Dates
April 3-5, 2019
Location
Washington Marriott Georgetown
Sessions
20+ ground breaking sessions
Speakers
25+ top telehealth experts
Telemed Leadership Forum 2019: Transforming Healthcare Delivery

Thank you for joining us!
Thank you to everyone who joined the second annual Telemed Leadership Forum in Washington, DC, on April 3-5, 2019. URAC hosted this 2-1/2-day event that brought together some of the best and brightest healthcare experts in the country to provide solid, innovative and valuable information on how telehealth is transforming healthcare delivery.
All sessions are now available on our On Demand library.
The two opening keynote presentations are available free of charge. Other sessions may be purchased individually, with a deep discount for the entire library of videos.
The complimentary keynotes sessions are:
- FCC’s Connected Care Pilot Program
Presenter: Brendan Carr, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner - CMS Center for Innovation: Seamless Care Models Group
Laura McWright, Deputy Director, Seamless Care Models Group, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
The mix of panel discussions and presentations focused on specific goals, real data, perspectives of measuring quality, legal and regulatory issues, business models, and more.
The Telemed Leadership Forum is designed for physicians and leaders in hospitals and health systems, health plans, academic medical centers, telehealth providers and networks, as well as government regulators and policymakers.
The entire event was live streamed from the Washington Marriott Georgetown Hotel and was also recorded. You can register for the on-demand sessions, purchasing sessions individually or register to view the entire conference. Your registration gives you access for one year to the on-demand videos.

About URAC
URAC is the independent leader in promoting health care quality through leadership, accreditation, measurement and innovation. Founded in 1990, URAC accreditation is a symbol of excellence for organizations to showcase their validated commitment to quality and accountability. URAC’s Telehealth Accreditation is the first independent, third-party national program to offer comprehensive oversight of diverse telehealth programs.
Our 2019 Speakers
More speakers to be announced soon!
2019 Agenda
More details & talks coming soon!
Click on the event title for details
Registration and Continental Breakfast
Sign in, pick up your badge and join us for a continental breakfast. Network with colleagues and visit the sponsor tables.
Welcome
Shawn Griffin, MD
President & CEO, URAC
Keynote: FCC’s Connected Care Pilot Program
Brendan Carr
FCC Commissioner
Keynote: CMS Center for Innovation: Seamless Care Models Group
Laura McWright
Deputy Director, Seamless Care Models Group, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Panel Discussion: Telehealth Policy – How Can Telemed Leaders Influence Change
Join us for a discussion of policies and regulations that may be impacting the delivery of telehealth services, including rural telehealth, DTC, opioid treatment and more. What can telehealth leaders do the influence change?
Ross FriedbergGeneral Counsel, Doctor On Demand
Martin S. Kohn, MD
Consultant
Laura McWright
Deputy Director, Seamless Care Models Group, CMS
Tamara Perry
Senior Director of Operations, Virtual Health and Innovation, Children’s Health System of Texas
Adam Solander
Partner, Data, Privacy and Security, King & Spalding LLP
Moderated by: René Quashie
Vice President, Policy & Regulatory Affairs, Consumer Technology Association
Tele-Emergency on the Prairie: Lives Saved
Brian Skow, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Avera e-Care; Executive Medical Director, Avera eCare Emergency
Avera eCARE leads the nation in delivering the broadest range of telemedicine services available form a single source. Avera eCARE’s Emergency partners have experienced in the past 12 months: $3.5 million in cost savings for 137+ hospitals across the country; 700+ patient transfers avoided; and 7,700+ video encounters. While the technology set up for hospitals in the Avera network is impressive, Brian Skow, M.D., chief medical officer at Avera eCARE, says it is just part of the solution. Dr. Skow presents how relationship building is the key to success, how the Avera team determines if a partnership with a hospital will work, how they tailor tele-emergency services for each hospital, and more.
