Bruce Block, M.D.

Chief Learning and Mental Informatics Officer of Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative

As Chief Learning and Medical Informatics Officer for the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI), Dr. Block supports the implementation of evidence-based, person-directed quality improvement methods in health care. He led PRHI's EHR implementation initiative, which served more than 850 medical providers at more than 350 practice sites. He then led a team to assist many of these practices to achieve Patient Centered Medical Home recognition and is presently on the faculty of Pennsylvania’s HealthyChoice PCMH Learning Network. Seeing the need for expanded team care Dr. Block developed a Champions program for medical office MAs and LPNs which provided training and coaching to elevate practice skills to care for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, depression, and asthma. Dr. Block was the regional physician lead for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid-funded COMPASS Behavioral Health Integration project. PRHI is currently partnering with PA SPREAD on a four-year Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality network quality improvement grant to enhance QI capabilities in practice groups in the region. Dr. Block works with teams of trainers and coaches at PRHI to assure content reliability and teaching efficacy throughout the range of educational offerings. He serves as faculty with PRHI’s Perfecting Patient and Community Care training programs which supports organizational development using application of Lean methodology. He has been particularly interested in working with Community Mental Health Centers, hospital-based Behavioral Health systems, and Social Service agencies to enhance readiness for value-based payment initiatives. Dr. Block began practice as a family doctor in rural western Pennsylvania in 1972 with the National Health Service Corps. In 1981, he joined the faculty of the Shadyside Family Medicine residency program where he developed and implemented an EHR, co-founded the Centers for Healthy Hearts and Souls, a nonprofit community-based health promotion organization, and directed the Primary Care Institute. In 2016, he received the Family Medicine Educational Consortium's "Power to Change Our World" award. Dr. Block is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and adjunct Professor of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Carli Friedman

Director of Research of CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership

Carli Friedman is the Director of Research for CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership. In this role, Carli oversees all Personal Outcome Measures® data analysis, as well as the research projects executed by CQL, along with providing consultation to organizations about the impact of their programs. Prior to joining CQL, Carli worked at the Illinois University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and State of the States in Developmental Disabilities. Her research at CQL explores the many ways to facilitate the quality of life of people with disabilities as well as examines the impact of disability services organizations on quality enhancement; both of which are necessary to promote meaningful community participation and empowerment of people with disabilities. Carli holds a Doctorate in Disability Studies (University of Illinois at Chicago), a Master’s in Disability and Human Development (University of Illinois at Chicago), and a Bachelor’s in Psychology (University of Delaware). She is the author of over 200 journal articles, book chapters, research briefs, and reports, focusing on the integration of people with disabilities, modern disability prejudice, and Medicaid HCBS waivers.

Tonya Copeland

Vice President, IDD Services & Employment & Community First CHOICES of UnitedHealthcare

Josh Boynton

Vice President of Aetna Medicaid

Josh is currently the VP of Aetna (Medicaid) Better Living and with various stakeholders including the Aetna Medicaid National Advisory Council is responsible for developing Aetna’s innovative approach to supporting people with complex needs including people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Aetna Better Health has nearly two million Medicaid members across the nation, all with diverse ethnicities, social complexities and health needs. Prior to joining Aetna, Josh and his wife Rachel started LifeShare in 1996 with the intention of creating an organization that supports people of all abilities with dignity and respect. Josh is a steadfast advocate of equality for all people and believes strongly that everyone can and should live and work in the community. Josh passionately believes independence and self-determination is not a privilege but a civil right for all. Under Josh’s entrepreneurial leadership, he grew LifeShare into a nationally recognized, COA accredited, multi-state, multi-million-dollar organization. Collectively, Josh developed sustainable and scalable “go to market strategies” around person-centered, and whole-person health plan solutions, including a fully integrated managed care program for individuals with developmental disabilities. Josh was instrumental in developing innovative solutions including Pathways, Visions for an Integrated Life, RCRS (Rapid Crisis Response System) now known as BeyondCrisis a behavioral health suite of services. Today, LifeShare employs hundreds of people in several states all over the country. LifeShare was acquired by the Centene Corporation in 2013 and Josh stayed on as President & CEO during the integration and served as Chairman Emeritus through 2017. During this time, Josh served on the board of the Health Care Enterprises group and was nominated and selected by Centene’s Chairman, President and CEO, to attend REACH a Health Care Executive Leadership program affiliated with Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and The Brookings Institute in Washington, DC. Previously, Josh served as Managing Director for VERTESS a nationally recognized Mergers and Acquisition firm specializing in health care consulting and advisory services and received his CMAA at Pepperdine University. Josh received his bachelor’s Degree from Keene State College in Psychology, with a concentration in Clinical Psychology and graduated with a master’s in management/leadership from New England College. In 2009, Josh was named by Business NH Magazine’s one of 25 leaders to watch in the next 25 years and was appointed by Governor Lynch as a Commissioner for the NH Commission for Human Rights. Josh was appointed by Governor Craig Benson to serve on the NH Developmental Disability Council and was appointed by Governor Jeanne Shaheen to serve on the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) and served as the chairperson for 4 years. Josh was named to the 40 under 40 Class of 2007 and was also awarded the Keene State College Alumni Inspiration Award. Josh has served in various leadership positions in the disability community over the past twenty years.

Matt Pettinelli

Founder/CEO of CapGrow Partners

Matt Pettinelli is the Founder and President/CEO of CapGrow Partners. Matt comes from a family with deep roots in providing exceptional services and resources to consumers with behavioral health needs, and is very proud to carry on a decades-long family tradition. Prior to founding CapGrow, Matt worked on national and international advertising and marketing campaigns for both Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) and Leo Burnett Company, two of the world’s largest and most successful advertising agencies. Matt earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies from the College of Wooster and both a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance and a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communication from Loyola University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. Matt is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) Windy City Chapter in Chicago. Matt enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.

Monica E. Oss

Chief Executive Officer & Senior Associate of OPEN MINDS

Monica E. Oss, M.S. is the founder of OPEN MINDS. For the past two decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. Ms. Oss is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field. She has unique expertise in payer financing models, provider rate setting, and service pricing. She has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, managed care programs, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design. Prior to founding OPEN MINDS, Ms. Oss served as an executive with a national managed behavioral health organization, with responsibility for market development and for actuarial analysis and capitation-based rate setting. She also held a position as a vice president of the U.S. risk management and underwriting division of an international insurance company. Ms. Oss has been the keynote speaker at the conferences of dozens of national associations and has been published in a wide range of professional journals and trade publications. She has provided Congressional and state legislative testimony on issues as diverse as the financial impact of parity and payer medication access policies. Ms. Oss has led a range of industry research and management consultation initiatives, serving as principal investigator on research projects that include (but are certainly not limited to) examination of national managed behavioral health enrollment patterns; development of provider rate structures for government entities; creation of a return-on-investment analysis model for technology investments; design of performance-based compensation models for service providers and managed care entities within public and private health plans; and analysis of the economic impact to health systems and health plans of changes in benefit design, adoption of evidence-based practices, and new technologies. Ms. Oss is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. She serves on the advisory boards of the Shippensburg University Health & Human Service Management Program and the Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics.