DANIEL H. VAN LEEUWEN, MPH, RN, CPHQ
Mission: increase the sense of balance people, caregivers, and clinicians feel as they work together towards best health.
64 River St, Arlington, MA 02474 617-304-4681
danny@health-hats.com
www.health-hats.com
Resume
Professional Summary
A nationally recognized expert in improving the experience of the people at the center of the health journey (patients,
caregivers, clinicians, and direct care and support staff). Comfortable navigating the complexities of the health care
continuum and connecting with individuals, groups, teams and populations with diverse cultures, experiences, and
capabilities. An action catalyst using active listening with research to drive change. An entrepreneur who understands the
value of technology-supported engagement of the people at the center of care.
Core Competencies
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Engages patients, caregivers, and clinicians to meet mutually established health goals
Builds partnerships among clinical and administrative leaders and team members and creates alignment across
diverse silos and cultures
Utilizes technology to maximize patient and caregiver experience and loyalty and establishes metrics for fine
tuning staff work flow and patient life flow
Identifies new markets and partners for current and potential products by leveraging clinical experience and
extensive networks
Understands the primacy of health literacy in improving the health experience
A change agent specializing in sustained accomplishment of strategic goals in complex organizations
Community Participation
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Co-chair PCORI (Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute)’s Communication and Dissemination Advisory
Council
Member of the MassHealth Quality Improvement Work Group
Panel member for Shark Tanks at Harvard Medical School and Partner’s Connected Health Conference
Blogging weekly for three years about health, leadership, and experience of people at the center at www.healthhats.com with more than 3,000 registered users
Inaugural committee member of HIMSS (Health Information Management Systems Society) Connected Health
Committee for 3 years and now member of the Quality, Cost and Safety Committee
Speaker about Caregivers and Health Information Technology at HIMSS national conference and the World
Medical Informatics Conference
Lifetime member of the Society of Participatory Medicine
Member of ONL (Organization of Nurse Leaders) Technology Committee and faculty for the ONL Leadership
Academy
Professional Experience
WORK EXPERIENCE
Health-Hats
Founder and Principal
July 2012 to present
Arlington, MA 02474
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Consulting about systems, technology, and tools to optimize and advocate for the e-Patient, Provider, and
Caregiver experience and engagement
o Builds partnerships among clinical and administrative leaders and team members, creates
alignment across diverse silos and cultures, and leverages technology - all to maximize patient and
caregiver experience and loyalty.
o Engages patients and clinicians to meet mutually established health goals
Page 1 of 6
DANIEL H. VAN LEEUWEN, MPH, RN, CPHQ
Mission: increase the sense of balance people, caregivers, and clinicians feel as they work together towards best health.
64 River St, Arlington, MA 02474 617-304-4681
danny@health-hats.com
www.health-hats.com
o
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Identifies new markets and partners for current and potential products by leveraging clinical
experience and extensive networks
o Provides consultation to maximize staff and patient work flow upstream and downstream of technology
use and establish metrics for fine tuning.
o Provides translation among stakeholders to develop and enhance sales and instruction material
o Choreographs project completion
o A change agent specializing in sustained accomplishment of strategic goals in complex organizations
Working with Wellesley Partners to set up a company to develop virtual immersive learning and development
environment (simulation) tools to improve behavior, relationships, decision-making and experience for both
clinicians and patients (and their caregivers)
Advocates, Inc.
Vice President, Quality Management
Framingham, MA
Mar 2013 to Oct 2015
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Providing person-centered, community-based support services to 23,000 individuals and families with mental illness,
addictions, developmental disabilities, brain injury and other challenges in living.
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Leads a service department that 1) ensures every corner of Advocates stands public scrutiny at any time 2) informs the value of
selecting Advocates as the provider of choice, and 3) promotes Advocates as a learning organization.
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Portfolio includes quality assurance, performance improvement, and outcomes management.
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Teaming with direct care management, clients and families, redesigned the client and family experience survey processes. This
resulted in shorter, more actionable surveys using 40% of the resources and reaching twice as many population groups.
Analysis of results available within 30 days of survey completion and action taken within the quarter.
Built core infrastructure. Transformed a fragmented, decentralized, expert Quality Assurance department into a serviceoriented, agency-wide Quality Improvement department. In collaboration with Service Line management, initiated an outcomes
management process with benchmarking and analytics capabilities; sustainable policy and procedure structure; and a crossdepartmental QI Council.
