Alisa Ottman brings to Novis Consulting over 20 years of Quality Management expertise. Ms. Ottman is a “best practices” expert, a certified CAP laboratory inspector and a lead ISO program certification manager. She has developed quality systems compliant to CLIA, CAP, New York State, FDA and ISO (9002). Alisa has additionally provided regulatory support by obtaining CMS licenses for clients. Alisa routinely works with clients with multi-certification sites and laboratory developed tests.

Ms. Ottman graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from UC Davis and holds a Master’s degree with honors in Management, Life Sciences from George Mason University.

Keith J. Kaplan, MD, is a nationally recognized expert in hyperspectral imaging, image analysis and the use of Web 2.0 tools in pathology. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed scientific papers and lectures internationally  on topics of pathology informatics.  Dr. Kaplan founded and directed the Army Telepathology Program, a telepathology consultation program that connects 25 hospitals throughout the world. Dr. Kaplan is the publisher of the Digital Pathology Blog at tissuepathology.com.

Dr. Kaplan is currently the Chief Medical Officer at Corista, Concord MA, a leader in digital imaging software.  Previously Dr. Kaplan practiced pathology and was a laboratory medical director for  Carolinas Pathology Group, Charlotte NC,  and was an Associate Professor of Pathology at Mayo Medical School,  Rochester, MN.

Dr. Kaplan received his BS degree at Michigan State University and MD degree at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, He completed his residency training  at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC. and is American Board of Pathology certified in anatomic and clinical pathology.

Rita D’Angelo is an internationally recognized expert in process improvement and lean production systems. For over a decade, Dr. D’Angelo has trained and certified in lean management, thousands of healthcare professionals, and improved the efficiency of health care facilities in the United States and Europe.

A co-founder of the Henry Ford Production System, Rita D’Angelo designed and implemented innovative operational efficiencies for the Henry Ford Health System Operating Room, Transplant Institute, Behavioral Services, Women’s Health Services. and the departments of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, and she led the team that secured America’s first integrated laboratory system ISO 15189 accreditation. Rita continues to assist organizations across the US implement Lean Management and ISO 15189.

Rita D’Angelo holds a P.hD. in Industrial and Systems Engineering, masters degree in health administration, a six sigma black belt, and certification in quality engineering and lean production.

Stephen J. Sarewitz, MD –Laboratory accreditation, Practice management

Dr. Sarewitz, a board-certified AP/CP pathologist with over 30 years experience in hospital and private laboratory practice is a nationally recognized expert in laboratory accreditation. Dr. Sarewitz is has served as Chairman and Commissioner for national, regional, and state divisions of the CAP laboratory accreditation programs and is currently the Vice-chair of the CAP Council on Accreditation. He has held leadership positions, and has developed proficiency testing guidelines for the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute. Dr. Sarewitz is a former member of the board of directors of Eastside Pathology Inc., an independent pathology laboratory providing services to a multi-hospital system in Seattle, WA. Previously, he served on the CAP Board of Governors, as Chair of the CAP Risk Management Committee, and as Vice-chair of the CAP Council on Education. Dr. Sarewitz received his MD from Columbia University, New York NY and his post doctoral training at Hartford Hospital, Hartford CT and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.

Dr. David Wilkinson brings to Novis Consulting over 30 years experience in laboratory management, pathologist service contracting, and medical education. Dr. Wilkinson served as Director of Clinical Pathology, Hospital Medical Director, and Secretary of the University Health Plan at The George Washington University Hospital, Washington, DC. Subsequently, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, VA recruited him to be Chairman of the Department of Pathology. Under Dr. Wilkinson’s leadership, VCU was among the first of America’s healthcare institutions to create a molecular diagnostics clinical laboratory, research facility and fellowship program, and was among the first to create a clinical next generation sequencing laboratory. At VCU, Dr. Wilkinson also chaired the Managed Care and Contracting Committee, directing teams that developed insurance reimbursement models for pathologists, averted outsourcing of pathology services, and increased pathologist revenues significantly. Dr. Wilkinson received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin and his medical degree from University of Miami. He is Past President of the Association of Pathology Chairs, a former Trustee of the Richmond Academy of Medicine, a member of the AMA’s CPT Advisory Committee, and Former Chair of the Pathology Coding Caucus. He currently serves on the College of American Pathologists’ Economic Affairs Committee. Dr. Wilkinson edited the classic texts, Management in Laboratory Medicine and Clinical Laboratory Management.

