2021
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VIRTUAL

We are excited to welcome the newest member of our leadership team, Florence Kariuki, RN, BSN, MHA, FHELA. As Chief Clinical Officer, Florence is leading our clinical innovation and reimbursement strategies.Prior to joining HRS, Florence served in various leadership roles at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, focused on innovation of Alternative Payment Programs, Value-Based Programming (PCMH, ACO, EOC), Population Health Management, Social Determinants of Health, Palliative Care, and Total Cost of Care Management strategies. She also has held Critical Care and Maternal/Child patient care positions at the Hackensack Meridian Health System.

Sandy Forgiel, BSN, RN has worked for Community VNA for more than 31 years. Beginning as a visiting nurse, she specialized in CHF and COPD management and teaching. In 2005, Sandy developed and implemented the Community VNA Telehealth program. This process included evaluating various telehealth vendors and selecting one for implementation, writing associated policies and procedures, educating clinical staff about the technology and program, marketing the program to physicians and patients, and triaging up to 60 patients each day. In 2012, Sandy became a certified disease management trainer through Sutter VNA and Hospice where she took this new knowledge and developed the disease management program for Community VNA.

Lauren Weissberg joined Royal Care as the Director of Nursing in 2020, as Royal Care was launching its telehealth and remote patient monitoring program. In her role as Director of Nursing, Lauren focuses on creating clinical protocols and procedures to deliver the best possible care to patients. Prior to joining Royal Care (Emerest), Lauren worked at the bedside on a labor and delivery floor, rotating to the OR, PACU, and NICU.

Patty Upham, RN currently serves as the Vice President of Clinical Services at Health Recovery Solutions, where she helps lead clinical strategy and support clients as they launch and expand their RPM programs. Prior to joining HRS, Patty was the Director of FirstHealth Home Care for nearly 20 years. As Director, Patty managed FirstHealth Care Transitions including two Medicare Certified Home Health Agencies, a Complex Care Management Program, and the Center for Telehealth. Under her leadership, FirstHealth developed clinical pathways for chronic disease - a multidisciplinary, evidence-based, and patient-centered approach. Patty has over 30 years of Home Care experience and served a 3-year term on the American Hospital Association Advisory Board. She has been a frequent national speaker on the topics of telehealth and clinical and operational best practices.

Ann Mond Johnson joined the American Telemedicine Association as CEO in 2018. Her experience includes launching, building, and leading client-driven companies that have been innovators in using healthcare technology and data to support consumers using healthcare. She joined Pathfinder’s board in 2018.

Prior to joining the ATA, Ann served as CEO of Zest Health, a technology-enabled service; as board chair and advisor to ConnectedHealth, a leading provider of private insurance exchanges; and as co-founder and CEO of Subimo, a pioneer in healthcare cost and quality transparency tools for consumers. Ann began her career in healthcare data and information as senior vice president at Sachs Group (now part of IBM Watson/Truven Health), the leading provider of healthcare information for health organizations. She also worked at a multi-hospital system in Minneapolis which is now part of Allina.

Gerald currently serves as the Vice President of Reimbursement at Health Recovery Solutions. Gerald joined HRS in 2019, bringing over 20 years of experience in network management and provider relations with health insurers, HMOs, medical groups, and physician-managed care companies. In his role at HRS, Gerald leads reimbursement strategy assisting clients as they explore reimbursement opportunities, pursue commercial partnerships, and establish private pay programs.

Kathy Duckett, MSN, RN, brings expertise in program development, population health management and e-health innovation in the post-acute market to her role as the Director of Advanced Care at Home for the Home Health Foundation. As the Director, Advanced Care at Home she is responsible for program development and building of clinical teams and clinical expertise to meet high acuity patient needs, identifying opportunities and needs within the organization as well as partnering with the healthcare system leaders to develop and implement new and improve existing clinical programs to support the overarching goals of care in the home, and oversees all clinical functions and patient care delivery in advanced care services including, but not limited to telehealth, virtual visit modality, home infusion and home wound care programs. Ms. Duckett’s prior positions include Chief Clinical Officer for CareGroup Parmenter Home Care & Hospice, Director of Population Health for the VNA Care Network, Director of Training and Development for the Sutter Center for Integrated Care, and Director of Clinical Programs for Partners Healthcare at Home. Additionally, Ms. Duckett is the President of K. Duckett Consulting LLC and has consulted with numerous home care and hospice organizations across the country.

Ms. Duckett has received numerous awards for her work in developing innovative programs in telemonitoring and chronic care. She appears regularly as a speaker and panelist nationally and internationally on topics pertaining to e-Care, integrated care management, telemedicine, home healthcare, and innovation in healthcare. Ms. Duckett has published frequently on home healthcare-related issues. Ms. Duckett is an editorial board member of Home Healthcare Now, serves as the vice-chair of the American Telemedicine Association’s Home Telehealth Special Interest Group, of which she is also a former chairperson. Ms. Duckett received her Master of Science in Nursing Innovation and Intra/Entrepreneurship in Advance Nursing Practice.

Prior to HRS, Jenna Kowalski worked for 17 years as an RN at a large health system in western New York. Jenna started her career in the acute step down unit and the ICU, later moving to home health where she held many positions including Lead Cardiac Trainer, Clinical Educator, Manager of Clinical Operations, and most recently, the Director of Nursing. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and an MBA with an advanced certificate in healthcare management.