Building a Sustainable Pediatric Telemedicine Program: A System-wide Approach to Virtual Care and Innovation
Tamara Perry
Senior Director of Operations, Virtual Health and Innovation, Children’s Health System of Texas
Children’s Health Virtual Care currently operates in over 118 schools throughout North Texas. The TeleSpecialty program; including TeleNICU, TeleER, TeleOrtho and Sports Medicine programs have been contracted and implemented in over 20 hospitals throughout the state. Providing critical specialty care access to mostly rural hospitals in desperate need of pediatric expertise. Through Children’s LIVE Virtual CME and CNE education is offered to providers and their care teams as programs constantly evolve. Tamara Perry, Senior Director, Virtual Health and Innovation, Children’s Health System of Texas, will provide insight into the nuts and bolts of building a thriving virtual care network - driven by positive patient outcomes and data.
Northwell Health: Transforming to a Patient-Centric Approach with an Enterprise Telemedicine Strategy
Martin Doerfler, MD
Senior Vice President, Clinical Strategy and Development, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Northwell Health; Medical Director, Center for Learning and Innovation, Northwell Health; Professor of Medicine and Science Education, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
The largest healthcare provider in New York, with 23 hospitals, 665 outpatient facilities and more than 18,500 affiliated physicians, Northwell began its eICU in 2014, and also has telepsychiatry and telestroke services. Since 2017, Northwell been transitioning to a consumer-facing model, and has launched remote monitoring programs, expanding platforms to use mHealth devices and video portals, and giving patients the ability to connect to providers. Martin Doerfler, M.D., Senior VP of Clinical Strategy and Development Associate, Chief Medical Officer, Northwell Health, discusses what it takes to transition to an enterprise telemedicine strategy and to transform from a provider-centric to a patient-centric approach.
Telemedicine: A Tool to Provide Real-time Care in the Patient’s Native Environment
Marlon Priest, MD
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Market Leader Senior Services, Bon Secours Health System
In early 2016, Bon Secours Health System (BSHS) launched Bon Secours 24/7, a custom platform for virtual visits for its employees and residents served by its facilities across the nation. In September 2018, BSHS and Mercy Health combined to become the United States’ fifth largest Catholic healthcare ministry and one of the nation’s 20 largest healthcare systems. Its healthcare locations span seven states: Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia. In this case study presentation, Marlon Priest, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer, walk you through how BSHS changed its telehealth focus from looking at cost cutting or increase revenue, to looking at how to weave telehealth into an already strong program to meet patients’ needs at the moment those needs arise, and in a much more time-efficient way.
Panel Discussion: Barriers and Opportunities for Telehealth: Comparing Rural and Urban Settings
Martin Doerfler, MD
Senior Vice President, Clinical Strategy and Development, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Northwell Health; Medical Director, Center for Learning and Innovation, Northwell Health; Professor of Medicine and Science Education, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Marlon Priest, MD
Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Market Lead Senior Services, Bon Secours Health System
Brian Skow, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Avera eCARE; Executive Medical Director, Avera eCare Emergency
Moderated by Shawn Griffin
President and CEO, URAC
CareFirst Panel Discussion: Strategies and Outcomes of Two Telehealth Grantees
Joseph H. O’Leary, MD
Medical Director, Catholic Charities
Jose Segura
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department Director, La Clinica del Pueblo
Moderated by Julie Wagner
Vice President, Community Affairs, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Welcome Reception
Join us for complimentary drinks and appetizers.
Keynote: Real-World Evidence and Personalized Medicine
Martin S. Kohn, MD
Consultant
As a former chief medical scientist of IBM research, Martin Kohn, M.D., used big data to help design the Watson supercomputer so it would better support the work of practicing physicians. More recently, he served as chief medical scientist at Sentrian, creating predictive analytic systems integrating home monitoring with longitudinal health data for patients with complex chronic diseases. Today, Dr. Kohn consultant and strategist in the use of healthcare data for clinical decision support and health policy development, aiding organizations preparing for the transformation of healthcare. In this keynote presentation, Dr. Kohn provides his vision of the impact of data and telemedicine on healthcare transformation.
Telemedicine Interoperability - Connecting the New Continuum
Scott Stuewe
Consultant, President and CEO, DirectTrust
Scott Stuewe, a 25 year health IT veteran and interoperability expert, will chart a course toward an interoperable future for telemedicine and review the regulatory climate identifying the areas that still need attention from industry. He will examine the unique requirements that must be addressed in this emerging domain to make patient data flow across both technical and business boundaries. He will show how identity, security, trust and standards can support data liquidity and value based care.
