Speaking Faculty

Throughout her career, Ms. Allen’s primary passion has been on serving the needs of those most at risk in our communities. She has served in a number of capacities in the nonprofit, education and workforce development arenas, and has worked across the generations to ensure vulnerable and at-risk individuals have access to the resources and services they need to thrive.

Ms. Allen began her career as a special education teacher and school administrator on Andros Island, Bahamas, and later accepted positions with AARP Foundation’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) as Project Director and Assistant National Director. She then served as Director, Workforce Programs, for AARP before being named Vice President, Income Security, for AARP Foundation in 2011.

In 2016, Ms. Allen was named Senior Vice President, Programs, and now leads a team of Foundation innovators and social entrepreneurs to develop effective solutions that address the social determinants of health and help vulnerable, low-income older adults secure the essentials. In this role, she oversees AARP Foundation’s longstanding national programs like SCSEP, Tax-Aide and Experience Corps, as well as new innovations designed to increase economic opportunity and social connections that help prevent and reduce senior poverty.

Ms. Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Westminster College and a master’s degree in human and organizational learning from The George Washington University.

Scott Anders, M.D., FAAFP, CPE, serves as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Tenet Physician Resources, supporting physician recruitment and retention, company and market growth, clinical and quality strategies, technology integration and improving the patient experience.

Dr. Anders works closely with Tenet’s CMO to enhance the organization’s position as a provider of holistic, high value care that meets the needs of patients across the care continuum. He is responsible for patient experience, clinical and quality strategies, including MACRA performance, employee and patient safety, virtual visits and clinical technology integration.

Dr. Anders has more than 15 years as a senior physician executive and his passion in healthcare is improving the physician work experience, enhancing the patient experience, and managing Tenet’s population health strategy. Prior to joining TPR, Dr. Anders was a division medical director for the Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA), where he helped drive dynamic growth from 100 to 180+ employed multispecialty physicians.

A physician by training, Dr. Anders is board certified in family medicine and is a licensed specialist in hypertension certified by the American Society of Hypertension. He has patient practice experience across many avenues, including emergency room, hospital, ICU, ambulatory and geriatrics.

Dr. Anders has an executive MBA from the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business and received certification as a physician executive from the American College of Physician Executives. He graduated summa cum laude in aerospace engineering and mechanics from the University of Minnesota.

Leah Binder is President & CEO of The Leapfrog Group, representing employers and other purchasers of health care calling for improved safety and quality in hospitals. She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com, the Huffington Post, and the Wall Street Journal expert forum. She was named on Becker’s list of the 50 most powerful people in healthcare, and consistently cited by Modern Healthcare among the 100 most influential people and top 25 women in healthcare.

Ken Botsford serves as Chief Medical Officer at naviHealth. Ken has over 23 years of experience in internal medicine and infectious diseases and has served in numerous consulting and Medical Director roles, as well as Chief of Staff for a hospital. Prior to joining naviHealth, Ken served as the Chief Medical Officer at HealthSpring, Inc. for Alabama, southern Mississippi, and northern Florida. In addition, he also co-founded an independent practice association (IPA) and an electronic medical records company.

Dr. Sunil Budhrani is the Chief Medical Officer for Innovation Health, a uniquely successful partnership between Aetna and one of the largest health systems in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area, INOVA Health System. Dr. Budhrani is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Neuroscience and English. He went on to complete his Medical Degree at the George Washington University, where he then pursued his Masters in Public Health due to an interest in Population Health Dynamics. Subsequently, he completed his Residency training in Emergency Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, and went on to Chair and direct Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Centers throughout the East Coast. Dr. Budhrani then served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Evergreen Health Cooperative Insurance for the State of Maryland and led the clinical course for medical technology, network development, member engagement, and Population Health for the Plan. He co-founded CareClix Telemedicine, a leading pioneer in Telemedicine and Remote Patient Monitoring technologies with users throughout the United States and abroad. He as well served as the Chair of the American Telemedicine Association's Guidelines Committee for Practice of Primary Care and Urgent Care Telemedicine, has authored many papers on the subject of Telemedicine, and is a National Speaker on Virtual Medical Care on such topics as Reducing Hospital Readmissions and Employing Telemedicine in Medical Practices. He currently resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and two daughters.

As the EntrepreNURSE-in-Residence at REshape Innovation Center at Radboud University Medical Center and part of the Exponential Medicine team at Singularity University, Shawna brings the clinical, practical, and human sensibilities of a nurse to work with early-stage ventures, large-scale enterprises, and emerging and converging technologies. She listens, learns, finds, and activates the mavericks and projects with a serious chance of delivering better health outcomes and making society stronger.

