2019 Speaking Faculty

Nikolas Buescher has spent the last 14 years at health systems, leading large, community-based cancer programs. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Cancer Services for Penn Medicine/Lancaster General Health, a participant in the CMS Oncology Care Model. He holds both a Masters in Health Science and a Bachelors in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University where he also serves as an instructor on value based payment for their Masters in Health Administration. He is a recognized expert and frequent speaker regarding the Oncology Care Model. In 2016, Mr. Buescher was proud to represent community-based cancer programs in Washington DC at Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Summit. He has been a frequent presenter on best practices in oncology population health and performance improvement at Epic Systems’ annual User Group Meetings.

Luca Capicchioni is the Program Manager for Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy at UChicago Medicine. He is responsible for operations, quality, finances, and strategic growth of the program. Prior to joining the Cell Therapy team, Luca worked in quality and process improvement at UChicago Medicine and the University of Michigan Health System. He also spent six years at Henry Ford Hospital developing quality and patient experience metrics to drive improvements across the system.

Luca earned his bachelor’s of science in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Law degree at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.

As Chief Revenue Cycle Officer for American Oncology Network (AON), LLC, Sarah Cevallos is responsible for patient financial services, billing, timely collection, and precise payment posting, while delivering a positive patient experience. Sarah is also responsible for fostering payer partnerships and leads the value-based care initiatives to enhance quality payment programs to support the delivery of high quality cancer care to patients for the AON practices.

In her role as Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Chief Revenue Officer, she has held several finance-related positions and provided strategic direction to various departments that lead to increasing responsibility such as; payment processing, payer relationships and following the standards of the Oncology Care Model (OCM).

Also, Sarah serves as Clinical Practice Committee Member for the Florida Association of Clinical Oncology (FLASCO) and works closely with the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) on reimbursement and practice transformation strategies towards value-based care. She has been recognized by the Florida Association of Clinical Oncology (FLASCO) as the inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for her continued support of facilitating resolution of reimbursement issues for oncologists in Florida.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Nova Southeastern University and an MBA degree from Western Governors University with a concentration in Healthcare Management.

Sarah has been quoted and interviewed by the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) on various topics ranging from the Oncology Care Model (OCM) to collecting patient data to drive decisions.

Matt Farber is the Senior Director, Patient Care and Advocacy for Oncology, Fertility, and Multiple Sclerosis for Walgreen Co. In this role, he is responsible for the development and implementation of the national oncology, fertility and MS strategies. For over 4 years, Matt has worked with all external partners, including: providers, patients, caregivers, pharmaceutical companies, payers, and employers in identifying how best Walgreens can be a partner in the delivery of quality cancer, reproductive health, and MS care. Matt also works with external partners like: the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), and others on the overall message development. Prior to joining Walgreens, Matt worked for almost 10 years with the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) on issues relating to the policy and economics of cancer care. Matt graduated with a Masters degree in Political Management from The George Washington University, as well as his BA in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

David has over twenty years of healthcare experience including strategic consulting, credit underwriting, lending, and workouts and restructurings. He has managed projects for multiple entities including hospitals, clinics, physician practices and healthcare companies across the U.S.

Prior to founding PatientFocus, David served as the COO of insight Healthcare Financial, Inc. and was the co-founder and COO of Pine Creek Healthcare Capital, a specialty lender to rural hospitals.

Dawn Holcombe, President of DGH Consulting, has experience in payer trends and relations, practice strategy and operations, quality/value programs, physician networks and state association issues, USP Chapter 797 and 800 compliance, and business development, especially in the field of oncology. Dawn Holcombe’s thirty years in healthcare have included executive, strategic, financial, and marketing positions in academic and private health systems as well as physician practices. She is the Editor of the national Oncology Practice Management journal, a past President of the national Administrators in Oncology Hematology Assembly (AOHA) of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and is a Fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE), earning her MBA at the University of Michigan.

Mrs. Holcombe is working closely on accountable care and value-based performance strategy with three of the Oncology Care Model practice participants, as well as advising and supporting practices and hospital cancer centers with pharmacy standards and mixing room compliance transitions (facility and operational.) She addresses practice and regulatory issues on a local and national scale as the Executive Director of the Connecticut Oncology Association.

Mrs. Holcombe is also uniquely qualified to address the issues and perspectives regarding oncology and payers, as the author of both the National Association of Managed Care Physicians (NAMCP) Medical Director’s Guide: Oncology and the NAMCP Medical Directors Guide to Palliative Care in Oncology. She serves as the Director of the Oncology Institute for the NAMCP Medical Directors. Mrs. Holcombe is a popular speaker for several national conferences, corporate meetings, and speakers’ bureaus for provider, employer and payer audiences.

Terrill Jordan is President,Chief ExecutiveOfficer at Regional Cancer CareAssociates.Under his leadership, RCCAis driving to become a national leader in high quality, value-based oncology care.

Jordan focuses principally on healthcare oversight, providing strategic leadership, commercial negotiations and merger and acquisition execution as part of the seniormanagement team. In this role, Jordan is also responsible for advising the Board ofManagers.

Jordan has over 20 years of experience in business and commercialmatters in a range of industries, including healthcare, technology, power and energy, transportation, infrastructure, heavy equipment, and real estate. Jordan graduated fromNewYorkUniversity School of Lawwith an LL.M. and received J.D., M.ACC., and B.S. degrees fromUniversity of Florida. Jordan is also a Florida certified public accountant.

