President & CEO, Harmony Healthcare International (HHI)

Kris has more than 18 years of experience in the long-term care industry. An Occupational Therapist degree from Tufts University followed by a Master's in Business Administration and Nursing Home Administrator's License affords Kris an in-depth perspective into the nursing home industry.

Initially providing direct care as an occupational therapist, Kris became familiar with the Medicare reimbursement system. Her position evolved into the management of in-house rehabilitation programs to Vice President of Operations for a national consulting company to Vice President of Reimbursement. Her experience includes the development and presentation of training modules (clinical, financial, operational and reimbursement) for large healthcare corporations, implementation of in-house rehabilitation programs, management of Medicare and Medicaid cost reporting, change of ownership applications, budgeting, skilled nursing facility clinical and financial analysis along with vendor contracting.

Senior Vice President, Quality & Regulatory Affairs - AHCA/NCAL

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David Gifford, MD, MPH, is the Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at the American Health Care Association, the largest association in the country representing long term and post-acute care facilities. He helped create the department which assists providers in their quality improvement efforts and works with Administration officials on regulations and policies impacting the profession. Dr. Gifford also serves on the Board of the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign and the Baldrige Foundation Board. He is a former Director of the Rhode Island State Department of Health, where he received the National Governor’s award for Distinguished Service Award for State Officials and was a semi-finalist for the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Innovations in Government award for work on the nursing home survey process. Prior to that he served as Chief Medical Officer for Quality Partners of Rhode Island where he directed CMS’ national nursing home-based quality improvement effort. He received his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and conducted his geriatric fellowship at UCLA where he also earned his Master’s in Public Health in Epidemiology.

Senior Vice President for Reimbursement Policy Affairs, - AHCA/NCAL

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Mike Cheek, Senior Vice President for Reimbursement Policy Affairs, joined AHCA/NCAL in January 2012.  Mike has a wealth of health care policy experience spanning 20-plus years.  He was the Medicaid Long Term Care director for the District of Columbia’s (DC) state Medicaid agency, the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF).  During his tenure at DHCF, he established a new office within the department, the Office of Chronic & Long Term Care, restructured the state plan personal care benefit, and oversaw significant changes in the state’s reimbursement systems for nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  

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In addition to his state experience from working for the DC government, Mike has worked for three state government associations – the state Medicaid directors where he focused on eligibility and long term care, the state developmental disabilities directors, and the state aging directors.  In all three roles, he worked closely with the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures.  Mike also worked as a consultant for several years first at The Lewin Group and later at Avalere Health.  He primarily consulted with states, health plans, pharmaceutical companies and post-acute and long term care provider organizations, including AHCA. 

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Over his career, he has authored a wide array of papers and reports for organizations such as the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the AARP Public Policy Institute, and California HealthCare Foundation.  He also has developed analytic reports on Medicaid and long term care financing and system structuring for states such as Alabama, California, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, and Texas.  Finally, Mike has served on a number of advisory committees including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Technical Expert Panels on Medicaid managed long term care and Affordable Care Act long term care provisions.  Most recently, Mike was invited to represent AHCA on the Long Term Care Finance Collaborative jointly convened by the Urban Institute and the Heritage Foundation. 

Joe Andruzzi, Former NFL Player

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Born in Brooklyn, NY, but raised in Staten Island, Joe Andruzzi is a former NFL offensive guard.  He played football at Tottenville High School, and went on to play college ball at Southern Connecticut State University.  Andruzzi proved himself a Division II All-American his junior and senior years as well as an offensive captain his senior season, being able to play every position on the offensive line.

In 1997, Andruzzi was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Green Bay Packers and then in February 1998 played football in Scotland for NFL Europe.  He was released from the Packers after three seasons before being picked up as an offensive guard by the New England Patriots in 2000, where he went on to play five seasons and earn three Super Bowl rings.  In 2005 he was signed by the Cleveland Browns and played with them for two seasons.

In 2001, Joe and his wife, Jen, were introduced to C.J. Buckley, who had an inoperable brain tumor.  The two families became very close and Andruzzi helped launch the C.J. Buckley Brain Cancer Research Fund at Children’s Hospital.  In recognition of his contributions, he received the Ed Block Courage award in 2002 and the first Ron Burton Community Service award in 2003.

