QSLS Speaker Bios – 2016
Steve M. Berkowitz, MD
Texas
Board certified in internal medicine, Dr. Berkowitz is the Founder and President of SMB Health
Consulting, specializing in assisting physicians and hospitals with clinical/ operational
performance improvement and strategic planning. He has worked with over 150 clients in all 50
states over the past four years.
Previously, for thirteen years he was Chief Medical Officer for St. David’s Healthcare, a sixhospital system in Austin, Texas, as well as the Division CMO for HCA Central and West Texas
Division. As a member of the senior executive team, he had the overall responsibility of clinical
outcomes improvement, physician development, strategic planning, and medical management
for the Division. He was also Chairman of Capital Area Providers, a 5.01-(a) Texas medical
foundation with over 850 participating physicians. St. David's has been recognized at both the
state and national levels for patient care quality and performance excellence receiving the
Texas Award for Performance Excellence in 2008, and the Malcolm Baldrige Award in 2014.
Prior to this position, Dr. Berkowitz was the National Practice Leader for Physician Services with
the HayGroup assisting over 75 major healthcare clients throughout the USA and Canada in the
areas of strategic development, physician integration, physician compensation, and medical
practice management. He was a senior executive for Harris Methodist Health System serving
as Managing Director of the HMO and Chief Medical Officer for the integrated delivery system.
He was appointed by Governor Perry to Chair of the Texas Institute of Health Care Quality and
Efficiency, and sits on the Board of the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care. He has been
on the Board of the Texas Hospital Association, the Texas Health Care Information Council, and
the Texas Association of Health Care Quality.
Dr. Berkowitz also works with new and current Chief Medical Officers through an innovative
didactic and hands-on program to improve clinical and operational results.
Ronda (Roni) Christopher, D.HSc, MEd, OTL, PCMH-CCE
Ohio
Roni Christopher serves as the Executive Director for the Population and Community Health
Institute for the Mercy Health Foundation. In this role, she is responsible for building community
relationships and programs that positively impact the social determinants of health for the most
underserved patients.
With a focus on community health needs and community benefit requirements, she works with
key healthcare leaders to identify, measure, and analyze community support for population level
outcomes. Her expertise includes quality improvement science, organizational theory and value
based payment strategies. Having worked across the entire care continuum including payer and
clinical services, she has a unique ability to understand how to find seamless workflows to help
vulnerable patients realize better experiences and health.
Her previous roles include: Vice President of Network Experience for HealthSpan, Director of
Quality for the Health Collaborative and Project Director for the Ohio Perinatal Quality
Collaborative at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
QSLS Speaker Bios – 2016
Susan Choi, PhD, CPHQ
Pennsylvania
Susan Choi is the Senior Director of Quality Partnerships & Initiatives at the Health Care
Improvement Foundation (HCIF), a nonprofit organization located in Philadelphia, PA. Since
joining HCIF in 2012, Susan has served as the Project Director of the SEPA-READS health
literacy initiative, a partnership with Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals, as well as
learning collaboratives addressing a variety of topics including palliative care and early
identification/management of hypertension and diabetes. She is currently responsible for the
facilitation of two community health improvement collaboratives that engage health systems in
Southeastern Pennsylvania to address pressing community health needs.
Susan previously worked as a Consultant and Research Associate with the Institute for
Community Health, a community health improvement organization founded by three Bostonarea health systems, and the Cambridge Health Alliance, a safety net, multi-campus academic
medical center based in Cambridge, MA. In this role, she was responsible for directing
community-based, participatory program evaluations of a variety of health promotion programs;
including those supporting improved intercultural patient-provider communication, smoking
cessation, and chronic disease self-management. In addition, she led several quality initiatives
at the Cambridge Health Alliance focused on health equity, language services, and HIV care.
Susan is an experienced trainer and technical consultant on issues related to cultural
competence and health equity.
Susan earned her BA in Psychology and PhD in Social Psychology from Harvard University,
and is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ).
Mary R. Cooper, MD, JD
Connecticut
Mary R. Cooper is Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer for Lifespan Corporation, a
four-hospital health system based in Providence, Rhode Island, and is an Assistant Professor in
Medicine (Research) at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. In her current
position, Dr. Cooper is responsible for articulating the quality and safety strategy for Lifespan
and working closely with the state government and quality organizations in Rhode Island to
improve safety and quality of care for the citizens of Rhode Island. Prior to assuming this
position, Dr. Cooper was Chief Quality Officer for New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She was in
that position for 12 years and was responsible for operation of the Hospital’s Six Sigma program
as well as quality, patient safety, quality informatics, quality research and innovation strategy.
Dr. Cooper’s leadership experience has included a variety of positions in the quality arena
beginning in 1990. She also practiced internal medicine for ten years prior to moving into
administration. Her interests encompass health policy and shaping the quality agenda on a
variety of topics including Six Sigma, patient safety and operational efficiencies.
