Bulls in the late 90s.

Sheree Leppinen, RN, BSN, LHRM

Sheree Leppinen has been a registered nurse in the cardiovascular industry for over 31 years. Her experience has led her from post-open heart surgery to coronary PCI/stents, electrophysiology procedures, cardiac research and management of CCU's and cardiac cath labs.

When the opportunity became available to become the administrator for a brand new cardiac ASC, she was thrilled to take the opportunity. It's been a wonderful experience to provide safe, efficient and quality care for her ASC's patients, at a reduced financial cost.

Sheree has been the DON/administrator at the Heart & Rhythm Institute of Trinity since January 2016. She and her staff overcame a large learning curve transitioning from the hospital mentality, but she is pleased with their patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, physician satisfaction and the reduction in health care expenses.

William Lindeman, AIA

Mr. Lindeman is the President of WEL Designs, PLC, a consulting firm for health care facility development and regulatory compliance. As a licensed architect working with ambulatory and acute care providers since early 1983, he has been instrumental in the planning and design of millions of square feet of Ambulatory Surgery Centers, medical practice suites, and other health care facilities. He has been an active contributor to development of national guidelines for healthcare facility design, and remains instrumental in the development of independent accreditation standards. His company is the Physical Environment Consultant to the AAAHC, in which capacity he is responsible for development and maintenance of the AAAHC’s Life Safety Code survey tools and process, and is an active Medicare Life Safety Code surveyor.

Monica Livingston

Monica Livingston has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry starting in retail pharmacy, then pharmaceutical reverse distribution, and, for the past 17 years, pharmaceutical waste management. She co-founded Capital Returns, Inc., a pharmaceutical reverse distributor, in 1991 and served as VP of Operations through 1999. Ms. Livingston has been instrumental in developing the entire PharmEcology Services program almost since its inception in 2000. She is responsible for coordinating all services and provides on-site consulting and training.

Lindsay Lowder

Lindsay Lowder is the senior director of payment innovation solutions for SCA, where she has worked for six and a half years. In her current role, Lindsay leads SCA’s work implementing value-based programs across the country. She manages several of SCA’s large payer relationships, forging partnerships designed to drive care into low-cost, high-quality settings. She also spearheads SCA’s state and federal advocacy initiatives, working closely with the team at ASCA to advance the public voice of SCA’s ASCs and surgical hospitals. She recently became a board member of ASCAPAC. Prior to joining the team at SCA, she worked for ASCA (formerly the ASC Association) for eight years and was the executive director of the Board of Ambulatory Surgery Certification. She is delighted to welcome ASCA and all its members to her home city of Boston, where she lives with her husband and three small children.

Deborah Mack, BSN, CNOR, CASC

Debbie currently provides healthcare consulting services to ASC’s focusing on developing and maintaining comprehensive Quality and Risk programs. She assists facilities with survey readiness for CMS and accreditation agencies. Prior to consulting, she was a VP of Operations for a management company overseeing the operations and development of ASC's and surgical hospitals. She has worked in the ASC industry in California since 1993, beginning as an Administrator of a surgery center. Debbie served on the Board of the California Ambulatory Surgery Association for 15 years; including Past President. She continues to date to serve as Chair of the Education Committee, including developing the CASA Infection Control Seminar for over 10 years

Michele McKinley, LVN, CRCST, CIS, CHL, AGTS, ASQ CMQ/OE

Michele’s current role is senior clinical education specialist for STERIS Corporation. Michele has been in the health care field for 39 years, as an operating room technician, materials management coordinator/operating room, materials manager and site manager for outsourced sterile processing. Michele has also worked as a consultant in the areas of sterile processing, operating room and endoscopy cleaning and sterilization processes. Michele is an LVN, CRCST, CIS, CHL, AGTS, ASQ CMQ/OE and is a member of IAHCSMM, AORN, SGNA, APIC and ASQ.

