Melanie Cavaliere
Melanie Cavaliere serves as the Chief of Innovative Care Delivery at the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC). Melanie has over twenty years of professional experience in health care policy and employee benefits consulting. Current projects include designing and implementing statewide practice transformation efforts in Maryland for primary care and specialty practices. Melanie previously worked as a Vice President at Discern Consulting in Baltimore, Maryland where she developed and implemented PCMH and ACO incentive plan and reward programs and Value Based Insurance Design (VBID) strategies. Melanie has also held consulting positions at Mercer and Aon. Melanie received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from West Virginia University.
Joe Crimando
Joseph Crimando leads a team of analysts and technical experts to deliver systems to aid our clinical teams to care for our patients. His focus on clinical data follows his career in data analytics for many different types industries including Finance, Aerospace, and Government/Defense. For Kaiser Permanente, he's develops actionable, automated and analytic systems for chronic disease and prevention management programs. Joseph is a graduate of the State University of New York, College at Fredonia with a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Physics.
Pamela King, MBA, CPM, PMP
Pamela King, MBA, CPM, PMP is the Health Information Technology (HIT) Outreach
Coordinator with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). Pam has over 20 years of
experience in areas of health care administration and health information exchange. Her current
focus is predominantly on strategic planning and adoption of technology within healthcare.
Prior to joining AHCA, Pamela worked for the Florida Department of Health, in several
executive positions, including Chief of the Bureau of Management Services and Executive
Director for the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and several other regulatory boards.
Jim Milanowski
Jim Milanowski has over 22 years' experience in the management of mental health, substance abuse, behavioral health managed care and medical care coverage programs. Mr. Milanowski currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Genesee Health Plan (GHP), administering a community based indigent health care plan. The health plan has covered over 70,000 Genesee County residents since 2001. Since the start of enrollment into Affordable Care Act in 2013, GHP has conducted outreach and enrollment sessions with over 15,000 Genesee County residents. The health plan received the 2015 Pinnacle Award from the Michigan Association of Health Plans for this effort.
As a strong advocate, his expertise includes working to reduce racial disparities, uncompensated care, and the impact of chronic disease. During his leadership, Genesee Health Plan has received the national quality award from URAC for Best Practices in Patient Empowerment and Protection, the Greater Flint Labor Council's Community Partnership Award and the Robert M. Pestronk Excellence in Public Health Award. He is a founding member of the Health Net Collaborative, and a member of the Greater Flint Health Coalition Access, Dental and Medical Group Visit Committees. He is the Treasurer of the Michigan Association of County Health Plans and is on the Board of Directors for the Genesee Community Health Center.
Mr. Milanowski received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Spring Arbor University and his Master's of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from Eastern Michigan University. He is a limited-licensed psychologist in the state of Michigan, and has extensive counseling experience with adult, child, and adolescent populations.
Bruce A. Berger, PhD
Bruce is the President of Berger Consulting, LLC and an Emeritus Professor at Auburn University. He has
developed comMIt (Comprehensive Motivational Interviewing Training for health care providers) and
AU MITI (Auburn University Motivational Interviewing Training Institute), and AU MITI (Auburn
University Motivational Training Institute. He has taught motivational interviewing in health care and
methods for improving treatment adherence for over 30 years.
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Bruce received his BS in Pharmacy from The Ohio State University.
After practicing pharmacy for two years, he returned to Ohio State and received his Masters and Ph.D. in
social and behavioral pharmacy. He taught at Ohio State before moving to West Virginia University in
January 1980. After two years at WVU, Bruce moved to Auburn University and taught there until he
retired from the university in September of 2009.
His research interests include health behavior change and improving treatment adherence. He has
written three books, written or presented over 900 papers (88 peer-reviewed) or seminars (94 peer-
reviewed) on these topics. He has attracted over $3.5 million in funding to support his research.
He has been a consultant and trainer for the US Air Force, VA, US Army, Pfizer, Inc., Procter & Gamble,
Abbvie, Novartis, Astra-Zeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, GSK, and over 50 health plans, including Humana,
Harvard Pilgrim, Tufts Health, ConnectiCare, Medical Mutual of Ohio and numerous BlueCross
BlueShield plans.
He is the recipient of the Johnson & Johnson Award, the Lyman Award, and the first American
Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's Award of Excellence for his research. He is the 2001 recipient of
the Jack L. Beal Postbaccalaureate Alumni Award from the Ohio State University.
