Peter Basch, MD

 is a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress, practices general internal medicine in Washington, DC. Dr. Basch is an early adopter of electronic health records and e-prescribing. He also serves as the medical director for Ambulatory Clinical Systems at MedStar Health, a nine-hospital, not-for-profit health system in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, and provides clinical leadership for its ambulatory EHR implementation. He is a board member of the eHealth Initiative, and represents the American College of Physicians at the Physician’s EHR Coalition, serving as a member of the coalition’s Executive Committee. Dr. Basch graduated from Trinity College with a BA in Psychology, Phi Beta Kappa, and received his MD from the George Washington University School of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Joshua S. Benner, PharmD, ScD

is the President and CEO of RxAnte, a provider of science-based information technology solutions for improving quality and lowering the cost of health care. Prior to RxAnte, Dr. Benner was Fellow and Managing Director at the Brookings Institution’s Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, where he focused on medical technology policy. Previous to his position at Brookings, Dr. Benner was principal at ValueMedics Research, an analytic and consulting services firm. Following the successful sale of ValueMedics to IMS Health in 2007, he served as senior principal in health economics and outcomes research and global lead for medication adherence at IMS. Dr. Benner received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Drake University and his Doctor of Science in health policy and management from the Harvard University School of Public Health. He remains a Visiting Scholar in Economic Studies at Brookings, and is an adjunct scholar in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Don Caruso, MD, MPH

is a family physician and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene Associate Medical Director. Dr. Caruso served as Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at DHK from 1993-2005 and as Associate Medical Director from 2005 until his recent appointment as Medical Director. Concurrently, Dr. Caruso served as Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Physician Champion of Electronic Medical Records, Medical Director of Medical Home Clinical Performance, and Co-Medical Director of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Regional Primary Care Collaborative.Prior to coming to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, Dr. Caruso also cared for patients and served as Medical Director of Harrington Family Health Center in Harrington, Maine from 1987-1991. Dr. Caruso received his doctorate in medicine at New York Medical College and completed his residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Fitchburg Family Medicine Residency program. He earned his Master’s degree in Public Health from the Dartmouth Institute in June, 2011. Dr. Caruso is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Academy of Physician Executives.

Paul N. Casale, MD

is an interventional cardiologist and Chief of the Division of Cardiology at Lancaster General Hospital. He also serves as Medical Director of Quality for Lancaster General Health where 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. Dr. Casale is Chair of the American College of Cardiology Payment Reform Workgroup and is a member of the Editorial Board for the American College of Cardiology Payment Innovation Community. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and currently serves as Chair of the Data Systems Committee. In addition, Dr. Casale is a member of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Casale is a graduate of Cornell University Medical College. He 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.

L. Allen Dobson, MD, FAAFP

 has served as vice president for clinical practice development at Carolinas Healthcare System and president of Cabarrus Family Medicine since September 2007. Previously, Dr. Dobson served as assistant secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services, where he was responsible for the health divisions of the department as well as serving as the state Medicaid director. Prior to his state appointment, he served as director of Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency and president and chief executive officer of Cabarrus Family Medicine, as well as founder and president of Mt. Pleasant Family Physicians. Dr. Dobson has been actively involved in health policy on the state and national level, as he was an early leader and developer of the nationally-recognized “Community Care of North Carolina” primary care-based Medicaid managed care program. 

Palmer C. Evans, MD

is the former Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Tucson Medical Center (TMC) in Tucson, Arizona. He began his administrative career at TMC in 1996 and retired in 2005, returning as Chief Medical Officer in 2007 at the request of TMC HealthCare’s Board of Trustees. He retired again in July 2010 but continues in a senior advisory role to TMC and the Arizona Connected Care.  Evans is a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine and did his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a faculty member of the Arizona Healthcare Leadership Academy and is also a Board Member of the TMC Foundation. He recently joined the Board of the Pima County on Aging. In 1993, Evans was awarded the Wyeth-Ayerst Award from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for his work on The Arizona Placental Project. Evans was a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist in Tucson from 1974 to 1999 and is a Life Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Marcia Guida James, MS, MBA

is the Director of Provider Engagement at Humana. In this capacity she has a leading role in provider engagement and payment reform activities including pay for performance, medical home and accountable care organizations. With over 25 years’ experience in physician practice management from the consulting, practice and health plan sides Marcia remains deeply involved in terms of clinical practice re-design, clinical decision support and performance measures. Marcia has been a key developer in Humana’s Physician Rewards Program with successful implementation and development of the 2010 and 2011 programs. Marcia has also participated on a national level in industry discussions around quality reporting, payment methodologies and use of HIT in reporting. Additionally, Marcia is the key operational leader for Humana in one of the five pilots being conducted by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings - Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice around Accountable Care Organizations. Marcia James is a Certified Professional Coder, and has an MBA in Healthcare Management as well as an M.S. in Community Health. She serves as President of the Board of the Louisville Ballet, and is a Past President of both the Greater Louisville Medical Society Alliance and Kentucky Medical Association Alliance.