On May 30, 2007, Joe was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Burkitt’s lymphoma, predicted to double in size within 24 hours. The family relocated back to New England and Joe had an aggressive chemotherapy treatment over three months at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  He admirably fought the disease with strength and courage.  Joe’s last treatment was on August 6, 2007.  Joe has been in remission since then and lives a healthy life with Jen, their five children, and their two dogs.  Together, Joe and Jen run the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, which is tackling cancer’s impact by providing financial assistance for patients and their families as well as funding pediatric brain cancer research.

Founder, Find the Cause

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Eleanor F. Anbinder (Ellie) has been active for 20+ years in the breast cancer movement. She became involved just after her diagnosis of breast cancer and her commitment has been steadfast ever since. Ms. Anbinder was among the first active members of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition and she has served in several board positions including Public Relations, Rally Chairperson, Fundraising and Statewide Group Development. In 1999, Ms. Anbinder and several friends formed Find The Cause (formerly Art beCAUSE) Breast Cancer Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to funding research linking breast cancer and the environment. Ms. Anbinder has been a sales and marketing professional for twenty years and is an expert on networking, customer relationship building, and referral sales.

As Art beCAUSE grew in its fundraising and educational mission, it has become clear that we must FIND THE CAUSE in order to prevent the disease for future generations.  In 2017, it was decided that renaming the organization Find The Cause Breast Cancer Foundation would address our increasingly urgent mission.

Ellie was honored in 2009 with Mass General Hospital’s 100 Everyday Amazing Award. In 2016, she was again honored to receive the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women Unsung Heroine Award.

President, Casamba, LLC

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Billie Nutter is the newly-appointed President of Casamba, LLC.  She oversees the organizations operations across the post-acute EHR platform. Billie has a reputation of bringing organizational mission, vision, and values to life while implementing strong operational processes, procedures, and controls.  Using technology to create efficiency and efficacy in the post-acute care continuum is a long time passion she shares with her Casamba Team.

Billie has served in the post-acute continuum directing therapy services as well as in the skilled nursing venue directing admission processes, leading value based reimbursement initiatives, establishing networks, and ACO relationships. Billie earned a Master of Science in Communication Disorders along with a Bachelor of Health Science in Communication Disorders and a Bachelor of Science in Education and Biology. 

Senior Vice President, Compliance and Quality, Casamba, LLC

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Holly Hester, PT, DPT, CHC, serves as Casamba’s Compliance Officer and leads the Operational Quality Assurance and Compliance Department across the enterprise. In this role, she provides regulatory guidance and interpretation, clinical programming and content development, education and training steerage, and compliance and quality assurance support for the Company. As a physical therapist for almost 25 years, Holly has multi-venue clinical and management experience, giving her a unique perspective on the integration of compliance and training with therapy service delivery and clinical practice.  Holly has presented regionally and nationally at the Michigan Physical Therapy Association Spring Conferences and APTA’s Combined Sections Meeting, the AOTA National Conference and has taught live continuing education courses on a variety of clinical and regulatory topics for all 3 therapy disciplines since 2007.

President, Aegis Therapies
 

Martha Schram is the President of Aegis Therapies, a position she has held since 2004. Ms. Schram is responsible for the overall leadership and direction of Aegis, including the management of rehabilitation services provided in the Golden LivingCenters, and oversight of the contract rehabilitation services Aegis provides to other nursing home companies and organizations.

Prior to becoming President of Aegis, Ms. Schram was a Division Vice President and a Group Vice President for Aegis. Her varied and successful career prior to Aegis includes serving as an Area Vice President for NovaCare in Wisconsin, an Executive Director of Rehabilitation Services for Divine Savior Healthcare in Portage, Wisconsin, and Clinical Coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Earlier in her career, Ms. Schram held a variety of senior management and leadership positions with increasing responsibility in geriatric healthcare businesses.