Ashley Morgan, JD, CMCO, CMRS

Ashley Morgan is a senior associate attorney at Liles Parker's Washington, DC, office where she focuses her practice on regulatory health care compliance matters, fraud and abuse, and reimbursement issues. Ashley is particularly knowledgeable about the regulatory challenges faced by ASCs, especially as they relate to fraud and abuse. Ashley is also well versed in documentation issues and has extensive experience working on administrative appeals of large alleged extrapolated overpayments assessed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) contractors.

Kara Newbury

Kara Marshall Newbury serves as regulatory counsel for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA), and through this role spearheads ASCA's federal regulatory efforts. Prior to this role, Kara coordinated state legislative, regulatory and public affairs for the association. Before joining ASCA, Kara served as the assistant director, state government affairs at the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations and staff attorney and director of government relations for the Community Financial Services Association. Kara received her undergraduate and law degree from The Ohio State University.

Gerald Nussbaum, JD, CPA, CMA, RCDD

Gerard has over thirty years of experience in assisting a wide variety of healthcare entities--from large health systems and academic medical centers through community hospitals, and ambulatory surgery center and clinicians in private practice--address their most pressing challenges. He is an accomplished healthcare executive with mastery of information technology, healthcare operations, legal and regulatory issues; deep experience in information technology strategic planning, regulatory compliance programs, merger and acquisition planning and execution; and interim management. Gerard has focused his career on helping healthcare organizations achieve real world solutions to help drive the industry forward. Gerard is a frequent public speaker and author on a wide variety of healthcare topics. The diversity and scope of his experience and expertise has enabled Gerard to assist clients in Bridging Health Technology and Law.

Kelly Ogle, BS, MS, CMPM, CHOP®

Kelly provides OSHA and HIPAA training and consulting to help medical and dental practices maintain compliance within their facilities. She conveys the importance of a safe environment for employees while reducing the risk of penalties for the practice. In addition to delivering training, Kelly performs mock OSHA and HIPAA audits to help clients take corrective action to help reduce the risk of penalties before they happen.

In addition to holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Dental Hygiene from East Tennessee State University and a Master’s Degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Walden University, Kelly has successfully completed the General Industry for OSHA course, is a Certified Healthcare OSHA Professional (CHOP®) through the AAPOL and is a Certified Medical Practice Manager (CMPM®) through DM University. She is currently attending Walden University to obtain her Doctorate in Healthcare Administration.

Riley Orr, MBA

Riley Orr is the administrator of Baylor Surgicare at Mansfield, a multi-specialty ASC in Dallas/Forth Worth. While at his facility, Mr. Orr, alongside facility physicians and USPI leadership, embarked on a project to implement the first robotics program in an outpatient setting within the DFW market. Since the implementation of Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Si-e robot in early 2016, Baylor Surgicare at Mansfield has performed over 225 robotics cases in the last year and a half. He is now assisting in the strategic implementation of robotics programs in other USPI facilities.

Colin Park

Colin Park is a director at VMG Health in the Dallas office. He specializes in providing financial, valuation, and transaction advisory services to the firm’s healthcare clients. His clients include health systems, ambulatory surgery centers, surgical hospitals, oncology centers, diagnostic imaging centers, dialysis centers, physicians groups, and numerous other ancillary healthcare service businesses.

Mr. Park is also a research associate and collaborator in the development and publication of the Intellimarker Multi-Specialty ASC Benchmarking Study published annually by VMG Health. The Intellimarker presents hundreds of operating and financial benchmarking statistics using data from approximately 200 ambulatory surgery centers from around the country.

Mr. Park is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of Texas and currently pursuing an Accredited Senior Appraiser designation from the American Society of Appraisers (ASA).

Michael Patterson, FACHE

Michael J. Patterson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mississippi Valley Health (MVH). He is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day business operations and providing leadership and direction for all aspects of patient care, operational excellence, and business development services provided by MVH. This includes Mississippi Valley Surgery Center, Mississippi Valley Endoscopy Center, Mississippi Medical Plaza Development Corporation and its related entities.

