Hospital Flow Professional Development Program

Katharine Luther, RN, MPM, Vice President (retired), Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), now serves as IHI Faculty. Ms. Luther was responsible for furthering IHI's work assisting health care leaders achieve bold aims and developing strategic partnerships that leverage innovation, pilot testing, implementation, and continuous learning across organizations. Previously, she served as Executive Director at IHI, designing new programs to impact cost and health care quality. When she retired, Ms. Luther also served as the Director of Quality at the UTHealth McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX. Ms. Luther has more than 30 years of experience in clinical and process improvement, large-scale change projects, program development, rapid-cycle change, developing and managing a portfolio of projects, and working with all levels of health care staff and leaders. Her clinical experience includes critical care, emergency room, trauma, and psychiatry. She has held quality and safety leadership positions at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Memorial Hermann Hospital Texas Medical Center. She is certified in Lean and is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Lloyd P. Provost, Statistician and Senior Improvement Advisor at Associates in Process Improvement, helps individuals and organizations learn the science of improvement in order to improve their processes and systems. Mr. Provost's experience is in applications of statistical process control and in designing research and quality improvement studies. For the past 16 years, he has worked as an IHI Senior Fellow as an improvement advisor. He also serves on the IHI faculty for the Improvement Advisor Development Program, provides improvement advisor support for IHI's developing countries programs, and coordinates the development and work of other improvement advisors that support IHI. He provides support for the QI curriculum for the IHI Open School. Mr. Provost co-authored the books Quality Improvement Through Planned Experimentation, The Improvement Guide, and The Health Care Data Guide.

Patricia Rutherford, MS, Vice President (retired), Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and IHI Faculty has expertise in developing and testing innovations and new models of care in patient- and family-centered care; hospital-wide patient flow (right care, right place, right time); Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB); and optimizing care coordination and transitions in care. She was Project Director for the Transforming Care at the Bedside initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; served as Co-Investigator for the STate Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations (STAAR) initiative, funded by the Commonwealth Fund; and was the Innovation and Content Lead for developing IHI's framework for Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow and related system-wide improvement efforts. Her skills include knowledge of process improvement, innovation, and idealized design; coaching clinicians, staff, and senior leaders in organizations on process improvement; and management of all aspects of large-scale performance improvement initiatives.

Frederick C. Ryckman, MD, Senior Vice President for Medical Operations (retired), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, worked to implement the safest and most reliable health care for children. He directed Medical Operations from 2000-2017 and served as the interim Chief Operating Officer in 2015. In addition, as the Peri-Operative Service Director, he led the OR management team, infection prevention, and safety initiatives. The primary focus of his work is patient flow and capacity management throughout the Children's Hospital inpatient and outpatient environment. He is also Professor Emeritus of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati, specializing in Pediatric Multi-Organ Transplantation. He now resides on Sanibel Island, Florida.

Jane Taylor, EdD, Improvement Advisor and Learning Designer, supports learning collaboratives and innovation projects by providing expertise in improvement approaches and measurement. She has advised collaboratives for both adult and pediatric populations. She is interested in the integration of transformative learning, improvement science, and clinical improvement as well as engaging persons in their care. Jane has an EdD from Columbia University, Teachers College in Adult Learning and Leadership. In her spare time, she plays the violin and is a competitive amateur ballroom dancer. Jane is a trusted friend and colleague to many; a sister, wife and aunt.

Guest Presenters

Eric Bates, MBA, BSN, RN, CENP, is the Senior Director of Patient Care at Northwell Health’s Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Eric has direct oversight of the operations, care delivery, finance, and quality outcomes for 151 inpatient beds in Critical Care, Stepdown, and Medical Telemetry as well as invasive and non-invasive cardiology procedural areas. In his 15 years of healthcare experience, he has held prior roles as an emergency department RN, critical care RN and other progressive leadership roles in Cardiology and Nursing Finance at Northwell’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY. Eric has led many successful quality improvement projects, throughput and patient flow initiatives, and innovative approaches to patient care. Eric is certified in executive nursing practice and holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Rhode Island College in Providence, RI and an MBA in Healthcare Management from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. Eric volunteers on the Education, Advocacy, and Outreach committee of Smile Train, the largest non-profit cleft focused agency in the world. He lives in New York City with his wife Carleigh, and two daughters Olivia and Chloe. 

Maureen Bisognano, President Emerita and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), previously served as IHI’s President and CEO for five years, after serving as Executive Vice President and COO for 15 years. She is a prominent authority on improving health care systems, whose expertise has been recognized by her elected membership to the National Academy of Medicine (IOM), among other distinctions. Ms. Bisognano advises health care leaders around the world, is a frequent speaker on quality improvement at major health care conferences and is a tireless advocate for change. She is also an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Research Associate in the Brigham and Women's Hospital Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities. Additionally, she chairs the Advisory Board of the Well Being Trust, co-chairs the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care with Dr. Atul Gawande, and serves on the boards of the Commonwealth Fund, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Indiana University Health and Nursing Now. Prior to joining IHI, she served as CEO of the Massachusetts Respiratory Hospital and Senior Vice President of The Juran Institute.​​ 

Bonnie Geld, MSW, President, The Center for Case Management, brings over 20 years’ experience in the area of Case Management with a focus on design of longitudinal case management programs, strategic design and development of transition programs, process improvement, team building, and successful integration of social work and RN roles. She has been the System Director for Case Management Services for a five-hospital system in Western Massachusetts, Director of Care Management in Minneapolis and Houston, and has developed and implemented successful Care Management programs in other states, both in Large Adult Systems in Oklahoma and Children’s Health Systems in Texas. She has launched a variety of educational programs and workshops on promoting lean actions, team interventions, rapid cycle assessments, and integrated care planning. 

