Members of the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality
Mitra Behroozi, J.D. (2013)
Ms. Behroozi is the Executive Director of the 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds. She has over 20 years of experience in the field of employment law and employee benefits. Before her appointment as Executive Director of the Benefit and Pension Funds, she was a partner in Levy, Ratner and Behroozi, a law firm specializing in labor and employment law and serving as principal counsel for 1199SEIU, New York's largest union representing health care workers.
In 2006, the Comptroller General appointed Ms. Behroozi to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). She is also on the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Health Information Exchange and serves on the advisory board of the Industrial Relations Research Association.
Ms. Behroozi received her B.A. from Brown University and her J.D. from New York University School of Law.
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Paul N. Casale, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.S.C.A.I., F.A.H.A. (2013)
Paul N. Casale, M.D., is an interventional cardiologist and Chief of the Division of Cardiology at Lancaster General Hospital. As Medical Director of Quality for Lancaster General Health, he leads the organization's efforts to improve healthcare quality and safety. He is active in clinical research and medical education and is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Temple University School of Medicine.
As a member of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, Dr. Casale has been involved in publicly reported healthcare data for nearly 20 years. He has spent the past decade leading quality improvement initiatives as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania Medical Society.
Dr. Casale is the Immediate Past President of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). In addition, he is Chairman of the ACC Payment Reform Workgroup and is Vice-Chair of the ACC Partners in Quality Subcommittee. He serves on other ACC committees including the Medical Directors' Institute Steering Committee, the PINNACLE Steering Committee, the Informatics Committee, and the Interventional Scientific Council.
Dr. Casale is a graduate of Cornell University Medical College and completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at The New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center and a clinical and research fellowship in Cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology.
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Helen Darling, M.A. (2012)
Ms. Darling is the president of the National Business Group on Health, a nonprofit membership organization that provides solutions for crucial health care issues to over 280 members, mostly large employers. The Business Group helps its members, who purchase health care for more than 50 million people, to share best practices and lessons learned, as well as to work together to find innovative solutions for serious problems, such as health care costs, disparate quality, inadequate patient safety, and insufficient data, and properly manage and redirect health care investments. Previously, Ms. Darling was a senior consultant on group benefits and health care at Watson Wyatt & Company and manager of international compensation and benefits at Xerox Corporation.
Ms. Darling received bachelor's and master's degrees from Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis.
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Louise-Marie Dembry, M.D., M.S., M.B.A. (2012)
Dr. Dembry is an associate professor of epidemiology and public health and an associate professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Yale University School of Medicine. She is also the co-director of the Department of Quality Improvement Support Services at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, as well as the hospital epidemiologist, chair of the Infection Control Committee, and a member of the Patient Safety and Quality Committee. Dr. Dembry has researched, written, and presented extensively on infectious diseases in health care settings, both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Dembry received a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, master's and medical degrees from Wayne State University, and a master's in business administration from the University of New Haven.
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Silvia M. Ferretti, D.O. (2012)
Dr. Ferretti serves as the provost, senior vice president, and dean of academic affairs at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is the first woman to be appointed dean of any osteopathic medical college. Dr. Ferretti is an advocate of osteopathy and has served on numerous boards, committees, and panels of state and national osteopathic associations, including the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association, Pennsylvania's State Board of Osteopathic Medicine, and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.
Dr. Ferretti received a medical degree in osteopathic medicine from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
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Helen W. Haskell, M.A. (2012)
Ms. Haskell is founder and president of Mothers Against Medical Error and a board member of Consumers Advancing Patient Safety. Ms. Haskell has participated in workshops and given presentations to advocate on behalf of consumers for quality improvement and patient safety in the health care system. Ms. Haskell has served on numerous committees, including the National Quality Forum's Patient Safety Advisory Committee; the Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center's Literature Review on Early Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment for Clostridium Difficile; South Carolina's Hospital Infections Disclosure Act Advisory Committee; and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Advancing Patient and Family Engagement Project Steering Group.
Ms. Haskell received a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a master's degree from Rice University.
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Ardis Dee Hoven, M.D. (2012)
Dr. Hoven is a professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Kentucky and chair-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees. Dr. Hoven is also the medical director of the Bluegrass Care Clinic, an infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS practice affiliated with the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. She has worked on issues related to health care access, the uninsured, and Medicare and Medicaid reform efforts. Dr. Hoven currently serves on the Executive Committee of the AMA-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement.
Dr. Hoven received bachelor's and medical degrees from the University of Kentucky.
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Andrea H. McGuire, M.D., M.B.A. (2013)
Dr. McGuire is the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of the Medical and Network Management at American Enterprise Group. She has held teaching positions in nuclear medicine at Southern Illinois School of Medicine and Washington University School of Medicine. She is involved in national healthcare issues through her work on the American Medical Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) committee and as Board Chair of the University of Iowa, College of Public Health.
Dr. McGuire received her B.S. from Creighton University, her M.D. from Creighton University School of Medicine and her M.B.A. from the Michael Cole School of Business, Kennesaw State University.
