Panelist Bios
Richard Cooper, Esq
CEO, GIG Consulting LLC, Advanced Strategic Partners
Prior to becoming CEO of GIG Consulting, LLC, Mr. Cooper was a Partner at McDonald Hopkins. He served as Chair of the Firm’s Healthcare Restructuring Practice Group and was the chair/co-chair of the firm’s National Healthcare Practice Group from 1992-2021. He focused his national practice in healthcare law, representing laboratories and pathology groups in transactional, restructuring, corporate, compliance, regulatory, licensure, reimbursement, contractual, strategic planning, and venture matters.
Mr. Cooper has been involved in over 40 laboratory M&A and recapitalization transactions. McDonald Hopkins represents over 350 laboratories and 500 pathology groups on a wide variety of matters and projects. He earned a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 1981 and received a B.A., cum laude, from Syracuse University in 1978.
David J. Corwin, MD
Chief of Pathology and Director of Laboratories, Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, WA
Dr. Corwin is the former President of CellNetix Pathology & Laboratories as well as Chief of Pathology and Director of Laboratories at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. He is consistently named by his peers as one of Seattle’s top pathologists, appearing year after year in the “Best Doctors” issues of regional publications such as Seattle Magazine and Seattle Metropolitan. Dr. Corwin is currently a Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a member of the Consultant Panel at The Center for Health Dispute Resolution. He has served on the Immunology Device Advisory Board of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and as chairman of the Cell Markers Committee of the College of American Pathology (CAP).
Dr. Corwin attended medical school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He also completed residencies in Anatomic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Corwin holds additional subspecialty expertise in Clinical Chemistry, Flow Cytometry, Hematopathology, and Laboratory Administration.
Kathleen Fondren, MBA, MT (ASCP)
CEO, CellNetix Pathology and Laboratories
Kathleen Fondren is an experienced healthcare executive with broad knowledge and expertise in hospital, laboratory and medical group practice operations and leadership. Before joining CellNetix in 2014, she was the Assistant Administrator/Clinical Executive at Highline Medical Center, part of CHI Franciscan Health. As a member of the hospital senior executive team, Ms. Fondren had oversight for multiple clinical departments. She was instrumental in improving quality and reducing the overall cost of patient care. Some of her key accomplishments were the design, build and opening of an outpatient imaging center, a 32-bed state-of-the-art emergency department and securing Joint Commission Primary Stroke Center Accreditation.
Ms. Fondren is passionate about excellence in patient care and improving patient outcomes by delivering high quality, cutting edge technology to physicians and patients. She received a bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology from the University of Wyoming and later went on to receive a Master’s in Business Administration from University of Wyoming in 2010.
Moira Larsen, MD
Physician Executive Director, MedStar Medical Group Pathology, MedStar Health
Moira P. Larsen, MD, MBA is an AP/CP Board Certified pathologist currently serving as the Physician Executive Director for MedStar Medical Group-Pathology, a division of MedStar Health. MedStar Health is a 10-hospital integrated care delivery system in Maryland and Washington DC which also includes over 300 urgent care locations, ambulatory surgery centers and primary and specialty physician offices.
After a 30+ year career as a hospital-based pathologist and Medical Director, including time as an independent contractor for outpatient Anatomic Pathology services, she has moved into a more administrative role overseeing the pathologists at 9 acute care hospital practices. Dr. Larsen is working to build those groups into a single practice with multiple locations that allows leveraging of subspecialty expertise amongst pathologists and of the technical capabilities of each facility. In addition, she works closely with the MedStar Vice President for Integrated Laboratory Services to similarly harmonize the instrumentation and practices of the clinical laboratories, optimizing operations within the laboratories and interactions with other MedStar clinicians to benefit the health of the populations served by MedStar Health.
Current major projects for the MedStar Pathology and Laboratory team include a roadmap to implement digital pathology, enhanced precision medicine services, Patient Blood Management, sustainability, and assuring that EI & D are part of each location at all levels of service. Dr. Larsen is currently working with MedStar Ambulatory Services to design an Anatomic Pathology Laboratory to process and diagnose endoscopy and surgical specimens for outpatient procedures across the region.