Tyler Jung, MD

is the Medical Director of Inpatient Services and Clinical High Risk Programs for HealthCare Partners Medical Group. In this role, Dr Jung oversees Hospitalist, Skilled Nursing, Pharmacy, Care Management, HomeCare and High Risk Clinics. HealthCare Partners is a large multi-specialty medical group with over 600,000 members in Southern California.

Robert Kocher, MD

is a partner at Venrock and focuses on healthcare IT and services investments. Previously, Dr. Kocher was a principal at McKinsey, where he led the McKinsey Center for Health Reform as well as their health economics research. Dr. Kocher served in the Obama administration as Special Assistant to the President for Healthcare and Economic Policy, and as a member of the National Economic Council, where he was one of the leading shapers of health care reform legislation, focusing on cost, quality, and delivery-system reform. Dr. Kocher is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution. He earned his undergraduate degrees from the University of Washington and a medical degree from George Washington University, and completed a research fellowship with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kocher went on to complete his internal residency training at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and at the Harvard Medical School. He is board-certified and licensed to practice medicine in Virginia.

S. Lawrence Kocot, JD, LLM, MPA 

serves as a visiting fellow in the Economic Studies program and deputy director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Kocot is also senior counsel at SNR Denton LLP. Mr. Kocot was interim president and CEO and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Partnership for a Healthier America. Previously, he was senior advisor to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this capacity, he was involved in a wide range of health care policy issues and operations related to Medicare and Medicaid. Mr. Kocot is former chairman and currently a member of Virginia's Commonwealth Health Research Board; he was appointed by Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner and reappointed by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. Prior to his government service, he spent nearly a decade at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, where he was senior vice president and general counsel. Mr. Kocot received his BA and MPA degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He earned his JD and LLM degrees at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Steven M. Lieberman, MPhil, MA

 is the deputy executive director for Policy and Analysis at the National Governors Association. Previously he served as president of Lieberman Consulting Inc. and was a visiting scholar in the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform. As a senior advisor to the Administrator in 2004, Mr. Lieberman led implementation of the new Medicare drug benefit at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. From 1999 to 2004, he led the health staff at the Congressional Budget Office, serving as assistant director and executive associate director. Between 1992 and 1999, Mr. Lieberman served as the vice president for marketing and government programs at a publicly-traded HMO, directed managed care and other operations for a major academic health center, founded a venture-capital funded company, and consulted with a variety of health care clients. From 1976 to 1992, he worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget, serving for seven years as chief of the Health Financing Branch and for two years as an assistant director. He is on the Board of CareCore National, LLC, a radiology benefits management company, a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, as well as a member of the 2006-2007 Technical Panel of the Social Security Advisory Board. Mr. Lieberman has a BA and MPhil from Yale University, as well as an MA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kavita Patel, MD, MS

 is a fellow in the Economic Studies program and managing director for clinical transformation and delivery reform in the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution. Previously, Dr. Patel worked at the New America Foundation, where she was director of the health policy program. There, she provided strategic vision for all health-related policy research and analysis, educational outreach, and communication activities. Before her work at the New America Foundation, Dr. Patel served in the Obama Administration as Director of Policy for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement in the White House. As a senior aide to Valerie Jarrett, President Obama’s senior advisor, Dr. Patel played a critical role in policy development and evaluation of policy initiatives connected to health reform, financial regulatory reform, and economic recovery issues. Throughout the health reform debate, she was an instrumental team player in helping the White House advance its goals. She earned her medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center, and her masters in public health from the University of California Los Angeles.

Benjamin E. Sasse, PhD

 was elected the 15th president of Midland University in October 2009. Before coming to Midland, Dr. Sasse served in multiple senior roles in both government and corporate America. Nominated by President Bush and unanimously confirmed by the Democratic Senate as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Sasse led policy, strategic planning, and research functions at the federal government’s largest agency from 2007 to 2009. He focused especially on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Medicare, Medicaid, and the unsustainability of national entitlement spending. His research on the politics and economics of American healthcare looks at efforts to modernize payment systems, to migrate from "paying for more" to "paying for better" in ways that will stimulate entrepreneurial innovation from doctors, hospitals, and adjacent industries. Dr. Sasse holds visiting scholar status in economics at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and a fellowship at the Center for Politics and Governance at the University of Texas.