Karen Murrell, MD, MBA, Physician Director, Cascade Park & Longview Urgent Care, Northwest Permanente Group. Prior to this she was Chair of Emergency Medicine for The Permanente Medical Group in Northern California, was director of one of the top 20 busiest Emergency Departments in the country and was also head of hospital operations at South Sacramento. She has extensive experience in performance improvement, hospital and emergency department management and practice, with more than 35 years of experience in a variety of roles. Dr. Murrell has focused on innovative approaches to patient flow in both the emergency department and inpatient hospital, using Lean methodology to improve departmental flow that resulted in markedly decreased time to physician and length of stay. She is a frequent presenter on her work and co-author of several papers on flow. She also co-authored a book on Emergency Psychiatry. 

Bela Patel, MD, Vice Dean of Healthcare Quality, University of Texas Health Science Center, is also Regional Chief Medical Officer at Memorial Hermann Hospital Texas Medical Center. She attended the UT Health Medical School in Houston, completing her Internal Medicine training in 1996 and subsequently a fellowship in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine in 1999. Dr. Patel became Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Director of Critical Care Unit in 2002. She served as the Vice-Chief of the Department of Medicine and was appointed the Chief of Medicine at L.B.J General Hospital and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine in 2007. Dr. Patel was appointed the Division Director of Critical Care in 2008 and continues to serve in that capacity. Prior to her current role at Memorial Hermann Hospital Texas Medical Center, she served as Assistant Chief and Executive Medical Director of Critical Care in 2009. Through her work in quality and patient safety in the UT Clinical Safety and Effectiveness Program, she was inducted as a Fellow in Clinical Safety and Effectiveness by the University of Texas System. She supports the Vice Chairs of Quality in 17 academic departments at UT Health. Dr. Patel’s research interests include pulmonary hypertension, cognitive complexity and error reduction in critical care, and quality improvement implementation science. 

James Rudy, Senior Director Operations, Integrated Operations, Northwell Health, joined Northwell Health in 2012 as an Industrial Engineering Throughput Project Manager at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC). In that role he was responsible for utilizing industrial engineering techniques to streamline processes, improve patient flow, and maximize work force productivity. In 2013, he was promoted as the Director of Operational Excellence, and was responsible for establishing the Operational Excellence Department’s strategic plan and goals. Key initiatives at LIJMC have included implementing an award winning Emergency Department split flow model, a learning system around patient flow and throughput, hospital Star Rating, and a daily management system for engaging staff in continuous improvement. In his current role, James is the Senior Director of Integrated Operations at Northwell Health. The teams strategic focus is on driving improvements to patient flow and capacity management by leveraging improvement science methodology, sharing and learning across system hospitals, and the implementation of technology solutions to support process change. Before coming to Northwell Health, James served as a process engineer, industrial engineer, and business operations professional in IBM’s Microelectronics Division. In those roles, he had various responsibilities including; product quality and yield, cycle time, lean manufacturing implementation, staffing and capacity planning, and cost reductions. James holds an MBA from Pace University and a bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University. 

Jeffrey Salvon-Harman, MD, CPE, CPPS, Vice President, Safety, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), is a Certified Physician Executive, Certified Professional in Patient Safety and IHI Fellow who is resolute about creating Safety and Belonging for patients and the healthcare workforce. He provides strategic leadership in Safety with deep operational expertise implementing change initiatives and applying quality improvement methods. He is a recognized subject matter expert in high reliability, patient and workforce safety, Human Factors application to Root Cause Analysis, and system level management of quality and safety. Previously, Dr. Salvon-Harman was the Chief Patient Safety Officer/VP, Quality Institute and Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control for Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico. He is retired from the US Public Health Service where he dedicated 20 years to the Indian Health Service and the US Coast Guard in roles ranging from clinical service delivery to management and leadership. Dr. Salvon-Harman completed his residency in Family Medicine at Carilion Health System in Roanoke, VA after graduating from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA.

Jennifer Santoro Shickler, MSN, RN, NE-BC, started her nursing career at St. Francis Hospital in 2004 working as a staff nurse on a telemetry unit where her innate leadership skills were apparent from the start. In 2007, Jennifer transferred to Long Island Jewish Medical Center as an Assistant Nurse Manager and her leadership trajectory has continued ever since. Over the years, Jennifer has held multiple leadership roles and is well-known throughout the organization as a highly effective leader. She brings innovative ideas and ability to collaborate with all members of the interdisciplinary team. Throughout her tenure at LIJMC, Jennifer has risen to each opportunity and challenge presented to her. During the COVID pandemic, Jennifer oversaw and orchestrated the unit moves to accommodate the fluctuating COVID population. She has been a mentor to many leaders in the building who see her as a resource and confidant.  Jennifer currently is the Deputy Chief Nurse for the Northwell Cancer Institute. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Nursing Education from Molloy College and is a board-certified Nurse Executive. In addition to Jennifer’s many hats within LIJMC, she is also a mother to Kaitlin, Riley, and Charlotte, and a wife to David. 

Gregory D. Snyder, MD, MBA, VP, Clinical Strategy & Quality Improvement, Medically Home, a technology-enabled health care venture providing acute care to patients in their homes. He serves as entrepreneur-in-residence for the Massachusetts General Hospital Healthcare Transformation Lab and is affiliate faculty at Ariadne Labs. Greg is a staff physician at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and an assistant professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine.