Laura is the founding President and CEO of the Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI), a center of collaborative innovation that advances health and healthcare transformation. Health Data Management named her to their 2018 Most Powerful Women in Health IT in the Thought Leader category and Becker’s Hospital Review named her to the 2018 inaugural list of Female Health IT Leaders to Know. She is currently co-chairing the National Academy of Medicine’s Health Data Trust Initiative Steering Committee. Laura serves on the Oversight Council for the MA Center for Health Information and Analysis and served on the Rhode Island Governor’s Workgroup on Healthcare Innovation. Laura served on the ONC’s Health Information Technology Policy Committee’s Governance Panel for the Nationwide Health Information Network. She chaired the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Planning Committee for the “Digital Infrastructure for Population Health and a Learning Healthcare System” initiative.

Laura traveled in the U.S. and Europe with W. Edwards Deming in the study of statistical-based quality improvement. She was Founder, President and CEO of Decision Support Systems, a New York-based company specializing in Internet-based healthcare decision support. She has been a faculty member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Boston since its inception. She directed the IHI Idealized Design of the Intensive Care Unit project and served as faculty in the VHA’s ICU improvement collaborative and was the Principal Investigator on the RI Statewide ICU Collaborative. She was among the first to bring the principles of healthcare QI to the Middle East, in conjunction with Donald Berwick, MD and the Harvard Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East. She served as IHI faculty at the inaugural IHI Middle East Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare in Doha, Qatar.

Laura has delivered conference keynotes in nearly every state in the union and in 13 different countries. RIQI won the National Council for Community Behavioral Health Excellence Award for Impact in serving those with behavioral health and substance abuse challenges. She has received citations from the RI Congressional delegation for her visionary leadership and contributions to improving the healthcare system in Rhode Island. Laura received University of Northern Colorado’s Distinguished Alumni award. Her company was named RI’s Most Innovative Company in Healthcare in 2015; was named 2017 Employer of Choice by the Employer’s Association of New England; and is a multi-year winner of RI’s Best Places to Work award from the Providence Business News. RIQI won the 2017 Innovation Award in Healthcare in Rhode Island, a national 2018 Healthcare Informatics Innovation Award for impact on the opioid crisis and was named a finalist for the 2018 New England Business Innovation award, again for impact on the opioid crisis.

Dr. Kamal is a medical oncologist, palliative medicine physician and health technology researcher, Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, and Physician Quality and Outcomes Officer at the Duke Cancer Institute. In these roles he studies the development and implementation of novel tools to engage seriously ill persons and their caregivers in their journey with illness, with the ultimate goal of improving quality of healthcare delivery.

Dr. Kamal holds several influential national leadership positions, including with the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement (PCPI), The Joint Commission (TJC), National Quality Forum (NQF), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). He has also won the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) Innovator Award and was selected as one the Top Influential Leaders Under 40 from AAHPM. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as JAMA, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Lancet Oncology. He holds grant funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), CMS Innovations Center, and Cambia Health Foundation.

Dr. Kamal received his medical degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, completed Internal Medicine residency and Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, and hematology/oncology fellowship at Duke University. He holds a Masters in Health Science in Clinical Research from Duke University and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

Dr. Pantilat is the Kates-Burnard and Hellman Distinguished Professor in Palliative Care and the inaugural Chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine at UCSF. Dr. Pantilat is an internationally recognized expert in Palliative Care. He serves as the Board Chair for the Palliative Care Quality Collaborative, a national organization dedicated to improving the quality of care for seriously ill people and their families. He also chairs the Advisory Board for the Cambia Health Foundation’s Sojourns Scholar Leadership Award and co-directs the UCSF Palliative Care Leadership Center. Dr. Pantilat has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, authored two dozen book chapters, and co-edited with colleagues at UCSF two textbooks on palliative care titled, “Care at the Close of Life” and “Hospital Based Palliative Medicine.” He is the author of, “Life After the Diagnosis: Expert Advice on Living Well with Serious Illness for Patients and their Caregivers” published by DaCapo Lifelong Books in 2017. Dr. Pantilat and the palliative care team at UCSF are featured in the Academy Award-nominated, Netflix documentary, “End Game."

Dr. Pantilat is the Kates-Burnard and Hellman Distinguished Professor in Palliative Care and the inaugural Chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine at UCSF. Dr. Pantilat is an internationally recognized expert in Palliative Care. He serves as the Board Chair for the Palliative Care Quality Collaborative, a national organization dedicated to improving the quality of care for seriously ill people and their families. He also chairs the Advisory Board for the Cambia Health Foundation’s Sojourns Scholar Leadership Award and co-directs the UCSF Palliative Care Leadership Center. Dr. Pantilat has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, authored two dozen book chapters, and co-edited with colleagues at UCSF two textbooks on palliative care titled, “Care at the Close of Life” and “Hospital Based Palliative Medicine.” He is the author of, “Life After the Diagnosis: Expert Advice on Living Well with Serious Illness for Patients and their Caregivers” published by DaCapo Lifelong Books in 2017. Dr. Pantilat and the palliative care team at UCSF are featured in the Academy Award-nominated, Netflix documentary, “End Game."

