With over 16 years in healthcare innovation and operations, Dr. Banerjee has provided outstanding leadership in areas of quality management, performance improvement, patient safety, risk mitigation, infection control, employee safety, and analytics. He utilizes lean and six-sigma strategies, predictive learning methodologies and open analytics to facilitate informed decisions in optimizing patient care outcomes. Dr. Banerjee believes in Open Innovation Analytics by strengthening data, information capabilities and centralizing workflows, with a focus on solving problems in healthcare.

He was awarded The Becker’s Hospital Review “Rising Stars in Healthcare 2017”. Some of the other awards received but not limited to were the “Siemens Innovator Award”. These awards and more achievements manifest in research facilitated through contributing on health care panels, and contributions which have earned global health field recognition. He has shown outstanding skills in designing infrastructure for innovative technology and implementing new workflows to holistically improve healthcare.

His employment with reputable and influential healthcare companies reveals his dedication to the healthcare field and persistence to enact change and improve the infrastructure in healthcare. With his drive towards research, he continues to publish, review, and present his reviews and findings in top journals and article sources.

As Chief Quality and Innovation Officer of the healthcare system, his vision and strategy is to provide best practice initiatives to provide cost efficient and preventing adverse events towards a safe and quality based care to our patients and community. He believes sharing is caring, and healthcare goes beyond one organization or one system.

His latest interest in the field of quality innovation through machine learning and pattern recognition is worth following.

Recent national conferences chaired and or presented at include the ACO and Payer Leadership Summits in Braselton, GA – April 2019 and in San Diego, CA – September 2019 in addition to the iOT Healthcare Summit in Toronto, Canada – June 2019.

Eric D. Hargan is the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS is dedicated to promote and enhance the health and well-being of the American people and as the largest department in the federal government has an annual budget in excess of 1.3 Trillion dollars and over 80,000 employees across 26 divisions. As Deputy Secretary, he is the Chief Operating Officer is a responsible for day-to-day operations and management of the department in addition to leading policy and strategy development.

Mr. Hargan was sworn into office as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on October. 6, 2017. He immediately served as Acting Secretary of HHS from October 2017 to January 2018.

From 2003 to 2007, Mr. Hargan served at HHS in a variety of capacities, ultimately holding the position of Acting Deputy Secretary. During his tenure at HHS, Mr. Hargan also served as the Department’s Regulatory Policy Officer, overseeing the development and approval of all HHS, CMS, and FDA regulations and significant guidances.

He received his B.A. cum laude from Harvard University, and his J.D. from Columbia University Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Columbia Law Review. In between his tours of duty at HHS Mr. Hargan taught at Loyola Law School in Chicago, focusing on administrative law and healthcare regulations.

Mr. Hargan was born and raised in Mounds, Illinois, a small town of approximately 800 located in the southern county of Pulaski. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife and their two sons.

Shantanu Agrawal, MD, MPhil, is president and CEO of the National Quality Forum (NQF). A board-certified emergency medicine physician who has worked in both academic and community settings, Dr. Agrawal is the former deputy administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and director of one of its largest centers, the Center for Program Integrity (CPI). At CMS, Dr. Agrawal led an effort to improve the physician experience with Medicare by working to minimize the administrative tasks with which doctors contend. He also was one of the main architects of CMS’s strategy and action plan to address the national opioid misuse epidemic. His main focus at CPI was improving healthcare value by lowering the cost of care through the detection and prevention of waste, abuse, and fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. From 2012 through 2014, CPI’s prevention efforts saved Medicare and Medicaid over $50 billion. Dr. Agrawal previously served as CPI’s chief medical officer and was instrumental in launching new initiatives in data transparency and analytics, utilization management, assessment of novel payment models, and stewarding a major public-private partnership between CMS and private payers, the Health Care Fraud Prevention Partnership. In addition to leading NQF, Dr. Agrawal is co-chair of the Department of Veterans Affairs Secretarial Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Prevention Advisory Committee and serves on the board of the Grameen Foundation, the Presidential Advisory Council of Brown University’s School of Public Health, and the editorial board of the journal Population Health Management. He is an adjunct senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate clinical professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University Hospital. Dr. Agrawal has testified numerous times before Congress and is a frequent national speaker on healthcare and cost. He is a well-published author with articles in Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Emergency Medicine, among others. Prior to joining CMS, Dr. Agrawal was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, serving the senior management of hospitals, health systems, and biotech and pharmaceutical companies on projects to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery. He also worked for a full-risk, capitated delivery system as its leader for clinical innovation and efficiency. Dr. Agrawal completed his undergraduate education at Brown University, medical education at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and clinical training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has a master’s degree in social and political sciences from Cambridge University.