In March of 2004, Bruce was awarded a fellowship by the American Pharmacists Association
(APhA) Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science for a lifetime of quality research. Bruce is the
2007 and 2009 winner of the APhA Wierderholt Prize for the best research publication in the social,
behavioral, and administrative sciences in pharmacy in the Journal of the APhA. The first study focused
on the impact of motivational interviewing.
Bruce is the 2009 recipient of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's Robert Chalmers
Distinguished Pharmacy Educator Award, one of the Association's three highest honors. Bruce has was
nominated for the 2012 prestigious Pinnacle Award of the American Pharmacists Association for a
lifetime of innovative leadership in medication adherence.
Bruce is the author of the book Motivational Interviewing for Health Care Professionals: A Sensible
Approach, APhA, Washington, DC, August 2020, 2nd edition, and an 8 hour accredited
Pamela D. Price
Pamela D. Price currently serves as the Deputy Director for The Balm In Gilead managing the various
health initiatives of the organization. Under her leadership, the organization provides support to faith-
based and public health institutions in areas of program design, implementation and evaluation, which
strengthen their capacity to deliver programs and services that contribute to the elimination of health
disparities. In addition to her role as Deputy Director, she also serves as the Director for The National
Brain Health Center for African-Americans. In 2016, she co-developed a six-part educational curriculum
for nurses and allied healthcare professionals aimed at addressing knowledge gaps related to
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias affecting African Americans. Mrs. Price has conducted
numerous training sessions across the country with various nursing associations and healthcare
organizations. She also co-created and facilitates an accredited training for healthcare providers; aimed
at increasing cultural competencies related to the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of dementia in
African Americans.
Mrs. Price holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health and has more than 20 years of experience
in public health, epidemiology, and healthcare. As a registered nurse, she has served as a member of
the U.S. Army Nurse Corp and excelled in both government and non-governmental agencies providing
leadership and guidance on program management, quality improvement, and project development.
Mrs. Price serves on various boards and steering committees, frequently conducting workshops and
trainings across the country at various conferences and events in addition to providing technical
assistance and capacity building services to community-based organizations.
Nan Nicponski
Nan serves as the Executive Director of Provider Support Services for Intermountain Healthcare, an integrated healthcare system located in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. Nan is responsible for services that support access to Intermountain facilities and providers, including Intermountain Life Flight, Patient Placement, Transfer Center, and Physician Answering Service. Nan’s team is an important part of the Intermountain Virtual Hospital, which cares for patients throughout the Intermountain West and beyond telemedicine. Prior to her current role, Nan spent 11 years as an Operations Officer at Intermountain Medical Center, the flagship facility for Intermountain Healthcare. With over 30 years of clinical and healthcare leadership experience, Nan has a proven ability to create a vision and direct operations in an integrated healthcare system. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Utah and a Master’s in Business Administration with a Certificate in Health Care Administration from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Brian Wayling
Brian Wayling is an Executive Director with Intermountain Telehealth Services. He is responsible for developing system-wide telehealth delivery strategies to enable technology-based care delivery options for clinical teams and patients across Intermountain Healthcare and with regional partners. This integrated approach provides capabilities to increase access, reduce costs and improve quality for patients and caregivers.
Jay Nakashima
Jay Nakashima leads the eHealth Exchange, the nation’s largest health information network, which operates in all 50 states. Incubated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2006 as an ONC initiative, the eHealth Exchange is now an independent non-profit dedicated to the public good. After years in leadership roles at providers, payers, and health IT vendors, Jay now focuses on improving interoperability to improve patient care.
Devin White
Devin White is a Lead Analyst with Kaiser Permanente on their national Population Health Team. As an analyst specializing in Epic Systems, Devin’s focus is identifying the patients of interest and building tools to assist in decision making and tracking. He has been involved with Chronic Kidney Disease related work for five years. He has helped Kaiser regions care for this population by building risk scores and risk identifiers that staff can use to make more informed decisions. Devin has also been involved in the building of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian registries, Melanoma registries, Pharmacogenomic tracking, COVID-19 tracking, and predictive model implementations. Devin is a graduate of Wartburg College in Waverly, IA, and has been working with Epic Systems for eight years.