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Welton O'Neal, Jr., Pharm.D. (2012)
Dr. O'Neal is the Senior Director of Medical External Affairs and Clinical Science Outcomes for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc. A native of Forsyth, Georgia, he is an industry leader who has provided internal consultation to companies on public policy issues. He is an expert in the design of medical affairs units that include investigator-initiated trials, medical education, and partnerships with private and Government agencies. Dr. O'Neal is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Morehouse School of Medicine and a member of the Board of Trustees at Presbyterian College.
Dr. O'Neal received a bachelor's degree in biology from Presbyterian College, a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from the Medical University of South Carolina, and a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.
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Christopher Queram, M.A. (2013)
Christopher Queram is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ). WCHQ is a group of multi-specialty physician groups, hospitals, health plans, employers and labor organizations from geographically diverse areas of the state that have come together to develop and share best practices and quality outcomes. Previously, Mr. Queram has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Employer Health Care Alliance Cooperative (The Alliance) and was employed as a hospital executive in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has also been a member of the of the State of Wisconsin's boards on Health Care Information and Private Employer Health Care Coverage, a board member (and immediate past chair) of the National Business Coalition on Health, a board member (and past president) of the Wisconsin Business Coalition on Health, and board chair of the Wisconsin Patient Safety Institute. In addition, he is a member of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance. Mr. Queram served as a member of President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry. He served as a member of the Planning Committee for the National Quality Forum and continues as a Board member of the Forum and Chair of the Forum's Purchaser Council. Mr. Queram is a fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives and a clinical instructor for Programs in Health Management at the University of Wisconsin.
Mr. Queram received his B.A. and M.A. in Health Management (hospital administration) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Katherine A. Schneider, M.D., M.Phil. (2012)
Katherine Schneider, M.D., M.Phil., is Senior Vice President for Health Engagement at AtlantiCare, leading the system's strategic transformational work toward accountable care. She has been active in several national pilot projects around redesigning primary care as a patient-centered medical home, including Medicare's Physician Group Practice demonstration project in her previous position at Middlesex Health System in Connecticut.
Schneider earned her B.A. in biochemistry at Smith College and her master's degree in epidemiology and her M.D. at Columbia University. Schneider completed her residency training in Family Medicine at Middlesex Hospital. A native of New York City, Schneider resides in Philadelphia, PA. She and her husband, William Petricone, M.D., J.D., try to keep up with their blended family of four teenagers.
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Alan R. Spitzer, M.D. (2013)
Dr. Alan R. Spitzer is the Senior Vice President for Education, Research, and Quality and Director for Research and Education at the Pediatrix Medical Group. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Dr. Spitzer has authored a popular neonatal textbook, Intensive Care of the Fetus and Newborn, and collaborated on more than 200 peer-reviewed research articles and textbook chapters. He was a practicing neonatologist for more than 25 years, and served as Chief of the Division of Neonatology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and as Professor of Pediatrics at Stony Brook.
Dr. Spitzer received his B.A. from Rutgers University and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Jeffery Thompson, M.D., M.P.H. (2013)
Dr. Jeffery Thompson is the Chief Medical Officer of the Health and Recovery Services Administration at the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Previously, he was the Medical Director for the Washington State Health Care Authority, Corporate Medical Director for the Weyerhaeuser Company, and an associate editor at Milliman USA. He is board certified in internal and occupation medicine and holds an Assistant Clinical Professor position at the University of Washington. Dr. Thompson's primary interests involve the application of business and public health strategies that demonstrate improved access, quality, and affordability in health care.
Dr. Thompson received his B.A. from San Jose State, his M.D. from the University of Nebraska and his M.P.H. from the University of Washington.
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Janet Stearns Wyatt, PhD, RN, FAANP (2013)
Jan Wyatt served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board, Inc. from 1998 to March 2011, leading the development of advanced practice pediatric nurse practitioner and general practice pediatric nursing certification programs for more than 30,000 nurses in the U.S. and Canada. In 2009, Dr. Wyatt led the establishment of the new Institute of Pediatric Nursing and as its current Executive Director works with nursing leadership from children's hospitals and pediatric nursing organizations to improve education, research and pediatric nursing practice to secure the future health and well-being of children and youth.
Prior to her focus on certification strategy and association management, Dr. Wyatt served more than 20 years as a faculty member in a number of graduate nursing programs leading the development of nurse practitioner programs at several universities throughout the U.S. As a nurse practitioner Dr. Wyatt spent more than 30 years in primary care clinical practice, focusing on health promotion and chronic disease management. Her clinical experiences range from nursing director of the first Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit at the Veterans Hospital Baltimore, MD, to director of Community Health Nursing services for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military family community at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Belgium. She also completed 2 years of active service in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps and more than 15 years in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserves.
Dr. Wyatt currently serves on the Board of Directors of the national Arthritis Foundation and Arthritis Foundation Mid-Atlantic Region, and is voluntary Chair of the national Arthritis Foundation's Public Policy Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Bone and Joint Initiative and the Board of Directors of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence.
Dr. Wyatt received her B.S.N. from Keuka College, her M.S.N. from the University of Alabama Birmingham—School of Nursing and her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park.
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Current as of December 2011
Internet Citation:
Biographies, Members of the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality. December 2011. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/about/bios.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 