For the past 20 years his professional career has encompassed a variety of positions in the healthcare field ranging from a Registered Nurse in a Level I Trauma Center to the Chief Administrative Officer of a 350 bed community hospital and Chief Nurse Executive of a 3 hospital health system.

Michael has served over 23 years in both the Active and Reserve components of the US Navy. He retired with full honors in 2012.

William Phillips, PhD, CGC, CIAQP, CLSS-HC, CSITMS

William R Phillips received various advanced degrees in education and varying credentials before moving into healthcare facility management in 1983. He served nearly 14 years in a variety of roles as hospital engineer and integrated support services; later as support services administrator in several hospitals and facilities.

In 1994 he established in partnership a company manufacturing and exporting fully equipped modular surgical facilities and clinics for export and designed review programs for indoor air quality compliance and life safety compliance in long-term care facilities and standalone surgical facilities.

In 1998 he established his own company specializing in compliance for licensed ambulatory surgical centers. He provides services and consulting compliance services for locations in 14 states and 3 foreign countries. The principal focus of services is for physical plant compliance with life safety/CMS standards, licensure standards and accreditation standards primarily for VHR, AAAHC and JACHO.

Bill Prentice

Bill Prentice is the chief executive officer of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) and the ASCA Foundation (ASCAF). ASCA is the national organization representing the approximately 5,400 ambulatory surgery centers in the US, and provides advocacy, education, benchmarking and staff training for its many members.

Under his tenure, ASCA has achieved record membership numbers, significantly increased revenue while reducing expenses, developed a number of new membership programs and services and dramatically strengthened its advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and with relevant federal agencies.

Before joining ASCA, Mr. Prentice was a senior executive at other national and state associations, a lobbyist at both the federal and state levels and vice president of a contract lobbying and public affairs firm in New Jersey. He started his career on Capitol Hill, where he worked for both a member of congress and on the staff of a House Committee.

Bill holds an undergraduate degree in political science from The George Washington University, a master’s degree in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

Salvatore Puccio

Salvatore Puccio is a Partner at Garfunkel Wild, PC, He is a member of the firm’s Employment Law Group and focuses a great deal of his practice on employment related matters. Sal also has particular experience in counseling clients concerning the employer-employee relationship including the defense of wage and hour, age, race, gender, national origin, and disability discrimination, and sexual harassment lawsuits. He is also a member of the firm's Litigation and Arbitration Group and Appellate Group, which advise clients on a host of litigation issues in both federal and state court, including representing clients in breach of contract matters, managed care disputes, partnership disputes and breakups, antitrust matters, construction litigation, and landlord/tenant disputes. Sal previously served as the General Counsel for Breast Cancer Help, Inc. and was an adjunct professor at New York Institute of Technology from 2005-2008, where he instructed students in Political Science and History courses.

Colin Rorrie, PhD, FASAE, CAE

Colin Rorrie spent twenty-five years as the CEO of the American College of Emergency Physicians and Meeting Professionals International. In 2006, he opened CCR & Associates, a national consulting firm, that works with non-profit organizations. The focus of the firm is on strategic planning, organization assessments and leadership/governance development. The majority of the work is in healthcare.

Jason Ross, JD

Jason C. Ross is a partner at Higgs, Fletcher & Mack (“Higgs”), a 75-lawyer firm located in San Diego, California. His legal practice is devoted almost exclusively to representing employers of all sizes, including various Fortune 500 companies, in employment, class action, and business litigation in state and federal courts throughout California. This includes defense in single-plaintiff employment litigation of various types, including harassment and wrongful termination suits, as well as large wage-and-hour class and representative actions. He is regularly recognized as a top attorney in his field and location.

