Newswise — ALEXANDRIA, VA - The American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) today announced the appointment of a new Treasurer and four new members to its Board of Directors, to begin service on January 1, 2016. The Foundation’s incoming Treasurer is Peter Olsen, Director of Corporate Accounts for Acorda Therapeutics, who has been a board member since 2014. Joining the board are Laura Fegraus, MS, Director, Public Policy and External Relations at The Permanente Federation and Executive Director, Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP); Theresa Manley Frei, RN, MBA, CEO of Sutter Medical Foundation; Todd Hobbs, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Novo Nordisk North America; and Hector Rodriguez, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management, and Chair, Health Policy Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley.

AMGF’s Board of Directors guides the nonprofit in its mission to enable medical groups and other organized systems of care to consistently improve health and health care. The Foundation supports three major programs—the Acclaim Award, which annually honors physician-directed organizations that are bringing the American healthcare system closer to the ideal model; Best Practices Collaboratives, shared learning experiences among American Medical Group Association (AMGA) member medical groups that seek to change the way health care is delivered for patients with chronic conditions; and the Chronic Care Challenge, an effort to improve health outcomes on a national scale by mobilizing hundreds of medical groups and health systems across the country.

Following are brief biographies of the incoming Treasurer and new members:

Treasurer: Peter Olsen, Director of Corporate Accounts, Acorda TherapeuticsMr. Olsen currently serves as the Director of Corporate Accounts for Acorda Therapeutics. Previous to his employment at Acorda, he was an Area Director for Regional Accounts with Daiichi Sankyo’s Managed Markets team. His healthcare experience includes roles in sales, account management, and marketing across a variety of healthcare organizations, including UnitedHealth Group, Medco, McKesson, LabCorp, and The Upjohn Company.

Mr. Olsen has a BA degree in medical technology from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. He also has a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Laura Fegraus, MS, Director, Public Policy and External Relations, The Permanente Federation; Executive Director, Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP)Laura Hoffmeister Fegraus is Senior Director of Public Policy and External Relations at Kaiser Permanente. She is also the Executive Director of the Council for Accountable Physician Practices. In these roles, Ms. Fegraus focuses on delivery system reform, federal healthcare policy, and highlighting integrated delivery systems as the model for American health care.

She was previously Special Assistant to the Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where she assisted in the implementation of significant health reform-related changes to the Medicare program. She also served on the Senate Finance Committee Democratic health staff, where she participated in the drafting of the Medicare Advantage and Part D-related provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Ms. Fegraus holds a Master’s of Science in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health and a BA from Drew University.

Theresa Manley Frei, RN, MBA, CEO, Sutter Medical FoundationRecently named the Chief Executive Officer for Sutter Medical Foundation, Ms. Frei is responsible for managing all activities of the care centers and ancillary operations across nine counties. Sutter Medical Foundation has more than 3,300 employees and 1,100 aligned physicians across the nine-county region. Ms. Frei began her Sutter Health career in 2002 as Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s director of operations and patient safety officer, and later moved to Sacramento in 2010 as the vice president of process transformation for Sutter Physician Services. Ms. Frei helped lead Project Transform Epic Migration (PTEM), and also provided instrumental support with transitioning aspects of front-office work to Patient Service Call Centers.

Ms. Frei has dedicated a significant portion of her career to quality improvement efforts and has spoken at national conferences on the topic. She was the founding chair of the California Patient Safety Action Coalition and assisted the Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region in its adoption of the Just Culture principles. Ms. Frei holds an undergraduate degree in nursing and a graduate degree in business administration.

Todd Hobbs, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Novo Nordisk North AmericaDr. Hobbs is Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Novo Nordisk in North America, where he leads the organization’s focus on the implications of diabetes for the patient, healthcare system, and healthcare professionals. He provides overall medical guidance to Novo Nordisk’s diabetes- and obesity-related projects.

Dr. Hobbs began his career at Novo Nordisk in 2004 as a field medical scientific director, then moved to the position of Senior Medical Director, Diabetes, in 2010. He led the Medical Affairs activities for all of Novo Nordisk’s current insulin products and devices, as well as supporting future insulin products through strategic and tactical activities.

Prior to working at Novo Nordisk, Dr. Hobbs had established a clinical practice based in Louisville, Kentucky, focusing on the intensive management of patients with diabetes of all ages, and served as chairman of the medicine department for a large regional medical center in Kentucky. During this 10-year clinical career, he cared for more than 2,500 adults and children with diabetes, including outpatient and inpatient care, as well as intensive care.

Hector Rodriguez, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management, and Chair, Health Policy Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley Dr. Rodriguez is Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management and Co-director of the Center for Healthcare Organizational and Innovation Research (CHOIR) at the University of California, Berkeley. His expertise is in organizational analysis and performance measurement in healthcare delivery and local public health systems. He has published extensively on the measurement of patient care experiences and the impact of delivery system interventions on patient outcomes, including the impact of performance-based financial incentives on primary care quality. His externally sponsored research has been funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Commonwealth Fund.

Prior to his academic career, he was a management consultant for The Permanente Medical Group, where he worked with leaders and clinicians in Northern California to implement primary care practice redesign and evaluate their impact on patient care. He is also board member of the Health Care Partners Institute for Applied Research and Education, a non-profit research organization focused on improving clinical outcomes and the patient experience through delivery system redesign, health policy, and education. He is a member of AcademyHealth’s Education Council.

He received his BA in Urban Studies and Planning from UC San Diego, MPH in Health Policy and Administration from UC Berkeley, and PhD in Health Policy/Medical Sociology from Harvard University. He is the 2011 recipient of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration’s Prize for Young Investigators.

Following is a complete listing of the AMGF Board:

Chair: James W. Boswell, MBA, ECG Management ConsultantsChair Elect: Kevin McCune, MD, Advocate Medical GroupSecretary: Donald W. Fisher, PhD, CAE, American Medical Group AssociationTreasurer: Peter Olsen, Acorda TherapeuticsAMGA Liaison: Grace Terrell, MD, MMM, Cornerstone Health Care

DirectorsRobert Brenner, MD, MMM, Valley Medical GroupDeborah Chandler, MBA, CMPE, Colorado Springs Health PartnersLloyd David, MBA, The PolyclinicJoe Delatorre, Florida Medical ClinicLaura Fegraus, MS, The Permanente Federation; Council of Accountable Physician Practices Theresa Manley Frei, RN, MBA, Sutter Medical FoundationTodd Hobbs, MD, Novo Nordisk Allen Kemp, MD, MBA, Centura Health Physician GroupFred Horton, MHA, CMPE, AMGA Consulting ServicesKevin McDermott, InsmedJerry Penso, MD, MBA, American Medical Group Foundation and American Medical Group AssociationHector Rodriguez, PhD, MPH, University of California, Berkeley Julie Sanderson-Austin, RN, American Medical Group Association

About AMGFThe American Medical Group Foundation (AMGF) is AMGA’s nonprofit arm that enables medical groups and other organized systems of care to consistently improve health and health care. The AMGF serves as a catalyst, connector and collaborator for translating the evidence of what works best in improving health and health care in everyday practice. www.amgf.org

About AMGAThe American Medical Group Association (AMGA) represents some of the nation’s largest, most prestigious medical practices, independent practice associations, accountable care organizations, and integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA’s mission is to support its members in enhancing population health and care for patients through integrated systems of care. More than 170,000 physicians practice in AMGA member organizations, providing healthcare services for 120 million patients (approximately one in three Americans). Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for these organizations, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs, publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org

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