Dr. Kamal is a medical oncologist, palliative medicine physician and health technology researcher, Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, and Physician Quality and Outcomes Officer at the Duke Cancer Institute. In these roles he studies the development and implementation of novel tools to engage seriously ill persons and their caregivers in their journey with illness, with the ultimate goal of improving quality of healthcare delivery.

Dr. Kamal holds several influential national leadership positions, including with the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement (PCPI), The Joint Commission (TJC), National Quality Forum (NQF), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). He has also won the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) Innovator Award and was selected as one the Top Influential Leaders Under 40 from AAHPM. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as JAMA, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Lancet Oncology. He holds grant funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), CMS Innovations Center, and Cambia Health Foundation.

Dr. Kamal received his medical degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, completed Internal Medicine residency and Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, and hematology/oncology fellowship at Duke University. He holds a Masters in Health Science in Clinical Research from Duke University and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

Christopher Kerr is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive Officer for The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care in Buffalo, New York. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Chris earned his MD as well as a PhD in Neurobiology. Outside of direct patient care, Chris’ focus is in the area of patient advocacy. His passion is palliative care and a belief that such care should be throughout the continuum of illness. Under Dr. Kerr’s medical leadership, Hospice Buffalo now serves over 1,000 adult and pediatric patients a day, more than half of whom receive services prior to hospice.

Dr. Kerr’s background in research has evolved from bench science towards the human experience of illness. His research on patients end-of-life dreams and visions is the subject of his TEDx Buffalo Talk which has been viewed over 2.7 million times. It has been the subject of reports on The BBC, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, Scientific American Mind, Huffington Post, and Psychology Today. It will also be featured in an upcoming Netflix production and a documentary film to be released in 2020. It has also gathered international attention and Dr. Kerr’s was published in a recently released book (Death Is But A Dream) by Penguin Random House.

Jennifer is the Senior Director of Regulatory and Quality for the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization and has been with the organization since 2006.  She has more than 30 years of experience as a leader and nurse in diverse healthcare settings and has worked in hospice and palliative care for the last 18+ years.  She has a Bachelor’s degree in nursing, a dual master’s degree in health education and case management, and completed her doctoral degree in health care education and policy in March 2018.  Jennifer is a certified healthcare compliance professional and legal nurse consultant.  She serves as faculty at national and state conferences, writes articles for trade journals, contributes to health care publisher materials, develops education and resources for hospice and palliative care providers, and served on the ANA’s national palliative nursing task group in 2017.

Christine is the Quality and Compliance Manager at Hospice of the Northwest in Washington State. As a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality and a Project Management Professional with training as a Six Sigma Greenbelt, Nidd redesigns processes in a systematic way, leading and directing cross-functional teams to ensure projects are executed on schedule and within the allotted resources. When she is not scuba diving, she is frequently found hiking in the Cascade Mountain range or soaring above them in her hang glider.

Dr. Christopher Jones was born in Scranton, PA, the home of television’s ‘The Office’ and America’s Joe Biden. After attending The University of Scranton, he ventured to Philadelphia for medical school at Jefferson Medical College, fancying himself a future geriatrician. After graduating in 2006, Dr. Jones trained in General Internal Medicine at Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital and completed fellowships in both Geriatric Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Duke University, where he joined the palliative care faculty in 2011. 

During his time at Duke, Dr. Jones developed an intense interest in the business of hospice and palliative medicine. He serves as a consultant for hospice and palliative care organizations nationally around provider billing and coding, EPIC templates and launch, and hospice level of care and eligibility determinations and completed his Master of Business Administration degree from East Carolina University. In 2015, he was awarded the designation Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and chosen as one of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s Inspirational Leaders Under 40. 

Dr. Jones earned his Hospice Medical Director Certification in 2016 while working in community hospice and palliative care within the Main Line Health System outside Philadelphia. In 2016, he joined the faculty of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. After a time co-directing the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s inpatient palliative care consultation service, he is now the director of outpatient non-oncology palliative care for PennMedicine. His academic pursuits center on teaching clinicians the business of palliative care through writing and personally delivered trainings, improving rates of advance care planning documentation, and teaching the fellows who will become the next generation of leaders within hospice and palliative medicine."