Panelist Bios
David Maxfield Vice President of Research, VitalSmarts, and lead researcher, The Silent Treatment For more than twenty years, David Maxfield has led high-leverage research initiatives that uncover causes of and solutions to managerial, cultural and operational inefficiencies that directly affect the organizational bottom line. David s career began with his doctoral work in psychology at Stanford University. Since then, his impact on organizational performance has been wide-reaching as he s helped clients such as General Mills, Harvard Medical School, Pizza Hut, and Spectrum Health increase organizational effectiveness and become measurably more vital. Cutting-Edge Researcher Currently, David is the vice president of research at VitalSmarts, an innovative corporate training company that teaches skills which deliver significant improvements to the results companies care about most. In the past thirty years, VitalSmarts has helped thousands of organizations, including more than three hundred of the Fortune 500, realize widespread and lasting results through its award-winning training programs. Named the 2008 Business of the Year by The Association of Learning Providers, VitalSmarts has also been ranked four times by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in America and has trained 600,000 people worldwide. As vice president of research, David has led a series of research projects on a variety of subjects including the role crucial conversations play in the health-care industry, and how the ongoing failure rate within enterprise projects is consistently linked to the avoidance of a few key crucial conversations. David has also led research projects about diversity, leadership, and influence. Bestselling Author and Award-Winning Teacher David is also the coauthor of The New York Times bestseller Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. His second book, Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success, is scheduled for release in the spring of 2011.
Brent C. James, M.D., M.Stat. Chief Quality Officer, Executive Director, Institute For Health Care Delivery Research, Intermountain Healthcare Brent James is known internationally for his work in clinical quality improvement, patient safety, and the infrastructure that underlies successful improvement efforts, such as culture change, data systems, payment methods, and management roles. He is a member of the National Academy of Science s Institute of Medicine and has participated in many of that organization s seminal works on quality and patient safety. He is the Chief Quality Officer and Executive Director of the Institute for Health Care Delivery Research at Intermountain Healthcare, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. James holds faculty appointments at the University of Utah School of Medicine (Family Medicine and Biomedical Informatics), Harvard School of Public Health (Health Policy and Management), and the University of Sydney, Australia, School of Public Health. Through the Intermountain Advanced Training Program in Clinical Practice Improvement (ATP), James has trained more than 3,500 senior physician, nursing, and administrative executives from around the world in clinical management methods with proven improvement results (and more than 30 daughter training programs in 6 countries). Before coming to Intermountain Healthcare, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health where he provided statistical support for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG). He also staffed the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. James holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science/Electrical Engineering and Medical Biology; an M.D. degree with residency training in general surgery and oncology; and a Master of Statistics degree. James serves on several non-profit boards of trustees, dedicated to clinical improvement. He is a member of a number of national taskforces and committees that examine health care quality and cost control, including AHRQ and his most recent appointment by the Federal Comptroller to an advisory group on making American health care more accessible and affordable. In 2005, James also received an award from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recognizing his vision and energy in making the U.S. health care system better. Linda Groah, RN, MSN, CNOR, CNAA, FAAN Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Association of perioperative Registered Nurses Linda K. Groah, RN, MSN, CNOR, CNAA, FAAN, has been the CEO and executive director of the Association of perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) since March 2007. A veteran perioperative nursing executive, Linda has devoted her career to perioperative nursing practice, education and executive management. Her previous professional positions include international health care consultant, chief operating officer of Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Francisco, Calif, nurse executive for Kaiser Foundation Hospital-San Francisco and Kaiser Foundation Hospital-South San Francisco, Calif; director of nursing OR-PACU-Surgery Center at the University of California, San Francisco Hospitals and Clinics; and OR director at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, Ga. Throughout her career, Linda has focused on improving patient safety. At Kaiser Permanente- San Francisco, she introduced and piloted several patient safety initiatives including walking rounds for administration and the implementation of the Just Culture concept, an environment where actions are analyzed to ensure that individual accountability is established and appropriate actions are taken. Just Culture is now a national health care standard. Linda authored the first textbook in the U.S. to include perioperative nursing roles and functions. The innovative nursing roles of nurses in the operating room were piloted and tested at the University of California, San Francisco and have been replicated in clinical ladders concepts across the country. She has authored numerous articles for trade journals and textbooks on subjects ranging from clinical perioperative nursing, to administrative issues in management and leadership in health care and nursing. Awarded AORN s Award for Excellence in Perioperative Nursing in 1989, Linda was inducted in 2000 as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. In 2005, she received Nursing Spectrum magazine s California and U.S. Nursing Excellence Award for Leadership. In 2006, she was named one of San Francisco s 100 most influential women in business. Linda is currently the treasurer for the Nursing Organization Alliance, on the Board of Directors of the Nursing Alliance for Quality Care and is Chair of the Bylaws Committee for the American Academy of Nursing.
Dorrie Fontaine, RN, PhD, FAAN Dean and Professor, University of Virginia School of Nursing Ramón Lavandero, RN, MA, MSN, FAAN Director of Communications and Strategic Alliances, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses A passion for critical-care nursing underlies the distinguished career of Dorrie Fontaine, RN, PhD, FAAN, as clinician, scholar, researcher, educator and professional leader. Since coming to the University of Virginia School of Nursing as Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of Nursing and Dean, Dr. Fontaine has implemented Appreciative Inquiry methodology as the basis for the School s strategic planning and launched an interdisciplinary process to create a transformational model to provide compassionate end-of-life care across the health care spectrum. In addition, she has been a strong advocate for inter-professional education, engaging both medical and nursing students in collaboration with the Dean of the School of Medicine. Prior to her 2008 appointment at UVA, Dr. Fontaine was associate dean for academic programs and clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Before coming to UCSF, Dr. Fontaine held associate dean positions and taught at Georgetown University School of Nursing. From 2003 to 2004, she served as president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. That association recognized her contributions with its Lifetime Member Award. Dr. Fontaine s teaching has centered on issues related to critical-care, including sleep promotion, pain relief and family presence at the end of life. Most recently, she has investigated strategies to promote nursing education partnerships, diversity and interprofessional education in university settings. Her priorities as dean at UVA include continued work in promoting healthy workplace environments, building more inter-professional collaborations and increasing diversity in both the faculty and student populations. Ramón Lavandero is director of communications and strategic alliances for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), and clinical associate professor at Yale University School of Nursing. An individual membership association with more than 87,000 members, AACN is the world s largest specialty nursing organization. Lavandero serves on the six-person executive team at the association s national office in Aliso Viejo, Calif. His team is accountable for corporate communications, publishing, strategic alliances, philanthropic fundraising and member recognition. A native of San Jan, Puerto Rico, Lavandero served as a consultant in nursing care delivery, education and administration at hospitals and nursing schools in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Through the American International Health Alliance, he participated in leadership development initiatives for national nursing and health services officials from countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Lavandero received a bachelor s degree in nursing, a master s degree in adult education from Columbia University and a master s degree in nursing from Yale University. A fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, he was the first nurse to participate in the Hispanic Leadership Fellows program sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Higher Education, in collaboration with the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the American Council on Education. He holds membership in AACN, American Nurses Association, American Society of Association Executives, the Honor Society of Nursing Sigma Theta Tau International and the Medical Society Fundraising Network. Dorrie Fontaine was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 1995, has received the Presidential Citation from the Society of Critical Care Medicine and is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau nursing honor society. Her alma mater, Villanova University, honored her with a Medallion for Contributions to the Profession in 1999. Dr. Fontaine received her bachelor of science degree in nursing from Villanova University, a master s degree from the University of Maryland, and her PhD from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. In 2006, she completed a Management and Leadership in Education Program at the Harvard Graduate Institute of Higher Education.