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Boston Children’s Hospital
Senior Project Manager, Patient Family Experience
Boston, MA 02115
March 2008 to September 2012
Patient and Caregiver Experience
 Reporting to Chief Administrative Officer, leading interdisciplinary teams in managing, and evaluating experience
with focus on infrastructure, process, communication, education and metrics. Priorities included appointment
scheduling (3rd available appointments up across departments, 30% fewer abandoned calls, 20% improvement in
time to answer, wait time to international appointment spot down from initial call to scheduled appointment(s)
down from 12 days to 2 days average), welcoming environment (major infrastructure enhancements, valet parking
returns increased from 66% to 90% within 15 minutes), information access (kiosks, patient and provider portals,
wayfinding app), and an experience dashboard.
 Led interdisciplinary teams in managing, and evaluating patient/family experience with focus on infrastructure,
process, communication, education and metrics.
 Facilitator of Autism Friendly Hospital team assessing autism-related issues while driving collaboration and
amelioration of the challenges including developing tools for the children and families to prepare for their
admissions or visits at BCH.
Governance and Operations
 Establishing and managing the interdisciplinary governance of the primary care and specialty clinics (Ambulatory
and Satellite Executive Committee) with focus on clinical and practice informatics, communication with referring
providers, patient and provider portals, ambulatory survey process.
 Project manager to explore building a hospital-within-a hospital relationship with South Shore Hospital
Information Technology
 Member of the Meaningful Use core team with focus on Eligible Providers and Clinical Quality Measures
Page 2 of 6
DANIEL H. VAN LEEUWEN, MPH, RN, CPHQ
Mission: increase the sense of balance people, caregivers, and clinicians feel as they work together towards best health.
64 River St, Arlington, MA 02474 617-304-4681
danny@health-hats.com
www.health-hats.com
St. Peter’s Health Care System (SPHCS)
Manager, Departmental Services, Information Technology
Albany, NY 12208
October 2006 to 2008
Patient and Caregiver Experience
 Led the SPHCS’ medication reconciliation initiative and represented SPHCS on IHI’s 100,000 Lives Campaign
and Catholic Health East’s (CHE) Patient Safety Collaborative Advisory Group. Improved medication
reconciliation from 40% to 70% within 18 months.
 Led Policy and Practice Integration initiative, an interdepartmental initiative to enhance and organize
commonalties across all hospital and ambulatory care departments so patients receive and staff apply the same
standard of care and service wherever patients enter or are cared for in the system.
Information Technology
 Project manager for a $10 million system-wide implementation of an electronic medical record (EMR)
 Established and led clinical informatics functions
 Advised CIO on ambulatory EMR and case management/discharge planning application selection and virtual team
management.
St. Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center (SPARC)
Director, Professional and Community Standards
Guilderland, NY 12084
March 2001 to October 2006
An integrated substance abuse provider and behavioral managed care organization with treatment across the continuum of
care
Governance and Operations
 Participated in the leadership team that successfully renewed a $3 million contract to manage behavioral health
care for a regional Managed Care Company. No other provider of addiction treatment in the nation also managed
behavioral health benefits.
Patient and Caregiver Experience
 Led quality improvement initiative for our behavioral managed care product leading to attaining 99th percentile in
follow-up after inpatient discharge, increasing from 15% in 2001 to over 70% in 2004.
 Participated in a collaboration of community agencies (emergency departments, police, Office of Medicaid,
shelters, providers) dedicated to management of the 10% of the cases using 60% of the resources.
 Established a Medication Safety Forum that led to an increase in Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)
survey scores from 40% to a sustained 80% with system-wide outcomes of no medication events resulting in
unplanned patient treatment sustained over 18 months with a co-occurring increase in events reported.
 Led coalition to write Robert Wood Johnson grant for Access and Retention to Improve Addiction Care and
SAMHSA grant for treatment of multi-problem patients.
 Directed quality management, research, medical records, community relations, marketing, staff development, and
volunteer functions and patient advisory council
Information Technology
● Led the implementation and managed the maintenance of CMHC, a $0.5 million integrated software suite for clinical
and financial management and billing for seven addiction treatment locations.
Bassett Healthcare
Program Manager for Performance Improvement
Cooperstown, NY 13326
February 2000 to March 2001
A rural, teaching healthcare system with three acute care facilities and 21 health centers in eight counties.
