Education

Featured Speakers

Creating a Safe Workplace Environment 

Steven Chapman MBA, MS, BSN, RN, Associate Vice President, Emergency and Trauma Services, Albert Einstein Medical Center 

Mr. Chapman is a 37-year professional nurse currently responsible for all aspects of Emergency and Trauma Services for the Albert Einstein Medical Center. His span of responsibility includes two Emergency Departments, including a large urban academic Emergency Department in Philadelphia, a community hospital Emergency Department in Cheltenham, Montgomery County, Pa; a combined 15- bed Emergency Department Observation Unit/16 bed general medical unit; and a robust Level One Trauma program. In his current role, Mr. Chapman has championed and successfully implemented process redesigns including improvement of Emergency Department patient flow from arrival through admission, including intake and transfer of the behavioral health crisis patient to the on-site Behavioral Health Crisis Response Center. Mr. Chapman has also been responsible for numerous facility construction projects intended to improve patient care. 

Mark J. Wilhelm, Senior Director of Public Safety, Einstein Healthcare Network (Jefferson Health) 

As Network Director of Security at Einstein, Mr. Wilhelm is responsible for the definition and execution of the Department’s security program.  He oversees the coordination of the security standards, policies and procedures with other departments, executives, and industry experts.  Most recently, Mr. Wilhelm implemented response procedures for medical emergencies, inclusive of the administration of Narcan, CPR, AED and Tourniquet usage which has resulted in increased survival rates for overdose and gunshot wound patient arrivals.  In addition, Mr. Wilhelm has equipped his department with the Axon Taser 7 which immediately decreased patient and staff injuries. Mr. Wilhelm is a security expert in workplace prevention, security construction, physical security, investigations, corporate safety and security, risk mitigation, and healthcare and security budgeting. 

Prior to joining Jefferson Health – Einstein Division in 2014, Mr. Wilhelm most recently served as the Executive Officer, Special Investigations Section at the New Jersey State Police Department from 2012-2014.  In this capacity, he was responsible for implementing sound business strategy and practices, together with managerial and policy making for the section, where he managed approximately 400 uniformed troopers and civilian personnel. 

Edward A. Eckenhoff Memorial Award and Lecture

Marsha Lommel, AMRPA Board Chairman from 2012-2013; former President and CEO, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital (retired)

Marsha Lommel will be honored at AMRPA's 20th Annual Educational Conference & Expo as the 2022 Edward A. Eckenhoff Memorial Award recipient. Marsha's keynote lecture will focus on the issues that were critical to her throughout her career. As a devoted storyteller, she will relate her stories to leadership foundations: Vision, Culture and Persistence.

Behind the Mask: Addressing the Mental Health of Our Team 

Preethi Fernando, Author, Speaker, Consultant 

Preethi Fernando is an author of twelve books, Keynote speaker, and founder of Leadista. She is the winner of Stephen King’s Haven Foundation Award, given to one author each year. Preethi is also a recipient of the Carnegie Fund for Authors, New York. She does workshops, training, and seminars for companies and organizations on emotional intelligence, leadership, mindfulness, mental toughness, and more. Preethi is originally from the beautiful island of Sri Lanka and now calls beautiful Colorado her home.

AMRPA at 25 Years Old: Where We’ve Been & the Future of Medical Rehabilitation 

Dr. Bruce Gans, AMRPA Chief Policy Officer and AMRPA Board Chairman from 2009-2011, 2014-2017 

Bruce M. Gans, MD, is the Chief Policy Officer for AMRPA. In addition, he serves as Senior Health Policy Advisor for Powers Law, a Washington, DC, law firm.  He is also President of Gans Associates LLC, a health care consulting firm.  He is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for the ‎Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, based in West Orange, New Jersey.  He is also the ‎past National Medical Director for Rehabilitation for Select Medical, the parent company for ‎Kessler.  In addition, Dr. Gans holds an appointment as Professor of Physical Medicine ‎and Rehabilitation at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.  He is a director on the board ‎of Five Star Quality Care, Inc. (NYSE: FVE), a national operator of senior living, ‎assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities and is the founding Chair of their Quality of ‎Care Committee, which has been in existence since around 2003. 

