Areas of Expertise
Communicating Complex Topics Across Disciplines, Payment Reform, Assessing Value in Healthcare,  
Healthcare Leadership and Change Management, Executive Coaching, Healthcare Communications, Variation in Healthcare Delivery, Qualitative & Quantitative Research, Population Health, Healthcare Delivery Science, High-Reliability Organizations in Healthcare, Quality Improvement, Online and Hybrid Education Programs, Patient-Reported Outcomes, Shared Decision Making, Motivational Interviewing

Professional Experience
Safe & Reliable Healthcare (2020-Present)
High Reliability Organization Expert
S&R is a consulting company helping organizations improve their safety, reliability, and outcomes to improve their clinical, operational, and financial value.

• Co-Lead of the team designing the evaluation of the Veterans’ Healthcare Administration’s program to improve the reliability and safety of care across their enterprise of more than 175 care delivery facilities
• Development of the policies, analytic plans, standard operating procedures, and templates for assessing an organization’s reliability and safety, initially and over time
• Teaching principles and practices of high reliability organizations, including theories of accident causation, just culture principles, and error management tools
• Develop high reliability organizational surveys
• Analyze client information and survey data
• Coaching/mentoring through change
• Advise and guide the implementation of high-level strategic communications

Cardinal Point Healthcare Solutions (2015-2019)
Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
Cardinal Point was a veteran-owned healthcare consulting firm providing data-driven support to healthcare systems, providers, and leaders as they navigate the transformation from volume-based to value-based care using principles and practices of high reliability organizations

• Served as a thought leader and primary point of contact for healthcare executives
• Oversaw creation of all educational content and analytic work
• Coaching/mentoring executive and unit-level leadership

US Navy Medicine (2016-2018)
Cardinal Point Healthcare Consultant
Navy Medicine provides care for 500,000+ sailors, marines, and their dependents. In 2016, Navy Surgeon General Vice Adm. Forrest Faison sought to bring value-based care principles to US medical treatment facilities   

• Advised Surgeon General regarding pilot-site testing for initial implementation and use of a learning collaborative model for dissemination
• Demonstrated in-depth knowledge of value based care and high reliability principles and manages client service aspects of the account
• Developed and implemented high-level strategic communications
• Coaching/mentoring executive and unit-level leadership
• Created and delivered Value Based Care curriculum for the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Lab, and senior military leaders at Navy Medical Centers in Jacksonville, FL and San Diego, CA. Worked collaboratively with eight systems engineers from Johns Hopkins healthcare consulting lab using principles of high-reliability organizations to design and implement clinical transformations in the care of patients with diabetes, spine pain, hip & knee osteoarthritis, maternity care, and women’s health issues
• Lead and coach the Johns Hopkins team

Comprendo (2016-2017)
Cardinal Point Healthcare Consultant
Comprendo is a healthcare app development organization helping to create personalized patient experiences, change behaviors, improve treatment adherence, and attain better health outcomes

• Advised and mentored Dean Hovey, and Founder & CEO of Comprendo, on app support regarding outcomes measures, shared decision making, and motivational interviewing and provided background information on trends in US. Health Policy and high reliability organizations

One Health Nebraska (2015-2017)
Cardinal Point Healthcare Consultant
One Health Nebraska is a 700-member independent physician organization facing integration threats due to consolidation between hospitals across the state

• Advised and mentored Geoff McCullen MD, founder, and CEO of OneHealth Nebraska, on various integration models
• Demonstrated in-depth knowledge and served as subject matter expert on MACRA/MIPS, value-based payment initiatives, and principles of high reliability organizations
• Managed all client services aspects of the account

Health Delivery Science, LLC (2014-2016)
Independent Healthcare Consultant
Health Delivery Science is a consulting company advising healthcare systems, providers, and educators on organizational strategy and structure along with healthcare delivery operations and processes

• Advised and mentored Jeffrey Alderman MD, CEO of HDS and Gerald Clancy MD, President of the University of Tulsa, on the structure of blended (residential and online) education
• Conducted nationwide review of hospital administration and healthcare delivery curricula as background for the launch of University of Tulsa’s new healthcare delivery science program
• Wrote curricula for healthcare delivery programs

Connecticut Institute for Primary Care Innovation (2014-2015)
Independent Healthcare Consultant
CIPCI is a statewide primary care learning collaborative influencing the delivery of care at over two dozen clinics encompassing 1.9 million patient visits