At Exponential Medicine, the focus is on the opportunities presented by robotics, AI, VR, machine learning, supercomputing, genetic sequencing, blockchain, 3D printing, drones, crowd + cloud solutions, and other technology advances; convene the community experimenting with them; and accelerate the distribution of adoption and impact.

Projects Shawna has shaped and launched include the EntrepreNURSE-in-Residence role in the Netherlands, an enterprise-wide digital radiology solution, an international emergency medicine training rotation between a US medical school and a New Zealand hospital system, and the Cancer XPRIZE focused on early detection.

She serves as an advisor to a variety of local, national, and global initiatives including Food+City, End Well, Dutch Health Innovation School, SXSW Accelerator, MassChallenge Texas, Impact Pediatric Health, Nursing Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Northeastern University, and Austin Chamber Music Center.

Her clinical nursing experience includes emergency, cardiac, critical care, international medical flight transport, and workplace wellness.

Her talent is scanning the horizon for game-changing patterns and identifying + connecting the thought leaders provoking them. Shawna brings sharp wit, common sense, and deep caring to projects worth doing and ideas worth spreading.

Mark Caron is the Chief Executive Officer of Geneia and Executive Vice-President of Business Platforms and Systems at Capital BlueCross. He has more than 30 years of business and technology expertise with more than 25 years in health care traversing both health care delivery systems and health insurers.

His experience also includes senior leadership roles as the CIO of the Collaborative Care division of OptumHealth, Senior Vice President & CIO at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin, Senior Vice President & CIO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Chief Technology Officer at Catholic Health Initiatives (a 78 hospital system), and Vice President of Information Systems at Healthsource.

He earned a bachelor‘s degree in Computer Science from Franklin Pierce College and has a MBA and a master’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Southern New Hampshire University. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), certified as a Healthcare Chief Information Officer through the College of Healthcare Information Executives, and is a member of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and of the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS).

Jeffrey Conklin Vice President, Payer & Network Strategies President, Adventist Health Managed Care President/CEO, Adventist Health Plan, Inc. Jeff Conklin joined Adventist Health as a corporate vice president and president, Adventist Health Managed Care in 2008. In 2012, Conklin transitioned into a new role with responsibility for advancing Adventist Health’s payer and network strategies. Additionally, in 2014 he became president/CEO of Adventist Health Plan, Inc., a newly formed KnoxKeene Plan. His background includes more than 30 years of leadership in managed care and in developing/managing physician organizations. A health care executive with extensive experience in senior leadership roles for health care systems, hospitals, IPAs/Medical Groups and management services organizations, Conklin possesses expertise in managed care strategy and contracting, accountable care, Independent Physician Association (IPA) development and administration, medical group management, and business development.

Since July 2014, Michael J. Consuelos, MD, MBA, has served as the senior vice president for clinical integration at the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP). Dr. Consuelos works with member hospital and health system leaders, as well as other stakeholders, to promote innovative ways of improving health care delivery.

Dr. Consuelos leads HAP’s physician leadership initiative. Through this, he engages physician leaders, supports hospital and health system leadership in developing new payment models, works to improve the quality of clinical care, and supports integration of care across the continuum. Dr. Consuelos also encourages the sharing of best practices and the involvement of thought leadership to strengthen the hospital-physician relationship.

Dr. Consuelos has held multiple physician leadership positions, encompassing physician practices and pediatric service lines since 1997. He has extensive experience leading health system capital planning, strategic business ventures, physician compensation plans, and community pandemic response. Dr. Consuelos has also coached physician leaders and lectured on a variety of leadership competencies.

Dr. Consuelos received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his pediatric training at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He received his Executive MBA from the Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

David Contorno is Founder of E Powered Benefits. As a native of New York, David began his career in the insurance industry at the age of 14, and has since become a leading expert in the realm of employee benefits over the last 21 years. The Hilb Group continues to grow organically by ensuring all management is handled locally, providing top notch solutions and supports, and through strategic acquisitions.

Among his many accolades, David received a Broker Spotlight in 2004 and was recognized as an outstanding Broker of Service in 2005 through 2014 by Blue Cross Blue Shield. He has continually received the Echelon Award by United Healthcare since 2003, reserved for the top 1% of agents nationally, and was a 2015 "40 Under 40" Award Winner presented by Charlotte Business Journal. Most recently, David was Benefits Selling Magazine's 2015 Broker of the Year and, in March 2016, Forbes deemed him "One of America's Most Innovative Benefits Leaders."