Timothy Russell

Mr. Russell entered on duty with the FBI as a computer specialist in the Miami Field Office in 1999, and as a Special Agent assigned to the Boston Field office in 2002. Since reporting to Boston, Mr. Russell has investigated Internet Fraud, Intellectual Property crimes and complex Criminal and National Security Computer Intrusion matters. In 2013, Mr. Russell reported as the acting Cyber Assistant Legal Attaché (ALAT) for the FBI’s London office. In 2014, Mr. Russell served as a Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) in the Asia Cyber Operations Unit at FBI Headquarters, Cyber Division. In 2016, Mr. Russell was appointed as the SSA for the Boston Criminal Cyber squad, with responsibilities for criminal Cyber matters in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

Mary Ryan, BSN, MBA, CASC

Mary became an Administrator in 2001 and remained in that role for 15 years. She also held positions as Regional Manager and Clinical Consultant for Health Inventures and Johnson and Johnson and as a Group Clinical Director for Surgical Care Affiliates. Mary was one of the founding members of the Iowa ASC Association and served as the first President as well as multiple recurrent appointments as president. Mary currently serves on the BASC Board and is CASC certified.

Nader Samii

Nader, as chief executive officer of National Medical, has guided the company into its position as the largest and most reputable revenue cycle management company in the ASC market. National Medical has won numerous national awards for best outsourcing companies and best places to work in health care. Nader leads the company’s strategic direction with a strong emphasis on exceptional client services, lean and efficient processes, cutting edge technologies and insightful analytics.

Prior to National Medical, Nader was the co-founder and president of Ajuba International, an award-winning health care revenue cycle company that was created in 2001 and grew to approximately 2,000 employees by 2009. Prior to Ajuba International, Nader was an investment banker at both Merrill Lynch and UBS and also served as a corporate finance attorney at Dykema Gossett.

Nader has a BBA/BA in finance/economics from the University of Notre Dame and a JD/MBA from the University of Wisconsin.

Marcy Sasso, CASC

Marcy Sasso, CASC; of Sasso Consulting, LLC, has more than 26 years of administrative and management experience in the healthcare industry. Her experience encompasses a variety of leadership positions including Operations, Compliance, and Marketing for multi-specialty Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) and Hospitals.

She has extensive experience in the areas of policies and procedures, benchmarking, QA, staff education and mock surveys. During her career, she has participated in more than 55 CMS, State and Accrediting Organization surveys, from survey prep through Plan of Correction.

Marcy is a Co-founder of the Surgery Center Coalition (SCC); a non-profit, educational resource group with over 1500 members that provides ongoing education and support to Administrators, Nurse Managers, Physicians, Accountants and ASC Personnel. SurgeryCenterCoalition.org Marcy@SassoASC.com

Laura Schneider, RN, CGRN, CFER, CASC

Laura Schneider has 33 years of GI nursing experience with 27 of years in GI Management. In 2003 Laura was invited to China to speak on Endoscope Reprocessing Standards in the US, and this sparked her interest in scope reprocessing. She became certified in Gastroenterology Nursing in 1990 (ABCGN), CASC in 2011, and Endoscopy Reprocessing in 2015 (CBSPD). She is a Trainer for the SGNA’s Endoscope Reprocessing ‘Train the Trainer’ Courses and she has given several presentations on scope reprocessing at SGNA and APIC regional and national Conferences. Laura is currently a Senior Clinical Director for the AmSurg Corporate Office in Dallas where she assists Center Leaders on Quality issues at 18 outpatient endoscopy centers.

Scott Schoeffel

Scott Schoeffel is a partner in the Irvine, California office of Nossaman LLP. He has over 35 years experience as a healthcare, business, real estate, and land use lawyer. His legal and management experience includes serving as vice-president and assistant general counsel of a national publicly-traded health system and as executive vice president and general counsel of a publicly traded hospital system in Orange County, California. Mr. Schoeffel has served many years as an appointed and elected official. He is a former Mayor and City Council member of Dana Point, California and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of CalOptima, the public agency that operates the Medicaid managed care plan that provides healthcare to one out of four Orange County residents. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California-Santa Barbara and his law degree from the University of California-Berkeley, Boalt Hall.