Lauren Williams, MPH, has been with AU Health, in Augusta, Georgia since April 2016. Ms. Williams is tasked with leading all value-based initiatives for the provider practice plan, which is composed of over 500 faculty members. Lauren is responsible for the operational performance of shared savings arrangements and incentive programs, chronic care management, transitional care management, the Quality Payment Program, Bundled Payment for Care Improvement-Advanced, and Patient-Centered Medical Home accreditation for primary care. Ms. Williams is also responsible for the growth and development of AU Health’s telehealth strategy including implementation of the tele-Emergency Department program, and the growth of outpatient and post-acute telehealth services.

Ms. Williams received her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences and graduate degree in Masters of Public Health with an emphasis in Health Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi, in Hattiesburg. Lauren came to AU Health from Pioneer Health Services, where she served in a variety of roles from Administrator and Associate Administrator for five plus years. In 2014, Lauren began working for the company’s value-based department, Rural Solutions, as Director of Network Development and Strategic Alignment for their Medicare Shared Savings Accountable Care Organization. In this role, she was responsible for developing and managing partnerships with existing and new partners in the ACO, managing and disseminating all reporting for the financial performance of the ACO, and helped align the strategic vision of improving rural health care in the southeastern United States.

Lauren currently resides in Waynesboro, Georgia, with her fiancé and fur babies, Brutus and Boomer. Lauren has a passion for healthcare policy and rural healthcare. In her spare time, she enjoys running, reading, cheering on her Southern Miss Golden Eagles and serving as the Alumni Advisor for Kappa Delta Sorority at Georgia Southern University.

Dr. Dunbar serves as Vice President of Population Health for Johns Hopkins HealthCare. In her role as Vice President for the past twenty years, Dr. Dunbar has directed staff in the divisions of Population Health Management, Behavioral Health, and Research and Development. Since 1997, Dr. Dunbar has led the department to create, deliver and evaluate innovate population health management strategies in the areas of single and multiple chronic diseases, behavioral conditions and substance use disorder.

Dr. Dunbar served as the executive leader of the Johns Hopkins University community intervention of the Health Care Innovation Award from Center for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation (CMMI) called JCHIP (Johns Hopkins Community Health Partnership), a three year, $20 million award. Currently, Dr. Dunbar serves as the Executive Director of the Community Health Partnership of Baltimore which is a collaborative partnership of six hospitals. The CHPB coordinates care for residents in 19 Baltimore City zip codes with multiple chronic conditions who are frequent users of emergency and inpatient services.

Dr. Dunbar holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the JHU School of Nursing and Bloomberg School of Public Health, and frequently teaches and lectures on such topics as managed care, population health strategies, health policy and reform, risk adjustment, and research and evaluation.

Dr. Dunbar’s dissertation work, entitled “Alternative Methods of Identifying Children with Special Health Care Needs: Implications for Medicaid Programs”, explored the use of predictive models and risk adjustment in populations of children with chronic conditions. Dr. Dunbar has published in peer-reviewed journals on chronic illness in infants and children, risk-adjustment methodology, predictive modeling in high-risk patient identification, health policy for children and adults, pay-for-performance and quality, primary care and population health strategies. She has served as a consultant in the Population Health industry, for State Medicaid Agencies, health plans, and international Ministries of Health and governments. Dr. Dunbar speaks and consults nationally and internationally about risk-adjustment and population health strategies.

Dr. Dunbar completed 40 credits in the Master’s of Business Administration program at Johns Hopkins University in early 1984-1988, a MS in 2000 and PhD in 2005 from University of Maryland in Nursing and Health Policy.

Dr. Hammami completed his postdoctoral research in Pediatrics at the Newborn Center of the University of Tennessee in Memphis, and then accepted a faculty appointment at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan and a research position at the Detroit Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics.

Dr. Hammami served as Executive Director of the National Arab American Medical Association (NAAMA) from 2006 to 2009.  He was then appointed as the Chief of Health Operations of Wayne County Health Officer in 2009 where he oversees all health related matters in the 13th most populous county in the US.

He is a recipient of the American Medical Association (AMA) foundation “Excellence in Medicine and Leadership Award” as well as the “Health Policy Champion Award” by the Michigan Department of Community Health.  He was nominated by the White House for Heroes for Health in 2013.

Dr. Hammami is a member of several professional and honor societies and has been an invited speaker nationally and internationally on various topics. 

Rev. Debra Hickman is before anything, a mother, daughter, sister, and friend. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sisters Together And Reaching, Inc. (STAR), a 28 year old Faith/Community Based Non-profit Organization, advocating and optimizing health and wellness to underserved and at-risk minority communities in a holistic faith centered environment. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. She serves as Assistant To The Pastor at The City Temple of Baltimore Baptist Church and holds active positions of Co-Chair of the Johns Hopkins Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC), Co-Chair for the Johns Hopkins Center For Health Equity, and a member of the Kaiser Permanente Community Advisory Board, as well as a member of the Johns Hopkins University Urban Health Institute.