David is a member of the Board of Directors for both the Charlotte Association of Health Underwriters and Healthreach Community Clinic. He served on the NC Insurance Commissioners Life and Health Agent Advisory Committee, as well as participated in the Technical Advisory Group that helped with the Market Reforms required under the Affordable Care Act in North Carolina. He is a long-time member of the Lake Norman and South Iredell Chambers of Commerce as well as the National, North Carolina, New York and Long Island Associations of Health Underwriters. David contributes to numerous publications, including Forbes, Benefits Selling Magazine, Business Leader Magazine and Insurance Thought Leadership.

David is committed to giving back to his community and actively participates in the membership drive for the United Way, assisting the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and supporting The Dove House Child Advocacy Center. When he is not working, he enjoys boating, traveling, and being with his wife, Heather, and their two children, Hannah and Ethan.

Michelle Copenhaver is the Regional Vice President of Aetna’s Southeast Territories. She has 30 years of experience in the health care industry, both in the clinical realm as a Registered Nurse and as a Healthcare Executive in the payer space. Currently, she leads a team that manages multiple ACO and other Value-Based Model Commercial and Medicare Advantage Collaborations throughout the southeast region including Contracting, Relationship Engagement, Operations and Day-to Day Management Excellence, Strategic Expansion, Establishing Win-Wins for Provider Partnership Relationship, creating Continuous Improvement, Growth and Sustainability.

As the president and CEO of Northwest Permanente (NWP), Imelda Dacones, MD, leads more than 1,700 physicians, clinicians, and administrators at the largest independent, physician-led, and multi-specialty professional corporation in Oregon and SW Washington. Together they serve the more than 580,000 members of Kaiser Permanente’s Northwest Region in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

During her time with Northwest Permanente, she’s received its once-in-a-career-time NWP Distinguished Physician Award in 2012. Her colleagues have also nominated and won her the distinction of a “Top Doc” for 2013, 2014, and 2016 in Portland Monthly magazine.

Dr. Dacones joined NWP in 1999 as a primary care physician in internal medicine and became a hospitalist full time in 2002. After five years as the lead hospitalist for the West Service Area, she became in 2011 the physician leader for the planning and opening of Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro, Oregon. She became the chief of Staff and chief medical officer when the facility opened in 2013. In 2014, Dr. Dacones transitioned into regional leadership as NWP’s regional chief medical officer and director of Hospital Operations. In 2015 she was named CEO and president – the second woman to hold this position since the organization’s founding in 1942.

Dr. Dacones received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Chicago, where she also completed her internship and residency training.

She currently sits on the foundation board of Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, whose mission is to surmount social barriers to provide high-quality, comprehensive, and culturally appropriate primary health care to all community members of Washington and Yamhill Counties. This commitment stems from her passion to ensure than everyone has access to affordable and quality health care regardless of economic or residency status. Dr. Dacones also is committed to innovation in medical education and nurturing the future generation of physicians. She sits on the board of directors for the inaugural Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, planned to open in Pasadena, Calif.

For some of her written and opinion pieces, plus updates on Dr. Dacones’ most recent activities you can follow her on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Dr. Sanjay Doddamani is the Chief Medical Officer of Geisinger at Home, a home-based model of care for Geisinger’s population of medically complex patients. He leads a large clinical team across the primary service area in Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania. He also serves as Chief Medical Officer of the Keystone ACO, and is a Senior Director in Population Health. In this capacity, he works with the executive leadership to accelerate improvement of performance metrics across the system, working closely with the service line, hospital and community healthcare and operational leadership, to improve integration of population health initiatives.

His clinical background as a practicing heart failure cardiologist has helped provide deep insights in to chronic conditions and the struggles faced by patients and their caregivers. Dr. Doddamani is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology, as well as in heart failure and cardiac transplant. He has served on numerous panels and committees and presented on diverse topics both nationally and abroad.

Dr. Sunnie Giles is President of Quantum Leadership Group. She is the author of The New Science of Radical Innovation (2018). She catalyzes leaders to produce radical innovation and redefine the game as individuals and organizations. She is a TEDx speaker on radical innovation.

She is an advisor at the Stanford Business School Institute of Innovation in Developing Economies. Her recent research on global leadership for innovation has been published by Harvard Business Review. She is a regular contributor on Forbes, and has been published on INC., World Financial Review, the Leadership Network, Training Industry, the Korea Times, and Management Matters Network.

Dr. Sunnie received her MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth school of Business and a PhD in systemic psychology from Brigham Young University.

Mary Grealy is president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of chief executives of the nation’s leading health care companies and organizations.  The HLC advocates consumer-centered health care reform, emphasizing the value of private sector innovation.  It is the only health policy advocacy group that represents all sectors of the health care industry.  She was appointed to the position in August 1999.

