Meet the Presenters
Learn more about the 2025 Advanced IRF Boot Camp Presenters
Dr. Renee Alsop received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania in 1999 as part of one of the first DPT classes in the nation. Her more than 25 years of clinical experience has included both inpatient rehabilitation and acute care settings in Charlotte, North Carolina with Atrium Health, now part of Advocate Health. As Manager of Rehabilitation Authorizations and Appeals, Dr. Alsop oversees denials and appeals for Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation’s four inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, representing a collective 179 IRF beds. In partnership with the Atrium Health Physician Advisor Team, she leads the No Delay/Care First project to improve MA patient access to IRF care across Atrium’s Southeast Region. As an experienced patient advocate who is passionate about appropriate access to care, she has made sustainable differences in the outcomes and lives of patients. Dr. Alsop earned her MRMC certification in 2024.
Â
Lela Hickonbottom, DNP, ‎MSN, MBA, CRRN, Chief ‎Nursing Officer, DMC ‎Rehabilitation ‎Institute of ‎Michigan
Lela Hickonbottom is the Chief Nursing Officer at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM) with over 30 years of clinical nursing experience with expertise in neuro-rehabilitation. Dr. Hickonbottom’s research interest involves the application of systemized quality improvement initiatives in the realm of nursing care delivery within post-acute care environments with a specific focus in understanding the variables associated with workforce shortages amongst nursing caregivers. Lela’s work has directly involved front line nursing staff who provide personal care and assistance to adults living with disabilities or other chronic conditions. Work conditions that include low pay, workload burden, and lack of recognition are known contributors to existing and projected labor shortages amongst frontline staff. Lela’s contributions will continue to expand her pursuit to learn the vulnerabilities that exist within nursing labor groups and assist with the development of interventions that better support their unique needs.Â
Online Courses
You’ve come to the right place for exceptional learning opportunities from leaders in the medical rehabilitation industry. AMRPA webinars offer insights and best practices from the comfort of your desk.Â
Jane Snecinski, MBA, FACHE, MRMC, President and Principal Consultant, Post Acute Advisors
Jane Snecinski has a Bachelor and Masters of Music and an MBA in Healthcare Administration from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL with a wealth of hands on hospital administration and management experience in all of the post acute levels of care. Â She is the President and Principal Consultant of Post Acute Advisors, a niche consulting firm located in Atlanta, Georgia with a nation-wide practice that specializes in the needs of post acute providers. Â Focuses include the areas of compliance, medical necessity and regulatory medical record review, appeal assistance, operational assessment, and accreditation assistance. Â
Snecinski is a frequent presenter for national conferences and webinars and local meetings of post acute providers and authored multiple articles for professional journals and newsletters. Â She also has participated in the development of the certification process for rehabilitation managers/administration for AMRPA.Â
Michael Sperl, DO, Essentia ‎Health Miller-Dwan ‎Rehabilitation Services
Dr. Michael Sperl, DO is a board-certified Physical Medicine and Rehabiltation Physician practicing at Essentia Health in Duluth, Minnesota. After completing his osteopathic medical degree at Rocky Vista University in Colorado, he went on to complete his medical internship and PM&R residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, where he served as Chief Resident in his final year of training. Hoping for a diverse and varied community practice, he started working at Essentia Health in Duluth, Minnesota, where he serves as Section Chair of the PM&R Department and Inpatient Rehabilitation Medical Director. He has clinical practice interests in ultrasound guided procedural interventions, non-surgical spine care, and inpatient rehabilitation care. He has additional interests in leadership development and the integration of technology with medical practice. He and his wife, along with their three children and two dogs greatly enjoy living on the shores of Lake Superior and especially all the outdoor recreation the area has to offer.
Â
Lisa Werner, MBA, MS, SLP, ‎Director of Consulting ‎Services, Fleming AOD
Lisa Werner is the Director of Consulting Services for Fleming-AOD. Since joining Fleming-AOD in 2006, Lisa has managed and consulted with rehabilitation providers across the continuum of care. After working as a speech-language pathologist, Lisa received her MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining Fleming-AOD, Lisa managed consultants and planned the strategic integration of rehabilitation settings management to streamline staff resources. She served as a regional Director of Operations for multiple rehabilitation programs spanning the continuum of rehabilitation care. She has presented at numerous national and state conferences on topics related to 60% rule changes and compliance, coding accuracy, documentation strategies, managing denials, group utilization and productivity strategies, effective management of outpatient clinics, and swallowing evaluation and treatment. Lisa has assisted her clients with clinical and financial performance improvement, opening new inpatient rehabilitation facilities, managing 60% rule compliance, market analysis and strategic business planning, compliance review, and care management for obtaining maximum profitability.
Troy Hillman, Director of Quality and Health Policy, AMRPA
Troy Hillman has served as the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA) Director of Quality and Health Policy since January 2023. In his current role, Mr. Hillman helps AMRPA identify policy issues affecting the rehabilitation industry, including the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) prospective payment system and Quality Reporting Program, as well as MedPAC and other Post-Acute Care (PAC) payment reform proposals. Prior to joining AMRPA, Mr. Hillman served as the Manager of Analytics and Government Relations Director at UDSMR/Netsmart, where he helped develop and interpret the reporting of IRF data and outcomes, educate and train industry stakeholders on outcomes and quality measures, as well as monitoring, interpreting, and responding to legislative and regulatory updates. He also has experience in the Market Research, Banking and Health Insurance industries, where he was focused on analytics and performance improvement. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing, coaching hockey, suffering with the Buffalo Bills, and helping to raise two teenage sons.
