The NQMC/NGC Expert Panel is composed of health care professionals with collective expertise in all aspects of evidence-based health, clinical practice guidelines, quality measurement and reporting, health care policy and administration, and health informatics. The Expert Panel provides feedback and guidance to NQMC and NGC on broad project areas.
Rhonda M. Anderson, RN, DNSC(h), FAAN, FACHE
Ms. Anderson is Chief Executive Officer of Cardon Children's Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). In addition to serving as the Joint Commission Commissioner for nine years, she was on the Board of the Joint Commission International and was the ACHE Regent for Arizona. Ms. Anderson also serves on the Institute for Interactive Patient Care National Advisory Board, the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees and Health Research and Educational Trust Board, the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions Quality Council, and the National Quality Forum Measure Applications Partnership Coordinating Committee. She is also Trustee of the Perinatal Trust and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Children's Action Alliance. In addition to receiving the Distinguished Achievement Award from Arizona State University College of Nursing, Ms. Anderson was awarded the Nursing Legend, Nurse of the Year Award by the March of Dimes in 2005, and both the American Organization of Nurse Executives Lifetime Achievement Award and NurseWeek Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. She is a Phoenix Business Journal 2011 Women in Business Honoree and currently serves on four editorial boards of health care and nursing journals.
Kathryn L. Coltin, MPH
Ms. Coltin currently serves as Director, External Quality and Data Initiatives, at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in Wellesley, Massachusetts and is an Independent Consultant in performance measurement and reporting. Ms. Coltin has extensive experience in the design of performance measures for health plans, providers and practitioners; the development of information systems policies and strategies to support performance measurement and improvement; and the use of performance measures for value-based contracting, quality improvement and consumer choice. She has served on several national advisory committees in the areas of health care performance measurement and health data policy and standards, including two terms on the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics. She currently serves on the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Technical Measures Advisory Panel and the Performance Measurement Expert Panel of the Massachusetts Healthcare Quality and Cost Council. Ms. Coltin holds an MPH from Boston University, where she trained as a clinical epidemiologist, and completed her doctoral coursework as a Pew Health Policy Fellow in the Joint Program for Advanced Studies in Health Policy of Boston University and Brandeis University.
Dave Davis, MD, CCFP, FCFP, FRCPC(hon)
Dr. Davis currently serves as Senior Director, Continuing Health Care Education and Performance Improvement, Association of American Medical Colleges, as well as Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1967 and over a 30-year period has been Chairman of an all-staff inter-professional continuing education (CE) program at Joseph Brant Hospital (Burlington, Ont.); Director of Continuing Medical Education (CME) and subsequently Chair of CE at McMaster University's Faculty of Health Sciences; Associate Dean, CE, and founding director of the Knowledge Translation Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; and Chairman of Ontario's Guidelines Advisory Committee. Dr. Davis has also developed a comprehensive competency assessment program for the provincial licensing body and helped launch a center for faculty development and a Mini-Med School at the University of Toronto. Emphasizing a systematic, outcomes-based focus on CME, he has acted as Principal Investigator (PI), Co-PI, or Investigator on numerous grants. This emphasis has seen the publication of over 100 peer-reviewed papers, dozens of abstracts, book chapters, and two major books on CME practices, and presentations on four continents. He has been chair or president of national or provincial Canadian organizations, two North American organizations (the Alliance for CME and the Society for Academic CME) and the Guidelines International Network.
George Isham, MD, MS
Dr. Isham is Senior Advisor to HealthPartners, responsible for working with the board of directors and the senior management team on health and quality of care improvement for patients, members and the community. Dr. Isham is also Senior Fellow, HealthPartners Research Foundation and facilitates forward progress at the intersection of population health research and public policy. He is active nationally and currently co-chairs the National Quality Forum-convened Measurement Application Partnership, chairs the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Clinical Programs Committee and is a member of NCQA's Committee on Performance Measurement. Dr. Isham is chair of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Health Literacy and has chaired three studies in addition to serving on a number of IOM studies related to health and quality of care. In 2003 he was appointed as a lifetime National Associate of the National Academies of Science in recognition of his contributions to the work of the IOM. He is a former member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Task Force on Community Preventive Services and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and currently serves on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the CDC. His practice experience as a general internist was with the United States Navy, at the Freeport Clinic in Freeport, Illinois, and as a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison, Wisconsin.
Vincent E. Kerr, MD
As both President of Care Solutions and Chief Medical Officer for National Accounts, Dr. Kerr holds two leadership positions at UnitedHealthcare. As Chief Medical Officer, he is responsible for clinical policy matters internally and for external clinical policy matters for the large employer segment. In the capacity of President of Care Solutions, he leads the strategy for large employers to manage trends and improve the quality and efficiency of care, among other responsibilities. Positions held prior to joining UnitedHealthcare include Director of Health Care Management, Ford Motor Company and Corporate Medical Director, GE Company. He obtained his BA in 1973 from Harvard College, followed by his MD from Yale University School of Medicine. He sits on many committees and boards and is currently on the Board of Directors of the American Benefits Council and the National Partnership for Women and Families. Dr. Kerr has also served as Adjunct Attending Physician at Bridgeport Hospital since 1992.
Lisa A. Lang, MPP
Ms. Lang is Assistant Director for Health Services Research Information of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and Head of its National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology. She is responsible for the NLM's activities to support the information needs of health services researchers and the public health workforce. She is also involved in NLM's health data standards development activities. Before joining the NLM, Ms. Lang worked in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she was at the forefront of the agency's implementation of the public-private collaboration to promote public reporting on hospital quality of care, as well as its efforts to identify hospital quality measures for value-based purchasing. Her prior experience includes more than a decade focusing on quality and consumer protection issues as a Senior Health Policy Analyst in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, as well as a visiting fellowship at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. She received a BA from Stanford University and a Masters in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Susan L. Norris, MD, MSc, MPH
Dr. Norris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Oregon Health and Science University, where she leads a group performing systematic reviews for clinical practice guidelines for the American Urological Association. She also performs systematic reviews for the Drug Effectiveness Review Program for state Medicaid agencies and supports the American College of Chest Physicians' revision of their antithrombotic clinical guidelines. She led an international group which developed methods for the use of observational studies in reviews of comparative effectiveness of pharmaceutical agents and devices under AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program and led the 2008 review of the effectiveness of screening for type 2 diabetes for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Dr. Norris received her MD and MSc in Experimental Surgery at the University of Alberta and her MPH from the University of Washington. She practiced primary care medicine at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound for nine years and was involved in the development and implementation of evidence-based practice guidelines and processes. From 1999 to 2004 Dr. Norris worked at the CDC, leading a systematic review work group within the Division of Diabetes and publishing a number of widely-cited reviews and meta-analyses on the effectiveness of diabetes education and weight control interventions.
Douglas Owens, MD, MS
Dr. Owens is Associate Director of the Center for Health Care Evaluation at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and is also the Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor and Director of the Center for Health Policy and of the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research at Stanford University. Dr. Owens is a Professor of Medicine, of Health Research and Policy, and of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford. He is also a Senior Fellow at Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford. Dr. Owens directed the Stanford-UCSF Evidence-based Practice Center, and directs three training programs in health services research. His research interests include the development of clinical guidelines, technology assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis, evidence synthesis, and methods for clinical decision making. Dr. Owens chaired the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians for four years and was recently appointed to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which develops guidelines for prevention and screening. After earning his BS from Stanford University, he obtained his MD from the University of California San Francisco and his MS from Stanford University. In addition to extensive publishing credits including articles, books and abstracts, Dr. Owens has given over 100 invited lectures and presentations and has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards. In 2007 he was awarded the Under Secretary's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and in 2010 he received the John Eisenberg Award in Recognition of Exemplary Leadership in Medical Decision Making Research from the Society for Medical Decision Making.
Michael T. Rapp, MD, JD, FACEP
Dr. Rapp is director of the Quality Measurement and Health Assessment Group, Office of Clinical Standards and Quality, at CMS. The group is responsible for evaluating and supporting implementation of quality measurement systems to assess health care quality in a broad range of settings. Dr. Rapp's major leadership responsibilities include the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, the Electronic Prescribing Reporting Program, Hospital Compare Web site measures content, measures design of the Hospital Value Based Purchasing Plan, the development of the Continuing Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Post-Acute Assessment Instrument, the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) 9th Statement of Work Care Transitions Theme, the Better Quality Initiative for Medicare Beneficiaries Pilot Project, and the calculation of quality measurement results using Medicare data for Chartered Value Exchanges. Dr. Rapp is an emergency physician and was in active clinical practice before starting at CMS, most recently as a member of the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates. For 18 years he served as Chairman and Medical Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Arlington Hospital (now Virginia Hospital Center). He has served on the board of directors and as President of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). His public service activities include approximately four years as Chairman of the Department of Health and Human Services Practicing Physicians Advisory Council. Dr. Rapp received his MD degree from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and his JD degree, with highest honors, from the George Washington University School of Law. He is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and is a Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at the George Washington University of Medicine and Health Sciences. He is also a fellow of the ACEP and a member of the Medical Society of Virginia, the American Medical Association, and the American Health Lawyers Association.
Richard N. Shiffman, MD, MCIS
Dr. Shiffman currently serves as both the Associate Director of the Yale Center for Medical Informatics and Professor of Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine. He has received significant research funding from both the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-National Library of Medicine and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has been awarded numerous honors, including the Byron E. Oberst Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2006 for significant contributions to the use of clinical information technology in pediatrics. He is a member of many prominent groups, including the Guidelines International Network and several guideline development panels for the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Otolaryngology. After earning his BA and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania, he obtained his MCIS from the University of Denver in 1991. His published writing is extensive and includes many original articles, National Committee Policy Statements, and Practice Guidelines.