David Shapiro, MD, CHC, CHCQM, CHPRM, LHRM

David Shapiro, MD, is an anesthesiologist from Florida who has had extensive experience serving as a department chair, medical director and board member of several ambulatory surgery centers. In addition, Dr. Shapiro has served as the national medical director on behalf of ASC management corporations, prior to establishing his consulting practice. His areas of expertise encompass a wide range of disciplines primarily focused on all aspects of ASC development, administration and operations. These include clinical quality, regulatory compliance and medical liability in the ambulatory surgery arena.

Ann Shimek, RN, BSN, MSN, CASC

Ann Shimek is the Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations for United Surgical Partners, Intl responsible for all clinical oversight for the organization. Her primary goals are to develop a team of clinical experts to provide the tools and resources necessary to empower the clinical staff of the organization to deliver the care to every patient that they would insist on for one of their family members or loved ones. Ann has been with USPI since 2003 and has a passion to provide the highest quality of care to every USPI patient. Prior to assuming the role in clinical operations, Ann was involved in Materials Management and Strategic Initiatives.

Ann has been in the health care industry for over 25 years primarily in and around the operating room. She graduated Sum Cum Laude from Wright State University with her BSN and received her MSN with honors from Benedictine University. Ann is a Board Member for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, on the Technical Committee for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Quality Collaborative and on the ASC Quality Collaborative Committee for Electronic Health Record for the ASC. Ann is a member of Sigma Theta Tau.

Kathleen Skibinski, MS, RPh

Kathleen Skibinski is an Implementation Consultant for PharmEcology Services, a business unit of WM Sustainability Services. She has management and leadership experience in delivering hospital pharmacy services since the 1980's with a focus on safe medication management, pharmacy operations, and quality patient care outcomes. In addition, Ms. Skibinski has been a consultant for healthcare organizations to ensure successful accreditation visits. She received her B.S. in Pharmacy and M.S. in Hospital Pharmacy Administration from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Kathy is a member of the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin and the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists. She can be reached at (608 535 0922) and at kskibin1@wm.com

Donna Slosburg, RN, BSN, LHRM, CASC

Donna Slosburg is Executive Director of the ASC Quality Collaboration. Donna oversees and participates in a broad range of quality-related projects on behalf of the ASC industry, and speaks across the country regarding ASC quality measurement. In addition to directing internal ASC quality measure development and overseeing the public reporting of ASC quality data, she has collaborated with other organizations focused on advancing quality, including recent work with the CDC and AHRQ. Donna is currently a member of several Technical Expert Panels. She is a speaker for the AORN Ambulatory Administrator Skills Course. Donna is a Licensed Healthcare Risk Manager and Certified Administrator Surgery Center.

Daren Smith, RN

Daren Smith is the Senior Clinical Solutions Specialist for AmkaiSolutions. In this role, Daren serves as a product and industry subject matter expert, frequently speaking at industry events and contributing to industry publications such as Becker’s ASC Review and ASC Focus Magazine. Previously, Daren worked as the director of clinical services for Surgical Management Professionals (SMP), an ASC and surgical hospital management and development company. Daren has also held the position of director of outpatient services for Avera McKennan Hospital, administrator and CEO of Fremont Surgical Center, and nurse manager at Grand Island Surgery Center. He is a graduate of Clarkson College and the University of South Dakota.

Missy Soliz, RN

Missy Soliz is the Quality and Risk Manager (QRM) for Mississippi Valley Surgery Center and Mississippi Valley Endoscopy Center. As QRM Manager, she is responsible for the administration, development, implementation, and evaluation of the facility’s overall Quality Improvement and Risk Management Programs. Key activities include collaboration with the leadership team on facility-wide QRM activities, policy and procedure development, staff development and education, risk identification and mitigation, improvement plan development and implementation, and management of compliance with regulatory and Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) standards and requirements. Missy serves as a quality, risk management, and compliance resource for all staff members and health care providers in both facilities.

In 2002, Missy graduated from Scott Community College with an Associate Degree in Nursing and in 2013 she graduated summa cum laude from Trinity College of Nursing and Health Sciences with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree.