Ms. Grealy has an extensive background in health care policy.  She has led important initiatives on the uninsured, Medicare reform, improving patient safety and quality, protecting the privacy of patient medical information and reforming the medical liability laws.  She testifies frequently before Congress and federal regulatory agencies.

From 1995 until she began her tenure at HLC, she served as Chief Washington Counsel for the American Hospital Association, a national organization representing all types of hospitals, health systems and health care networks.  In her position, she was responsible for the organization’s legal advocacy before Congress, as well as executive and judicial branches of government.

From 1979 to 1995, Ms. Grealy was Chief Operating Officer and Executive Counsel for the Federation of American Hospitals, a trade association representing 1,700 investor-owned and managed hospitals and health systems.  She coordinated legislative and regulatory policies as well as lobbying activities for the Federation.

Ms. Grealy has a bachelor degree from Michigan State University and a law degree from Duquesne University.  She served on the Board of Directors of TEAMHealth, one of the largest providers of outsourced physician staffing solutions for hospitals in the United States, and the Board of Directors of Duquesne University.  She is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association.  She also serves on the advisory boards of the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship, Women Business Leaders in Health and the March of Dimes Public Policy Council.  She is a frequent public speaker on health issues and has been ranked many times by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare and has been named to Modern Healthcare’s list of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare.

Diana is Chief Medical Officer at GE Appliances, a Haier company. She leads the Health Services team, which is responsible for onsite delivery of occupational and preventive health services and programs, employee health benefits, leave management, and wellness and health promotion. Prior to joining GE Appliances, Diana enjoyed a wide-ranging career in healthcare consulting, clinical practice, and healthcare administration at a series of leading institutions, including the Massachusetts General Hospital (Partners Healthcare), the Advisory Board Company, Carewise, Baptist Health, and Humana.

Bev Helkey is Executive Director of the Employers Healthcare Coalition and the Tri-State Purchasing Coalition. She has 30+ years’ experience in healthcare cost management strategies and employee benefits. She joined the coalitions in 2002. She provides management and oversight of two non-profit organizations. Employers Healthcare Coalition provides health education, health literacy, and healthcare cost and outcome resources to the community, and the Tri-State Health Care Purchasing Coalition which group purchases services to their members and the community.

With her extensive experience in healthcare cost management strategies, she has served the organizations through the design, development and implementation of their robust cost saving programs – including education-focused on health literacy, healthcare cost, outcomes and the patient experience.

Ms. Helkey’s career in healthcare cost strategies spans more than 30-years. Helkey holds a bachelor’s degree in Business. She is board member of Leadership Illinois, The Quincy Family YMCA, CDC - The National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) and the Association for Corporate Risk Management (ACHRM).

Jean Hippert joined PNC Healthcare in 2007, and currently is the south region treasury management director. As a member of the healthcare leadership team, she helps develop and implement strategy and tactics to expand the bank’s brand and presence, and is responsible for the bank’s healthcare treasury management sales staff in the south.

She is co-sponsor of the PNC Healthcare Advisory Board, and helps develop and direct strategic research and healthcare thought leadership for the bank. Jean represents PNC at national events and on the speaker circuit, and supports regional business development activities, sales teams and clients. Additional past responsibilities have included management of all treasury management client advisory boards, sales force administration and effectiveness, and data analytics.

Prior to joining the bank, Jean spent nearly 10 years with Premier, Inc., a strategic alliance of not-for-profit hospitals and healthcare systems. At Premier, she was responsible for relationship management with shareholder organizations, specializing in integrated delivery networks, academic medical institutions and faith-based healthcare systems. She also helped manage national business development and participated in the corporate Baldrige team. Before joining Premier, she was a healthcare consultant at Hyatt, Imler, Ott & Blount specializing in clinical resource management and operational productivity improvement

Jean holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a minor in Economics from Mary Washington University and is a participating member of the Association of Financial Professionals, Healthcare Financial Management Association, and Women Business Leaders of Healthcare Foundation.

Drew joined Blue Cross of Idaho in April 2017 as the Vice President of Provider Partner and Payment Innovation where he led Blue Cross’ provider network functions including efforts to shift from a fee-for-service provider payment model to value-based payments. After demonstrating success in this role, he was promoted to the Sr. Vice President of Healthcare Economics and tasked with one of Blue Cross of Idaho’s top strategic priorities: make healthcare more affordable for clients and members. In his new role, he will lead the Healthcare Economics Division focusing on identifying, implementing and monitoring healthcare affordability initiatives.