Digital Tactics to Optimize Virtual Urgent Care: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
Kim Jacobs
Vice President of Strategic Business & Consumer Innovation at UPMC Health Plan
A leader in telemedicine, UPMC launched its 24/7 Telestroke program nearly 13 years ago and has since expanded both in-patient and out-patient telehealth services. These services now include over 60 clinical specialties at more than 106 locations, and direct to patients’ homes since 2013 via UPMC AnywhereCare. More than 25,000 patients have accessed on-demand clinical care via the AnywhereCare platform. Kim Jacobs, vice president of strategic business & consumer innovation at UPMC Health Plan shares insights, outcomes, and their vision for UPMC’s telemedicine program.
Integrated Telehealth at Kaiser Permanente: Why it Makes Sense
Jeanine Maier
Executive Director of Consumer Engagement, Kaiser Permanente
Katie Wilson, RD
Manager of Telemedicine and Mobility for the Mid-Atlantic, Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente’s unique, integrated model supports secure and reliable virtual care connections among patients and providers. Even more, virtual care allows Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States to advance its mission to provide right care to the right patient at the right time and place - especially the time and place that are most convenient for the patient. Practical use cases and case studies for virtual care technologies will be shared.
Panel Discussion: Telehealth Success in Integrated Delivery Systems and What We Can Learn from Them
Dennis Truong, MD
Regional Director of Telemedicine and Mobility, Kaiser Permanente
John Peters, MS
Deputy Director, Telehealth Services, Office of Connected Care, Department of Veterans Affairs
Kim Jacobs
VP, Strategic Business and Consumer Innovation, UPMC Health Plan
Moderated by Shawn Griffin, MD
President & CEO, URAC
Transitioning to a DTC Telehealth Model
Vimal Mishra, MD
Medical Director, Office of Telemedicine, Virginia Commonwealth University
With a philosophy of expansion at the core of its strategy, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System takes a different approach to telehealth than some other healthcare systems, explains Vimal Mishra, M.D., medical director of telehealth, by keeping in mind the value streams of access, experience, effectiveness and care redesign. While VCU has provided telehealth services for the past 20 years, it is expanding to a direct-to-consumer telehealth service, which has required care redesign. In this session, Dr. Mishra presents how VCU has transitioned to a DTC telehealth model and the impact on physician burnout, over-booked clinics, patient satisfaction and quality of care.
URMC: Leveraging Technology to Transform Behavioral Health Integration into Long-Term Care
Michael Hasselberg, PhD
Director of Telepsychiatry and Director, Project ECHO®, University of Rochester Medical Center
In New York State alone, the number of adults age 65 or older will almost double from 2.5 million in 2016 to 4 million by 2030, and the number of elderly patients with mental illness is expected to rise from 495,000 to 772,000 by that time. But fewer than 50 geriatric psychiatrists are graduating from domestic schools each year. Treating depression, dementia and other mental health issues in the geriatric population presents unique challenges for professionals in the field. Hear from Michael Hasselberg, Ph.D., RN, PMHNP-BC, director of telepsychiatry and director, Project ECHO, University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), who is leading innovative telehealth efforts to provide mental health treatment to elderly patients in rural areas.
Arcadian Telepsychiatry Services: Improving Access and Quality of Behavioral Healthcare Through the Use of Technology
Robert Plotkin
Chief Executive Officer, Arcadian Telepsychiatry Services LLC
Robert Plotkin, CEO of Arcadian Telepsychiatry Services, provides an interesting look at how technology is used to improve overall behavioral healthcare and reduce overall costs to the system.” MYnd Analytics, which acquired Arcadian in November 2017, brings its data analytics capabilities to Arcadian’s telepsychiatry and tele-mental health services – in a highly strategic partnership that will greatly improve mental health outcomes, reduce trial and error prescribing, and lower overall healthcare costs.
Panel Discussion: Models of Tele-Behavioral Health Services
Michael Hasselberg, PhD
Director of Telepsychiatry and Director, Project ECHO®, University of Rochester Medical Center
Steven Locke, MD
Founder and Chief Medical Officer, iHope Network, Inc.