Kate Beller, EVP for Government Relations & ‎Policy Development, AMRPA 

Kate Beller, JD, has served as the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA) Executive Vice President for Policy Development and Government Relations since February 2019. In her current role, Beller helps AMRPA identify current and emerging policy issues affecting the rehabilitation industry, including patient access issues, regulatory burdens, IMPACT Act implementation, and the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) prospective payment system and Quality Reporting Program, among many other issues. Prior to joining AMRPA, Ms. Beller served as a principal at a healthcare-focused consulting/lobbying firm, where she developed and helped lead the legislative and regulatory strategies for post-acute care providers and other entities across the health policy spectrum. She also held positions at AARP and the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living working on long-term care and post-acute care payment and payment access issues. She received her Juris Doctorate at Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree at Duke University. 

Christopher A. Lee, MSPT, FACHE, Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals 

Chris Lee has worked in post acute care in various clinical and administrative roles since 1994. In the process he has accumulated experience in Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF), Long Term Care Hospital (LTCH), and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) settings.  Mr. Lee holds an Associate of Science in Health Science, a Bachelor of Science in Anatomy and Physiology, and a Master of Science in Physical Therapy.   

As a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, Mr. Lee served as the Eastern District Chair and was elected to two terms on the Executive Board. As a former surveyor for CARF International, Chris has provided consultation to rehabilitation facilities across the U.S. and in the U.K. Chris has been selected to serve on two national technical expert panels providing recommendations to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In 2014, he became a board certified Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). He is currently Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA). Chris is the Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals. Madonna provides a full continuum of post acute care across 378 beds and four outpatient clinics. Mr. Lee is responsible for operations on Madonna’s campuses in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska and is the business leader for the four facilities in the hospital business line.   

Mark Tarr, President and Chief Executive Officer, Encompass Health 

Mark Tarr was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Encompass Health in 2016. Encompass Health is the largest owner and operator of rehabilitation hospitals in the United States, with a national footprint that includes 151 hospitals in 36 states and Puerto Rico. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare. Mr. Tarr joined Encompass Health in 1993 and has served as president and chief executive officer since December 2016. He previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer from 2011-2016; executive vice president of operations from 2007-2011; and president of the Company's inpatient division from 2004-2007. Prior to these executive leadership roles, Tarr held various management positions within the Company. Mr. Tarr currently serves on the boards of directors of the Federation of American Hospitals, the national representative of investor-owned and managed hospitals, and the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association – AMRPA – the nation’s only trade organization dedicated solely to the interests of Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospitals and Units, outpatient rehabilitation centers, and other medical rehabilitation providers.  Mr. Tarr is involved with a number of community organizations, serving on the boards of directors of the Birmingham Business Alliance, where he is on its executive committee, Children's of Alabama, Prosper Birmingham, and the Boy Scouts of America, Greater Alabama Council. He also serves on the Corporate Board of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.  Mr. Tarr earned his bachelor's degree from Ball State University and his master's in business administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. 

Kathleen Yosko‎, President, KCY Healthcare Advisors 

Kathleen Yosko served as President & CEO of Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital from 1998 to 2017.  Marianjoy is a network of 500 inpatient medical/acute & subacute beds and outpatient rehabilitation services delivering a full range of multi-specialty services to adults and children in the greater Chicagoland area. Under her leadership Marianjoy experienced a transformation in programming and care delivery, including the merger with Northwestern Medicine March 2016. Prior to her Executive role at Marianjoy, she served as President & CEO of Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital from 1978-1998. Throughout her career Ms. Yosko has been active nationally in the field of rehabilitation. She has served as past Chair of the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA) and past Chair of the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). In 1997 she was Chair of the American Rehabilitation Association (ARA). She served as the catalyst in dissolving ARA and forming AMRPA as it has evolved today, a board-driven organization representing medical rehabilitative providers. Throughout her career Kathleen has received several national and local achievement awards including the Influential Women in Business Award and the Chicago not-for-profit Executive of the Year Award. Currently Ms. Yosko is currently consulting with a number of organizations and serving on several boards including the Christus Saint Michaels Hospital Board in Texarkana, AR.

AMRPA Legislative & Regulatory Updates  

Kate Beller, EVP for Government Relations and Policy Development, AMRPA

Kate Beller, JD, has served as the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA) Executive Vice President for Policy Development and Government Relations since February 2019. In her current role, Beller helps AMRPA identify current and emerging policy issues affecting the rehabilitation industry, including patient access issues, regulatory burdens, IMPACT Act implementation, and the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) prospective payment system and Quality Reporting Program, among many other issues.

Prior to joining AMRPA, Ms. Beller served as a principal at a healthcare-focused consulting/lobbying firm, where she developed and helped lead the legislative and regulatory strategies for post-acute care providers and other entities across the health policy spectrum. She also held positions at AARP and the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living working on long-term care and post-acute care payment and payment access issues. She received her Juris Doctorate at Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree at Duke University.

Kristen O'Brien, JD, Vice President, McDermott+, AMRPA Washington Counsel

Kristen O’Brien is an accomplished healthcare executive with a deep understanding of regulatory advocacy and healthcare policy efforts. She offers a strong background and a keen eye for solutions to barriers and challenges impacting healthcare clients. With more than 10 years of experience, her work focuses on implementing new laws through the rulemaking process, as well as working with relevant agency officials to develop and improve agency guidance. Kristen recently served as Principal of the Health Industry Policy and Regulatory Practice Group at a law and lobbying firm where she provided representation for hospital systems, physician practices, medical device companies, digital health companies and trade associations. She has extensive experience in providing analysis and counsel related to government healthcare payment programs under Medicare and Medicaid. She also has extensive knowledge of navigating the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and others.

Previously, Kristen provided legislative and regulatory legal analysis as a senior attorney for the American Medical Association. Additionally, Kristen served on the staff of former Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), focusing on health and environmental issues, as well as financial reform.

Inpatient Medical Rehabilitation Trends from eRehabData® and Other Sources

Sam Fleming, President, Fleming AOD/eRehabData®

Sam Fleming has worked with the rehabilitation industry since 1990 providing services to both individual rehabilitation facilities and the various incarnations of the national trade association for inpatient rehabilitation facilities. His work with providers includes reimbursement policy interpretation and hospital performance optimization. Sam designs and builds industry-wide econometric models of Medicare policy and performs industry-wide data analysis and outcomes interpretation for the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association. As the President of Fleming-AOD, Inc. his responsibilities include policy analysis, advocacy and education, as well as the design, construction, maintenance and development of the AMRPA’s outcomes systems: eRehabData®.

Prior Authorization’s Role for Patients & Caregivers 

Christina A. Hughes, Powers Law 

Christina A. Hughes regularly represents hospitals and hospital systems, home health providers, physicians, O&P suppliers, pharmacies, and diagnostic and other health services providers.  Her services include counseling on compliance with Medicare coverage requirements for both hospital services and DME and O&P supplies; providing counsel and legal assistance with Medicare claim denials and appeals, as well as other issues related to reimbursement; and providing advice on compliance with the Stark law, the anti-kickback statute, and the federal False Claims Act, including self-disclosures to CMS and the OIG and voluntary refunds. As part of her work, Christina has represented several large inpatient rehabilitation facilities in challenging individual claim denials and extrapolated overpayments, obtaining reversal of the majority of individual denials and drastic reduction in overpayment amounts.  She has also provided physician education on Medicare coverage requirements for inpatient rehabilitation facility care to staff and assisted with inpatient rehabilitation facility self-audits for past compliance with Medicare requirements.  Christina is also experienced with managing and responding to OIG audits.  She routinely provides ongoing counseling and support to Medicare providers regarding coverage and reimbursement rules for a wide range of health services. 

Kristen O'Brien, JD, Vice President, McDermott+, AMRPA Washington Counsel

Kristen O’Brien is an accomplished healthcare executive with a deep understanding of regulatory advocacy and healthcare policy efforts. She offers a strong background and a keen eye for solutions to barriers and challenges impacting healthcare clients. With more than 10 years of experience, her work focuses on implementing new laws through the rulemaking process, as well as working with relevant agency officials to develop and improve agency guidance. Kristen recently served as Principal of the Health Industry Policy and Regulatory Practice Group at a law and lobbying firm where she provided representation for hospital systems, physician practices, medical device companies, digital health companies and trade associations. She has extensive experience in providing analysis and counsel related to government healthcare payment programs under Medicare and Medicaid. She also has extensive knowledge of navigating the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and others. 

Previously, Kristen provided legislative and regulatory legal analysis as a senior attorney for the American Medical Association. Additionally, Kristen served on the staff of former Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), focusing on health and environmental issues, as well as financial reform.