Drew came to Blue Cross of Idaho from WellCare Health Plans, Inc., in Tampa, Fla., where he served in numerous roles, most recently as Vice President, Medicaid Network Management, where he was responsible for the national Medicaid network strategy. Drew received his Bachelor of Science in Business Process Management from Indiana University

Brian Klepper, PhD is Principal of Worksite Health Advisors and a nationally prominent health care analyst and commentator. He writes and speaks extensively about the structural dynamics of the US health care cost crisis, primary care clinics, high performance health care and the management of full continuum clinical and financial risk.

Rebecca Love, RN, MSN, ANP is the Director of Nurse Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Northeastern School of Nursing and an experienced Nurse Entrepreneur, founding HireNurses.com in 2013. Rebecca is passionate about empowering nurses and helping nurses innovate, create and collaborate to start businesses to transform healthcare.

Northeastern School of Nursing’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship initiative is to inspire nurses to be transformative leaders in healthcare. Through innovative events, programs, and new educational pathways, Northeastern School of Nursing is transforming traditional nursing education to incorporate innovation, entrepreneurship and business foundations to position nurses as the leaders in healthcare.

Rebecca’s community involvement includes serving on the board of NextGenVentures, the Regional Dir. for Show Me Your Stethoscope Foundation, ACLU Dinner & Host Committee, Charlestown Mothers Assoc., Harvard Kent Advisory Board, and the St. John School. Rebecca holds a M.S. in Nursing from Northeastern University and a B.A. in International Relations/Spanish from Boston University.

Luther joined Yelp in 2008 as an account executive on the company’s sales team and a year later moved into the role of Manager of Business Outreach, where he built a department that educates small business owners about the importance of Yelp. Since 2011, Luther has led public policy at the company. As Vice President of Public Policy, he manages and directs the company’s global outreach to policy makers about the vital role Yelp plays in driving economic activity to local businesses while serving as a platform to empower and protect consumers. Previously, Luther worked as a Special Assistant to retired four-star General Wesley Clark. He holds a B.A. in government from The College of William & Mary.

Dr. Jennifer H. Mieres is a leading expert in the fields of nuclear cardiology, cardiovascular disease in women and patient-centered healthcare advocacy. As Senior Vice President of Northwell Health’s, Center for Equity of Care, She has oversight of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health, as well as all diversity and health equity initiatives and serves as the health system’s first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. Dr. Mieres is also the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and a professor of cardiology, at The Zucker School of Medicine.

A graduate of Bennington College and Boston University School of Medicine; she is a Fellow of The American Heart Association (AHA), American College of Cardiology (ACC), and Master of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) and served as the first female President of the ASNC.

Dr. Mieres’ clinical focus and research are centered on the elimination of health and gender disparities and her current research is focused on cardiovascular disease in women. She is a leading advocate for patient-centered healthcare and medical education reform and has authored/co-authored over 60 scientific publications, including as lead author of the 2005 and 2014 AHA cardiac imaging guidelines for women. As an international speaker, she has presented her research as distinguished faculty at over 100 forums and conferences; both nationally and internationally including scientific sessions of the ACC, AHA, ASNC, the International Conference of Nuclear Cardiology and IHI/BMJ International Forum on Quality & Safety in Healthcare. A true patient and community advocate; Dr. Mieres is actively involved in service. She serves as a national spokesperson for AHA’s Go Red For Women movement and has served as chair of several national AHA committees as well as the Scientific Advisory Board for WomenHeart.

A prolific communicator; Mieres recently co-authored Heart Smart for Women: Six S.T.E.P.S IN Six Weeks to Heart-Healthy Living, published in October 2017. Her previous book Heart Smart for Black Women and Latinas: A Five Week Program for Living a Heart- Healthy Lifestyle was published in 2008. Following her Emmy-nominated documentary A Woman’s Heart, (2001); her creative ingenuity has evolved as an executive producer of a two part documentary series Rx: The Quiet Revolution and Doctors of Tomorrow, (2015). The films have forged a change in narrative while garnering placement on national TV network PBS and in educational institutions. Dr. Mieres is routinely called upon by national and local media for expert commentary and has been designated as a most-credible voice in the healthcare industry.

A recipient of several prestigious awards; Dr. Mieres has been recognized as a tireless force; fostering diversity in medical education as well as eliminating disparities in the delivery of healthcare to the community. The Association of Black Cardiologists recognized her work with the Walter M. Booker Sr. Health Promotion Award in 2015. The American Heart Association has also presented her with a number of awards, such as the Chairman’s Award; the Louis B. Russell, Jr., Memorial Award; the Award for Outstanding Service as President and the William Groom Award for Volunteer of the Year. Dr. Mieres has also received the National ACC’s Women in Cardiology Mentoring Award; the Woman’s Day Red Dress Award; the WomenHeart Wenger Award for Healthcare and the New York State Governor’s Award of Excellence.