Rev. Hickman’s background further includes a forty-six (46) year history as a Licensed Practical Nurse, of which over 30 years has been working on issues relative to HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Infections alongside other comorbidities that impact our communities. There are many other accolades and achievements that would would tire your soul this morning, but her biggest achievement is her family, Bishop Donte L. Hickman Sr., Kelly Woolford, and Randi Woods, one Daughter-in-Love, four beautiful Grandchildren, and one Great-granddaughter. Her motto is “forward focused, not passed possessed.” Her favorite scripture is Psalm 34:1-4 and her passion is walking alongside people helping them to find wholeness.

Arielle Alvaro, MHSA is the Senior Program Administrator for the Office of Population Health at Johns Hopkins HealthCare. Arielle supports the planning, development, and implementation of key initiatives related to improving quality and reducing total cost of care for the Medicare Fee-for-Service population. Her main areas of focus, include: care coordination, analytics, and regional alignment of primary and specialty care. Prior to this role, Arielle obtained experience in clinic operations as the Assistant Administrator of Thoracic Oncology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and in strategic planning as an Analyst for MedStar Health. Arielle earned her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD and her Master’s in Health Systems Administration at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She went on to complete her Administrative Residency at MedStar Harbor Hospital.

Susan Mani, M.D. has been Chair of The Department of Medicine and Chief Quality Officer at Northwest Hospital Center, Inc. since December 2014. In July 2017, Dr. Mani became Vice President, Medical Affairs at Northwest in addition to LifeBridge Health’s Vice President and Medical Director, Clinical Transformation. As of July 2018, she became the VP, Clinical Transformation and Ambulatory Quality for LifeBridge Health.

During her tenure, Dr. Mani played critical roles in performance improvement, quality and patient safety advancement as well as playing a crucial role in advancing Northwest Hospital’s Quest to be the Best in areas of clinical outcome performance, patient experience and efficient use of resources. Northwest Hospital was recognized by the Maryland Patient Safety Center with the prestigious Minogue Award under her lead.

Dr. Mani is board-certified in cardiology and is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where she completed her residency and was chief resident. She completed her fellowship training in cardiology at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

Leslie Marshburn is the Executive Director of Strategy and Population Health at Grady Health System where she leads initiatives that span clinical care, information technology, care management, managed care and community partnerships to connect outcomes to value delivered to patients and external payers. Leslie partners closely with the business intelligence and clinical applications teams at Grady to design the tools necessary to assess, manage and measure the clinical and non-clinical needs and outcomes of our populations to elevate the overall health status of the community. In addition to her population health responsibilities, Leslie is responsible for organizing and managing the strategic planning efforts across the organization, including the development of service line strategic plans and directing the production of market and data analytics to support planning efforts.

Leslie joined Grady after 10 years of strategy consulting experience working with health systems to address enterprise strategy, ambulatory care, behavioral health, and value-based care. She holds a Bachelor’s in Science in Healthy Policy and Management from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a dual Masters in Business Administration and Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Health Policy and Management from Emory University.

Shannon Sale is the Chief Strategy Officer for Grady Health System and has been working in health care for over 20 years. She began her career as a consultant with Kurt Salmon, assisting hospitals and health systems with strategic and facility planning. In 2012, she joined the Grady leadership team as the first Vice President of Planning and Business Development. Today, she is responsible for strategic planning, strategic service lines, population health, community benefit, project management and the Emergency Medical Service. Shannon is a member of the Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Healthcare Improvement (ARCHI), working to advance community partnerships for improved coordination and health outcomes. Current programs led by Shannon’s team to promote transformation in healthcare include a Chronic Care Clinic for high utilizers, Food as Medicine, Mobile Integrated Health and community based programs for diabetes education.

Cheri Lattimer, RN, BSN, is Executive Director for the National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC) and President/CEO of Integrity Advocacy & Management. Her leadership in quality improvement, case management, care coordination, and transitions of care is known on the national and international landscape. Her work has been featured in several publications, including the Healthcare Executive, Dorland’s Case in Point, Professional Case Management, and Seniority. She is affiliated with various professional organizations and maintains active roles on several national boards and committees including URAC’s Redefined Health, CMS Caregiver Workgroup, ACHIEVE, ABQAURP CME Committee, and American Nurses Association.

Will Brady is Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary and Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services. As Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary, he advises on policy and program matters and assists the Deputy Secretary in the management and operations of the department. In addition, he is responsible for strategic policy initiatives focused on innovation, deregulation, and healthcare financing. In his Senior Advisor capacity, Will works with the Secretary and Deputy Secretary to develop and implement policies that improve Health IT and advance HHS’s technology, administrative and financial priorities. Prior to HHS, Will was legal counsel for a large health insurer and focused on federal healthcare law, insurance law, and corporate transactions. Will also has experience as an entrepreneur founding a software company that provided mobile ordering and fundraising platforms.

Will has a law degree from DePaul University and studied accounting and finance at the University of Dayton. Will is also a Captain in the DC Army National Guard and lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.