Dr. Sameer Mahesh has been practicing Hematology-Oncology since 2008 and is Director for Hematology-Oncology at Summa Health in Akron, OH. He is Associate Professor of Medicine at Northeast Ohio College of Medicine. In addition to having a full time medical practice, he was appointed Medical Director for Quality Improvement for Summa Cancer Institute in 2012 during which several process improvement activities were accomplished. He is Program Director for Oncology Care Model Medicare project since July 2016 which involves aligning quality, patient satisfaction and cost in care of the oncology patient. He has publications highlighting his research in several journals including Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology and New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Mahesh completed his fellowship in Hematology-Oncology from Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York in 2008 during which he also served as Chief Fellow. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine from St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, New York in 2005. He received his Medical Degree from T.N. Medical College, Mumbai, India.

Kristen McNiff has focused her career on cancer quality and value, with diverse professional experience including healthcare operations; payment and practice reform; strategic program development and implementation; policy; and measurement science. Currently, Ms. McNiff is Director, Oncology Value at UnitedHealthcare. At UHC, Ms. McNiff leads the national implementation of chemotherapy episodes of care, and contributes to ongoing strategic development of alternative payment models for oncology. Along with her role at United, Ms. McNiff remains active in grant-funded quality projects with the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) and the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH).

Prior, Ms. McNiff served as Vice President, Quality and Patient Safety at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where she provided strategic direction and oversight of staff teams focused on value, clinical quality innovation, safety, risk management, and compliance/regulatory programs. During this time, she chaired the Quality Committee of the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers. Ms. McNiff spent nearly a decade leading quality initiatives and quality-related policy at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, including the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative, the QOPI Certification Program, quality measure development and endorsement, safety standards, and the Quality Training Program. During her career, Ms. McNiff has served on numerous national committees and expert panels, and published regularly in peer-reviewed journals. She lives with her husband and son in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mark Murray is Regional Director of Oncology Services at Bon Secours Mercy Health, Youngstown region, where he leads the strategic direction and management of Oncology Services. In addition to leading a variety of initiatives related to the integration of new technology, program development, financial performance and community engagement, Mark’s interests include coordinated and efficient use of resources, standardized policies and procedures, processes and workflows, and improved collection and sharing of data throughout the ministry.

Prior to joining Bon Secours Mercy Health, Mr. Murray’s previous work focused on Radiation Oncology program development and administration at Summa Health Cooper Cancer Center. Mark Murray received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Allied Health Management from Hiram College, followed by a Masters of Business Administration in healthcare administration from Cleveland State University.

Tony Navarra, MA is the Director for Managed Care Contracting & Finance for University of Chicago Medicine. He is responsible for contracting for the UCM health system and has taken a particular interest in CAR-T contracting, a pet project he has been involved with since the early clinical trials. Tony has a Master’s Degree in Health Administration from the Graduate Program for Health Administration & Policy at the University of Chicago and got his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Government from Cornell.

Steven R. Peskin, MD is the Executive Medical Director, Population Health at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. His expertise encompasses physician leadership, population health management, clinical and operational performance improvement in health care, medical education and scientific communications. He has been one of the driving forces for the creation of and successful maturation of value based models in New Jersey.

Dr. Peskin is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is a clinical preceptor at The Eric B, Chandler Clinic for interns and residents in Internal Medicine. Dr. Peskin assists with the Population Health and business of medicine training for the Rutgers RWJ Internal Medicine physicians in training.

Dr. Peskin received his bachelor’s degree from The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine. He completed residency at Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston and holds an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As Chief Medical Officer for Ascension Wisconsin, Douglas Reding, MD, MPH, FACP, leads the organization’s clinical vision, oversees key service lines, and works to advance the most effective care models to improve outcomes in patient care, quality, safety and efficiency. At the national level, he serves as the chair of Ascension’s Oncology Excellence Council and leads the organization’s precision medicine task force to share best practices across the health system, in 21 states and Washington D.C. Dr. Reding previously served as Vice President of Oncology Services for Ascension’s Ministry Health Care and held a number of leadership positions at Marshfield Clinic, including Secretary of the Department of Hematology/Oncology, Chairman of the Board of Marshfield Medical Research Foundation and Vice President of Marshfield Clinic. He has been a practicing oncologist since 1986.

Dr. Reding earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, and his medical degree from the University of Iowa School of Medicine. Following graduation, he completed an internship at the University of Kansas College of Health Sciences and Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, where he also completed residency programs in Internal Medicine and Hematology, and fellowships in Hematology and Oncology. He completed his MPH from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1997.

He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy from The University of Texas at Austin and then after almost five years of hospital practice, he returned to earn a Pharm.D. from the joint program at The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio. He stayed in San Antonio to complete an ASHP accredited specialty residency in oncology from the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Hospital and then a Clinical Pharmacology Fellowship from the U.T. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He has also obtained an MBA focusing on healthcare from The George Washington University. He has been board certified in oncology pharmacy since 2000.

He has a breath of pharmacy experience from academia to clinical practice to industry and finally pharmacy administration.

Anne Trueg has a background in oncology and hematology. She graduated from Butler University with her PharmD, completed PGY1 and PGY2 in oncology at Indiana University Health. Past work experiences include clinical pharmacy specialist in hematology and bone marrow transplant at Indiana University Health; clinical pharmacist at Flatiron Health. Currently Anne works at AdvocateAurora Health as the clinical specialty pharmacist focused on specialty medication utilization management and population health initiatives.