Jason W. Mitchell, MD, is the Chief Medical and Clinical Transformation Officer for Presbyterian Healthcare Services, a not-for-profit health care system, integrating New Mexico’s largest health care provider and health plan. Dr. Mitchell leads a team of 1,000 employed providers spanning 50 ambulatory clinics and eight hospital campuses in addition to medical staff operations and provider clinical quality in a mixed medical staff model. Dr. Mitchell oversees $600 million in fully capitated delivery system risk arrangements, delivery system care and case management, clinical informatics and enterprise Population Health Services.

Dr. Mitchell focuses on re-designing clinical practice at the system level and is transforming the role of the physician executive to better serve clinicians and patients during a time of rapid healthcare change. He is a key leader in developing enterprise strategy across care delivery, the health plan and Presbyterian’s Fluent Health – a leader in partnering with delivery systems to start or strengthen their own provider-led health plans.

Under Dr. Mitchell’s leadership, Presbyterian has deployed new care models, processes and technology to help connect the care continuum, payers, providers and patients in a way never before possible and enabled intense evidence-based care design, process improvement, value-based care, health plan integration and standardization. Ultimately, the changes have yielded significant gains in disease management and overall management of population health.

Dr. Mitchell is passionate about the quadruple aim and continues to see patients as a family practice physician. He earned his medical degree from the University of New Mexico, where he also completed his residency in family medicine. Dr. Mitchell is board-certified in both family medicine and clinical informatics. He has been with Presbyterian since 2006.

Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group (1999-2017), the nation’s largest medical group, and former president of The Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group (2009-2017). In these roles he led 10,000 physicians, 38,000 staff and was responsible for the nationally recognized medical care of 5 million Kaiser Permanente members on the west and east coasts. Recently named one of Modern Healthcare’s 50 most influential physician leaders, Pearl is an advocate for the power of integrated, prepaid, technologically advanced and physician-led healthcare delivery.

He serves as a clinical professor of plastic surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and is on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses on strategy and leadership, and lectures on information technology and health care policy.

In 2017 he authored “Mistreated: Why We think We’re Getting Good Healthcare—And Why We’re Usually Wrong” a Washington Post bestseller that offers a roadmap for transforming American healthcare. All proceeds from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

As a regular contributor to Forbes, Pearl covers the business of healthcare and the culture of medicine. He’s the host of a new podcast called “Fixing Healthcare,” which debuted in the iTunes top 100 list of science and medicine programs. He has been featured on CBS This Morning, CNBC, NPR, and in TIME, USA Today and Bloomberg News. He has published more than 100 articles in various medical journals and contributed to numerous books. He is a frequent keynote speaker at healthcare and medical technology conferences. Pearl has addressed the Commonwealth Club, the World Healthcare Congress, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s National Quality Forum.

Board certified in plastic and reconstructive surgery, Pearl received his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine, followed by a residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Stanford University. From 2012 to 2017, Pearl served as chairman of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP), which includes the nation’s largest and best multispecialty medical groups, and participated in the Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Delivery System Reform and Health IT in Washington, D.C.

Connect with Dr. Robert Pearl on Twitter >@RobertPearlMD, LinkedIn and at his website robertpearlmd.com.

Russell Portenoy, MD is Executive Director of the MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care, Chief Medical Officer of MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care, and Professor of Neurology and Family and Social Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Prior to joining MJHS, he was the founding Chairman of the country’s first Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York. Dr. Portenoy is a past-president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, a past-president of the American Pain Society, and was chairman of the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine when it successfully applied for medical subspecialty status. In 2013, Dr. Portenoy was elected one of 30 “Visionaries” in palliative care by the membership of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He is the recipient of the Academy’s 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award and 2008 National Leadership Award. He has received the 2017 “Hospice Hero” award of the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State, the 2016 Ventafridda Prize for Research from the European Association for Palliative Care, and the 2015 Galen Miller Leadership Award of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. In 1998, he was given the Wilbert Fordyce Award for Lifetime Excellence in Clinical Investigation from the American Pain Society. Dr. Portenoy has been Editor in Chief of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management for more than three decades, co-edits the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine, and is editor for the palliative care section of The Oncologist. He has written, co-authored, or edited 23 books and more than 580 papers and book chapters on topics in palliative care, pain and symptom management, and opioid pharmacotherapy.

Sheila Shapiro is senior vice president of National Strategic Partnerships for UnitedHealthcare Clinical Services. Sheila is responsible for the development, advancement and implementation of industry-leading models that will standardize how new types of data can be captured and used to improve people’s health outcomes, with an emphasis on connecting individuals to community and social services through local and national strategic partnerships.