Patient and Caregiver Experience
 Led an interdisciplinary team enhancing the delivery of breast care to enhance access, improve consumer and
provider experience, and reduce cycle time for diagnostics. Reached 75% mammogram screening rates; reduced
time to final diagnosis and first surgery; exceeded national standards for diagnosis in early stages and conservation
therapy. As a result, 99% of patients surveyed recommend Bassett breast care services.
Information Technology
 Led an interdisciplinary team revamping the paper and electronic medical record.
Page 3 of 6
DANIEL H. VAN LEEUWEN, MPH, RN, CPHQ
Mission: increase the sense of balance people, caregivers, and clinicians feel as they work together towards best health.
64 River St, Arlington, MA 02474 617-304-4681
danny@health-hats.com
www.health-hats.com
Governance and Operations
 Managed productivity program designed to better match staff to demand through volume prediction, altering ratio
of part-time to full-time staff, and developing flexible staffing plans.
Value Behavioral Health/ValueOptions
Director, Quality Management
Troy, NY 12180
September 1996 to December 1999
A division of a national managed behavioral health care company with $40 million in annual revenue, 300 staff and 100
clients in two offices.
Patient and Caregiver Experience
 Coordinated a collaborative approach to management of consumers with multiple comorbidities (substance abuse,
mental health, and medical) with providers of ValueOptions, the Capital District Physicians' Health Plan
(CDPHP), Four Winds Behavioral Health, and St. Peters Addiction Recovery Center (SPARC).
 Initiated Provider and Member Advisory Councils
 Assembled and led teams that improved communication between behavioral health and primary care practitioners
by 43% and ambulatory follow-up after hospitalization by 11%.
Governance and Operations
 Participated on the marketing team that included the awarding of a $10 million, 5-year, one million covered lives
New York State Empire Plan contract; 3-year 450,000 covered lives CDPHP contract; as well as contracts with
Banc One Boston and United Technologies.
 Led NCQA and URAC accreditation efforts and coordinated compliance with state and federal regulations,
including the New York State Managed Care Act.
HANYS Services, Inc.
Director of Professional and Quality Improvement Services
Albany, NY 12043
June 1993 to September 1996
HANYS Services, Inc., a subsidiary of the Healthcare Association of New York State, offers a broad range of advocacy,
comprehensive products and consulting services to a variety of healthcare providers.
Patient and Caregiver Experience
 Initiated and provided leadership for a partnership between HANYS Services and the Gallup Organization to serve
the needs of northeast New York healthcare facilities. This partnership created a regional consumer satisfaction
survey with associated benchmarks.
 Managed Quality Peer Review - recruited and contracted with physician specialists to conduct quality review of
potentially problematic inpatient cases.
 Worked with physician leaders, managed development of organizational report cards and clinical practice
guidelines. Developed a comparative indicator report using the New York State Long Term Care Minimum Data
Set (MDS+).
Information Technology
 Assisted client organizations to plan for and select information systems able to meet operational and reporting
specifications.
Community Hospital of Schoharie County
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1991-1993 - Director, Continuous Quality Improvement (Successfully transformed hospital from 20+ type I
JCAHO recommendations to none in one year while going through bankruptcy).
Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital
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1979-1991 - Manager, Intensive Care; Emergency Department Nurse and Paramedic (Took ICU from loss leader
to margin contributor, eliminated family visiting hours and increased family participation in care)
Holyoke Visiting Nurses Association
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1975-1979 - Visiting Nurse (First male public health nurse in Western Massachusetts. Established inner city
physical rehabilitation program.)
Page 4 of 6
DANIEL H. VAN LEEUWEN, MPH, RN, CPHQ
Mission: increase the sense of balance people, caregivers, and clinicians feel as they work together towards best health.