Cary Sennett, MD, PhD

 is a fellow in the Economic Studies program and managing director for health care finance reform in the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution, where his work focuses on the use of health care financing instruments to drive delivery system transformation. Dr. Sennett’s career has been directed at building infrastructure to support a high performing health care system. After five years working in managed care, using large health care datasets to inform organizational efforts to improve quality, he served as executive vice president in building out the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA’s) national standard measurement set, HEDIS® and establishing a value-based purchasing dynamic in managed care. More recently, he has worked with provider organizations – in particular, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Board of Internal Medicine – to support professional efforts to evaluate and improve the quality and value of care. He has also spent time as a business leader in the private sector, as vice president and chief innovation officer at Ingenix, and most recently as chief medical officer at MedAssurant.

Kalahn Taylor-Clark, PhD, MPH

currently serves as the director of health policy at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Her primary responsibilities are in shaping and implementing the policy agenda for the National Partnership’s major initiative, the Campaign for Better Care. Prior to joining the National Partnership, Taylor-Clark led the Patient-Centeredness and Health Equity Portfolio at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution, where she currently retains an affiliation as a Visiting Scholar. Taylor-Clark was a W.K. Kellogg Health Scholar at Harvard University from 2006-2008, where her areas of research included public health communication in politically and socially marginalized populations and minority voting on health care issues. In 2005-2007, she was a lecturer at Tufts University. Before teaching at Tufts, Taylor-Clark held a position as a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Project on Biological Security and the Public, where she focused on risk communication in communities of color during public health emergencies. She received a BA in International Relations from Tufts University, an MPH from Tufts School of Medicine, and a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard University.

Greger J. Vigen, MBA

is a health actuary and MBA with extensive connections to physician-based care in California. He has worked on many projects with industry leaders, including major California medical groups, ACO pilots, and Beacon programs. Mr. Vigen is a member of the Health Council for the Society of Actuaries and leads the Society’s payment model workgroup. Prior to this, Mr. Vigen worked for 23 years as a leading health actuary for employers at Mercer before going independent. While at Mercer, he was the lead actuary for many major clients and purchasing coalitions including CalPERS. He analyzed and created a variety of California network products, including the first high-performing HMO and the first high-performing PPO network. Mr. Vigen was liaison between medical groups and employers to the Department of Managed HealthCare and the California Association of Physician Groups. He was also on the board of directors for Physician Associates, a multi-specialty medical group. Mr. Vigen co-authored two Society of Actuaries papers: “Measurement of Healthcare Quality and Efficiency: Resources for Healthcare Professionals” and “Opportunities During Transformation: Moving To Health Care 2.0.” He is a frequent speaker for CMS and across the industry. Previously, he chaired Mercer’s actuarial committee and other key subcommittees (data analysis, plan design modeler, and high performing networks). Mr. Vigen received his MBA from UCLA and his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California.

William B. Weeks, MD, MBA

is the medical director for the Office of Professional Education and Outreach at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Program Officer for The High Value HealthcareCollaborative, Professor of Psychiatry and of Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, and Associate Professor and Course Director at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. Dr. Weeks has published over 100 manuscripts examining economic and business aspects of rural veterans’ health care services utilization and delivery, physicians’ return on educational investment, patient safety, quality improvement, and most recently on Accountable Care Organizations. He received his MD from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and his MBA from Columbia University.

Ken Wilson, MD

has been the System Vice President for Clinical Effectiveness and Quality at Norton Healthcare since 2010. He leads the Technology Assessment Committee, a physician-centric group which also includes senior administrators, finance personnel and materiel management leadership and staff. Previously Dr. Wilson served as the System Associate Vice President of Clinical Affairs beginning in 2004.  Dr Wilson graduated from Macalester College with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Geography. His medical doctorate was conferred by the George Washington University. He completed a Family Medicine Residency at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he received the Mead-Johnson Award for Graduate Medical Education. He received a Master of Science in Administrative Medicine from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then served an administrative fellowship with Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. Dr. Wilson practiced Family Medicine for 18 years in Indiana. He is a member of numerous professional organizations including the American College of Physician Executives, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Project Management