Janet Pue, DPT, NCS, FACHE, Director of Rehabilitation Services at Carolinas Rehabilitation-Northeast, EQUADR PSO Coordinator
Janet Pue is the Director of Rehabilitation Services for Carolinas Rehabilitation and Coordinator for the Carolinas Rehabilitation-Patient Safety Organization, commonly referred to as EQUADRSM.  She is a neurologic clinical specialist in physical therapy, with focus areas in stroke and brain injury. She received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006 and her Neurologic Clinical Specialist certification in Physical Therapy in 2013. She became a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in 2024.
She has over 19 years of inpatient rehabilitation experience. Over the years, she has led many process improvement initiatives with a focus on patient safety and other quality metrics. As the EQUADR coordinator, she leads a national collaborative group of over 50 member organizations through virtual safe table meetings and data analysis to promote patient safety and quality outcomes. The Patient Safety Organization has averted over $18 million of harm through benchmarking and best practice sharing.
Â
Alicia L. Ancarrow, MSPT, ‎MSHA, Senior Clinical Director, Post-Acute Services- Acute ‎Inpatient Rehabilitation, HCA
Alicia Ancarrow is the Senior Clinical Director for Post-Acute Services Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA, the nation’s leading provider of healthcare services. Responsibilities include clinical operations for HCA’s 82 inpatient rehabilitation units and a single skilled nursing unit, development of EMR, and education agenda for service line.Â
Working with HCA for 13 years, Alicia has served in a multitude of roles including manager of Acute Rehab Services, Program Director of Inpatient Rehabilitation at Parham Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, Clincial Director Post-Acute Services, and promoted just over one year ago to Senior Clinical Director. Alicia is also a member of APTA, VIRC of VHHA, CVHEG, ACHE, and is an active member of the Quality Committee of AMRPA. Alicia received her BA in Sociology from The University of Virginia, Master’s in Physical Therapy from Marymount University, and Master’s in Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.
When not working she enjoys time with my husband Brian of 23 years, daughter Cecelia (17) and son Tucker (20) on the water, traveling, or just being in the fresh air.
Jan McCafferty, Managing Director, Tandem Solutions
Jan McCafferty co-founded Tandem Solutions in 2002, an innovative organization helping clients to envision and create their future success. Tandem has been recognized as a Top Organizational Change Management Company by Manage HR, and Top Leadership Development Company by HR Tech Magazine. McCafferty collaborates with leaders to transform their organizational cultures to reflect their espoused strategy and values, supporting them to become role models and operationalize the values into work practices & behaviors. She has a passion for coaching clinical leaders to deepen their self-awareness, embrace a leadership mindset, and connect with others in a way that honors their dignity to create an environment of trust, respect, and belonging.
She uses a humanistic approach, supporting her clients with consulting, individual and team coaching, and learning programs to strengthen the leader’s capabilities to build strong teams and make pragmatic and lasting change.
McCafferty is the former Director for HealthCare Services at Linkage, Inc. and a seasoned veteran of Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). At Andersen Consulting, she developed a methodology for building interdisciplinary teams that was rolled out as a global standard for Patient Centered Care engagements for the Worldwide Healthcare Team. As the healthcare practice leader at Linkage, Jan led the development and implementation of competency-based learning programs that empowered healthcare leaders to actively engage in their learning and adapt new mindsets and skills in their unique cultures. Her learning systems and performance management systems for the healthcare industry have been recognized by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations for their innovative approach to developing hospital workforces. These nationally recognized programs have formed the basis for the Tandem Solutions Longitudinal Learningâ„¢ approach to developing excellence in talent development systems.
2024 Policy Priorities
AMRPA has developed a policy agenda to protect patient access to timely, necessary, and high-quality inpatient rehabilitation care.
Christopher Thorson, PT, MRMC, CCCE, Rehabilitation Manager, Essentia Health Miller-Dwan Rehabilitation ServicesÂ
Christopher Thorson graduated with a Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy from University of North Dakota in 1998. He was the Primary PT on SCI team at IRF within Essentia Health from 2000-2016 before becoming the Therapy Manager for IRF within Essentia Health 2016-present.In addition, he is the Center Coordinator of Clinical Education (CCCE) for therapy students at Essentia Health, co-chair of Essentia Health Falls committee, safe patient handling trainer for Essentia Health nurse orientation, Essentia Health trainer for new therapist orientation. Christopher is also a Minnesota APTA payment committee member and a valued member of the AMRPA Certification Committee. In his spare time he enjoys travel, indoor rock climbing, golf, Nordic skiing, trail running, mountain biking and hiking.
Natasha Woolery, PT, MBA, MRMC, Director of Business Development, Post Acute Services, HCA HealthcareÂ
Natasha Woolery was born and raised in Dallas, TX. After graduating from TexasA&M University, she further pursued her education, and completed the UT Southwestern Medical School physical therapy program in 1998. She quickly afterwards started her career at Parkland Hospital as a physical therapist. While working at Parkland, she enjoyed working in all areas of the hospital, but especially the burn unit and wound care center. After Parkland, she transitioned to People First Rehab (a division of Kindred) to pursue advancing her career into management. She was the Director of Rehab at Kindred White Rock, and then relocated to Kindred Southwest in Fort Worth holding the same role. After several years at Kindred, she then took the Director of Therapy Operations role at HealthSouth Fort Worth. After working there for several years, she joined HCA. She currently serves a Business Development Director on the corporate Post Acute Services team traveling the country training staff. Natasha decided to pursue further education while at HCA and obtained her MBA as well as MRMC with AMRPA.
Latest News & Announcements
Events 
Events 
Events Abstracts Deadline Extended
Advocacy 