Health Care/Business Institute: Conference Faculty
Bill J. Bryant, MD, CMD, FAAFP, is board certified in family medicine and geriatrics and is a certified medical director of long-term care. He has practiced family medicine and geriatrics in Owensboro, KY since 1984, where he maintains an active outpatient, inpatient, and long-term care practice. He is medical director of Hermitage Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a signature facility, and the Transitional Care Center skilled unit of Owensboro Medical Health System. He has served as the patient safety officer for Owensboro Medical Health System since 2007. Bryant's special interests include preventive medicine, adverse effects of medications, and patient safety with a focus on older patients.
Leora R. Cherney, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a senior clinical research scientist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. She has more than 30 years of clinical experience working with adults with neurogenic communication disorders, and currently directs the Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Cherney is board-certified by the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences, and is a Fellow of both the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Illinois Speech-Language Hearing Association. She has co-authored four books on adult neurogenic communication disorders and has more than 70 publications in refereed journals, textbooks, and other periodicals. Her research interests, which have been federally funded for more than 15 years, focus on treatment approaches for aphasia and on attention and discourse problems in adults with cognitive-communication disorders.
Caryn Easterling, PhD, CCC-SLP, BRS-S, is a faculty member in the department of communication sciences and disorders at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She also holds a research appointment in the department of neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her research and publications focus on rehabilitation of swallowing disorders, especially the Shaker Exercise, and changes in deglutition with age. For ASHA's Special Interest Group 13, Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders, Easterling has served as associate editor of Perspectives and completed several terms on the advisory board. She has worked as co-editor with Drs. Shaker, Postma, and Belafsky on Principles of Deglutition: A Multidisciplinary Text for Swallowing and its Disorders (Springer Science & Business Media, Inc.). Easterling is a nationally known presenter in the area of deglutition and related disorders. She was awarded WSHA Honors and named an ASHA Fellow in 2009.
Douglas M. Hicks, PhD, CCC-SLP, is director of the Voice Center and head of speech-language pathology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). Hicks received his undergraduate degree from the College of Wooster, his master's degree from Northwestern University, and his doctorate from Vanderbilt University. Before joining CCF, he held tenure and professorial rank at the University of Florida. He has been engaged in the clinical management of voice patients for more than 35 years, with special interest in the professional/performing voice and is actively involved in the performing arts community. He is a popular speaker (with more than 350 invited presentations) and author who focuses primarily on the human voice and its disorders. Hicks holds adjunct faculty positions at Case Western Reserve University and Oberlin College's Conservatory of Music.
Jennifer Horner, PhD, JD, CCC-SLP, earned her MA and PhD in speech pathology from the University of Florida-Gainesville and her JD from Boston University School of Law. She is professor and associate dean for research and graduate studies in the college of health sciences and professions at Ohio University–Athens. After receiving her JD in 1998, Horner completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago. Horner is an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist and maintains board certification in the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS). She was the founding chair of ANCDS's board of ethics, and is former co-chair of MUSC's medical university hospital ethics committee.
Anthony Hughes, BS, is assistant vice president of pharmacy operations at HCR ManorCare, where he is responsible for managing and formulating an eldercare formulary and the operations of pharmacy services for 300 facilities. His career of nearly 40 years includes outpatient surgery center management, case management, disease management, and academic teaching. He has served on the board of directors of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association, participated in the leadership councils of the America Society of Consultant Pharmacists, and served on the advisory board to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (AHEC). Currently he is on the deans' advisory boards at the University of Louisiana, College of Pharmacy and the University of Toledo, College of Pharmacy.
Rem Jackson is president and CEO of Top Practices, LLC., a company dedicated to helping professionals and businesses reach their professional and personal goals by building their "perfect practice or business." As a coach and trainer, he has guided professionals, educators, and business leaders for nearly 20 years. He directed the team that founded Classroom Connect, a high-tech company dedicated to helping K–12 educators integrate technology into their instruction. These programs have been experienced by more than 120,000 educators, businesspeople, and government leaders in North America and Asia. Jackson's extensive experience in sales, marketing, and senior management in the education and health care industries uniquely qualify him to direct and implement Top Practices' proprietary products and services.
Joel C. Kahane, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a professor in the school of communication sciences and disorders at the University of Memphis and associate professor of otolaryngology in the Department of Otolaryngology Head-Neck Surgery at the University of Tennessee, Center for the Health Sciences. Among Kahane's clinical interests are the diagnosis and treatment of upper airway dysfunction, laryngeal disorders, and dysphagia resulting from cancer of the head and neck. He is associated with multidisciplinary centers involved in the medical-surgical treatment and rehabilitation of patients with cancers of the head and neck.
Cathy Lazarus, PhD, CCC-SLP, is research director of the Thyroid Head and Neck Research Center, Beth Israel Medical Center, and associate professor in the department of otorhinolaryngology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She has been conducting research in normal swallowing and swallowing in treated head and neck cancer patients for many years. Her research interests focus on the effects of treatment on swallowing. She has served on ASHA committees and is currently on the board of the Dysphagia Research Society Meeting.