Dr. Cooper received her undergraduate degree cum laude from Duke University, her medical
degree from Temple University School of Medicine, where she was elected to AOA, and her
degree in health law from Pace University School of Law.
QSLS Speaker Bios – 2016
Susan Cosgrove, MPA, CPHQ
Pennsylvania
Susan Cosgrove is a Project Manager and the Team Leader of Health Literacy Initiatives at the
Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF). Her primary focus is the management of regional
and statewide health literacy projects, including training programs, events, and coalition-building
activities. She also provides support on other population health projects.
Susan previously worked as a Project Assistant with the Population Health Institute at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she collaborated with faculty and community partners.
Her primary focus in this role was the implementation and evaluation of the Western Wisconsin
Mental Health Access Audit, a program designed to assess and increase rural residents’ access
to mental health and substance abuse services. During that time, she also provided consulting
services to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and Department of Children and
Families, assessing health disparities in the foster care population and making programmatic
recommendations for the Foster Care Medical Home initiative. Prior to that, she engaged in
community organizing and health care advocacy in Chicago with the Illinois Campaign for Better
Health Care, assisted unemployment claimants at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce
Development, and researched child support policy at the Institute for Research on Poverty.
Susan received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Urban and Ethnic Studies from The College
of New Jersey and her Master in Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mary O. Cramer, MBA, CPHQ
Connecticut
Mary O. Cramer is the Senior Director, Process Improvement and Ambulatory Management and
Performance at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Massachusetts General
Physicians Organization (MGPO). Founded in 1811, the MGH is a 1000-bed, quaternary
hospital with 22,000 employees and 4,000 medical staff, and the oldest teaching program of the
Harvard Medical School. The MGH cares for 48,000 inpatients and 1.5 million outpatients
annually and conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with
an annual budget of more than $786 million.
Ms. Cramer’s position responsibilities include strategic planning and programmatic oversight of
the Process Improvement and Ambulatory Management and Performance consulting groups
including program design, project prioritization and execution, staff recruitment and
development, and organization-wide training and mentoring. Current priorities include support of
the MGH/MGPO Care Redesign program, Capacity Management and efforts to improve
ambulatory patient access.
Previously Ms. Cramer was Director of Performance Excellence at the 2600-bed New YorkPresbyterian Hospital, the University Hospital for Columbia and Cornell. She has also provided
administrative oversight to healthcare quality and safety departments, patient experience, case
management, infection control, social work, medical staff credentialing, health information
management and regulatory compliance programs among others.
QSLS Speaker Bios – 2016
Ellen T. Farrokhi, MD, MPH, FACS
Washington State
Ellen Farrokhi is part of the first generation of dual trained open and endovascular surgeons and
practices at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (PRMCE) where she also serves as
the Medical Director of Safety and is passionate about leading change. Dr. Farrokhi performed
the first isolated limb infusion on the West Coast in 2010 for melanoma and worked with her
peers to start VI SCOAP - the first tri specialty (vascular surgery, interventional radiology, and
interventional cardiology) database which focuses on outcomes. Dr. Farrokhi served as the
Medical Director of SCOAP from 2011- 2014 after serving two years as Associate Medical
Director. SCOAP is run from the Washington State Foundation for Healthcare Quality and
provides a common platform where 58 hospitals in Washington State work together to improve
the care of patients in this state.
Dr. Farrokhi completed her residency training at the University of Washington. Her training also
included Fellowships in Interventional Radiology at the University of Washington, Vascular
Surgery at the University of Washington and Endovascular Surgery at Kaiser Permanente in
Honolulu. In June 2013 Dr. Farrokhi completed her Master in Public Health at the University of
Washington School of Public Health.
Dr. Farrokhi is passionate about quality and research into patient centered outcomes and
worked on the Community-based Registries for QI and Comparative Effectiveness: The SCOAP
CERTN Network; with Principal Investigator Dr. David Flum, the CHASE alliance, and the
SORCE center at the University of Washington. This 11.7 million dollar project was funded by
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and is currently alive and functioning
in the state. Her main areas of clinical focus include open and endovascular approaches to
carotid disease, aortic disease, and peripheral arterial disease.
Neil Goldfarb
Pennsylvania
Neil Goldfarb is President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health
(GPBCH, www.gpbch.org), an employer-led non-profit organization established in 2012 with the
mission of developing best practices for maintaining a healthy workforce, and ensuring that
when healthcare is needed it is safe, high-quality, accessible and affordable. Mr. Goldfarb
brings over 30 years of healthcare research and management experience to his Coalition
leadership position. As Associate Dean for Research in the Jefferson College of Population
Health, he was responsible for developing and carrying out the College’s research agenda,
focused on healthcare quality and value, and economic evaluation of healthcare technologies.
Concurrently, Mr. Goldfarb served as Director of Ambulatory Care Performance Improvement
for the Jefferson faculty practice plan.
