Cohorts

Josiah Thomasson - Senior Manager, Data Analytics, Emory Healthcare
Chris Morris - Director, Ambulatory Access, Stanford Children's 
Heather Russo - Senior Business Director, Clinical Operations and Access, Children's Mercy
Mariela Arnal Istillarte, MSIE - Health Analytics Manager II, Ambulatory Management, Massachusetts General Brigham

The Access Analytics Cohort connects data and analytics professionals who support access performance across ambulatory operations. This group focuses on shared definitions, key performance indicators, dashboard design, demand and capacity insights, predictive modeling, and other analytical methods that inform access strategy. Members exchange case examples, compare approaches, and discuss emerging trends to strengthen analytical rigor and translate data into operational improvement. It’s an ideal community for anyone responsible for measuring, interpreting, or advancing access analytics within their organization.

Denise Davis, MBA - Program Director of Operations and Digital Solutions, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Jesse Dodd - Director, Access Services, UTMB Health
Gorman Green, MBA - Director, Contact Center Operations, Baylor Scott and White Health

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Contact Center Cohort brings together leaders exploring how artificial intelligence can enhance scheduling operations, patient communication, and workforce efficiency. This group focuses on real-world use cases—including generative AI, voice automation, call intent routing, agent assistance, and quality monitoring—to understand what is working, what is emerging, and what to watch. Members share implementation experiences, governance models, risk considerations, ROI insights, and change-management strategies. The cohort offers a collaborative forum for organizations that are piloting, scaling, or evaluating AI solutions to improve access, experience, and operational performance.

Daniel Kerls, MBA, MA, OTR/L - System Director of Ambulatory Services, Brown University Health 
Kimberly Johnson - Access Improvement Specialist, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Lynn Levandowski - Assistant Director, Clinical Administration, Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester Medical Center

The Ambulatory Operations Transformation Cohort brings together leaders working at the intersection of patient access and ambulatory operations. This group focuses on the end-to-end experience—from the moment a patient seeks care to their arrival in the clinic—and explores how operational design, workflows, staffing models, and technology shape access outcomes. Members discuss strategies for reducing lead times, improving schedule utilization, enhancing care team coordination, and strengthening front-end processes that directly influence access performance. Through shared case studies and peer learning, the cohort provides a collaborative space for leaders driving system-wide improvement across both access and ambulatory operations.

Jennifer Ward - Director Patient Access, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Andrew Hubal - Director, Training, Quality and Support Services, UC Davis Health System
Robert Rowe - Director of Planning and Support, Baylor Scott & White Health
Sylvia White, BSN, MBA, Director, Patient Access, UF Health Physicians
Stacy Silwany, MBA, Senior Director, Business Operations, Care Navigation, University of Utah Health

The Call Center Operations & Strategy Cohort brings together leaders who oversee the people, processes, and technologies that power centralized access centers. This group focuses on core operational disciplines—staffing models, workforce management, training programs, quality assurance, coaching, and performance improvement—while also exploring broader strategic considerations such as digital integration, service standards, and patient experience. Members share best practices, compare approaches, and discuss emerging trends to strengthen the effectiveness and reliability of access centers. The cohort offers a collaborative space for leaders working to build high-performing contact centers that support timely, seamless access to care. 

Susan Perry - Director, Patient Contact Center, UC Davis Health
Jennifer Alf-Yasin, MHA - Manager over Capacity Management, Rush University Medical Center 
Amy Oden - Manager, Capacity Management, Children's Nebraska 
David Stolte - Senior Director, Regional Clinics & Urgent Care, Seattle Children's

The Capacity Management & Space Utilization Cohort unites leaders committed to optimizing the clinical and operational resources that determine how patients move through the ambulatory system. This group explores the full spectrum of capacity levers, including provider templates, staffing models, clinic workflows, exam room utilization, session design, and demand forecasting. Members examine strategies for balancing supply and demand, reducing lead times, improving throughput, and aligning space, people, and schedules to support patient access goals. Through case sharing and collaborative problem-solving, the cohort helps organizations build a more coordinated, data-driven approach to managing capacity across the ambulatory enterprise.

Bill Guptill - Manager of Ambulatory Capacity Management, Baylor Scott and White Health

The Capacity Management Directors Cohort is an exclusive, invite-only forum for senior leaders responsible for enterprise-wide capacity strategy. This group brings together directors who oversee the alignment of provider time, staffing, space, and operational workflows to ensure patients can access care efficiently and reliably. Discussions focus on advanced practices in demand forecasting, template governance, space optimization, resource allocation, access performance improvement, and organizational change management.

Leader: Chris Morris, Director, Ambulatory Access, Stanford Children's
Diana Babayan, Director, Ambulatory Performance, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles
Erin Schumacher, MHA - Director of Operations, Patient Family Access Center, Children's Hospital Colorado

The Children’s Access Cohort brings together leaders from pediatric organizations to explore the unique challenges and opportunities of connecting children and families to timely ambulatory care. This group focuses on access issues specific to pediatrics, including condition-driven demand variation, multidisciplinary care coordination, family-centered scheduling needs, referral management, and provider template variability across subspecialties. Members share strategies, innovations, and real-world experiences to improve access, streamline workflows, and enhance communication with caregivers. The cohort offers a collaborative space for pediatric access leaders to learn from one another and advance best practices across children’s health systems. Leaders from freestanding children's hospitals and health system-based pediatric enterprises collaborate in this community. 

Grace Karon Fangman - Director, Business Operations & Strategic Planning, Texas Children's Hospital
Paul Miller - IT Revenue Cycle Director, Stanford Children's 
Corwin Gaudry - Manager, Office of Access Management, Mayo Clinic

The Digital Front Door & Telehealth Cohort brings together leaders advancing the digital pathways that connect patients to care. This group focuses on enhancing the patient experience through intuitive digital access points—such as online scheduling, patient portals, mobile engagement, automation, and AI-driven navigation—while also expanding and optimizing telehealth services across the ambulatory enterprise. Members explore best practices in virtual visit workflows, modality selection, provider adoption, digital equity, and integration with in-person care. Through shared strategies and real-world examples, the cohort supports organizations in building a seamless, patient-centered digital access ecosystem.

Michelle Winfield-Hanrahan, BSN, MHA, MSN - Chief Clinical Access Officer & Assistant Vice Chancellor for Access and Senior Nursing Director, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

The Executive Forum is an exclusive, invite-only community for senior executives who shape patient access strategy across large, complex health systems. This forum brings together enterprise-level leaders—spanning ambulatory operations, digital health, strategy, and clinical leadership—to discuss the strategic, structural, and organizational forces influencing access today. Conversations focus on executive-level priorities such as enterprise scheduling governance, system integration, AI and digital transformation, workforce strategy, financial stewardship, market pressures, and the evolving expectations of patients and providers.

Members engage in high-level dialogue, share system-wide approaches, and identify emerging opportunities to advance access as a strategic differentiator. The Executive Forum offers a trusted, collaborative space for leaders driving the future direction of patient access across the ambulatory enterprise.

Kevin Jennings, CPAR, CHAA - Patient Access Director, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Tricia Comer - Associate Director of Financial Clearance, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

The Financial Clearance Cohort brings together leaders responsible for the front-end revenue cycle processes that directly influence patient access and the overall care experience. This group focuses on best practices in insurance verification, prior authorization, pre-registration, benefits investigation, financial counseling, cost transparency, and point-of-service collections. Members explore strategies to streamline workflows, reduce delays, improve accuracy, and strengthen coordination between access, clinical, and revenue cycle teams. Through case sharing and collaborative discussion, the cohort supports organizations in building efficient, patient-centered financial clearance processes that enhance both operational performance and access to care.