64 River St, Arlington, MA 02474 617-304-4681
danny@health-hats.com
www.health-hats.com
EDUCATION
University of Minnesota Master's in Public Health, with a major in health care administration, 1993
Glenville State College Bachelor of Arts, 1989
Wayne County Community College Associate's Degree in Nursing (RN), 1975
Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ)
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
July 2015 to present: Member of the OpenID HEART Working Group- to harmonize and develop a set of privacy and
security specifications that enable an individual to control the authorization of access to RESTful health-related data
sharing APIs, and to facilitate the development of interoperable implementations of these specifications by others
May 2014: Presenter at the World Medical Informatics Conference in Boston Family Caregivers and HIT
February 2014: Presenter at HIMSS14 Supporting Family Caregivers on the Front Lines Through HIT
September 2013: Published “Changing the Paradigm with Personal Health IT (PHIT) to Transform Healthcare” Edited by
Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, MA (Econ.), MHSA THINK-Health and Health Populi blog | HIMSS FY14 eConnecting with
Consumers Committee.
June 2013: Hosted blog Using ONC's Blue Button to Engage and Empower Patients, Caregivers...and You,
August 2012: Presenter of webinar for Child Health Corporation’s Service Excellence Forum, How to Orient Staff to
Service Excellence
Committed member of the federal ONC Automate Blue Button Initiative and Data Exchange Framework of the Standards
and Interoperability Framework A collaborative community of volunteers from the public and private sectors who are
focused on providing the tools, services and guidance to facilitate the functional exchange of health information.
December 2011: Wrote Consumer Empowerment and PHI chapter of AONE’s Toolkit for Guiding Principles for the Nurse
Executive to Enhance Clinical Outcomes by Leveraging Technology
September 2011: Presenter of webinar for AONE, Using AONE’s Guiding Principles for the Nurse Executive to Enhance
Clinical Outcomes by Leveraging Technology
2010-2012: Member American Organization of Nurse Executives’ Technology Committee and liaison to Future Patient
Care Delivery Committee
October 2009: Presented Maintaining Standard of Care with Reduced Resources through Transformational Leadership at
the 2009 ANCC Magnet Conference
2008-2009: Member Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives’ Research Committee
2007 Certified by Catholic Health East Project Management Center of Excellence
1994 – 2009: Editor of the bimonthly “Quality NETwork” column and member of Editorial Review Board for the Journal
for Healthcare Quality.
1996-1999: President, Northeast Association for Healthcare Quality
1998: Engaged by Planned Parenthood of Schenectady and Albany counties to assist in strategic planning to bridge gaps
between the two organizations
PUBLICATIONS – PEER REVIEWED
van Leeuwen D. Book review (2013). Far From the Tree. J Participat Med. Feb 18; 5:e8.
van Leeuwen D. Book review: (2012) e-Patients Live Longer. J Participat Med. Nov 15; 4:e28.
Carrol, K., van Leeuwen D. (2010). Innovating Nursing Practice – Setting a Strategy for Success. Voice of Nursing
Leadership. November 2010, 10-12.
Page 5 of 6
DANIEL H. VAN LEEUWEN, MPH, RN, CPHQ
Mission: increase the sense of balance people, caregivers, and clinicians feel as they work together towards best health.
64 River St, Arlington, MA 02474 617-304-4681
danny@health-hats.com
www.health-hats.com
van Leeuwen, D. (2007). [Guest Editorial] Making a business case for quality. Journal for Healthcare Quality, 29(2), 2, 14.
Carroll-Solomon, P., Denny, D. , van Leeuwen D. (2006) Improving Behavioral Health Satisfaction Assessment:
Measuring Patients’ Perceptions. Journal for Healthcare Quality, 28(3), 49-54, 59.
Pelletier, L., Beaudin, C. (Eds.). (2005). van Leeuwen, D (Contributing author). Q-Solutions: Essential resources for the
healthcare quality professional. Glenview, IL: National Association for Healthcare Quality.
van Leeuwen, D. (2003). [Guest Editorial] On performance improvement and organizational recovery. Journal for
Healthcare Quality, 25(6), 2, 45.
van Leeuwen, D., Grube, J., Chowlewka, P. Guest Editors.(2001). Special Issue: Do No Harm. Journal for Healthcare
Quality, 22(1).
van Leeuwen, D. (1994). Are medication error rates useful as comparative measure of organizational performance? The
Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvements, 20(4), 192-198. Winner of the David L Stumph Award for Excellence
in Publication - National Association for Healthcare Quality
Listing of 14 other publications available upon request
AWARDS
1994 - David L Stumph Award for Excellence in Publication - National Association for Healthcare Quality - Reno, NV, for
article on medication errors.
1991 - Nurse Manager of the Year - WV Hospital Association/WV Organization of Nurse Executives - Morgantown, WV
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