Rise

Susan Waterman, RHIT, CCS, CPC, CRC, AHIMA Director, Risk Adjustment

Baylor Scott and White Healthcare

As Director of Risk Adjustment, Susan Waterman has been empowered to plan, design and oversee business and strategic objectives in creating and optimizing a Risk Adjustment Department responsible for ensuring the accuracy of risk adjustment payments while successfully managing all activities related to Medicare Advantage, ACA and Exchange Risk Adjusted lines of business. In that capacity Susan directed department changes that resulted in multi-million dollar gains in Risk Adjustment, brought all chart review activity in-house, and partnered with the hospital CDI/Quality Physicians to create an Outpatient CDI Department focused on documentation quality, Risk Adjustment activities and clinic training. 

A proven leader in her field, Susan’s professional experience includes coding and compliance management, auditing and provider training, system management, and consulting services. 

Cassi Birnbaum, MS, RHIA, CPHQ, FAHIMA Board Strategist, Advisor, Consultant, Educator

Ms. Birnbaum recently led Stanford Health System’s enterprise coding division, as Administrative Director of Hospital and Professional Coding from 2022 through May of 2024, where she had responsibility for strategic direction and oversight of all coding activities for its hospitals, ambulatory activities and its physician practices. Prior to Stanford Health Care, she guided PeaceHealth in transforming its health information management (HIM), coding and clinical documentation integrity (CDI). Ms. Birnbaum spent five years at UC San Diego Health as enterprise-wide director of HIM/revenue integrity, where she also provided leadership and strategic direction for both professional and facility coding.  She served as senior vice president of HIM and consulting for Peak Health Solutions, and HIM/Coding, and CDI director as well as its chief privacy officer at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, and director of quality resource management at Scripps Health. Since 1990, Cassi has been an adjunct baccalaureate HIMS faculty member for San Diego Mesa College.

Ms. Birnbaum was appointed as a Board Member of the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) in 2019, and presently serves as its immediate Past-Board Chair.  In June of 2024, she was appointed as an Advisory Board member for Maverick Medical AI, and she was appointed to the University of San Diego’s Health Informatics Advisory Board in June of 2023. She served as board member and officer of SDHC Board (San Diego Connect – Regional Health Information Exchange) from 2010 – 2022. 

As a Past Board Chair/President of AHIMA (2014 – 2016), Cassi was able to successfully lead the industry, profession, and its members to realizing its vision with a successful transition to ICD-10, Information Governance, and adoption of its Global Curriculum. Cassi was previously an AHIMA Director from 2009 – 2012, and she was honored to receive the 2019 AHIMA Distinguished Member Award, and the 2017 Distinguished Health Professions Alumna recipient for the University of Kansas Medical Center.

She accepted on behalf of PeaceHealth 3M Healthcare’s Professional Fee Coding Award, and while at UCSD, 3M’s 2018 Innovator of the Year for accomplishments associated with Professional Fee and Single Path Coding. Cassi is a Past President for California Health Information Association from 2006 -2008, and she received its prestigious Distinguished Member Award in 2009.

Jon Burow Vice President, Customer Experience & Digital Transformation

Independent Health

Jon Burow is a technologist, futurist, and daring innovator in experience design and artificial intelligence. With a career spanning healthcare, retail e-commerce, messaging platforms, and the Internet of Things (IoT), Jon has delivered impactful solutions for over 10 million monthly active users. His client portfolio includes Liberty Global, AT&T, CenturyLink, Paula Deen Foods, and SoftScience (from the makers of Crocs).

At Independent Health, Jon spearheads customer-centric, digital-first business transformations to make care delivery more enjoyable, effective, and efficient. As a founding leader of Independent Health’s AI Council, he has been instrumental in driving development of AI-powered solutions to optimize customer experiences, improve operational efficiency, and unlock new insights in healthcare in safe and trustworthy ways. Jon’s passion lies in harnessing the power of technology to create meaningful connections and lasting impact.

Helen Chow, PhD, RAC Senior AI RAQA Specialist

Mayo Clinic

Dr. Chow is currently a Senior AI RAQA Specialist in the Center for Digital Health at Mayo Clinic.  She collaborates with Mayo Clinic innovators to develop regulatory strategies to enable the translation of safe, effective and ethical AI into clinical use.  With over a decade of diverse experience in medtech, ranging from multinational corporations (Medtronic, Abbott, Terumo) to startups (AliveCor, Bigfoot Biomedical), Dr. Chow has developed successful global regulatory strategies to support the commercialization of novel devices , including AI-based digital health products, and Software as a Medical Device (SaMD).  Dr. Chow is an active member of several industry working groups, including AdvaMed, Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), and Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS).  Prior to working in medtech, Dr. Chow received her doctorate in biomedical sciences from the University of California - San Francisco, and her bachelor of arts from the University of California - Berkeley in French and Molecular and Cell Biology.

