Health Policy Health Care Administration Expert Witness

Expert Witness No.385

Florida

Profession

Educator, Manager, Legal Nurse Consultant, Health Care Executive and Leader, Advanced Registered Family Nurse Practitioner

Special Interests

Professional Education, Standards of Care, Quality Improvement, Health Care Policy and Delivery Systems, Health Care Management, Elderly Health Issues, End-of-Life Decisions, Litigation Services

Professional License

Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner – Florida 64377-2; Fellow – American Academy of Nursing

Professional Experience

1994 to present
Rehab Case Management Facility
Litigation Support Service Team-providing legal nurse, expert witness

2003 – Present
Nurse Educator
A private Administration Medical Center in Florida
position involves classroom and clinical supervision of students in long-term and acute care settings; hands on care of patients with wound in all stages including determining and implementing protocol for wound care; post-surgical and complex medical patients

Adjunct faculty – St. Leo’s University Gainesville Campus and on-line course development 2001-present

Adjunct faculty – University of Phoenix Tampa and Clearwater 2003 - present

Independent Consultant 1994 – present.  Provide consultation, case management, insurance verifications, legal nurse consultation for private corporations.

Selected Previous Positions

Associate Chief for Nursing Service – 2001 – 2003  Veteran’s Administration   Acute and Ambulatory Care, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System.  Responsible for the operations and all nursing for acute and primary care services at the Lake City site.

Charge Nurse, Part-time, North Florida Retirement Village, 2000 – 2001 Oversee Assisted living center residents and Alzheimer’s unit

Associate Professor, University of Tampa, Department of Nursing, Tampa, FL  1998 – 2000.
Provide didactic and clinical instruction to Family Nurse Practitioner graduate students and participate in university committees and governance, Classroom teaching – Management, Leadership, Theory Development

Associate Executive Director, Institute for Child Health Policy, Type I Institute of the Florida University System, 1997 – 1998.  Responsible for establishing and managing new location for the Institute in St. Petersburg, FL.  Project manager to develop “Service Integration and Quality of Care Standards for Children with Special Health Care Needs” and to explore the influence of managed care had on voluntary and charitable organizations that offer services to children.

Area Executive Director, Shands HomeCare, Florida Suncoast Region 1994 – 1997.  Responsible for management and growth of hospital owned home care company.  Expanded offices from 3 to 12; achieved budget of $23 million.  Managed and guided opening, development and ongoing operations of offices in Florida west coast region.

Associate Professor, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL Fall Semester 1994  responsible for clinical instruction for master’s level practitioner students

Vice-President for Center Development, Child Health Systems, Inc. Tampa, FL 1993 – 1994.  Child Health Systems, Inc. purchased Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care, Inc.  Contract required that I stay with new company one year; responsible for selecting location of new centers in Florida.  Three locations identified; one center opened.

President, Founder, and Chief Executive Officer, Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care, Inc. (dba Pediatric Health Choice)  1998 – 1993.  Established the prescribed pediatric extended care (PPEC) center for medically fragile children as a viable health care delivery model; secured provider contracts with public and private payers; developed operating and marketing systems; provided employee training; implemented home care services; secured venture investment funding

Principal Investigator, Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care, Family Health and Habilitative Services, Inc. supported as a Special Project of Regional or National Significance by the Division of Maternal and Child Health, Health Services and Resource Administration, U.S. Public Health Service 1984-1988.  Under contract between the University of Florida and Family Health and Habilitative Services secured demonstration grant funding to establish national standards of care for center-based care of medically fragile/technology dependent children.   Established licensing structure in Florida; developed and implemented national model standards in prototype center.  Authored language for licensing legislation.

Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Florida (Tenured with Doctoral Research status); Affiliate Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida 1981- 1988.  Provided didactic instruction in masters and doctoral programs, guided thesis and dissertation research.  Developed comprehensive case management program for elders and their caregivers (TEACH) Associate Director of a comprehensive decentralized case management model (REACH Project); received funding as principal investigator for the Family Nurse Practitioner program

Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Vanderbilt University and Clinical Specialist, Nashville Veteran’s Administration Hospital Out Patient Clinic (Joint Appointment) 1976- 1977.  Provided instruction to undergraduate students in nursing program and served as clinical nurse specialist (nurse practitioner) at the Nashville VA Hospital.

Instructor, Jackson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, 1974 – 75.  Provided didactic and clinical instruction in medical-surgical nursing; left position to attend graduate school.

Prior positions include staff nursing prior to marriage and children.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Administration and Health Policy, The University of Texas at Austin 1981
Master of Science in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner, Vanderbilt University 1976
Bachelor’s of Nursing, Florida International University, 1974
Diploma in Nursing Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota

Professional Profile
Legal Nurse Consultant - Experience with plaintiff and defense. Case review/analysis; specialist in long term and home health care
Case Management - Established successful case management programs used as model for public and private entities; clinical assessment of catastrophic cases
Advanced Practitioner - Clinical experience with clients across the life span. Extensive experience with chronic illness, elderly care, families and high risk pediatrics
Management - Solid background in home care and long term care service delivery, strategic planning, marketing and sales. Hands on manager with highly developed negotiation skills and experience cultivating business alliances
Communication - Persuasive communicator with well-developed presentation and negotiation skills. Able to develop productive relationships with colleagues, customers, and staff at all levels. Excellent writing and editing skills, several published refereed articles.

Professional And Scholarly Memberships

Fellow, American Academy of Nursing
American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants
Sigma Theta Tau, National Honor Society of Nursing
American Nurses’ Association
Florida Nurses’ Association

Awards And Honors

Fellow – American Academy of Nursing
Finalist – Health Care Heroes, Tampa Bay Business Journal
Award for Innovation – American Association for the Care of Children’s Health
Federal Nurse Traineeships – University of Texas and Vanderbilt University

Publications

Available upon request

Invited Professional Presentations

Available upon request

Selected Contracts And Grants

Available upon request

Major Consultations

Available upon request

Community Service

Available upon request