Susan Benson was previously a disease management care manager for Healthways. Earlier positions include collegiate teaching, large scale continuing education program and product development, grant creation, implementation and management, organizational redesign, and product sales and marketing. Her academic credentials include a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania and graduate MBA courses at Wharton School of Business for the business/healthcare administration specialization component.  Other certifications include ANCC clinical nurse specialist, school nursing, and LERN program planning.  She received her BSN from University of Minnesota School of Nursing and completed the Family Nurse Practitioner program. She is an ANCC board certified family nurse practitioner and is completing her Doctorate of Nursing Practice at University of Colorado Health
Sciences Center.

James Couch, MD, JD, FACPE

Dr. Couch has dedicated the past 25 years of his professional career to improving the quality and safety of health care. Most recently, as Chief Medical Officer of Patient Safety Solutions, LLC,  he developed a copyrighted 300 question patient safety practice assessment tool, drawn from nationally authoritative sources and the latest research reported in leading peer-reviewed journals. This tool has been successfully implemented now at two of the nation’s largest integrated health care delivery systems. Dr. Couch was previously Chief Medical Officer of the American Re-Insurance Company. Before American Re, Dr. Couch led the health care quality and disease management efforts for MetLife, Travelers and Coopers and Lybrand (PricewaterhouseCoopers) over a nine year period.  Dr. Couch is the editor of three major books on health care quality and medical management, including “Health Care Quality Management for the 21st Century” published in 1991 by American College of Physician Executives and the American College of Medical Quality.  He served as a reviewer for the Annals of Internal Medicine for five years and authored the chapter on the Joint Commission (JCAHO) in a major book on clinical quality published by the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Couch authored one of the first books on disease management in 1995 (The Health Care Professional's Guide to Disease Management). He is a Fellow and Life Member of the American College of Physician Executives. He advised both the Clinton Task Force and Newt Gingrich’s House Leadership Working Group on Healthcare Reform on the role of quality and specific uses of information technology in national health care reform. He has recently advised the Health Care Subcommittee of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee. In 1992 he was the first physician to apply Six Sigma system evaluation and improvement methodologies to the health care and financial services industries  From 1992-1994, he was the only physician Senior Examiner for the Baldrige Award, during which time, he helped to develop the Baldrige Award for Health Care. In 1987, he published the first article which fully developed the concept and practice of health care value purchasing. Dr. Couch has served on the Public Policy Council of the National Business Group on Health for five years.   

Jacqueline Elder, Psy.D., CADC

Dr. Elders is an Assistant Professor in the Masters of Addictions Studies at Governors State University in University Park, Illinois.  She has been teaching full time in higher education since 1999, largely focusing on Substance Misuse, Harm Reduction, and Motivational Interviewing.

She has been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers since 2000, and has used MI as a technique since 1991.  She has trained and taught Motivational Interviewing since joining the MINT group in 2000. 

Dr. Elder trained with Dr. Bill Miller and Dr. Terri Moyers, and has extensive experience in training and coaching with feedback Advanced MI skills through the MITI (Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity) Coding system.  She is a member of MIAC (Motivational Interviewing Across Cultures), a group that is dedicated to providing MI training and supervision to disadvantaged groups. She has served many corporate clients and organizations including the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society.  Her doctorate in Clinical Psychology was earned from Southern California University, her Masters in Addictions Studies was earned from Governors State University, and she did 2 years post-graduate in Couple and Family Therapy with The Family Institute at Northwestern University in Evanston.

Sabrina Girolami, RN, MHSA, CCM

Sabrina Girolami is the director of Care Coordination for Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) in Danville, PA. GHP is a rural HMO and is part of Geisinger Health System, a large integrated delivery system. Girolami has led the development, primary/specialty care integration, and measurement of disease management programs for GHP since 1995. All programs are internally developed and NCQA Disease Management accredited. In 2006, Girolami was integral in redesigning the delivery of disease management for GHP to include the coordination of post-discharge, history of discharge and high utilization care – all with a strong disease management component. Recognizing the importance of hiring the “right” nurses for disease/case management, Girolami has a wealth of experience in this area and has led the design and implementation of processes to address the professional needs of this special group of nurses.

Girolami has a Bachelor’s in Nursing from College Misericordia in Dallas, PA and a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Saint Joseph’s College in Maine. She is certified in case management and has co-authored several articles on the impact of disease management. Girolami has presented at state and national conferences and has served as an abstract reviewer for DMAA. She has hosted consortiums with other health plans interested in learning more about the GHP disease/case management model. In 1999 Girolami earned the Diagnostic Diabetes Leadership Award from Roche Diagnostics and was a PA Nightingale Finalist in Nursing Administration.

Pamela A. Hara, RN, BSN, MBS, CPHQ

In 2002 Ms. Hara joined Healthways, Inc, a wellness and disease management organization based in Nashville, Tennessee. She currently holds the position of Senior Vice President for Quality and Outcomes. Prior to joining Healthways, Ms. Hara served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Milliman’s clinical guideline division, Milliman Care Guidelines.

Ms Hara has also served as the Chief Operations Officer for a managed behavioral health care organization. Additionally, she has held a variety of administrative positions in both small and large health care systems as well as delivering direct patient care, most notably with Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. Her areas of experience include: strategic planning, population management, medical management, network development, commercial and public health care delivery systems, product design, integrated delivery models, practice management, research, software development, accreditation, drug utilization management, continuous improvement, mergers and alliances.

Ms. Hara received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Washington in 1974. She graduated from Seattle University in 1983 with a Masters of Business Administration.