Shannon Decker, MBA, MBA, MEd., MEd, PhD Founder & CEO

VBC One

Dr. Shannon Decker is Founder & CEO at VBC One, a consulting firm assisting physician groups, health plans and vendors maximize the performance of their value based contracts and offerings. Dr. Decker has more than 25 years experience in health care and most recently led teams in risk, quality, data and analytics, telehealth, COVID response and delegation compliance. Of her more than 25 years of experience in healthcare--17 include working with risk adjustment, quality and Medicare. Dr. Decker has a PhD. in Interdisciplinary Studies, dual MBA degrees--in Finance and in Marketing, as well as an M.Ed. in Secondary Education and a M.Ed. in Administration and Leadership. Dr. Decker is on the faculty at Arizona State University and is also an associate professor in the social and behavioral sciences for Walden and Capella Universities where she chairs and oversees the dissertations of doctoral students. An author of two books and several peer-reviewed articles, and a prolific national public speaker, her interests include the study of human behavior and how social and behavioral theories may be brought to bear in value based care and population health management as a whole. 

Rose T. Dunn, MBA, RHIA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA Chief Operating Officer

First Class Solutions, Inc.

Ms. Dunn is Chief Operating Officer of St. Louis-based First Class Solutions, Inc. Rose’s career started at Barnes Hospital, the flagship of BJC Healthcare, where she ultimately was Vice President and responsible for 1,600 employees.

After Barnes, she worked for MetLife as national AVP, where she gained a solid understanding of managed care. Rose also served as the CFO of an Illinois dual-hospital system and participated in their bond issue.

Rose is an AHIMA Distinguished Member, Legacy, and Outstanding Service award recipient and has served as the elected President and employed interim CEO of the 80,000-member professional association. She has served on numerous AHIMA committees, councils, and the Foundation.

She is active in ACHE, AICPA, HFMA, HIMSS, ARMA International, and AHIMA.

Rose has authored more than a dozen texts including ACHE/HAP’s Dunn & Haimann’s Healthcare Management, published 200+ articles, and made numerous healthcare related presentations. She authored and supports the Fundamentals of HCCs course for Libman Education.

In her spare time, she bakes cheesecakes and tends to feral cats.

Jennifer Franks Director

"Center for Enhanced Cybersecurity Information Technology & Cybersecurity Team U.S. Government Accountability Office"

Maria-Kristina Hayden Founder & CEO

OUTFOXM

Maria-Kristina is an internationally recognized expert in cyber hygiene and resiliency. Her mission is to raise global levels of cyber-risk awareness and enable organizations (and individuals) to take control back from cybercriminals. She has delivered attack simulations and security awareness briefings to over 15,000 people worldwide and is a frequent media commentator for the likes of Bloomberg, Forbes, HuffPost, and Consumer Affairs. Maria-Kristina also educates on cyber hygiene through social media. She was the 2022 recipient of the “Security Leader of the Year” award by Women in Technology Excellence.

She is CEO & founder of OUTFOXM INC, the world’s first boutique consulting firm focused on immersive cyberattack simulations and human-cyber risk awareness.

Maria-Kristina’s experience prior to OUTFOXM spans both public and private sectors. Most recently, she spent six years at the Bank of New York Mellon, as Director and Global Head of Cyber Wargames and Awareness, and Vice President of Cyber Intelligence.

Prior to that, she served as an Intelligence Officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Washington D.C., Colombia and Peru, supported the U.S. military as an Air Force civilian at the Pentagon, analyzed cyber legislation at Booz Allen Hamilton, and conducted Congressional research in the U.S. House of Representatives.