Ms. Schram earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Managing Partner, Nelson Mullins Broad and Cassel Fort Lauderdale

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Gabriel Imperato’s personal practice includes representing individuals and organizations accused of healthcare fraud and assisting and advising healthcare organizations on corporate governance and compliance matters. He is board certified by The Florida Bar as a health law specialist. Gabe is also certified in health care compliance by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and the Health Care Compliance Association (SCCE/HCCA). Mr. Imperato has served as a longtime member of the Board of Directors and Past President of the SCCE/HCCA.

He has criminal and civil trial and appellate experience in federal and state courts and administrative forums and has personally handled leading national cases concerning criminal and civil healthcare fraud and abuse and healthcare law and policy. Gabe has experience in the defense of allegations involving the False Claims Act against health care organizations and has litigated and settled many of these cases with the Department of Justice and the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, as well as state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

In addition, he has also handled numerous matters involving the formation of integrated delivery systems and managed care organizations. Gabe is considered a national leader in healthcare fraud, abuse, and compliance reimbursement as well as healthcare reform matters. He lectures and publishes numerous articles on these subjects.

President/Owner, Dementia Training for Life

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Laurie Gunter Mantz, founder and CEO of Dementia Training for Life, LLC is an Occupational Therapist, Educator and Certified Dementia Care Practitioner, Trainer and Care Manager. She is also a family member; both of her grandmothers died due to dementia.

Laurie is an avid advocate for the rights and needs of both the individuals diagnosed and their caregivers. She has marched on Capitol Hill with the Alzheimer's Association to promote the Alzheimer's National Plan and has testified at the New Hampshire Capital on the "Silver Alert" program and the NH State Plan.  She has also been an active member of the planning committee for the Central NH Walk to End Alzheimer's.  After a move to Rhode Island, she has recently become active with the Alzheimer's Association RI chapter and assisted Butler Hospital's Memory and Aging Department with recruitment for clinical trials for research toward a cure.  She is currently on the Executive Board for the revision for the Rhode Island State Plan for Alzheimer's disease and Related Dementias.

As an Executive Director and marketing professional in assisted living that specialized in dementia care, the one message that was clear from family members was that professionals; doctors, nurses, first responders, did not understand how to care for or interact with their loved ones. This is the reason for Dementia Training for Life:
To provide the education necessary for proper diagnosis, care, support and
treatment for those with all forms of dementia.

Laurie is certified with the National Council for the Certification of Dementia Practitioners as a practitioner, trainer and a care manager. She has received the distinction as being named to the international group: Purple Angel Ambassadors for advocacy. She is also a Regional Trainer for the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices.

www.Dementiatraining4life.com

Senior VP of Field Operations, Harmony Healthcare International (HHI)
 

Sally Fecto is Senior VP of Field Operations and a HealthCARE Specialist for Harmony Healthcare International, a nationally recognized, premier Healthcare Consulting firm specializing in C.A.R.E. (Compliance, Audits, Reimbursement and Regulations, Education and Efficiency).  Sally has more than 36 years of experience in the long-term care industry.  Her career in long-term care began as a nursing assistant while attending nursing school.  As a nurse working in the long term care facility, she gained valuable skills through additional experiences in the acute care hospital, chronic care hospital, psychiatric hospital, and inpatient rehabilitation hospital.  Sally has devoted the past 36 years specifically in this area of specialty. 

Sally has a realistic view of the day to day issues and challenges faced in the long term care industry.  Her roles progressed within the long term care settings from a staff nurse, Clinical Admissions Nurse, Admissions Nurse Liaison, Nursing Supervisor, Unit Coordinator, Medicare Nurse, MDS Coordinator, multi-facility Regional Clinical Reimbursement Specialist position and Corporate Director of Clinical Reimbursement overseeing multiple Skilled Nursing Facilities.  Her Corporate roles within the Skilled Nursing Facilities has further enhanced her skill set in the implementation, management and practical application of best practices involving all members of the Interdisciplinary Team.