Sheila joined UnitedHealthcare in 2009 as chief operations officer for the Community Plan of Arizona. She has also served as health plan president for the State of Washington Community Plan as well as national vice president of the myConnections program, a Medicaid program that builds new capabilities around transportation, housing and other social support services for UnitedHealthcare’s most vulnerable populations.

Sheila has more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry. Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, she held executive positions with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, Molina and Premera Blue Cross. She has held leadership roles across a broad range of operations and strategic positions, including claims, customer service and financial operations.

Sheila holds a master’s degree in management from the University of Phoenix, a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and a financial management certificate from the Wharton School of Business. She is an Arizona Women in Business honoree and has served as vice chair on the board of directors for the March of Dimes.

David A. Shore is a leading authority on innovation and managing change initiatives to gain competitive advantage.  Throughout his career he has worked to combine research, teaching, consulting and writing to build constructive links between theory and practice.

Shore has been on the faculty of Harvard University for more than two decades. He is also Distinguished Professor of Innovation and Change at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics (China) and Adjunct Professor of Organizational Development and Change at the School of Business, University of Monterrey (Mexico).  Shore is a faculty member of The Governance Institute and Executive-in-Residence at Enable East (United Kingdom).  He has held visiting professorships including in Amsterdam, Santiago, and Shanghai and consulted on six continents.  Shore offers executive education seminars and facilitates strategic planning and guided implementation retreats.  He has delivered hundreds of keynote addresses and workshops across multiple industries.

Previously, Shore spent two decades at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he served as associate dean.  He founded and directed the School's flagship programs:  Forces of Change; The Trust Initiative; and the Certificate Program on Launching and Leading Successful Change Initiatives.

He has served on and chaired numerous boards and committees, and currently is a founding member of McKinsey & Company's External Implementation Advisory Board which has a primary focus on operationalizing strategy for transformational change.   He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Marshfield Clinic Health System, as well as several editorial boards.  Among his honors is the Doctorate Fellow from the Academy of Multi-Skills (United Kingdom).  Along with innovation and change, Shore's body of work focuses on creating higher performing organizations including building and rebuilding trust; reimaging and reengineering meetings; and, strategic marketing and branding.

His most recent books include Launching and Leading Successful Change Initiatives in Health Care Organizations: (Jossey-Bass, 2014); Forces of Change:  New Strategies for the Evolving Health Care Marketplace (Jossey-Bass, 2012); and High Stakes:  The Critical Role of Stakeholders in Health Care, with E. Kupferberg (Oxford University Press, 2011).  He has also written a book on trust and edited a second.

Professor Shore has been recognized as a Top Thought Leader in Trust by Trust Across America – Trust Around the World.   He is also a multiple recipient of Harvard's Letter of Commendation for Distinguished Teaching Performance, including in 2017 and 2018; and was chosen to deliver a 2015 and 2016 Harvard Lecture That Lasts (Harvard's version of a TED Talk) and a TEDx Talk. 

Never known to simply :admire the problem," beyond intellectually stimulating, Shore provides executable advice, inspiring leaders and organizations to gain a unique and adaptable competitive advantage.

Andrew Sorenson is a Senior Analytics Director at Intermountain Healthcare. This role includes accountability for the Corporate Decision Support, Operational Data Science, Population Health Analytics, and Strategic Analytics functions. Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in health care delivery science from Dartmouth College.

Charles W. Sorenson, M.D., is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Intermountain Healthcare. He served as its Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 1998 until he assumed his current position in January 2009. He has served on the Intermountain Board of Trustees since 1994 and on the Executive Committee of the board since 1995. He was the chairman of the board of the Intermountain Medical Group from its founding in 1995 until the appointment to his current position in 1998.

Dr. Sorenson graduated from the University of Utah (B.A., 1973), and from the Cornell University Medical College (M.D., 1977). He is board-certified in Urologic Surgery. Prior to joining Intermountain’s management team in 1998, he was in the clinical practice of Urologic Surgery at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Dr. Sorenson is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and served as chair of the College’s Committee on Young Surgeons. He is a member and past president of the Utah Urological Society. He also belongs to the American Urological Association, the American Medical Association, and the Utah Medical Association, where he served on the Board of Trustees and as Speaker of the House of Delegates. He has served as vice chairman of the Department of Surgery at LDS Hospital, as president of the hospital’s medical staff, and a member of its board of trustees. He is an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah, and served as educational director of the LDS Hospital’s Urologic Residency (a joint program with the University of Utah).