Robert Luke, PhD

Dr. Robert Luke is currently director of Applied Research & Innovation at George Brown University in Toronto and Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Knowledge Media Design Institute. He previously served as Manager, Educational Informatics Oncology Education at Princess Margaret Hospital University. His research is focused on design science and the development and application of innovative technologies in healthcare and education, from clinical information systems to accessible patient education. Dr. Luke investigates situated technology design and use, the development of information systems and knowledge management for education and other information practices, and information interaction and retrieval.

Dr. Luke has extensive experience in e-learning research, design and evaluation. Current projects include developing patient-centered web services models, use cases and repository services that assist patients in navigating and accessing health services and resources where and when they are most needed. Dr. Luke is principal investigator of the PEPTalk project (Patient Education Prescription), which is designing a clinical information tailoring system. He teaches human-centred design for KMDI. Dr. Luke received his BA in English from the University of Northern British Columbia, MA in English Language and Literature Queens Univeristy, and PhD in Curriculum, Teaching & Learning from the University of Toronto.

Sheryl Niebuhr, PhD

Dr. Niebuhr is currently the Global Manager of Employee Assistance with 3M. She has provided strategic leadership for the design of 3M's health and productivity services, including personal health and disease management, work and personal life resources, employee assistance, and leader and organizational consultation for the past several years. She has also served as part of the strategic planning leadership for 3M's healthcare plans, integrated disability management programs, and multi-employer and purchaser initiatives to influence healthcare market reform. Most recently she has assumed leadership for the globalization of 3M's employee assistance services. Prior to joining 3M in 1990, Dr. Niebuhr worked as a practitioner, service design and resource developer, program manager, trainer and consultant with the Wilder Foundation. She also served as lecturer on aging and adjunct clinical assistant professor in counseling psychology at the University of Minnesota for a number of years. Dr. Niebuhr is a licensed psychologist. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Audra Pierce, RN, MSN, CCM

Audra Pierce is a Program Designer within Aetna’s Disease Management Program.  Earlier positions include collegiate clinical training as well as disease case management and supervision of disease case management staff.  In addition, she has held management positions with a focus on clinical product support activities including product and clinical program design, medical policy and procedure oversight, clinical compliance, program implementation and marketing and sales support.  Her academic credentials include a Masters Degree in Nursing from Villanova University.  She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from York College of Pennsylvania. In addition to the above, she is also a Certified Case Manager.

Edward Ratner, MD

Dr. Ratner is Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He received his M.D. from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and completed a geriatric fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He has been certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Home Care Medicine and Home Care Medical Direction. He is the past President of the American Academy of Home Care Physicians and the President-Elect of the Minnesota Medical Directors Association. Dr. Ratner currently serves as Medical Director for Heartland Home Health Care and Hospice, working with its home health program in Minnesota and its infusion program nationally.  He has served on the Minnesota Commission on End of Life Care and on the Boards of Directors of Volunteers of America (Minnesota), Community Housing, and Shalom Home.  In addition, Dr. Ratner has partnered with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) and other organizations to help health and human resources professionals care for those with chronic disease.  This has been accomplished through a software company he founded, Infingo, LLC, that has created handheld decision support tools to drive evidence-based care in health care and community-based settings.

Jaan Sidorov, MD 

Jaan Sidorov M.D. is a health care consultant with an extensive background in primary care, disease management and population based care coordination.  He was previously a medical director for Geisinger Health Plan, where he led the development of its NCQA accredited disease management programs. 

He received his medical degree from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, and did his internship and residency at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, New Hampshire.  He has also served as a Chief Resident, at Reading Hospital, Reading, Pennsylvania.  He received additional training in health services research through the Faculty Development Fellowship of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and in managed care through the American Association of Health Plans certified managed care executive program.  He also has a Masters Degree in Health Services Administration from Marywood University in Scranton Pennsylvania.  He was formerly a member of the executive committee of the Board of Directors of the Disease Management Association of America--The Care Continuum Alliance). Treasurer, and head of the Audit Committee.  He has numerous publications of original research, two of which were named as “Best Article” by DMAA and one of which was listed as “most read” by the prestigious health policy journal Health Affairs.  He has also presented his findings in workshops and presentations at local and national academic and industry meetings.  Dr. Sidorov is board certified in internal medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.  He serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for PMSLIC, the largest physician malpractice insurance company in Pennsylvania.  He also holds a Master rank in Chimukwan style TaeKwonDo.

Alexis Skoufalos, EdD

Dr. Skoufalos is Vice Chair and Program Director of Education and Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy at Jefferson Medical College. Prior to joining Jefferson, Dr. Skoufalos was Senior Manager of Organizational Development for Bancroft NeuroHealth, a provider of specialized services for individuals with developmental disabilities and neurological impairments. During her tenure there, she retained primary responsibility for leadership and management development, new staff orientation and recertification training. She also organized professional conferences, served as the organization’s director of continuing education and administrator for its corporate university program. 

Dr. Skoufalos received her doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Her dissertation work focused on employee retention strategies for direct support professionals in the disabilities services field.  She holds a Master’s degree in Management and Administration of Education Programs (Nova Southeastern University) and a Bachelor’s in Secondary Education (Temple University).  She recently completed work with the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration as part of the National Training Institute for Frontline Supervisors, a training and demonstration project aimed at increasing employee retention and satisfaction.

The majority of her professional efforts over the past ten years have been devoted to developing and delivering specialized training and education programs for managers, paraprofessionals, and medical and behavioral health professionals.