Jeffery Thompson, MD, MPH
As Chief Medical Officer, Health Care Authority (previously the Health and Recovery Services Administration) for Washington State Medicaid since 2003, Dr. Thompson's focus is on the application of business and public health strategies that result in improved health outcomes, cost savings, improved risk management, productivity, and quality of care. Prior to joining Medicaid, he held various leadership roles including Director of Occupational Health Services at Moffett Naval Air Station; Corporate Medical Director for the Weyerhaeuser Company; and Medical Director/Director of Policy & Purchasing for the Health Care Authority. He earned his BA at San Jose State University, followed by his MD at the University of Nebraska and an MPH at the University of Washington and Internal Medicine at Stanford. Dr. Thompson sits on the Board of Directors of the Northwest Association of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, is a member of the National Advisory Council for AHRQ, is the Medicaid Representative to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services HCPC Selection Committee, Quality Technical Advisory Group, and is an advisor to several national quality groups and the Washington state Robert Bree Collaborative.
Marita G. Titler, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dr. Titler is the Associate Dean for Practice and Clinical Scholarship and the Rhetaugh Dumas Endowed Chair at the University of Michigan School of Nursing. An internationally recognized expert in health services research, translational science, and evidence-based practice, her research focuses on clinically based interventions that are translatable to nursing practice. This research emphasis spans more than 15 years and has resulted in an evidence-based practice model that is now widely used in the U.S. Dr. Titler is PI or Co-investigator on eight funded studies, including NIH, AHRQ, and CDC. Dr. Titler also has an equally strong research program in health science research, particularly in "implementation science," which focuses on the organizational factors that contribute to successful application of what is known to be effective, or the ways in which knowledge is put into practice in complex systems. Because of this emphasis, she works with a broad base of interdisciplinary collaborators who hold expertise in general practice areas, including public health, nursing, and the different subspecialties of medicine. Dr. Titler's program of research is at the forefront of nursing science, and her methods work to improve quality and safety and to reduce costs in nursing practice. Dr. Titler has given over 180 presentations; published numerous journals, books, and abstracts; and has been the series editor for nearly 50 evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and has received numerous awards, including the Sigma Theta Tau International Elizabeth McWilliams Miller Award for Excellence in Research and the Distinguished Service Award from Mount Mercy College.
Jed Weissberg, MD
Dr. Weissberg is the Senior Vice President of Hospitals, Quality and Care Delivery Excellence at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA. He partners with the Permanente Medical Groups, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and regional and national leaders to oversee Kaiser Permanente's national quality agenda and to help ensure that members and patients receive safe, high-quality care and service. He leads Kaiser Permanente's national quality, service, safety, patient care services, and health information technology transformation/analytic teams. As Medical Director of Medicare Advantage, 1876 Cost, and Part D Pharmacy Plans, he provides oversight for quality assurance activities affecting Medicare members, including coverage determinations, medical/utilization review and claims management. Prior to his current role, he served as Associate Executive Director for Quality and Performance Improvement for the Permanente Federation from 1994 to 2009. Dr. Weissberg joined the Permanente Medical Group in Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Region in 1984 and became the Physician-in-Chief at the Fremont Medical Center in 1994, where he led a staff of 450 full-time employees who cared for a population of 85,000 members. During that time, Dr. Weissberg also oversaw the planning and construction of a 106-bed hospital. After college at the University of Pennsylvania, medical school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an internal medicine residency at Boston City Hospital, Dr. Weissberg completed a gastroenterology fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine and a fellowship in alcoholism and substance abuse at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, CA.
Modena Wilson, MD, MPH
Dr. Wilson joined the American Medical Association (AMA) as Senior Vice President for Professional Standards in September 2004. Her responsibilities at AMA include oversight of its activities in medical ethics, medical education, science, public health, quality, and patient safety. She directed the Department of Committees and Sections at the American Academy of Pediatrics for the nearly five-year period that preceded her tenure at AMA. In a 20-year academic career, she attained the rank of Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she also directed the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and General Academic Pediatrics Fellowship Program, co-directed the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, and held a joint appointment in the School of Public Health's Department of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Wilson graduated summa cum laude from McPherson College and earned her MS in Biology from Wichita State University and her MD at the University of Kansas. She completed her pediatric residency at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals in Madison. She received her MPH from Johns Hopkins University and was a member of the inaugural class of the U.S. Public Health Service's Primary Care Policy Fellowship. Her national activities have included service on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the Advisory Council of the National Injury Prevention Center. She previously served as Associate Editor of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and co-directed the Interdisciplinary Generalist Clerkship and the Genetics in Primary Care projects. She is a member of the American Board of Pediatrics and a Past-President of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association (now the Academic Pediatric Association).
