Opening Keynote: Kathy Greenlee, JD, US Department of Health and Human Services, Administrator, Administration for Community Living, Assistant Secretary for Aging
Kathy Greenlee serves in the dual roles of Administrator of the Administration for Community Living and Assistant Secretary for Aging. Ms. Greenlee was appointed by President Obama as Assistant Secretary for Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Senate in June 2009. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) is a new federal agency operating within the Department of Health and Human Services. ACL brings together into a single entity the Administration on Aging, the Office on Disability, and the Administration on developmental Disabilities. ACL is charged with working with states, tribes, community providers, universities, nonprofit organizations, businesses and families to help seniors and people with disabilities live in their homes and fully participate in their communities. Assistant Secretary Greenlee believes that people with functional support needs should have the opportunity to live independently in a home of their choosing, receiving appropriate services and supports. She is committed to building the capacity of the national aging and disability networks to better serve older persons, caregivers, and individuals with disabilities. Kathy Greenlee served as Secretary of Aging in Kansas, and before that as the Kansas State Long Term Care Ombudsman. She also served as the General Counsel of the Kansas Insurance Department and served as Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations for then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Ms. Greenlee is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and a Juris Doctor degree in law.
Thursday Morning Keynote: Mark McClellan MD, PhD, Health Care Innovation and Value Initiative, Brookings Institution, Senior Fellow and Director
Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, is a senior fellow and director of the Health Care Innovation and Value Initiative at the Brookings Institution. Within Brookings, his work focuses on promoting quality and value in patient centered health care. A doctor and economist by training, he also has a highly distinguished record in public service and in academic research. Dr. McClellan is a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he developed and implemented major reforms in health policy. These include the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the FDA's Critical Path Initiative, and public-private initiatives to develop better information on the quality and cost of care. Dr. McClellan chairs the FDA's Reagan-Udall Foundation, is co-chair of the Quality Alliance Steering Committee, sits on the National Quality Forum's Board of Directors, is a member of the Institute of Medicine, and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He previously served as a member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and senior director for health care policy at the White House, and was an associate professor of economics and medicine at Stanford University.
Closing Keynote: Melissa Thomason, Patient, Family Advisor
At just twenty-eight years old and as a first-time-mom-to-be, Melissa Thomason, a former public school teacher, suffered a Type I aortic dissection in October 2008. Melissa survived her first open-heart surgery that day and two more in the year that followed. She was diagnosed with a rare connective tissue disorder, Loeys Dietz Syndrome, that same year. After discovering that no one on her healthcare team had even heard of LDS, the passionate teacher very quickly became her own best advocate and a champion for Patient Engagement. Today, Melissa works to inspire others to believe in the transformational power of Patient Engagement. She serves as a Patient and Family Advisor for Vidant Health System in Eastern North Carolina, chairs East Carolina Heart Institute's Patient Advisory Council, and sits on NCIOM's Patient and Family Engagement Taskforce. She has shared her story with hundreds of healthcare workers and has finally "found purpose in all of the pain." She lives in Eastern North Carolina with her husband, Will, and her now six-year-old son, Nate.