Janet Matsubara, MT (ASCP)MS brings 30 years of experience in laboratory technology and management. Ms. Matsubara is the Director of Technical Services & Scientific Affairs for Oxford Immunotec, (Marlborough, MA) where she installed two CLIA laboratories providing services throughout the United States and Canada. Prior to that, Janet held first technologist, and later senior laboratory management positions at Boston Children’s Hospital.  Janet holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Massachusetts.

Harold Kisner is a nationally recognized authority in laboratory instrumentation, reagent selection, workflow design, process optimization, and automation.  In 2006 Dr. Kisner founded ConVerge Diagnostic Services, LLC., an anatomic pathology laboratory which he sold to  to Water St. Health Partners who then retained him as a consultant until 2011. From 1987-2003, Dr. Kisner was Chief Operating Officer of Path Lab Inc., a regional full service laboratory serving seven hospitals and physician office laboratories throughout New England. In 2003, Dr. Kisner founded NorthEast Clinical & Anatomic Pathology Solutions which provided technical, operational, and financial expertise to clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories.   Dr. Kisner was an editor of  Diagnostics Report, has authored numerous publications, speaks frequently at national conferences, and is an adviser to the board of the Clinical Laboratory Management Review  for which he authors the column, “Talking About Technology”. Dr. Kisner received his Ph.D. in Clinical Chemistry from the University of Rhode Island, and his MBA from an executive program at Loyola College in Maryland.

Richard Ouellette is a certified lean six sigma master black belt with more than 25 years of experience in hospital and laboratory operations and management. Mr. Ouellette was a founder of Clini Tech Services, Inc., a multi-hospital joint venture commercial laboratory for which he served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.  In 1992 he introduced to the laboratory industry, “Business Intelligence” including the MAST (Management Accountability, Staffing & Service Tracker), QlikLab business intelligence tools, and the Lazarus Data Pump, a universal interface engine. He is an Adjunct Professor for Healthcare Finance and Information Systems at Assumption College, Worcester, MA. Mr. Ouellette holds a Bachelor’s degree (cum laude) from the University of Southern Maine and a Master’s degree in healthcare management from the University of Missouri Columbia, MO.

For 40-plus years, Larry Small has provided leadership and oversight in corporate and regulatory compliance, laboratory management and staffing, information services, sales, billing, revenue enhancement, finance, quality improvement, employee training, and laboratory outreach. His clients include academic medical centers, community hospital systems, clinical/pathology laboratories, and billing companies  Mr. Small has founded and managed several consulting firms, prior to which he has served as Corporate Compliance Officer and Director of Compliance and Billing Services for Chi Solutions,  Ann Arbor, MI; Director of Corporate Compliance Operations for Quest Diagnostics, Madison, NJ; and Laboratory Director of the Iowa State University Veterinary College, Ames, IA. Mr. Small holds an MS degree in Physiology and Pharmacology from Iowa State University.

For more than 25 years, Mr. Sundberg has assisted hundreds of laboratory and healthcare system clients with strategic planning, senior business management, operations, and laboratory outreach, consolidation and start-up. Jim’s expertise in information technology (IT) includes  software selection, system planning and staffing requirements. Prior to founding several full service laboratory and IT consulting firms, Jim was the regional Chief Information Officer for Duke LifePoint where for its 15 hospitals, he created the Michigan Upper Peninsula Health Information Network, Michigan’s most successful regional health information technology organization.  Jim earned a BS degree in computational mathematics from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, MI.