Missy is a technical advisory panel member for AAAHC orthopedic/total joint replacement certification. She is a member of National Association of Orthopedic Nurses (NAON), the American Society of Perianesthesia Nurses (ASPAN), the Association of perioperative Nurses (AORN), the national Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) and, at the state level, the Iowa Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (IAASC). Missy is active on the IAASC’s education committee. Aligning with the IAASC’s mission to advance educational opportunities for the ASC industry, the committee plans a day and a half annual conference specifically focused on issues and topics relevant to the Ambulatory Surgery Center setting.

Mark Stadler

Mark Stadler is the chief executive officer of BridgeHealth, a bundled medical services benefit management company that offers a suite of products for self-insured group health plans to improve the quality of outcomes of surgery, reduce costs and positively affect the rate of unnecessary surgery. In 2015, 2016 and an unprecedented third year in 2017, BridgeHealth was named to the prestigious Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest growing private companies in America.

Prior to joining BridgeHealth, Mark spent five years as the chief marketing officer at HealthSmart, the largest independent third-party administrator in America. Mark has served in multiple executive sales positions that include senior vice president for the US Markets for Great-West Healthcare and chief growth officer for Specialized Care Services (now Optum Health), a United Healthcare company. He also brings an extensive background in health care consulting, where he spent nearly 18 years with Mercer Human Resource Consulting leading their organization in Chicago and other areas throughout the Midwest. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business from Loyola University of Los Angeles.

Debra Stinchcomb, RN, BSN, MBA, CASC

Debra Stinchcomb has 30 years of health care experience including development, clinical, administrative, operations and sales. The last 16 years have been focused exclusively in the ASC industry. Her responsibilities have included budget development/management, revenue/expense management, contract negotiation, licensing/certification/accreditation compliance, marketing, risk management, quality improvement and benchmarking. Debra is a Registered Nurse, having received her BSN and MBA. She is the founder/past President/current Vice President of Arkansas Ambulatory Surgery Association and has served nationally as a past board member of FASA and the ASC Association. She received her CASC credential in 2002. Debra was an AAAHC surveyor 2001 - 2007 and is Past Chair of the Ambulatory Joint Commission Professional and Technical Advisory Committee. Debra is Chair of the ASCA Quality and Patient Safety Committee and serves as a member of the Ambulatory Surgery Advisory Board for OR Manager.

Larry Taylor, ATC

Larry Taylor has over 30 years of experience in health care delivery, management and physician relations. Prior to founding Practice Partners in Healthcare, Inc, in 2005, he served as president and chief operating officer of HealthSouth, one of the largest providers of ambulatory surgery centers in the United States. Since founding Practice Partners, the team has developed and opened over 20 surgery centers and has a pipeline of centers under development and construction. Larry also has a background in education and currently serves as an adjunct professor in health care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and participates as a board member for several not-for-profit entities. Currently, Larry serves as the Board Vice President for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association and the Ambulatory Surgery Center Foundation. He is a graduate of West Virginia University and a nationally certified athletic trainer.

Rebecca Taylor, RN, BSN

Rebecca Taylor is the surgical services program manager at Olympia Orthopaedic Associates, PLLC (OOA). She has 10 years of experience working with orthopaedic patients, primarily patients undergoing total joint replacement surgeries. Rebecca started as a nurse navigator at Olympia Surgery Center, managing their outpatient total joint program at the beginning of 2015. She presently manages the center's Bundled Payment for Care Improvement program.

Darcy Thor, MBA, CMRP, CPC-A

Darcy Thor graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Accounting, and received a MBA emphasizing Finance and Accounting with honors. As chief financial officer of Harmony Surgery Center and Peak Surgical Management, Ms. Thor is responsible for the financial health of these companies. Ms. Thor oversees the business functions of the facility, including vendor contracting, GPO compliance and utilization, annual budget preparation and financial audit.

