Bob Bianchi, MSW
SVP for Strategy and Innovation, ClearSky Health
Bob Bianchi began his professional career as a Medical Social Worker at an acute care hospital in Los Angeles, California. Over the years he focused is career in the area of rehabilitation and has served as in operations and consulting positions with rehabilitation companies that have sites across the US. He has worked in the areas of acute rehabilitation, outpatient therapy and skilled nursing settings offering direction and guidance to managerial and administrative personnel in order to improve the quality and performance of the programs for better patient care. Bob is currently working on stroke rehabilitation programs and post-discharge programs with his current employer. Bob also serves as a CARF surveyor and is on the AMRPA Board.
Bruce Brasser, RN, MSN, MBA, FACHE
VP of Network Operations, Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital
Bruce Brasser has served in executive leadership roles with Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan since 2002. Bruce joined Mary Free Bed as the Chief Nursing Officer and has served in many different roles during his career with Mary Free Bed. In his current position as Vice President of Network Operations, Bruce oversees the inpatient rehabilitation operations within 8 hospitals that have partnered with Mary Free Bed, spanning the 3 states of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.
Prior to joining Mary Free Bed, Bruce worked as a staff nurse and then in various leadership roles at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI. Bruce attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree in nursing. He obtained a master’s degree in nursing administration from the Penn School of Nursing and theWharton School of Business. Bruce later obtained his master’s in business administration from Western Michigan University, and earned Fellow status with the American College of HealthCare Executives in 2011.
Bruce and his wife, Cathie, live in Rockford, Michigan. They have 3 adult children and are active within their church and in many extended family activities. A former college baseball player, Bruce recently retired from his hobby as a high school varsity baseball coach. Of interest, Bruce’s family has a strong connection to Mary Free Bed in many ways. His 79-year-old mother (who happens to be named Mary) was a volunteer at Mary Free Bed during high school and college. One of his children received Mary Free Bed services as a toddler, and another is employed as a speech-language pathologist there.
Michelle Camicia, PhD, RN CRRN CCM NEA-BC FARN FAHA FAAN
Director of Operations, Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center
Michelle Camicia, PhD RN CRRN CCM NEA-BC FARN FAHA FAAN has an exceptional rehabilitation nursing career spanning over 30 years. Dr. Camicia’s leadership in practice and research developing and implementing innovative interventions has improved care coordination, and equitable care for individuals with disabilities (IWD) and their caregivers. She has disseminated her work through numerous policy papers, peer reviewed manuscripts, and book chapters. As an advisory board member of the National Institutes of Health National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR), Dr. Camicia secured family caregiving as a focus in NCMRR’s Strategic Plan. She has served on numerous national boards/expert panels, and as an international accreditation surveyor for CARF International. Her leadership with the American Heart Association (AHA) and Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN), including past president, provides venues to strengthen nursing and equitable care delivery for individuals with disabilities regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Dr. Camicia is a transformational leader and has been recognized by many awards, including the Kaiser Permanente Exemplary Nurse Leader of the Year award (2020). The ARN has recognized her with the President’s Award (2020), Distinguished Service Award (2012), and Doctoral-Prepared Nurse Researcher (2020) awards. The ARN White Paper on The Essential Role of the Rehabilitation Nurse in Facilitating Care Transition received the ARN Article of the Year (2014). Dr. Camicia’s work on the PATH-s has been recognized by the American Heart/Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Stroke in 2020 with the Stroke Article of the Year (Camicia, et al., 2020). Further, she was a finalist for AHA/ASA Martha N. Hill New Investigator Award (2018). She is co-developing a global rehabilitation nursing certification program. Dr. Camicia is currently Director of Operations at the Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center. She earned a BSN from San Francisco State University, MSN from Sonoma State University, and PhD from the University of California-Davis.
Brian Moore, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Atrium Health
Dr. Brian Moore is the Chief Medical Officer for Physician Advisor Services at Atrium Health. He practiced Emergency Medicine for over 20 years before transitioning to his position in Utilization Management / Physician Advisor Services. While his medical background is in Emergency Medicine, he is also Board Certified as a Physician Advisor. He received his undergraduate training at Bucknell University followed by his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Orlando Regional Medical Center and then served in the Air Force as an Emergency Physician. In addition to his clinical duties as an Emergency Physician over 20 years, Dr. Moore has held multiple leadership positions over his career. He served as Chief Medical Officer for a private multispecialty ED (Emergency Department) / Hospitalist group based in Charlotte, North Carolina for 8 years. He also served as the System Quality Director for a national Emergency Medicine group managing its quality program through relationships with a large regional healthcare system’s multiple Emergency Departments with collective volumes exceeding 300,000 visits annually.
Dr. Moore’s session at the 2022 Advanced IRF Boot Camp will be about his experiences dealing with the Medicare Advantage Pre-Auth Process for Post-Acute Care services. While his daily responsibilities included completing utilization reviews for inpatient versus observation determinations, developing and performing peer to peer insurance denial interventions, he also pioneered innovative approaches to addressing authorization issues related to Post Acute Care access for Medicare Advantage plans and has developed processes to improve successful appeals. He is currently working with the American Hospital Association and the American College of Physician Advisors and regularly lectures on how to successfully use CMS regulatory protections to advocate for patient’s rights to access Post-Acute Rehabilitation benefits that should be provided to Medicare Beneficiaries to overcome aggressive Medicare Advantage PAC (Post-Acute Care) authorization denials.
Kate Beller, JD
EVP for Policy Development and Government Relations, AMRPA
Kate Beller has served as AMRPA’s Executive Vice President for Policy Development and Government Relations since 2019. Ms. Beller leads AMRPA’s response to all policy issues impacting the inpatient rehabilitation field, including payment and quality reporting requirements, prior authorization reform, COVID-19 waivers, unified post-acute care payment efforts, and the proposed Review Choice Demonstration, among others. Prior to joining AMRPA, Ms. Beller worked at several major Washington, DC-based law firms, during which she focused on Medicare policy and post-acute care provider issues. She received her Juris Doctorate at Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree and health policy certificate at Duke University. In her spare time, she enjoys running, the New York Yankees, and trying to keep up with her two young sons.
Steve Moro, MBA, CPA
Senior Director of Post-Acute Services, Ascension Healthcare
Steve Moro has over 35 years of healthcare experience. Steve’s healthcare experience includes working for both tax-exempt and for-profit health systems. Steve was the CFO for a 135-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in the St. Louis market, which was a joint venture between Encompass Healthcare and BJC Healthcare. Currently, Steve is a Senior Director of Post-Acute Services with Ascension Healthcare focusing inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services.
Margaret (Peggy) Seminara, RN, MHA, NHA, NE-BC
Senior Director of Post-Acute Services, MossRehab
Margaret (Peggy) Seminara has more than 30 years of administrative experience and operations management in rehabilitation. During her tenure as the administrator for stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury services she developed and continues to grow the spinal cord injury service. She is instrumental in the CARF accreditation process for her specialty areas. Eight years ago, she took over administrative responsibility for the networks skilled nursing facility. Ms. Seminara has contributed to the 25% increase to the inpatient post-acute census. Her primary areas of responsibility include program development, program operations, productivity, budget, admission liaisons, market and financial assessments, utilization review, program expansion, strategic planning, business plan development, monitoring compliance and participating in compliance audits. Ms. Seminara holds a Master of Healthcare Administration from Saint Josephs University and a Bachelor of Science from LaSalle University. She is certified in Nursing Administration by American Nurses Credentialing Center.