Intermountain is an integrated, nonprofit health care system serving communities in Utah and southern Idaho. The mission of Intermountain is to provide the highest quality health care at the lowest possible cost. The mission includes a commitment to provide care to any individual with a medical need, regardless of ability to pay.

The Intermountain system consists of three operating groups: Intermountain Health Services, consisting of 23 hospitals in Utah and Idaho, home health agencies, women’s health centers, an integrated network for laboratory services, and psychiatry; Intermountain Medical Group, with about 700 employed primary care and secondary care physicians and more than 100 clinics; and SelectHealth, consisting of managed care health insurance plans with about 500,000 covered lives.

Along with his administrative responsibilities Dr. Sorenson has continued to be involved in the practice of surgery. He and his associates Dr. Scott Chidester and Dr. Jay Bishoff focus their practice primarily on urologic oncology.

Since joining Dignity Health in 2013, Dr. Gurmeet Sran has worked closely with leadership and IT staff to ensure proper deployment of EMRs, governance oversight, and ongoing innovation in the health IT space. Currently he is the Associate Enterprise Chief Medical Information Officer, overseeing a team of physicians and statisticians who are aggregating and analyzing clinical information across the organization to enable reduced variation of care, decreased cost, and improved outcomes. By leveraging machine learning techniques, text analytics, and “big data” computing architectures, his team has developed and implemented models to improve sepsis detection and help risk segment patient populations for ongoing interventions. Prior to Dignity Health, Dr. Sran completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics where he was active with members of the administration in trying to analyze and reduce expenditures in the hospital setting. In addition, he holds a Masters in Computational Biology from the University of Pennsylvania as well as a Bachelor’s of Science in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley.

Lisa is Managing Partner of Venture Valkyrie LLC, a consulting firm advising large corporations around corporate venture capital & innovation, new business creation and digital health strategy. Lisa is also co-founder of CSweetener, which matches women in and nearing the healthcare C-Suite with mentors. She is on faculty at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.

Previously Lisa was Senior Managing Director at GE Ventures, leading the firm’s healthcare fund. Prior to that, Lisa spent 15 years as a Partner at Psilos Group, a venture capital firm, and 9 years at Merit Behavioral Care, an $800mm behavioral healthcare company where she held various leadership roles from its early start-up days through its successful IPO and exit.

Lisa is currently on several private company boards and chairs the board of the NASA -funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health.

Lisa writes the Venture Valkyrie blog and hosts the Tech Tonics podcast.

Paul J. Tirjan, a seasoned and accomplished health care executive and entrepreneur, is president of AllSpire Health Partners and provides strategic leadership, start-up expertise and operational project oversight.

Prior to joining AllSpire Health Partners in August 2016, Tirjan served three years as vice president of ambulatory care at Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS), a Fortune 500 health services company located in King of Prussia, Pa. In his position at UHS, Tirjan was responsible for the overall ambulatory care strategy, development, growth and profitability for the hospital management company. UHS’ ambulatory portfolio under Tirjan’s direction included free-standing emergency departments, urgent care centers, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, radiation oncology, rehabilitation, wound care, retail pharmacy, home health, and telemedicine, as well as data, technology, infrastructure and programs to support population health management.

During his career, Tirjan has served in a variety of executive management positions with a diversified range of companies pioneering “state-of-the-art“ diagnostic cardiology and patient monitoring systems, and growing companies from small start-up operations to profitable publicly traded companies.

Immediately prior to UHS, Tirjan was chief executive officer at WirelessDx, where he launched a multinational diagnostic company from concept through acquisition. Previously, as vice president at CardioNet, he helped turn a $7 million revenue diagnostic service company into a $40 million revenue company ready for its IPO in just two years.

Earlier in his career he co-founded and led diversified healthcare provider Quaker Health Services as president for eight years and served as director of Venture Investments at San Francisco based life-science venture capital fund Burrill & Company.

Tirjan earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jean oversees the strategic direction and business operations for Tufts Health Public Plans, Tufts Health Plan's managed Medicaid and state-sponsored plans division, which operates in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

With more than 15 years in health care, including provider, insurer and Exchange marketplace experience, Jean’s background gives her deep knowledge of the health insurance industry and its complexities. Prior to joining Tufts Health Plan, Jean served as the executive director of the Children’s Hospital Integrated Care Organization, a group representing Children’s Hospital Boston and its affiliated physicians. She is also a past executive director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, after initially serving as its chief financial officer. Jean began her work in health insurance at Tufts Health Plan in 2004, where she served on the contracting, strategy and analytics team.

Jean has served on the boards of the Health Policy Commission and Group Insurance Commission. She earned a B.S. in biochemistry from Peking University in Beijing, China and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.