• Advised Greg Makoul PhD, founder and CEO of CIPCI and SVP of St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, on emerging trends in reimbursement models, outcome measurement, cost allocation methods, and principles of high-reliability organizations
• Conducted review of time-driven activity-based cost allocation methodology and authored a white paper on TDABC for senior leadership

The Dartmouth Center for Healthcare Delivery Science (2010-2014)
Curriculum Specialist
The Dartmouth Center was created by then Dartmouth President Jim Kim PhD MD to provide thought leadership and executive education for high reliability organizations and global leaders of healthcare delivery systems

• Participated in the development of the nation’s first blended education program in healthcare delivery science
• Developed course content, co-wrote cases on hospital integration, spine care, and joint replacement services

 Maine Medical Center (2008-2009)
Healthcare Consultant with the Office for Professional Education & Outreach at Dartmouth College
MMC is Maine’s largest hospital and has repeatedly been a pioneer site for innovative payment models

• Advised and mentored the Chief Medical Officer, Doug Salvador MD, MPH, and created educational content for senior leaders on the principle of high-reliability organizations, and the use of variation analysis in outcomes and utilization patterns to drive quality improvement efforts
• Led variation analysis for spine pain and joint reconstruction departments, which affected over 40% of all ambulatory care visits. The research led to an improved surgical “capture” rate and a decreased average length of stay from 2.2 to 1.4 days

Academic Appointments
Lead Faculty, Value-Based Care & High Reliability Organizations, The College of Health Sciences, Boise State University (2019-Present)

• Conduct stakeholder analysis and feasibility study to determine the appropriate scope and reach for BSU’s launch of hybrid and online-only degree and certificate programs targeting 100,000+ healthcare executives and providers in the mountain west
• Communicate with and assure alignment between Idaho state legislators and BSU senior leadership
• Align the program with state needs and University leadership’s strategic aims
• Develop all the program and course-specific objectives
• Design weekly objectives and course content for the first cohort of students in February 2020 
• Teach all content
• Hire the teaching team
• Ensure the team performs work on schedule and within budget

Adjunct Faculty, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (2012-Present)

• Teach Variation and Value in Healthcare Delivery, Communications in Health and Healthcare
• Mentor two to six students per year through their High Reliability Organization capstone projects
• Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) reviewer

Visiting Associate Professor of Community Medicine, the University of Tulsa (2016-2019)

• Responsible for overseeing the development of all course content and five professors
• Teach Introduction to Healthcare Delivery Science, Population Health, High-Reliability Organizations, and mentor capstone projects

Board Membership
Director
The McKenzie Institute USA (2019)
The mechanical diagnosis and treatment of spinal problems, first developed by Robin McKenzie in New Zealand, is internationally recognized as the most researched and leading form of non-surgical care for patients with back and neck pain.

Selected Publications
Books

1. Finding What Matters Most to Patients (2019), published by the Taylor & Francis Group
2. Navigating to Value in Healthcare (2017), published by The Medical Group Management Association

Selected Peer-Reviewed Articles

1. Harris M, Walsh T. The Effect of a More Strict 2014 DEA Schedule Designation for Hydrocodone Products on Opioid Prescription Rates in the United States. Clinical Toxicology, 2019. DOI: 10.1080/15563650.2019.1574976
2. Westling C, Walsh T, Nelson WA. Perceived ethics conflicts in Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations. Journal of Healthcare Management. Vol 62, Number 1. January/February 2017
3. Durand MA, Barr PJ, Walsh T, Elwyn G. Incentivizing shared decision making in the USA – Where are we now?” Healthcare 2014. Available online November 21, 2014. Doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2014.10.008
4. Nelson WA & Walsh T. Ensuring patient-centered care. The Healthcare Executive 29; 4: July/August 2014.
5. Nelson WA, Taylor E, Walsh T.  Leadership and transition: Building an ethical organizational culture. The Health Care Manager. 33:3; April – June 2014.
6. Walsh T, Barr PJ, Thompson R, O’Neill C, Ozanne E, Elwyn G. Undetermined impact of patient decision support interventions on health care costs and savings. BMJ 2014; 348 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g188 (Published 23 January 2014)
7. Elwyn G, Barr PJ, Grande SW, Walsh T, Thompson R, Ozanne E. Developing CollaboRATE. A fast and frugal measure of shared decision making in clinical encounters. Patient Educ Couns 2013 Oct; 93(1): 102-7.
8. Walsh T, Homa K, Hanscom B, Lurie J, Abdu W. Detecting depression in patients with chronic spinal pain using the SF-36. The Spine Journal. 6; 316-320: 2006
9. Walsh T, Hanscom B, Lurie J, Weinstein J. The responsiveness of the SF-36 and ODI: is a condition-specific survey necessary for patients with low back pain problems? Spine. March 15, 2003.
10. Weinstein J, Brown P, Hanscom B, Walsh T, Nelson E. Designing an ambulatory clinical practice for outcomes improvement: from vision to reality. Quality Management in Health Care. 8; 2: Winter 2000.

Popular Press

1. The bare truth about hospitals and why it is time for a revolution. Forbes Online
2. Undetermined impact of patient decision support interventions on health care costs and savings; a video abstract - The British Medical Journal
3. Productivity and the health care workforce with Shannon Brownlee & Joe Colucci in The New America Foundation online magazine - The New America Foundation
4. What ‘health care costs’ really means, with Shannon Brownlee & Joe Colucci in The Atlantic online magazine - The Atlantic

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Prior Research Funding

1. The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation (2014). Integrating shared decision-making and interprofessional education. Co-Investigator of a $450,000 grant to test the feasibility of an innovative method for teaching and assessing communication skills among health care providers. Elwyn G, Walsh T, Mulley A. et.al
2. ClozeX Medical LLC. (2005):  Co-investigator of a $40,800, 12-month randomized clinical trial to compare scar quality, patient comfort, and costs of standard surgical sutures for linear incision versus a new adhesive device. Walsh T, Kerrigan C
3. Quality Research Grant Program at DHMC (2002):  Senior Investigator of a $10,000, 18-month clinical investigation: Improving access to multidisciplinary services at The Spine Center. Homa K, Lurie J, Walsh T
4. Quality Research Grant Program at DHMC (2001):  Principal Investigator of a $10,000, 18-month clinical investigation:  Improving the Utilization of Effective Care for Common Co-Morbidities at the Spine Center:  The SF-36 MCS as a Screening Tool for Behavioral Medicine Interventions. Walsh T, Homa K, Weinstein JN, et al.

Selected Presentations

1. Reports from the Field: Transforming healthcare delivery beyond the ivory tower. (2019) – Grand Rounds presentation at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH.
2. Navigating to Value in Healthcare (2018) – Navy Medical Center San Diego, Bay State Medical Center, and the University of Colorado at Denver
3. Value Based Care in Navy Medicine (2016) - Washington, D.C., Laurel, MD, & Jacksonville, FL
4. Emerging Payment Models and Independent Physicians: MACRA/MIPS (2016)- San Jose Spine & Sports, San Jose, CA.
5. Better Value is Better Business (2015) - OneHealth Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
6. Developing Sustainable Models of Health Care Delivery: a global challenge – The Dartmouth Community Medical School (March & November 2013)
7. The Future of Clinical Research (2010 & 2011) - Presented to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center’s residents participating in The Leadership Preventive Medicine Residency program
8. A Brief History of Variation in Health Care (2009) - Presented to The Maine Medical Center’s Board of Overseers, Administration, Financial, and Clinical Leadership, and Clinical Staff (via grand rounds). Five presentations in total. Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME
9. Depression Screening in Spine Patients using the SF-36 Health Survey (2003) – The North American Spine Society. San Diego, CA
10. The clinical use of data (1999) - The North American Spine Society. Seattle, WA

Clinical Experience
Summit Physical Therapy, Private Practice (2019)                                                                                                                                                                                                          

• Developing outcome assessment systems and processes for private practice in NY
• Part-time care for patients with orthopedic and spine related pain and disability

The Spine Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (1998-2007)

• Developed model for first interdisciplinary ambulatory care center at DHMC
• Launched nation’s first center for shared decision-making
• Led quality improvement and clinical research projects

Spine & Sport Physical Therapy, Private Practice (1992-1998)

• Began routine use of patient-reported outcome measures
• Analyzed data on patient volume, referral source, payment source, and outcome measures
• Developed & executed business development strategy based on outcome measures leading to growth from 1 practice site averaging 100 patient visits/day to 4 sites averaging 500+

 
Education
Post-Doctoral Fellow in Healthcare Delivery Sciences, The Dartmouth Center for Healthcare Delivery Sciences (2014)
PhD, Health Policy, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (2012)
Performance Enhancement Specialist, The National Academy of Sports Medicine (2008)
MS, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (2002)
Diplomat, The McKenzie Institute International, Wellington, New Zealand (1995)
Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist, American Physical Therapy Association (1995) 
MSPT, D’Youville College (1992)