An active member of the College of American Pathologists, Dr. Larsen serves on the Maryland Delegation to the House of Delegates. She previously spent 8 years as a member (6 years) and then Special Advisor (2 years) to the Practice Management Committee, participating in numerous programs and lectures. Invited lectures for the College’s Annual Meeting and Physician Leadership Summit have included topics such as Pathologist Workload Design, Change Management and incorporating Human Factors Engineering into Quality Improvement in Pathology.
Dr. Larsen is passionate about pathology, the fulfillment it brings as a career and the value it brings to the practice of medicine.
Stephen G. Ruby, MD, MBA
Partner, WhiteCoat Risk Management
Owner, RubyGroup, Ltd.
Owner/Partner, Safety-Spec, LLC
Dr. Ruby is a board-certified Anatomic and Clinical Pathologist. His 35+ year pathology career as an AP/CP pathologist includes the founding of 4path, Ltd., an AP laboratory which services the Great Lakes region. He has over 45 years’ experience in laboratory medicine, holding positions as Medical Director, Chairman of a community hospital and medical entrepreneur. Dr. Ruby completed a fellowship in Surgical Pathology with emphasis in dermatopathology and has an MBA in innovation and technology. He is past president of the Illinois and Chicago Pathology Societies and past chair of the Practice Management Committee of the CAP. He also served on the committee that developed the Manual for the Reporting of Cancer Specimens. He currently provides consultative medical director services to several clinical pathology laboratories.
Dr. Ruby has numerous peer-reviewed publications and serves as a section editor of the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, as well as reviewer for other pathology journals. He published the first in a series of books My Doctor Says I have…. which help patients better understand their disease processes. Dr. Ruby co-founded WhiteCoat Risk Management, providing consultation and insurance resources for physicians, including ensuring cost-effective risk protection for personal, professional and practice business needs. Dr. Ruby is currently bringing to market his patented organizational tool for the gross room, the Safety-Spec Gross Room Tray™. The tray provides organizational and patient safety benefits to AP laboratories by helping reduce identification errors.
Alan Sirmon
Co-Founder and Consultant, Pathology Practice Advisors, LLC
After graduating from college in 1973, Al Sirmon began a career in public accounting, practicing as a CPA at several large local firms in South Carolina. One of his clients was a pathology practice with a large outreach laboratory, and in 1988 he became their Practice Administrator.
Several years later that practice became one of the founding members of Pathology Service Associates LLC (PSA), which was started in 1995 as a billing and management services organization for 5 pathology practices in the state. PSA grew to a national company with $30,000,000 in sales and provided billing and other business services to over 100 pathology practices in 25 states and employed over 400 employees in the Carolinas.
PSA was acquired in 2012 by McKesson. During these 17 years, he also provided consulting services to PSA’s practices. After leaving McKesson, Al formed Pathology Practice Advisors, LLC in 2016. He continues to work with pathology practices nationwide and currently serves on the College of American Pathology Practice Management Committee.
Elizabeth A. Sullivan, Esq.
Chair, National Healthcare Practice Group, McDonald Hopkins, LLC
Ms. Sullivan is Chair of McDonald Hopkins’ National Healthcare Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. She began her legal career in the Healthcare Practice group at McDonald Hopkins and later served as an attorney in the legal department at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation before returning to McDonald Hopkins as a member. Over the course of her career, Ms. Sullivan has assisted various types of healthcare providers, including clinical laboratories, hospitals, physician specialty groups, telehealth providers, transplant centers, and surgery centers.
Ms. Sullivan has experience providing regulatory, licensing, compliance, reimbursement, contractual, and corporate guidance to clients. She has advised clients on state professional licensure laws, CLIA standards, state laboratory laws, government and private payor reimbursement policies and billing rules, federal and state fraud and abuse rules and regulations, state telehealth laws, and HIPAA rules and regulations. Ms. Sullivan earned a J.D. and Certificate of Advanced Studies in Health Law from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, an M.A. in Bioethics and a B.A., cum laude, in Political Science from Case Western Reserve University.
Robert H. Tessier, MPH
Senior Reimbursement Consultant, HBP Services
After completing his BA in Political Science at Providence College, Bob Tessier received a Master’s degree in Public Health, with a concentration in Health Planning, from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. After joining Professional Management Services in Massachusetts, Mr. Tessier was named Executive Vice President and Director of Consulting. In this capacity, he managed radiology groups and handled third-party negotiations. As Reimbursement Consultant to several state societies, Bob secured favorable contractual arrangements. From 1972 to 1982, most clients were radiology clients, which included academic medical centers.