She holds an M.S. in Cyber Intelligence from the National Intelligence University and a B.S. Security Studies and Arabic language from Georgetown. She also holds the CISM certification (Certified Information Security Manager) from ISACA, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

Ken Huang, CISSP AI Expert, Advisor, Author, and Chair Member Co-Chair, AI Safety Working Groups and AI STR Working Group

Mary Inman Partner

Whistleblower Partners LLP

Mary Inman is a partner and co-founder of Whistleblower Partners LLP, a law firm dedicated to representing whistleblowers under the various U.S. whistleblower reward programs.  Mary and her colleagues have pioneered a series of successful whistleblower cases against prominent health insurers, hospitals, provider groups, and vendors under the False Claims Act alleging manipulation of the risk scores of Medicare Advantage patients.  Mary is a recognized expert and frequent author, commentator, and speaker on frauds in the healthcare industry, particularly those exposed by whistleblowers.   

Anil Jain, MD Chief Innovation Officer

innovaccer

Anil Jain, MD, FACP, is Chief innovation Officer at Innovaccer, a leading San Francisco-based healthcare IT company dedicated to accelerating innovation in healthcare. Dr. Jain leads Innovaccer’s innovation initiatives that advance the Innovaccer platform’s capabilities, and help our health system partners leverage the platform to connect their care ecosystems by integrating EHRs and other HIT systems, unifying patient records, enabling AI-enhanced analytics, integrating workflows, and fundamentally accelerating innovation and digital transformation. Dr. Jain is board-certified in both internal medicine and clinical informatics, and brings a wealth of industry experience in health informatics, engineering, technology, clinical research, and healthcare innovation to Innovaccer and our customers. He specializes in electronic health records (EHRs), clinical informatics, data governance, advanced analytics, and AI, with an emphasis on semantic interoperability. He previously served as the Chief Health Information Officer at IBM Watson Health, cofounder and Chief Medical Officer of IBM Explorys, and senior IT Executive and Attending Physician at the Cleveland Clinic. He has served on numerous committees, including the Federal Health IT Advisory Committee formed by the 21st Century Cures Act. After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Jain began his post-graduate training in Internal Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and later joined the Department of Internal Medicine, and also served as Senior Executive Director of IT, leading several health IT innovations, including the e-Research programs, quality informatics, and solutions to monitor the "meaningful use" of EHRs to support the EHR Incentive Program. He continues to practice and teach medicine part-time at Cleveland Clinic. In addition to serving on regional, state, and federal committees focused on driving quality and research through health IT, Dr. Jain has authored more than 100 publications and abstracts, 2023 Page 16 Executive Leadership contributing to major journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and the JAMA Archives of Internal Medicine. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and a Diplomate of Clinical Informatics from the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Jain earned his B.S. in Biomedical engineering from Northwestern University, and his M.D. from the same institution’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Karen Marie Joswick President/CEO

Benevolence Health

Karen Marie Joswick, MHA, is the Founder and President of Benevolence Health. With over 20 years in healthcare, including health system executive leadership roles, she is a recognized thought leader in payment innovation and health system operations. 

Karen's expertise spans value-based care, clinical program growth, and technology integration across various payer models: Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial plans. She holds multiple professional certifications in health IT and clinical informatics, serves as a faculty member at Jefferson University, and has been on the Board of Directors for the National Association of ACOs. As an advisor to VC/PE capital firms, she brings her expertise to guide investment decisions in promising startups and emerging technologies.  

Her most cherished roles are those of wife, mother, and daughter. Having navigated the health delivery system professionally and personally, she possesses a unique perspective on healthcare challenges. This firsthand experience fuels her passion for improving healthcare accessibility and quality for all. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmjoswick/  

Diana Kelley AI Expert, Advisor, Board Member and Instructor  Former Cybersecurity Field CTO, Microsoft  Former Global Executive Security Advisor, IBM Security

Diana Kelley is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Protect AI. She also serves on the boards of WiCyS, The Executive Women’s Forum (EWF), InfoSec World, CyberFuture Foundation, TechTarget Security Editorial, and DevNet AI/ML. Diana was Cybersecurity Field CTO for Microsoft, Global Executive Security Advisor at IBM Security, GM at Symantec, VP at Burton Group (now Gartner), a Manager at KPMG, CTO and co-founder of SecurityCurve, and Chief vCISO at SaltCybersecurity. 

Her extensive volunteer work has included serving on the ACM Ethics & Plagiarism Committee, Cybersecurity Committee Advisor at CompTIA, CTO and Board Member at Sightline Security, Advisory Board Chair at WOPLLI Technologies, Advisory Council member Bartlett College of Science and Mathematics, Bridgewater State University, and RSAC US Program Committee. 

