INVITED FACULTY
Brent Asplin, MD, MPH, FACEP
Dr. Asplin is President of Fairview Medical Group, a multi‐specialty group practice with over 500 providers and 44 clinics in the greater Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Fairview Medical Group is part of Fairview Health Services, an integrated delivery system that includes ten hospitals throughout Minnesota, including the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Fairview has key strategic partnerships with the University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Physicians. After receiving his degree from Mayo Medical School, Dr. Asplin completed the University of
Pittsburgh's Affiliated Residency in Emergency Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Michigan. He also worked as a Congressional Fellow in the office of Sen. Max Baucus, Chair of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. From 2004 – 2006, Dr. Asplin served as a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. Health System. Dr. Asplin has previously served as Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and as the Department Head of
Emergency Medicine at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN. His academic interests have focused on methods for optimizing hospital‐wide patient flow, alleviating emergency department crowding, developing healthcare quality and performance measures, and health policy. He currently chairs the Quality and Performance Committee for the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), and is the Immediate Past President of the Minnesota Chapter of ACEP.
Marc A. Borenstein, MD, FACEP
Dr. Borenstein is currently Professor and Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He has served in numerous administrative and academic leadership roles in emergency medicine for over twenty‐five years including:
Program Director, Lincoln Medical Center (Bronx, NY) Chief, Division of EM, Medical Director University Hospital and Program Director, U of CT Vice‐Chair, Program Director, St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital (NY, NY) Chairman and Program Director, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Vice‐Chair for Education and Program Director, University of FL College of Medicine.
In his leadership roles at these Departments Dr. Borenstein has a proven a track record of
establishing teams that have built, stabilized, strengthened, and/or turned‐around academic affairs, program accreditations, and department clinical operations.
Dr. Borenstein views his greatest strength as being effective in facilitating diverse people,
communities, and institutions to work together for the establishment of programs and projects that express a common vision for making a difference in the quality of life. He has utilized this strength to build EM residency programs and Departments of Emergency Medicine with the following mission/values: compassion, the timely provision of medical excellence, a safe environment, and a commitment to the dignity and value of the individual.
Ronald A. Hellstern, MD, FACEP
Dr. Hellstern is an Honors Graduate of the University of Missouri School of Medicine and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. He was engaged in the active practice of emergency medicine from 1972 to 2002. Board certified in Emergency Medicine in 1982, he served as an ABEM Board Examiner from 1982 to 1988. Ron has taught and written widely for ACEP and received its James D. Mills Award for Outstanding Contribution to Emergency Medicine in 1992. Over the course of his highly entrepreneurial career he has been a Regional Medical Director for a national EM contract
developed a Dallas‐Fort Worth network of urgent/convenience care facilities (Primacare Medical Centers), co‐founded the National Association For Ambulatory Care (NAFAC); been a Surveyor, Surveyor Trainer, and Board Member for the American Association of Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), established a school that today graduates more than 150 new paramedics per year, (now a division of Brookhaven Community College), and founded both a regional EM group and a multi‐ specialty medical practice management company. Dr. Hellstern currently serves as Chief Medical Officer for Loopback Analytics, LLC in Dallas and is the Principal and President of a medical practice management consultancy specializing in assisting independent emergency medicine group
practices. Ron is a founding faculty member of the ED Director’s Academy and co‐manages Phase IV of the program with Dr. Rob Strauss. His e‐mail is rahellstern@gmail.com.
Gregory L. Henry, MD, FACEP
Dr. Henry is the past President of the American College of Emergency Physicians (1995‐1996). He has been involved in all aspects of emergency health care policy at the national level, including being extremely active with the Government Affairs Committee and as Chairman of the Long Range Policy Committee. Dr. Henry has also been a representative for ACEP through the 'Brain Attack' working group at the National Institute of Health. In addition, Dr. Henry has served on the Professional and Technical Advisory Committee of The Joint Commission.
Dr. Henry was the winner of the first ACEP outstanding speaker of the year award, 1998‐1999 and is a frequent lecturer on topics concerning health policy, risk management, neurologic disease and pain management. He has lectured at over 97 residency programs in emergency medicine and to over 180,000 emergency physicians at various meetings.
Dr. Henry as authored numerous articles and books and is currently a consultant reviewer for five emergency medical journals. He is on the Editorial Board of ED Management and has served on multiple other Editorial Boards. He is the author of multiple books on neurologic disease and risk management in emergency medicine as well as over 70 textbook chapters on various aspects of emergency care.
His contributions have moved the specialty forward and Dr. Henry has a keen interest in improving patient care and risk management as well as neurologic disease. His expertise in the field of risk management is pre‐eminent in the field. He has reviewed over 2,150 malpractice cases over the last 36 years and has served as a risk management consultant for numerous physician groups and hospitals throughout the United States. He is the former President and Managing Officer of two emergency medicine malpractice insurance companies. Teaching is his passion and his love for the field where risk medicine is reflected and energy and enthusiasm is brought to his presentations. Jay A. Kaplan, MD, FACEP
Dr. Kaplan is Director of Service and Operational Excellence for CEP America Emergency Physician Partners and Medical Director of the Studer Group. He is a current member of the American College of Emergency Physicians Board of Directors. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Kaplan won teaching awards in 1996 and 1999 and in October 2003 was named the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Outstanding Speaker of the Year. In 2007, Studer Group honored him with the prestigious Physician Fire Starter Award. In January 2011, he was awarded the Grace Humanitarian Award by the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Kaplan served as Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine (1985‐2001) and as a Medical Staff Officer including Chief of Staff (1992‐2001) at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in
Livingston, NJ. As Chairman of Emergency Services for his health system (1998‐2001), he led his system’s emergency departments to the 98th percentile in patient satisfaction and his own emergency department was in the > 90th percentile for 6 years in a row (1996‐2001). As a national speaker and facilitator, Dr. Kaplan presents to and coaches hospital leadership teams, emergency departments, medical groups and physicians to the highest levels of clinical quality and service excellence. He engages and interacts with his audience and makes listening fun. His
approach is tactical and directed toward implementation not just ideas, toward results not consults. Dr. Kaplan continues to practice clinically because he loves the clinical practice of medicine, and caring for patients helps him remain close to the patients’, the hospital staff’s, and the physicians’ current experience. He lives with his wife and family in the San Francisco Bay area approximately 20 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Thom A. Mayer, MD, FACEP
Dr. Mayer is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BestPractices, Inc., Executive Vice President of EmCare, the Medical Director for the NFL Players Association and Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University and University of Virginia Schools of Medicine, as well as a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University.
He is one of the most widely‐sought speakers on healthcare customer service, trauma and emergency care, pediatric emergency care, medical leadership, and sports medicine. He has
published over 70 peer‐reviewed articles, 75 book chapters, and has edited or written 12 textbooks on emergency medicine, including Leadership for Great Customer Service: Satisfied Patients, Satisfied Employees, Leadership for Smooth Patient Flow, Hardwiring Flow, and Strauss and Mayer’s Emergency Department Leadership: Principles and Applications. Tom Peters, the
internationally acclaimed leadership guru, has referred to his work as “gaspworthy.” Dr. Mayer was named the ACEP Outstanding Speaker of the Year in the second year the award was given and has twice been named ACEP’s “Over‐the‐Top” award winner.
On September 11, 2001 Dr. Mayer served as one of the Command Physicians at the Pentagon Rescue Operation, coordinating medical assets at the site. The BestPractices physicians at Inova Fairfax Hospital were the first to successfully diagnose and treat inhalational anthrax victims during the fall 2001 anthrax crises, and Dr. Mayer has served on the Department of Defense on Defense Science Board Task Forces on Bioterrorism, Homeland Security and Consequences of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Dr. Mayer also serves as a Medical Director for the Studer Group. Randy L. Pilgrim, MD, FACEP
Dr. Pilgrim is CEO and Chief Medical Officer for Schumacher Group (SG) and oversees SG’s clinical, operational, and financial functions. In addition, he is regularly involved with health policy issues at both state and national levels. Dr. Pilgrim serves on the Board of Directors for Louisiana’s ACEP Chapter, the ACEP Council, and ACEP’s Federal Government Affairs and Medical/Legal Committees. He is also an active board member of the EMAF (Emergency Medicine Action Fund).
Dr. Pilgrim was appointed to represent the IOM’s dissemination workshop series, Hospital‐Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point. During four terms as Board Chairman of EDPMA
(Emergency Department Practice Management Association), he represented members that impact over half of the 136 million annual ED visits in the U.S., working to influence legislative and
As faculty for ACEP’s Scientific Assembly and ED Director Academy, he speaks on a variety of topics related to emergency medicine and health care reform. In 2008, he was honored as ACEP’s Rookie Speaker of the Year. At present, he evaluates and advises the evolving role of emergency medicine in the health care delivery systems of the future.
Following actuarial training at Northwestern National Life, he completed medical school and residency at the University of Minnesota. He has been in emergency medicine practice and leadership roles for 20 years. He lives and works in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Tracy G. Sanson, MD, FACEP Course Director
Dr. Sanson is Associate Professor at the University of South Florida, Education Director for their Emergency Medicine Residency. She is Director of USF’s Division of Global Emergency Medical Sciences and Co‐Chief Editor of their Journal of Emergencies, Trauma and Shock; an on line
Emergency Medicine international journal. A frequent speaker for Emergency Medicine programs, Dr. Sanson also serves as a core faculty member for the American College of Emergency Physicians and received ACEP’s National Emergency Medicine Faculty Teaching Award in 2006. Dr. Sanson has consulted and lectured nationally and internationally on administrative and management issues, leadership, professionalism, communication, patient safety, brand development, personal
development, women’s issues and emergency medical clinical topics for a wide range of health care organizations.
Dr. Sanson’s experience spans 20 years in Emergency Medicine Education and ED management and leadership development. She has held director positions in the US Air Force, University of South Florida and TeamHealth for the past 15 + years. Dr. Sanson trained at the University of Illinois @ Chicago for medical school and her emergency medicine residency. She is well versed in leadership, patient safety and medical management issues serving on TeamHealth’s Medical Advisory Board, Patient Safety Office Division Director and faculty in their Leadership Courses.
Dr. Sanson and her husband fellow EM leader and educator Dr. Kelly O’Keefe home educate their three daughters, frequently coordinating their educational efforts, both nationally and
internationally, to travel and explore as a family. Robert W. Strauss, Jr., MD, FACEP
Dr. Strauss is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cincinnati’s Department of Emergency Medicine. He is also the Associate Chairman of The Christ Hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine in Cincinnati. In addition, he is Senior Vice President and chief Medical Officer for TeamHealth‐East. Dr. Strauss completed his training in emergency medicine at the University of Chicago, where for several years, he held the positions of Program Director and Associate Chairman.
Among his organized medicine leadership positions, he is a Past Chairman of the Residency Review Committee‐Emergency Medicine, the Director of ACEP's ED Directors' Academy (EDDA), a four phase ED Directors' training and certification program, and a regular lecturer for ACEP's national conferences. He has won several awards from ACEP, including “Outstanding Contribution to Education in Emergency Medicine,” “Outstanding Speaker of the Year,” “Over the Top Award” (twice), and “Hero of Emergency Medicine.”
Among his contributions to the EM literature, he was chief editor and contributor to Mosby's (Elsevier) "Emergency Department Management: Principles and Applications" and ACEP's
"Contracts: A Practical Guide for the Emergency Physician." Dr. Strauss is currently collaborating with others in the soon to be published McGraw Hill, “Strauss and Mayer’s Emergency Department Management.”
Sally Sulfaro, MSEdPH, RN, NEA‐BC
Ms. Sulfaro has spent the majority of her nursing career in the Detroit / Ann Arbor, Michigan area where she occupied a number of positions including Staff Nurse, Educator, Emergency Department Charge Nurse, Hospital Supervisor, Critical Care Nurse Manager, Emergency Department Director, and Regional Director of Emergency and Ambulatory Services for a healthcare system. She is now a fulltime ED operational performance consultant for one of the country’s largest ED physician staffing companies and owns a consulting company.
Ms. Sulfaro is one of the most experienced emergency department operations consultants in the country and is considered a national triage expert. She is Lean certified and applies those
methodologies to emergency department and inpatient flow. Among her most sought after skills is her ability to connect at the frontline staff level and facilitate alignment of the organization’s and the department’s vision and goals in a realistic, practical manner. Sally has an advanced
certification as a Nurse Executive, so she can also connect at that level.
Among her most recent contributions to emergency nursing and emergency medicine literature are:
Three “Triage Decisions” articles in Journal of Emergency Nursing, two published as author and one as co‐author pending publication. Titles are “Charting the Course for Triage” (May 2009), “Initial Presentation to Triage: Does It Matter?” (March 2010), “Pivot and Pass: Moving Triage Out of the Way” (pending).
Co‐author of two chapters in a textbook titled Strauss and Mayer’s Emergency Department Management soon to be published by McGraw Hill. Chapters focus on patient flow from arrival through segmentation and physician and nurse staffing and were co‐authored with Dr. Jody Crane and Dr. Ron Hellstern.
Theresa Tavernero, RN, CEN, MBA
Theresa Tavernero is the Senior Vice President of Client Services for Team Health West Region and Associate Director of the TeamHealth Patient Safety Office. She also serves as an operational improvement consultant, being a certified trainer in Lean process improvement, DISC and Teamwork. Theresa attended the University of Washington where she received her BSN and MBA/MHA.
During a span of 35 years as a nurse leader and executive, she has worked in many capacities, having served as director and vice president over emergency services and trauma, educator, risk manager and chief nurse. She is an active member of the Emergency Nurses Association,
Organization of Nurse Executives, Sigma Theta Tau International Nurses Organization and Hospital Association. Theresa has been active in many international efforts, serving as one of U.S. lead faculty for Indo‐US Emergency Global Medicine conferences for 5 years. She has led and created the first Emergency Nurse Board Review and Emergency Nurse Fellowship in India.
Theresa is an international and national speaker, having presented in many different venues for ACEP, ENA, and Hospital Associations. She has been a faculty for ED Directors' Academy (EDDA), a four phase ED Directors' training and certification program.
Theresa has authored many articles and was a contributor to the book, Telephone Triage Protocol for Nurses. She has co‐authored three chapters in the soon to be published McGraw Hill, “Strauss and Mayer’s Emergency Department Management.”
Todd B. Taylor, MD, FACEP
Dr. Taylor received his Doctor of Medicine from Indiana University and completed an emergency medicine residency at Mount Carmel Mercy Hospital in Detroit. He is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He has 20 years’ experience in academic and private practice emergency medicine at a level one trauma center, including 15 years as Vice‐President for Public Affairs for the Arizona ACEP Chapter and serving as national ACEP Council Speaker. Although retired from clinical practice and he remains active in medical education, advocacy, and his passion for areas of expertise,
including health information technology, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, and ED business operations.
For the last 5 years, he has pursued his passion for information technology as a Physician Executive with Microsoft’s Health Solution Group where he is responsible for helping to develop, market, and promote a variety of healthcare IT solutions.