In 1982, he established HBP Services and was retained by Cornell/New York Hospital to establish the first fee for service pathology practice in New York City. His engagement at Yale Pathology included negotiations on behalf of the Connecticut State Pathology Society. Mr. Tessier has negotiated more than 300 third-party contracts and is a frequent speaker at national healthcare conferences. In 2019, he co-founded the Panel of National Pathology Leaders.
PANELISTS EMERITI
Alfred W. Campbell
MD, MBA
ProfPathologist, Carolinas Pathology Group
President, Celligent Diagnostics LLC
Alfred W. Campbell, MD, MBA is a member of Carolinas Pathology Group and Chief of Pathology at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he is a practicing general surgical and cytopathologist and director of Transfusion Medicine, Histology and Point of Care Testing. Dr. Campbell is President of Celligent Diagnostics, LLC, an independent anatomic and cytology laboratory, and a member of the board of Carolinas Pathology Group. His undergraduate degree is from The Texas A&M University, medical degree is from the University of Texas at Houston McGovern School, pathology residency is from the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, and MBA is from the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business.
Dr. Campbell has held numerous positions in organized medicine and pathology, including past president for the American Pathology Foundation, Virginia Society of Pathology, South Carolina Society of Pathologists, and the Roanoke Academy of Medicine. He has also served as 2nd vice president of the Medical Society of Virginia and Treasurer of PathPAC, and he is currently a board member of the College of American Pathologists.
Raj C. Dash, MD
Professor and Vice-Chair, Pathology IT, Duke University Health System
Dr. Dash is a board-certified pathologist with fellowship training in Cytopathology and Informatics. He currently serves as the Beaker physician champion and Director for Laboratory Informatics Strategy, reporting to the office of the Chief Health Information Officer for Duke Health. He has an undergraduate degree in computer science and specializes in medical informatics, fine needle aspiration cytology and surgical pathology of breast cancer. Dr. Dash is involved in the research and development of medical terminologies and associated software tools for medical data mining and analysis. He is the principal author of Duke’s primary biorepository informatics platform managing samples and associated clinical data, called MAW3®, which has been in development since 1998, has served in a production environment since 2000.
Dr. Dash is active on a number of national and international committees, including serving as a Co-Chair of the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PaLM) Domain, and serving the College of American Pathologists on their Informatics Committee, Information Technology Leadership Committee, and chairing the Artificial Intelligence committee.
Robert De La Torre, MBA
COO, Pathology Specialists of Arizona
Bob De La Torre served as the Chief Operating Officer for Pathology Specialists of Arizona, a 65- member limited liability partnership, for 25 years. The group provides pathology services in the hospital, ambulatory surgery and outreach markets of Arizona. One of its major contracts includes a strategic partnership with Sonora Quest Laboratories, the largest commercial laboratory in Arizona. Operations within the corporation in addition to pathology services include a standalone billing company and a histology/molecular pathology laboratory.
Mr. De La Torre has been a consultant member of the CAP’s Practice Management Committee. He is also an active speaker at CAP educational conferences, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and the American Pathology Foundation. His prior experiences have included various
management positions in hospital administration and the laboratory. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and his MBA from Arizona State University.
Jane Pine Wood, Esq
Chief Legal Counsel, BioReference Laboratories
Jane Pine Wood is a nationally respected healthcare attorney who has been practicing law for over 32 years. She specializes in laboratory regulatory and compliance matters and has counseled more than 500 pathology groups and 350 clinical laboratories. She was appointed Chief Legal and Compliance Officer of BioReference Laboratories in 2016, prior
to which she spent 29 years with the multi-state law firm McDonald Hopkins LLC. Ms. Wood is a frequent speaker at national and state laboratory and pathology meetings, is a contributor to association publications and is regularly quoted in the national press. Ms. Wood graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Law.
Mick Raich
Vice President of Client Revenue Cycle and New Product Initiatives, FrontRunnerHC
Mick Raich founded Vachette in 2002 to help generate and ensure revenue from independent laboratories, hospital laboratories, healthcare systems, community hospitals, and pathology practices by auditing and restructuring RCM processes from an outside point of view. His 39 years in healthcare has helped him build an intimate understanding of the revenue-cycle process, managed care negotiations, Part A negotiations, group merger and hospital negotiations, and revenue strategy in the laboratory business. Mr. Raich is a nationally recognized speaker on changes in the laboratory revenue-cycle industry and has presented for numerous state societies, universities and industry publications. Vachette has worked with hundreds of clients across the continental United States. After exiting from Vachette in 2020, Mr. Raich joined FrontRunnerHC as a VP of Client Revenue Cycle and New Product Initiatives.
Cory Roberts, M.D., M.B.A
President, Anatomic Pathology Division, Sonic Healthcare USA
Dr. Roberts is a board-certified clinical and anatomic pathologist, sub-specializing in gastrointestinal and hepatic pathology. He was named President of the Anatomic Pathology Division of Sonic Healthcare USA in February 2022. Prior to that, he was with ProPath, the largest, completely physician owned pathology practice with a nationwide sales team. At ProPath, he had been the President and Chairman of the Board since 2011, leading the company through a successful re-organization in 2016, and was named its first Chief Executive Officer in 2017.
Dr. Roberts also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board at Reveal Biosciences, the Gastroenterology Expert Panel at Allakos, the Thought Leadership Initiative at Leica, the Board of Directors of Morningside University, and as a laboratory industry consultant for Glenview Capital Management. He has written four books, numerous peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and abstracts. He has lectured widely in his sub-specialty and on topics related to the business of pathology. He obtained his B.S. in Biology from Morningside University, his M.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and his M.B.A. from University of North Texas at Dallas.
Karim Sirgi, MD, MBA
CEO, Sirgi Consulting, LLC
Chief Science Officer, BreathTech
Dr. Sirgi owns and manages Sirgi Consulting LLC that offers expertise to medical groups in various aspects of practice management and leadership. Dr. Sirgi is board-certified in anatomic, clinical and cytopathology with additional surgical pathology fellowship training; he also holds an MBA and has 30 plus years of practice and leadership experience in private, academic and hospital-based pathology and medical staff settings. Among his previously held positions, Dr. Sirgi served as president of the largest multi-specialty pathology group in the Rocky Mountain region and chair of the regional medical staff council for the largest hospital organization in the US. Dr. Sirgi is the current president of the American Pathology Foundation, the chair of the College of American Pathologists Practice Management Committee, and the Chief Science Officer of BreathTech, a division of Astrotech Technologies Inc.
Krista Tinsley, CPA
Consultant
With over 25 years’ experience in managing and growing anatomic pathology laboratories and practices, Krista Tinsley is one of the leading consultants in the industry. She was Executive Director of ProPath (one of the largest physician-owned pathology practices and laboratories) for over 20 years, leading ProPath through comprehensive transformation and growth. Ms. Tinsley recently rejoined the board of the American Pathology Foundation (APF) for a third term. She was a board member of the North Texas Accountable Healthcare Partnership, which sponsored the area’s regional Health Information Exchange, and served on the executive committee of the Pathology Management Assembly of MGMA.
Prior to joining ProPath, Ms. Tinsley was Chief Financial Officer for Ameritrust, a trust and investment management organization which administered over $67 billion in assets. She holds a degree in accounting and marketing from Dallas Baptist University, is a licensed Texas Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and a Certified Medical Practice Executive.
Josh Yelen, CPA, CPFA, MBA/HA
VP of Revenue Cycle Strategy & Divisional GM, Strategic Initiatives, FrontRunnerHC
Josh Yelen’s work in healthcare administration has focused on physician practice management, hospital administration, clinical laboratory medicine and anatomic pathology. While serving as the Vice Chair for Administration in the University of Miami’s Department of Pathology, Mr. Yelen consolidated 20 esoteric independent labs and 3 hospital labs into one core lab infrastructure, saving millions of dollars in lab operating expenses. Under his leadership, Pathology at UMiami grew fourfold in revenue and from a deficit to a largely margin positive producing program.
Mr. Yelen also has experience in managed care contracting, ACOs, PCMHs, Managed Medicaid/Medicare and Bundled payments, and how to capitalize on environmental changes. He holds an MBA with a focus in Healthcare Administration (MBA/HA) from the University of Miami and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University. The local Miami newspaper, the Miami Herald, awarded Mr. Yelen their “20 Under 40 Award” as a prominent business and civic leader under 40 years of age in Miami.