Ryzell McKinney, EdD - Director, Access Technology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Pravina Mason - Executive Director, Patient Access Contact Center, Cedars-Sinai  
Tasha Grant, DrPH - Regional Access to Care Director, Ochsner Health  

The Inclusive Access Cohort brings together leaders committed to ensuring that every patient—regardless of language, ability, background, or circumstance—can navigate the ambulatory system with ease. This group explores strategies to reduce access inequities and strengthen inclusion across digital, telephonic, and in-person pathways. Key topics include language access, accommodations for patients with disabilities, culturally responsive communication, digital equity, transportation and scheduling barriers, and community-informed access design.

Alexandra Forauer - Director, Destination Services, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 
Lynsee Thompson, MBA - Manager - Office of Access Management, Mayo Clinic

The International Access Cohort brings together colleagues supporting global patients across the patient-access continuum, with discussions ranging from team structure and remote opinions to language services, financial estimates, managing cancellations and more. This group welcomes PAC members to share this invitation with international access teams and colleagues who may benefit from joining the conversation.

Co-Leader: Trish Hanley, Scheduling Services Administrator, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Vivian Zhao - Chief Patient Access Officer, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The Large Access Center Directors Cohort is an exclusive, invite-only forum for leaders overseeing high-volume, enterprise-wide access centers employing 500+ agents. This group connects directors responsible for large, complex operations—spanning scheduling, telephony, digital channels, workforce management, training, and quality assurance. Discussions focus on scaling operations, optimizing staffing models, integrating automation and AI, managing performance across large teams, and ensuring a consistent, patient-centered experience across all access channels.

Greg Addicott, MSN, RN, CCRN - Director of Nursing, Consumer Experience & Access, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital 
Laurie O'Bryan - Clinical Contact Center Manager, UNC Health (retired)
Sheryl Bartlett - After-Hours Triage Nurse Manager, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Joan Slagle - Quality Specialist, Stanford Health Care
Jennifer Boyd - Nurse Manager, University of Iowa Health Care 

The Nurse Triage Cohort brings together clinical and operational leaders responsible for telephone triage, care navigation, and symptom management across ambulatory settings. This group focuses on best practices for clinical decision support, triage protocols, risk stratification, documentation standards, EHR system integration, and staffing models that ensure timely, safe patient guidance. Members also explore the evolving role of technology—including AI, decision trees, and digital symptom checkers—in supporting triage accuracy and efficiency.

Kate Levine - Senior Director, Patient Access, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 
Corey Derr - Associate Vice President, Patient Access, Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Alexandra Blake Martinez - Associate Vice President, Access Strategic Operations, MD Anderson Cancer Center

The Oncology Access Cohort brings together leaders focused on the unique scheduling, coordination, and capacity challenges within cancer care. This group explores end-to-end access processes across multidisciplinary clinics, diagnostic pathways, infusion and radiation services, and treatment planning. Topics include referral triage, template design for complex care teams, navigation workflows, coordination between diagnostic and treatment services, and strategies to reduce time to diagnosis and treatment initiation.

Bonnie Minnillo - Director of Operations, Radiology Scheduling, Patient Line, UCHealth
Lyndsey Palumbo - Director, System Access Imaging Scheduling, Houston Methodist
Rebecca Northcutt-Ramos - Manager, Diagnostic Imaging Scheduling, UT Southwestern Medical Center

The Radiology Access Cohort brings together leaders focused on improving access, coordination, and operational performance across imaging services. This group explores the unique dynamics of radiology scheduling, including modality-specific workflows, variable appointment lengths, prep and protocol requirements, referral management, and coordination with ordering providers. Topics include capacity planning, template design, no-show and cancellation mitigation, technologist staffing, patient preparation workflows, and strategies to streamline the diagnostic journey.

Tasia McLeod, MS, CSM, CSPO - Director, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Zailee Estrada - Patient Access Director, UMass Memorial Medical Center
Sonya Barzegar - Corporate Director, Referral & Concierge Services, Emory Healthcare 

The Referral Management Cohort brings together leaders focused on optimizing the processes that guide patients from referral to appointment. This group explores strategies for improving referral intake, triage, scheduling readiness, appropriateness review, loop closure, and communication with both referring and receiving providers. Topics include operational workflows, technology solutions, transparency tools, referral conversion analytics, and approaches to reducing leakage and delays.