How has patient centricity evolved during the pandemic?

Jay Bhatt is a public health physician who has worked at national and local levels to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations, including by strengthening the design and delivery of care and public health. Currently, Dr. Bhatt is Chief Clinical Product Officer at a Medicaid ACO and Medicare Advantage Plan and has consulted on COVID-19 response for the Illinois Department of Public Health. Most recently, he served as SVP and Chief Medical Officer at the American Hospital Association as well as President of its subsidiary, the Health Research Educational Trust. He was focused on advancing health reform, health equity and the relationship between public health and health care delivery by translating on the ground experience to policy solutions, convening conversations on strategic issues among C-suite leadership, convening more than 1700 hospitals in 34 states to improve quality and safety, scaling leading practices and deploying a new model of care for older adults across all fifty states. Prior to that role, Dr. Bhatt served in Chicago during the Emanuel administration as Managing Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Public Health where he led the implementation of Healthy Chicago, the city's public health agenda, designed nationally recognized scalable approaches to using innovation to save lives, reimagine public health functions for efficiency and impact, and helped clinical teams deploy strategies to address the Ebola epidemic. He is an Aspen Health Innovator Fellow, serves on several community and national boards and an ABC News Medical Contributor. Dr. Bhatt is a National Health Service Corps Scholar, serving as an internist and geriatrician in underserved communities in Chicago. 

Dr. Luther T. Clark is Deputy Chief Patient Officer and Global Director, Scientific Medical and Patient Perspective in the Office of the Chief Patient Officer (OCPO) at Merck. In this role, his responsibilities include (1) collaborating across Merck to increase the voice of patients, directly and indirectly in decision-making; and (2) collaborating with key internal and external stakeholders in development of a systematized approach for collecting and incorporating patient insights across the patient journey and product lifecycle.

Dr. Clark leads Merck’s Patient Insights Team, is co-leader of the team that champions Health Care Equities (including promotion of health literacy and research diversity) and chairs the Patient Engagement, Health Literacy & Clinical Trials Diversity Investigator Initiated Studies (MISP) Research Committee.

Prior to joining the OCPO, Dr. Clark was the Cardiovascular Global Director for Scientific Affairs (GDSA).

Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Clark was Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center (SUNY Downstate) and founding Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Brooklyn Health Disparities Research Center. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and his Medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He has authored more than 100 publications and edited and was principal contributor to the textbook Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (McGraw-Hill).

Dr. Clark has received numerous awards and honors, including the Harvard University Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Medicine.

Olaseni A. Bello is an attorney and an entrepreneur, a former U.S. Army combat veteran and JAG officer. He is a servant leader with the worldview of an immigrant and a passion for initiatives that address critical vulnerabilities on both the national and international level, particularly as it pertains to marginalized communities. Now he is combining his skill as a lawyer, his discipline as a soldier, and his global experience to launch a unique startup called CarpeMed—“Seize Your Medicine”—a company dedicated to ensuring health care safety and connectivity anywhere in the world.

Cassandra (Casey) joined Press Ganey in 2020 as Chief Human Resources Officer, a position to which she brings significant experience driving culture transformation. In this role, Casey is responsible for leading Press Ganey’s talent management and human resources functions, as well as initiatives aimed at improving associate diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, Casey will lead development of workforce engagement and equity strategies to help health care organizations measure and improve the caregiver experience. Casey’s more than 25 years of experience in health care inform her expertise in culture, quality care, patient experience, employee and provider engagement, profitable growth, and value optimization leveraging executive coaching and lean management improvement approaches. Prior to her role at Press Ganey, Casey led a distinguished career in leading health care systems including the University of Michigan Health System and Trinity Health. At Trinity Health, she served as Senior Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Experience Officer; in these roles, she led the design, development, and implementation of the system’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategic model and systemwide plans. She also served on the Human Resources Executive Committee that transformed the HR function to a centralized model. Casey was the first African American woman to serve on Trinity Health’s executive leadership team. Currently, Casey serves on the board of The Wellness Plan Medical Centers. In 2019, she was recognized as a Top Leader for Diversity and Inclusion by the National Healthcare Diversity Council and was named one of the Most Influential Women in Corporate America by Savoy magazine. In 2020, Casey was named one of Modern Healthcare’s top 10 Minority Leaders to Watch in 2020 and one of Crain’s 2020 Notable Women in Health. Casey earned a bachelor of arts degree in organizational psychology and a master’s degree in health services administration from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.