She is a sought-after keynote speaker, the host of BrightTALK’s The (Security) Balancing Act, co-author of the books Practical Cybersecurity Architecture and Cryptographic Libraries for Developers, instructor for the LinkedIn Learning class on Security in AI and ML, has been a lecturer at Boston College's Masters program in cybersecurity, a 2023 Global Cyber Security Hall of Fame Inductee, the EWF 2020 Executive of the Year and EWF Conference Chair 2021-Present, an SCMedia Power Player, and one of Cybersecurity Ventures 100 Fascinating Females Fighting Cybercrime. 

Zachary Kirby Senior Data Scientist, Advanced Analytics

Louisiana Blue

Karen June Kuipers CEO

Incentivize Consulting Inc.

Karen June (KJ) is a strategic leader and the driving force behind Incentivize Consulting, where she specializes in empowering organizations to achieve AI-driven transformation. With a proven track record in building high-performing delivery teams, KJ ensures her clients—ranging from innovative startups to global enterprises—are positioned for success through foundational AI practices.

KJ’s expertise includes the healthcare industry, where she has been involved in transformative initiatives across the payer, pharmaceutical, immunotherapy, and academic sectors. In 2021 KJ led her first AI project and has expanded her experience by completing the AI for Healthcare certification through the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Strategic Healthcare Leadership Program through Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Her approach in delivering technology and AI solutions combines strategic foresight, operational excellence, and a commitment to ethical practices. This focus has helped organizations streamline operations, enhance outcomes, and unlock the potential that AI can bring when addressing challenges. As an AI for Good advocate, KJ is dedicated to leveraging artificial intelligence capabilities to improve healthcare outcomes, enhance patient care, and establish trustworthy, responsible AI systems.

Her thought leadership in AI shines through the publication series, AI and the Future of Business. The most recent installment, Artificial Intelligence in the Healthcare Industry: Care meets Code, explores the role AI can play in transforming health care.

Beyond her consulting work, KJ is a passionate community builder and innovator. She also shares her insights on technology, business, and industry trends as the host of her new podcast, Minding One’s Own Business. Through her work, she is not only contributing to shaping the future of business and its use of AI but also plays an active role in inspiring the next generation of innovators and changemakers.

Tamara Lilly Assistant Inspector General , Cybersecurity & IT Audits

Office of Inspector General | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Ms. Tamara Lilly is the Assistant Inspector General for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She joined the OIG in April 2019 and directly oversees the cybersecurity and information technology audits of the systems owned by or operated on behalf of HHS. The mission is to perform timely, impactful, and relevant cybersecurity and IT audits of HHS or its contractors’ systems that support healthcare delivery to identify vulnerabilities and recommend corrective action before they are exploited. Under her direction, over 55 audit reports have been issued to assist in addressing cybersecurity gaps in addition to audit briefings provided to multiple Congressional committees who oversee HHS programs.

Prior to HHS, Ms. Lilly served as the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the Department of Homeland Security and focused on strengthening the cybersecurity and information technology posture of DHS. She enjoyed about 10 years at GAO performing Congressionally requested audits of IRS, FBI, FAA, NYSE, NASDAQ, and a few others’ IT systems and modernizations, as well as, preparing and presenting oral and written reports to Congressional committees and agency executives. She earned a Computer Science degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a Master’s certificate from George Washington University in Management Information Systems and is a Certified Information Security Auditor.

Seeking to expand her experience, she left government service and spent about 12 years working for Deloitte and PriceWaterhouse Coopers. Transitioning from Manager to Director, she was primarily responsible for planning, managing, and conducting performance, IT, and cybersecurity audits of large Federal and private entity programs and systems before returning to federal service at DHS.

Brenna Loufek Regulatory Affairs Manager

Mayo Clinic

Brenna Loufek is the SaMD Regulatory Affairs Manager in the Center for Digital Health - Data & Analytics at Mayo Clinic. Brenna collaborates with user-innovators to create regulatory strategies that offer the least burdensome pathway to market for digital health technologies developed at Mayo Clinic. Her subject matter expertise is in the nuanced application of US FDA regulatory policies for AI/ML-enabled software functionalities. 

 Brenna brings extensive experience guiding teams through domestic and international regulations and standards. With previous roles at Medtronic and Philips, Brenna has managed complex regulatory submissions and advised on studies for digital health products including AI/ML-based technologies, telehealth platforms, and in-clinic management tools. In addition to program support, Brenna has served as a cross-departmental liaison to provide training for and interpretation of FDA's current positioning on digital health products.  