Gina Throneberry, RN, MBA, CNOR, CASC

Gina Throneberry is the Director of Education and Clinical Affairs for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA). In this role she educates members and non-members to the Medicare Quality Measure Reporting Program for Ambulatory Surgery Centers. She also works with federal agencies (Medicare, CDC, and FDA) in regards to clinical, regulatory, and quality issues/concerns among the ambulatory surgery center industry. Ms. Throneberry is the past President of the Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (TASCA) and a current board member. She is also a surveyor with the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare (AAAHC).

Arnaldo Valedon, MD

Arnaldo Valedon, MD is an anesthesiologist practicing day surgery for twenty two years. He received his undergraduate education at Cornell University in 1987 followed by a doctorate degree in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1991. He continued his training in anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania, with sub-specialty training in pediatric anesthesia at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. After finishing his training, Dr. Valedon has provided outpatient anesthesia services almost exclusively and has served as medical director of two outpatient surgery centers. Currently, he is a Managing Partner and Executive Director of Ambulatory Surgery Division of First Colonies Anesthesia Associates in Maryland. He recently served as a board member of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA), and is the Chair-Elect for the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare (AAAHC). He is a member of the General Assembly and Executive Committee for the International Association for Ambulatory Surgery (IAAS). Dr. Valedon is the current President of the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA) and is part of ambulatory surgery committee for the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).

Tom Wilson

Mr. Wilson was raised in Berkeley, California attended UC Berkeley and Utah State University where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biology and Genetics respectively. Returning back to Berkeley he received a Master’s of Public Health in Hospital Administration.

His career has centered on hospital and ASC management and ownership. He started his current firm WellSpring Associates which manages five ASCs on the Central Coast of California and Global One Ventures, the largest bundler of commercially insured insurance surgery cases within a narrow network of ASCs in California. The G1 network of approximately 70 ASCs and over 400 surgeons and anesthesiologists will perform over 3,000 bundled surgery cases in 2017.

Mr. Wilson is a pioneer and leader in the ASC industry being past president of ASCA and California Ambulatory Surgery Association. He is the California Insurance Commission appointee on the California Insurance Guarantee Association.

Andre Witkin, MD

Andre J. Witkin, MD, is a board certified ophthalmologist and a fellowship-trained vitreoretinal specialist and surgeon. Dr. Witkin was an ophthalmology resident at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA. He then completed a 2-year vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Witkin finished his fellowship in 2012 and came back to Tufts Medical Center as an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology. Since coming back to Boston, Dr. Witkin has become one of the busiest vitreoretinal surgeons in New England, performing between 200-250 retina surgeries per year. He also serves as the Director of Clinical Research at the New England Eye Center of Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Witkin performs vitreoretinal surgery at Tufts Medical Center, Surgisite Boston, and at the Portsmouth Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center.

Cindy Young, BSN, RN, CASC

Mrs. Young has served as the Administrator of Surgery Center of Farmington for the past 15 years. The Surgery Center of Farmington has two operating room and two procedure room and provides multi-specialty outpatient surgical services. This facility has 21 physicians and allied health professionals on staff and performs over 4000 procedures per year.

Mrs. Young’s accomplishments have included successful three year Accreditations with AAAHC, Administrator of the year with ASD management in 2001, CASC certification 2007, serves on MASCA board and currently serves on ASCA/ASF board. She has been recognized in Becker’s ASC review as one of the ASC Administrators to know. Mrs. Young has spoken at several ASCA annual conferences, FSASC annual meeting and ASCA webinars.

Becky Ziegler-Otis, RHIA, CPHQ, CHC, CASC

Becky has worked as the Administrator of the Ambulatory Surgical Center since 2008. Prior to working at the surgical center, she was employed at an Orthopedic Clinic where her role was to assist providers with the implementation of the electronic health record. She also has experience as a Compliance Officer, Director of Quality Management and Director of Health Information Management. She served as a Covey Facilitator and as a Wisconsin Forward Award Examiner.

The Ambulatory Surgical Center of Stevens Point is a multi-specialty surgical center located in central Wisconsin. The innovative surgical center began performing joint replacements in 2010; and in 2015 took on the project of developing a bundled orthopedic program. The facility began seeing bundled patients in 2017.