Vice President of Education and Training, Harmony Healthcare International (HHI)

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Pamela Duchene, PhD, APRN-BC, NEA, FACHE, RAC-MT is Vice President of Education & Training for Harmony Healthcare International (HHI), a nationally recognized, premier Healthcare Consulting firm specializing in C.A.R.E. (Compliance, Audits, Analysis, Reimbursement, Regulatory, Rehabilitation, Education and Efficiency).  Pam has over 25 years of healthcare leadership experience within the acute care and post-acute continuum of care, including 20 years in the Chief Nursing Officer role within acute care systems.  Pam continues clinical practice as a geriatric nurse practitioner.  She has published and presented nationally on nursing leadership, recruitment, shared governance, pain and rehabilitation.  She received a PhD in nursing from Rush University (Chicago), and a post-graduate degree as a nurse practitioner from the University of Massachusetts/Boston.  

VP of HarmonyHelp, Harmony Healthcare International (HHI)
 

Joyce Sadewicz, PT, RAC-CT, is VP of HarmonyHelp and a HealthCARE Specialist for Harmony Healthcare International (HHI).  Joyce manages the HarmonyHelp online resource and call center.  HarmonyHelp provides an invaluable resource for the entire interdisciplinary team, questions are answered by a Harmony HealthCARE Specialist within minutes of the inquiry.  The newest regulations and upcoming reimbursement changes are distilled and synthesized on this client-only site for staff to reference and search expeditiously.   Joyce worked previously as the VP of Field Operations, managing a diversified team of HealthCARE Specialists with extensive knowledge in the areas of MDS 3.0, RUG-IV, Compliance, Documentation, Therapy Program development and state-specific Medicaid Case mix, as well as expertise in Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursement and Documentation. 

Joyce holds a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from Russell Sage College and Albany Medical School, and has over 30 years experience practicing and providing healthcare specialty services related to therapy services and Medicare regulations and guidelines with extensive knowledge in reimbursement and management of patient care.  Joyce provides in-depth training for MDS Coordinators, Nursing Directors, Administrators, Therapy Directors and all SNF staff on MDS coding, RUG-IV Intimacy, Skilled Nursing and Therapy Documentation and Compliance for the SNF. 

HealthCARE Specialist, Harmony Healthcare International (HHI)

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Kathleen Monahan, OTR/L is a Harmony HealthCARE Specialist for Harmony Healthcare International (HHI), a nationally recognized, premier Healthcare Consulting firm specializing in C.A.R.E. (Compliance, Audits, Analysis, Reimbursement, Regulatory, Education and Efficiency).  She graduated from Worcester State College with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy and has over 12 years experience in the long-term care industry. Kathleen has been a Rehabilitation Director as well as a Senior Occupational Therapist.  In these roles, she has been responsible for the direct supervision and training of Occupational, Speech and Physical Therapists in multiple facilities to ensure ongoing roll out of new policies and procedures to rehab departments as well as corporate compliance.  As a HealthCARE Specialist, she provides comprehensive teaching and training to rehab and nursing staff and speaks nationally on issues related to long term care.

HealthCARE Specialist, Harmony Healthcare International (HHI)
 

John Duffy, MBA, OT/L, CHT is a Vice President of Client Development and Harmony HealthCARE Specialist for Harmony Healthcare International (HHI), a nationally recognized, premier Healthcare Consulting firm specializing in C.A.R.E. (Compliance, Audits, Analysis, Reimbursement, Regulatory, Rehabilitation, Education and Efficiency).  John has over 19 years of experience in Long-Term Care; over 10 years of multiple site management experience in SNF Rehab Departments as Regional Director of Operations, is a Certified Hand Therapist, and a Certified Personal Trainer.

HealthCARE Specialist, Harmony Healthcare International (HHI)

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Joni Gosser, RNC, CLNC, WCC, LNHA is a Harmony HealthCARE Specialist for Harmony Healthcare International (HHI), a nationally recognized, premier Healthcare Consulting firm specializing in C.A.R.E. (Compliance, Audits, Analysis, Reimbursement, Regulatory, Education and Efficiency).  Joni has over 26 years of experience in Long-Term Care, is a certified Interact Instructor, certified Legal Nurse Consultant, certified MDS 3.0 Train-The-Trainer and is certified in Wound Care.​​