 Brenna has a master’s degree in Patient Safety & Healthcare Quality from Johns Hopkins. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Evidence-Based Healthcare from the University of Oxford with a research focus on the efficacy of regulatory and ethical frameworks within healthcare institutions to manage AI/ML-enabled clinical decision support software. 

Jason Ouyand Director of Analytics

Louisiana Blue

Jay Patel VP, Pharmacy Growth Strategy & Product Management

Humana

Jay V. Patel, is an experienced healthcare leader with deep domain expertise in the areas of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) and home and community-based services. Through various roles, he has designed, implemented and brought to market clinical products aimed to improve outcomes for government and commercial populations.  In his current role as VP, Pharmacy Growth Strategy, Jay is accountable for driving pharmacy revenue and evaluating new product capabilities.

Prior to joining Humana, Jay served as the Clinical Transformation Officer at Seniorlink and as the Vice President of Clinical Program Development for Cigna’s internal PBM. 

Jay earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and his MBA from Harvard Business School.  He also completed a managed care pharmacy residency at AdvancePCS (now CVS).

Joel Radford Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Engagys

Joel Radford is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Engagys. Joel has worked in technology and healthcare for decades serving Big Pharma, health plans, and hospital systems and prior to founding Engagys, leading professional services and product teams for Welltok (formerly Silverlink). His roles have included population health campaign design and deployment, call center operations, CRM design and deployment, corporate strategy, corporate marketing, mergers and acquisitions, business process transformation and software development oversight—all in healthcare. He has worked with health plans and PBMs to address business challenges related to member-centric data management, adherence, gaps in care, and chronic condition management. Joel’s clients have included both Fortune 100 and startup companies, and he worked for Johnson and Johnson and Ernst & Young early in his career.

Lauren Riplinger Chief Public Policy & Impact Officer

AHIMA

Lauren currently serves as AHIMA’s Chief Public Policy and Impact Officer. In this capacity, she is responsible for providing strategic and operational oversight over AHIMA’s advocacy and programmatic strategy to demonstrate mission impact. Prior to that, Lauren served as Vice President of Policy & Government Affairs at AHIMA, overseeing the organization’s policy and advocacy before Congress and various federal agencies. With two decades of healthcare policy experience, Lauren previously worked on Capitol Hill where she was actively involved in almost every aspect of a congressional office, including serving as Chief of Staff—a position that requires the ability to quickly synthesize multiple issues and adapt to constantly shifting priorities. Lauren received her JD from American University Washington College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University. She is admitted to practice law in New York.

Laura Sheriff Contracting Risk Adjustment Specialist

MSN with 10 years’ experience in Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace Managed Care with proven success in Risk Adjustment. Confirmed track record in operations, program management and process improvement. Demonstrates effective leadership, innovative problem solving techniques, and goal oriented focus to execute business objectives and meet performance expectations. Designed and coordinated all team activities including provider education, training, auditing, data mining, and data analysis to steer program success and achieve performance metrics. 

Clay Smith Governance, Risk, and Compliance Analyst, IT Risk & Resilience

Premera Blue Cross

Cliff Steinhauer Director, Information Security and Engagement

National Cybersecurity Alliance

Dr. Sterling Thomas Chief Scientist | Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics

U.S. Government Accountability Office

Dr. Sterling Thomas is GAO’s Chief Scientist in Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics.
Prior to joining GAO, he was the Chief Scientist at Noblis, a Reston, VA based research institute overseeing their applied research programs for the past 13 years. Sterling has also served as a principal investigator for research programs funded by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity. His work has included creating new methods regarding synthetic biology, strategies for decoupling qubits for improving error correction in quantum computing, methods for using artificial intelligence to detect decentralized coordinated cyber-attacks, and network-based optimization algorithms to detect abnormalities in public equities markets.
He also worked with the institute’s executive council to develop their five- and ten-year research strategy. Sterling also served as the Deputy Chief Technology Officer and collaborated with the institute’s professional development department to create data science and cyber analytics training programs in partnership with George Mason University (GMU) and George Washington University. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor at GMU, sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board at GMU’s College of Engineering and Computing, along with sitting on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Biological Data Science Advisory Board.
Sterling’s contributions have been recognized across industry including by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for best paper utilizing machine learning methods in detecting breast cancer, and at his former institute where he received the Science and Technology Achievement award. He has also been awarded four patents and has multiple pending patent applications. Sterling earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Life Sciences from VCU, a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, and Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University.

Khalid Turk Chief Healthcare Info Tech Officer

County of Santa Clara

Nakis Urfi Senior Manager

Abbott