Janet P. McCarty, MEd, CCC-SLP, is the private health plans advisor in ASHA's Health Care Economics and Advocacy unit. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in speech-language pathology from the University of Virginia. McCarty served as director of a community speech and hearing clinic and has also worked in hospitals, home health agencies, schools, and nursing homes. She edited Targeting Better Coverage, and co-authored Health Plan Coding and Claims Guide and Negotiating Health Care Contracts and Calculating Fees. She has written articles on establishing billing policies, developing early intervention programs and funding, and understanding how reimbursement codes are valued by payers. Most recently, McCarty reported on a successful appeal for a pediatric swallowing denial and mandated autism benefits. McCarty has worked extensively on issues related to CPT and ICD-9 billing codes and health plan appeals.
Joseph Murray, PhD, CCC-SLP, is chief of audiology and speech pathology services at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Ann Arbor, MI. His research and publications focus on dysphagia and is the author of Manual of Dysphagia Assessment in Adults, published by Delmar-Cengage Learning. In 2010, he became an ASHA Fellow. Murray has lectured extensively on dysphagia, aging, and communication disorders throughout North and South America, Europe, and Australia.
Mindy Newhouse, MS, CCC-SLP, is the co-founder and co-director of Communication Matters, a private speech-language pathology practice established in southern California in 1997. A group practice with as many as 10 SLPs on staff, her center is a "speech-only" business that partners with other professionals who offer services including OT, PT, psychological testing and therapy, and academic tutoring. She is a past president and active member of the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology and Audiology (AAPPSPA). She is a clinical supervisor for graduate students and consults with other private practitioners across the country. Newhouse has presented on business issues related to private practice at numerous conferences, including ASHA, AAPPSPA, Alaska Speech-Language Hearing Association, and the California Speech-Language Hearing Association.
John C. Rosenbek, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a professor in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the University of Florida. He teaches in the rehabilitation science PhD program and in the master's program for speech-language pathology. He maintains a modest research program in dysarthria and dysphagia rehabilitation and a busy outpatient clinical program. Rosenbek is an ASHA Fellow and has received the Honors of that association and of the Academy for Neurologic Communication Sciences and Disorders.
Sandeep Samant, MD, FRCS, is a professor in the department of otolaryngology at the University of Tennessee, Health Sciences Center and division chief of head and neck and skull base surgery. His clinical and research interests include multidisciplinary management of head and neck cancer, skull base surgery, and endocrine surgery of the head and neck. He was the first to start a transoral robotic surgery program in the mid-south. Samant is a member of the NCCN guidelines committee.
Janet Simon Schreck, MS, CCC-SLP, has worked as a clinical SLP in hospital and skilled nursing facilities, including Mariner Health Systems, where she developed expertise in the assessment and treatment of adult and geriatric patients with neurologically-based communication and cognition disorders. Since 1999, she has been a full-time clinical faculty member in the department of speech-language pathology/audiology at Loyola University Maryland. In 2006, she accepted an appointment as executive director for the Loyola Clinical Centers, an interdisciplinary graduate training clinic at Loyola University Maryland. She is a PhD candidate in the gerontology doctoral program at the University of Maryland–Baltimore, where her research interests include tertiary prevention and rehabilitation of cognitive-communication changes and disorders in older adults.
Lynn Steffes, PT, DPT is president/consultant of Steffes & Associates, a nationwide rehabilitation consulting service based in WI. Her areas of expertise include marketing and program development, customer service initiatives, managed care contracts and payer relations, and optimal reimbursement and documentation strategies. Steffes is a 1981 graduate of Northwestern University and completed her transitional DPT in December of 2010. In addition to her work as a consultant, she is a frequent speaker at national and state meetings. She is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and serves on the board of directors for the private practice section of APTA.
Debra Suiter, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a SLP at the VA Medical Center–Memphis and an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Suiter is a board recognized specialist in swallowing and the coordinator of ASHA Special Interest Group 13, Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders. She has focused her research on the appropriateness and accuracy of current dysphagia assessments. She has presented on dysphagia screening and evaluation at ASHA conventions and meetings of the Dysphagia Research Society. In addition, Suiter has published peer-reviewed articles pertaining to dysphagia screening and assessment.
Nancy B. Swigert, MA, CCC-SLP, is the director of speech-language pathology and respiratory care at Central Baptist Hospital, an acute care facility in Lexington, KY. She has written numerous articles and chapters on coding, documentation, billing, and outcomes, and is a frequent regional and national lecturer on these topics. She serves on the editorial board for Eli Rehab Report. Before being employed by Central Baptist, Swigert was president of Swigert & Associates, Inc., a private practice providing SLP services. She is a former president of the Kentucky Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Council of State Association Presidents, and served as the ASHA president in 1998. She served on ASHA's Health Care Economics Committee for nine years, with six years as chair. She currently chairs the specialty board for swallowing and swallowing disorders.
John M. Torrens, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a certified and licensed SLP who holds a doctoral degree in business administration. Before joining the faculty of the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, Torrens launched several businesses, including four companies in the health and education industries. He was founder, president, and executive director of InterActive Therapy Group (ITG), a provider of medical and educational rehabilitation services for young children with disabilities. In 2008, he sold the company but remained on its board of directors until March 2011. In April 2011, he and two equity partners repurchased ITG's assets and operations in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. He continues his faculty position and engages in his business and consulting practice during the summer months and on school breaks.
Julie Wambaugh, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an associate professor in the department of communication sciences and disorders at the University of Utah and a research career scientist at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. She teaches graduate courses in aphasia and motor speech disorders. Her research is clinically oriented and focuses on developing and testing treatments for acquired apraxia of speech and aphasia. Her current projects include examining the principles of motor learning and the effects of treatment intensity on the treatment of AOS. Wambaugh is an ASHA Fellow.