Anna Hall
Anna Hall is an experienced clinical pharmacist by training and a pioneer in building MTM programs and STAR Ratings/HEDIS measure improvement intervention programs for prominent national prescription plan sponsors. At Enhanced Medication Services, Anna oversees strategic partnerships, contracting of clinical services, and program compliance. Over the past ten years, she has developed interactive training programs designed to teach technicians and pharmacists how to engage patients in medication therapy management and encourage adherence by providing multi-modal interventions and motivational interviewing. Anna serves in national roles for both PQA and AMCP to influence MTM innovation and consensus and contributes to the national strategy to improve the effectiveness of MTM and quality improvement programs.
Darren Mensch
Graduated from Wilkes University in 2015 with a Doctor of Pharmacy and BA - Spanish. Following graduation, pursued PGY1 Pharmacy Residency at Penn State Health St. Joseph in Reading, PA and continued as staff pharmacist and ambulatory care preceptor for 3 years. Joined Jefferson Medical Group in April 2018 to help start the ambulatory pharmacy program. Under the direction of the population health and physician network leadership at Jefferson Health, the program is part of the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program. Between four pharmacists throughout Jefferson Medical Group, the team has about 60 primary care offices and over 300,000 patient lives. The program was recently featured in the American Pharmacist Association’s “Successful Integration of Pharmacists in Accountable Care Organizations and Medical Home Models: Case Studies.” Dr. Mensch has also presented at numerous local, regional, and national conferences including the American Pharmacists Association and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Jim McGuire
Jim McGuire, Director of Research, Advocacy, and Policy Development, Area Aging on Aging 1-B, has made many significant contributions to improving the lives of older adults, adults with disabilities, and family caregivers. In the 1980's Jim spearheaded the development of what is now known as the Interfaith Volunteer Caregiver Program. He played a crucial role in establishing state funding to support operational costs for senior transportation services through local senior centers and transportation authorities. More recently, a strong advocate for seniors, Jim launched the highly successful Silver Key Coalition, a statewide group of organizations that advocates for increasing state funding to support senior services. Jim has presented at many state and national aging conferences on issues impacting seniors. A professor of gerontology at several local universities, he is legendary in the aging network for his knowledge and for leading the development of new programs, new legislation, and research to improve the lives of older adults. Jim is dedicated and committed to furthering the agency's mission and making a difference in the lives of those we serve.
Mariann Yeager
Mariann Yeager (CEO) has more than 20 years of experience in the health information technology field. She currently serves as CEO for The Sequoia Project, a non-profit solely focused on advancing secure, interoperable nationwide health data sharing in the US. She leads the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) effort, in close collaboration with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to develop, implement, and maintain the Common Agreement component of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) and to operationalize the Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) designation and monitoring process. The Sequoia Project serves as a steward of independently governed health IT interoperability initiatives, including the RSNA Image Share Validation Program and the Interoperability Matters program, which engages experts from across the healthcare and health IT communities to collaborate to solve discrete challenges to nationwide health information sharing through various workgroups. Ongoing Interoperability Matters workgroups include Information Blocking workgroup, Data Usability workgroup, and the Emergency Preparedness workgroup. Under her leadership, The Sequoia Project supported, the startup, growth and maturation of two highly successfully interoperability initiatives, the eHealth Exchange and Carequality, which now operate as independent non-profit organizations. Prior to her tenure at The Sequoia Project, she worked with the HHS Office of National Coordinator (ONC) for five years on nationwide health information network initiatives. She also led the launch and operation of the first ambulatory and inpatient EHR certification program in the US.
Sam Engel
Sam started his career in AmeriCorps VISTA for the Josephine County Food Bank. He brings a lens of program operation to Social Determinants of Health work. His work with AllCare Health focuses on the interconnection of the SDoH and economic development with an emphasis on nutrition and housing with the goal of building healthier, more livable, and vibrant communities in southwest Oregon.
Diana Erani
Diana Erani is the Chief Operating Officer at the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. Previously VP of Health Informatics at the League, Diana continues her leadership role in the League’s Health Center Controlled Network. She is vice chair of the Health Center Controlled Network Task Force at the National Association of Community Health Centers and is on the board of the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium. She is focused on pursuing the League’s mission to promote population health equity for all through leadership and programs supporting community health centers and members in achieving their goals of accessible, quality, comprehensive, and community responsive health care. Diana was previously the COO at Healthcare for the Homeless - Houston, a Federally Qualified Health Center. She earned a BA degree from Boston University and an MBA from New York University.