Newswise — The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) announced the addition of three new members to its Board of Directors, to begin their tenure in January 2008. Joining the AMGA Board are the following:
Patricia C. BriggsNorthwest Physicians NetworkAfter serving for two years as its Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Briggs was appointed in 2000 as the Chief Executive Officer of Northwest Physicians Network (NPN) with the charge of achieving a financial turnaround. Within four years, the company eradicated its sizeable accumulated deficit and currently has a $7M net worth. Ms. Briggs has served as the guiding force in the advancement of continuous improvement in the IPA. In a 20+ year career that has included hospital, physician organization, and health insurance company positions, she has dedicated well over a decade to managed care delivery design, creating the means to convert system waste into "realized" resources to provide more systematic care. Currently NPN derives most of its revenue from efficient and effective coordination of care under its managed care contracts. Under Ms. Briggs' leadership, NPN has created subsidiaries which have helped to diversify its revenue stream. These subsidiaries include Benefit MD, a third-party administrator for self-insured employers; the South Sound Health Communication Network, a secure physician and patient portal for the exchange of clinical and administrative information; My Office Partner, a practice management company; the NPN Foundation for community health improvement; and Puget Sound Health Partners, a health insurance company concentrating on Medicare Advantage. Ms Briggs received a BA cum laude from Oregon State University with a major in English and was certified in 2002 by Stanford University as a Master Trainer in Chronic Disease Self-Management. She is past President of the Board of Directors of the Pierce Metro American Heart Association, President of the Puget Sound Health Partners Board of Directors, President-Elect of CodeBlueNow! (a non-partisan consumer group for healthcare system reform), board member of The South Sound Health Communication Network, and member of the AMGA CEO Council. John H. Cochran, MD, FACSThe Permanente FederationDr. Cochran is the Executive Director of the Permanente Federation. Prior to his appointment to this position in October 2007, he served as Executive Medical Director and President of the Colorado Permanente Medical Group (CPMG) for Kaiser Permanente (KP). Dr. Cochran began his career with CPMG as founder of the Plastic Surgery Department in 1990. Dr. Cochran served as CPMG Chief of Plastic Surgery (1990-1997), Chairman of the CPMG Board of Directors (1997), and as CPMG Executive Medical Director from 1999 to October 2007. Prior to joining CPMG, Dr. Cochran was in private practice in Denver, Colorado. At St. Joseph's Hospital, Dr. Cochran was Chief of Plastic Surgery and Chair of Surgical Services and served a term as President of the medical staff. At Exempla Healthcare, Dr. Cochran served as a board member and as a member and Chairman of the Quality Committee. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation and the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence. Dr. Cochran earned his medical degree from the University of Colorado and served residencies at Stanford University Medical Center and University of Wisconsin Hospitals. He is board certified in otolaryngology - head and neck surgery, and in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Dr. Cochran has made several trips to Third World countries to provide reconstructive surgery services. He has been a visiting surgeon and consultant in Nicaragua, the Philippines, Ecuador, Tanzania, and Nepal. He is also past president of C6, a foundation that built a hospital in East Africa.
Howard B. Graman MD, FACPThe Carilion ClinicIn 2006, Dr. Graman was recruited to what is now The Carilion Clinic. Intrigued by this traditional health system's stated goal of transforming itself into a physician-led, fully integrated model of care, he has served for the past year as the Medical Director of the Carilion Medical Group, a 250-provider multispecialty employed group. He is an integral part of Carilion's senior management team, engaged in major cultural change designed to bring high-quality, integrated care to Southwest Virginia and the surrounding region. Dr. Graman completed his internal medicine training at The University of Michigan in 1976, and after spending two years in a medical shortage area as part of the National Health Service Corps, he joined the faculty of The University of Vermont as a clinician educator in the division of general internal medicine. There, his focus was in practicing and teaching medicine with a specific academic interest in the doctor-patient relationship. He helped create and taught in UVM medical school's interviewing course and was instrumental in bringing the use of videotaped interactions into residency training. Dr. Graman has also trained physicians nationally to teach interviewing skills in their respective institutions and has served as a consultant for several large medical groups by providing seminars to their employed physicians on doctor-patient communication skills as a Fellow of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare. After 18 years on the faculty in Vermont, Dr. Graman, as a Professor of Medicine, was recruited to The Cleveland Clinic to help develop and become the Medical Director of their largest Family Health and Surgery Center located in Strongsville, Ohio. After 5 years, the Center, with 40 physicians and 6 outpatient operating rooms, had become extremely successful. As a result, Dr. Graman was asked to move to South Florida and become the Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Florida, at the time a financially troubled 110-physician multispecialty group practice located in Weston. During his three years in Weston, he was instrumental in leading a team that brought improvements in financial and clinical performance, which led to the stabilization of the group practice.
The Board of Directors represents the leadership of some of AMGA's most prominent member medical groups. Following is a complete listing of the AMGA Board, to begin their terms in January.
Chair: Ronald H. Kirkland, MD, The Jackson Clinic Professional Association Chair Elect: C. Edward Brown, The Iowa Clinic, P.C.Secretary: Francis A. Marzoni, Jr., MD, MBA, Palo Alto Medical FoundationTreasurer: David L. Bronson, MD, Cleveland Clinic FoundationAt-Large Member: Scott D. Hayworth, MD, FACOG, Mount Kisco Medical GroupImmediate Past Chair: Allen D. Kemp, MD, MBA, Dean Health Systems, Inc.President and Chief Executive Officer: Donald W. Fisher, PhD, CAE, American Medical Group Association
Directors
"¢ Patricia C. Briggs, Northwest Physicians Network"¢ Michael W. Bukosky, MS, FACMPE, Carle Clinic Association, P.C."¢ John H. Cochran, MD, FACS, The Permanente Federation"¢ Howard B. Graman MD, FACP, The Carilion Clinic"¢ Bruce H. Hamory, MD, Geisinger Health System "¢ Scott D. Hayworth, MD, Mount Kisco Medical Group"¢ Karen Kennedy, BA, MPH, Medical Clinic of North Texas, P.A."¢ Robin L. "Rob" Lloyd, MPA, University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics "¢ Robert E. Nesse, MD, Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, Mayo Health System "¢ Andrew S. Warner, MD, Lahey Clinic "¢ Nicholas Wolter, MD, Billings Clinic
Directors who are completing their terms of office in 2007 include Francis J. Crosson, MD, The Permanente Federation, LLC; Albert W. Fisk, MD, The Everett Clinic; and Susan Schooley, MD, Henry Ford Medical Group.
AMGA is an association that represents medical groups, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA advocates for the multispecialty medical group model of healthcare delivery and for the patients served by medical groups through innovation and information sharing, benchmarking, leadership development, and continuous striving to improve patient care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to more than 50 million patients in 42 states. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org
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