Dr. Rana is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and section Chief of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Chicago. Her clinical interests are the management of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, especially as it pertains to adverse outcomes among black women. She takes care of pregnant and postpartum patients with high-risk conditions such as preeclampsia, hypertension, kidney transplant, heart failure, and obesity. Dr. Rana conducts national and international translational studies, trains medical students, residents, and fellows and also performs high-level ultrasounds. You can check out Dr. Rana at - https://obgyn.uchicago.edu/sections/maternal-fetal-medicine and her research at https://obgyn.uchicago.edu/research/rana-preeclampsia-laboratory.

Dan is the Director of Patient Services at Elara Caring, focusing on improving patient engagement to deliver a high-quality patient experience. Dan’s team interacts with patients both on and off service, using sophisticated technology and risk stratification systems to engage, monitor, and follow up on all patient needs that Elara Caring can impact. In his current role, Dan’s main initiatives include enhancing Elara Caring’s ability to follow up and stay engaged with patients after discharge from skilled home health and delivering diversified plans of care for the most at-risk populations across Elara Caring via virtual patient engagement and interactions as part of Elara Caring’s proprietary telehealth initiative.

Dan is a physical therapist by trade, with many years of hands-on experience working with patients in home health, as well as leading multi-disciplinary teams across the space to improve the patient experience while on service. Dan believes deeply that technological innovations are advancing the ability for clinicians to provide care in unique ways, with advancements like telehealth becoming more accessible and part of the conversation in the home health sphere.

Lavergne is a nurse practitioner at LHC Group in Lafayette, Louisiana. Originally from Opelousas, he earned his bachelor's degree in nursing from The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He earned his master's degree, with honors, as a family nurse practitioner after completing his studies at Northwestern State University. He is currently in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, with graduation on May 14, 2021. Lavergne began with LHC Group in 2020, where he serves as the Director of Clinical Programs. In this role, he has begun instituting evidence-based disease management clinical programs to address conditions such as heart failure, diabetes, and COPD, all to improve care in the home setting. He also researches to find clinical solutions which have positive impacts on patient care. He works collaboratively with various internal departments on educational material, best practices, and evidence-based material. He also oversees the evaluation and utilization of virtual care technology.

His responsibilities also include support for LHC Group’s ongoing clinical strategies and innovations – in partnership with both internal and external sources, and in alignment with the company’s strategic plan and business goals. He regularly reviews and analyzes internal and external data to support clinical innovation and identify strategic opportunities to improve patient care and outcomes amongst all service lines. Lavergne’s role is essential in evaluating potential clinical pilot projects. He works directly with the clinical team on design and implementation of these projects in target markets. Lavergne has earned many accolades, including the CIS Leadership Award, Telehealth Peak Performer from InTouch Health, and a Nightingale Awards and Acadiana Celebrates Nursing nomination. Lavergne is board-certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. He is a Board member and co-chair of the health policy committee for LANP. He is also a member of the Louisiana Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Association. He currently serves on the education committee for American Heart Associations post-acute committee. He is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Julia Crist is a leader in post-acute and value-based care models for seniors. In her current role as Vice President of Home and Community Services at Allina Health in Minneapolis Minnesota, Julia leads operations and strategy for several service lines, including; home health, hospice, community geriatric medicine, palliative care and durable medical equipment. She is passionate about driving change in healthcare to reduce cost, improve outcomes, and serve patients and families in accordance with their wishes. Julia holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota.

Rachel received her undergrad at University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire with a focus on long-term care. Rachel desired to enable improvement across the care continuum and pursued her Masters at the University of Minnesotaʼs MHA program. After graduation, she completed a year-long fellowship at Allina Health under Dr. Penny Wheeler. During her fellowship, the pandemic started and quickly worked with Julia Crist (among many others!) to stand up a Hospital at Home model for Allina Health. Now Rachel is the Manager of Population Health, Operations, where she continues to oversee the program development and operations.

Kim Bradley, MSN, RN, NEA-BC is the Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer for Sentara Enterprises (Home Health, Hospice, Home Infusion, and Specialty Pharmacy). She also has direct responsibility for Regulatory, Quality, and Education. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Va. Organization of Nurse Executives and Leaders.

Kim received her Nursing diploma from Riverside School of Professional Nursing, her BSN from Christopher Newport University, and her MSN from Walden University. She is board certified as a Nurse Executive, certified in Home Health compliance as a HCS-C, and certified as an Advanced Certified Home Care Executive.

Kim has worked in the Home Care industry for 30 years. She began as a field nurse and has worked in pretty much every role in an agency throughout her career. She has worked for private, regional and national companies prior to joining Sentara.

Kyle Zebley is Vice President of Public Policy at the ATA, working with and on behalf of ATA members and like-minded organizations to eliminate barriers to the expansion of telehealth and ensure patients, providers, and payers can realize the benefits of virtual care. Previously, Kyle was the Chief of Staff in the Office of Global Affairs (OGA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Kyle collaborated with senior leadership from HHS, the White House and other cabinet departments to develop, advise, and promote U.S. global health policy, including in such policy areas as drug pricing, global health security, and non communicable diseases. Prior to HHS, Kyle worked in Congress as a Legislative Director, leading a legislative team in developing policy and drafting legislation, particularly on matters concerning the House Committee on Ways and Means, the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.