His previous positions include Executive Director of a quality improvement consulting and data
collection firm, and Vice President of Health Services for the Philadelphia region’s first Medicaid
managed care plan. Mr. Goldfarb has authored over 60 articles in the peer-reviewed literature,
focused on his interests in health and disease management, quality measurement and
improvement, care for the underserved, and health economics and outcomes research. He
serves as adjunct faculty and teaches courses for the Jefferson College of Pharmacy and
University of the Sciences.
QSLS Speaker Bios – 2016
Mr. Goldfarb is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Business Coalition on
Health (NBCH), and founding co-Director of NBCH’s College for Value-based Purchasing of
Health Benefits.
Della M. Lin, MD
Hawaii
As a physician with leadership experience for over 20 years, Dr. Lin brings clarity, inspiration,
and provocative challenges to her audiences by integrating practical clinical experience,
systems thinking around organizational resilience, and essential information of the current
patient safety and quality landscape.
Dr. Lin is a Senior Fellow in Patient Safety and Health Systems Engineering with the Estes Park
Institute and is an inaugural National Patient Safety Foundation/Health Forums Patient Safety
Leadership Fellow (2002). She continues as core fellowship faculty as an AHA-HRET Senior
Dr. Lin is also adjunct faculty with the Institute for Health care Improvement (IHI), faculty with
the Jefferson College of Population Health Quality Safety Leadership Series (QSLS) and Senior
Advisor with Pascal Metrics. Her books include “Rapid Response Teams: Proven Strategies for
Successful Implementation (HcPro. 2005, 2008), “Surgical Care Improvement Project: Improve
Performance, Reduce Complications and Comply with CMS (HcPro 2007) and “Sedation,
Anesthesia and JCAHO” (2005), and she was also part of the editing team for the National
Patient Safety Foundation’s (NPSF) 2008 Stand Up for Patient Safety Resource Guide.
Dr. Lin is a board member at several health care entities. In addition to speaking engagements
and facilitating retreats for medical executive committees, boards and combination
board/MEC/administration venues, Dr. Lin works with organizations and hospitals on issues
relating to physician, executive leadership and board engagement around quality; patient safety
and patient-centered care; organizational and safety culture; surgical safety; and
multidisciplinary simulation/near miss debriefing.
Dr. Lin continues an active practice in anesthesiology, receiving her training from the University
of California, San Diego. She has several committee appointments with the American Society of
Anesthesiology, and has been a board examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology.
David K. Nace, MD
Pennsylvania
David K. Nace is MarkLogic’s Chief Medical Officer. He sets MarkLogic’s clinical strategy and
works closely with client-facing, sales, product, and marketing teams to continuously improve
MarkLogic’s healthcare and life sciences solutions and services. Before joining MarkLogic, Dr.
Nace served as Vice President of Clinical Development for the McKesson Corporation for over a
decade. He has also served as a Senior Vice President and Corporate Medical Director at
United Health Group, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Aetna, Inc., and founding
principal of Health Strategy Solutions, LLC. He has held medical directorships in a variety of
academic and community-based health care organizations, as well as a privately owned EAP
company.
Dr. Nace is the immediate past chairman of the board of directors for the Patient Centered
Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC), where he led the PCPCC Center for e-Health since the
organization’s founding and continues to serve on PCPCC’s board. He also holds a position on
QSLS Speaker Bios – 2016
the board of directors for the Integration Healthcare Association, a statewide multi-stakeholder
leadership group that promotes quality improvement, accountability and affordability of health
care in California, as well as with the Care Continuum Alliance, based in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Nace has been involved in healthcare and healthcare financing strategies in the U.S. since
the early 1990s. He has served as a consultant for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the
Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the Wharton School, and the United Nations
Business Council. He has also served as an advisor to the American Medical Association, the
National Business Group on Health, the World Health Organization, and the International Labor
Organization on issues ranging from health promotion and wellness to employer policy and
healthcare financing issues.
Dr. Nace is an internationally recognized speaker on topics ranging from healthcare technology,
healthcare reform, and patient-centered medical homes. He has published articles in leading
peer-viewed medical journals and popular healthcare news outlets. Dr. Nace received his M.D.
from the University of Pittsburgh and is board certified in psychiatry.
Brian J. Silverstein, MD
Illinois
Brian Silverstein is a national health care thought leader with extensive consulting and
operational expertise in the business of health care, including a focus on population health
management. His 20 years of health care experience focused on creating a positive impact on
patient care and provider satisfaction through business strategy and operations.
Dr. Silverstein gained population health operational experience as a former senior vice
president at CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield, where he ran one of the country’s largest primary
care ACO/PCMH programs. He has served in executive roles with Geisinger and xG Health
Solutions, the Camden Group (a division of HealthCare Partners) and Sg2.
Dr. Silverstein is also a system board member for OSF Healthcare, a Midwestern health care
system that is active in advancing population health with its Medicare Pioneer ACO and other
commercial ACO contracts. In recognition of his contributions to the industry, he was
named one of the “10 people to know in the World of ACOs” in 2010.