Robert Plotkin
CEO, Arcadian Telepsychiatry Services, LLC
Moderated by Shawn Griffin, MD
President & CEO, URAC
Improving Physician Engagement and Competency in Telehealth
Judd Hollander, MD
Senior Vice President for Healthcare Delivery Innovation, Thomas Jefferson University; Associate Dean for Strategic Health Initiatives, Sidney Kimmel Medical College; Professor & Vice Chair of Finance & Healthcare Enterprises, Department of Emergency Medicine
Judd Hollander, M.D., who is the director of the JeffConnect® Progam, brings his expertise to discuss what healthcare organizations and physicians can do to improve physician engagement, and the leadership and clinical skills needed. He discusses team and communication skills, clinical skills training business fundamentals and research knowledge needed to deliver quality patient care through telehealth.
Panel Discussion: Evolution of Our Telemedicine Strategy
Patrick McCarthy
Director of Telehealth Services, Northwell Health
Vimal Mishra, MD
Medical Director, Office of Telemedicine; Physician Informaticist, Office of Clinical Transformation; Assistant Professor of Medicine and Health Administration, Virginia Commonwealth University
Tamara Perry
Senior Director of Operations, Virtual Health and Innovation, Children’s Health System of Texas
Moderated by Shawn Griffin, MD
President and CEO, URAC
Panel Discussion: Assessing Quality of Telehealth Programs
Adam Darkins, MD
President and CEO, Empiricon LLC; chief strategy officer of AristaMD
Judd Hollander, MD
SVP for Healthcare Delivery Innovation, Thomas Jefferson University
Martin Kohn, MD
Consultant
Steven Locke, MD
Chief Medical Officer, iHope Network
Moderated by Shawn Griffin, MD
President & CEO, URAC
Panel Discussion: Future of Telehealth
Adam Darkins, MD
President and CEO, Empiricon, Chief Strategy Officer, AristaMD
Patrick McCarthy
Director of Telehealth Services, Northwell Health
Scott Stuewe
President and CEO, DirectTrust
Moderated by Shawn Griffin, MD
President & CEO, URAC
Post-Conference Workshop (Optional)
Telehealth, Risk Management and the Need for Accreditation
Telehealth is exploding – and this means that the risks are also rising. Issues include regulatory and policy, malpractice complexity, standard of care, cybersecurity, prescriptions, patient privacy and more. In this engaging, interactive workshop we’ll discuss the risks in telehealth, and the need for telehealth accreditation to help organizations mitigate the growing risks. While there are no federal regulations or payer requirements for accreditation to deliver telehealth services, there needs to be a discussion about how accreditation may be one solution that ensures strategic partners, consumers, legal and regulatory entities that your organization has the necessary components to improve quality of care, increase efficiency and accountability, monitor for compliance, and ensure consumer protection.
Led by international telehealth consultant Adam Darkins, M.D., president and CEO of Empiricon, LLC, and chief strategy officer of AristaMD, be prepared for an engaging, interactive workshop that will include invited guest speakers with legal and regulatory perspectives.
This is an optional in-person only workshop for an additional fee of $200. The workshop will not be offered for live-stream registration. You will have the option to add this workshop to your in-person registration during the checkout process.
Plan Your Trip

Washington Marriott Georgetown Hotel
The Telemed Leadership Forum 2019 will be held at the beautiful Washington Marriott Georgetown, minutes away from the historic Georgetown neighborhood, home to D.C.’s top shops and restaurants. Recently transformed and perfectly located, Washington Marriott Georgetown is ready to make your stay in the Nation’s Capital truly memorable. You’ll find the hotel ideally situated near the city’s West End; the Kennedy Center is nearby, as are two Metro stations. Walk from the hotel’s convenient location towards Georgetown or Dupont Circle for plenty of shopping and dining. Beautifully designed rooms and suites include ultra-comfortable bedding, flat-screen TVs, well-lit workspaces and spa-like bathrooms with walk-in showers. Elsewhere within the hotel, challenge yourself to a workout in the fitness center, or enjoy a great meal at The Visiteur, a trendy global-inspired restaurant.
A block of rooms is being held at the discounted rate of $269/night until March 12, 2019. Please make your hotel reservations early because there are a limited number of rooms in the room block. After you register for the Forum, you will receive a confirmation with a link to reserve your hotel room at the discounted rate.
Hotel Address:
Washington Marriott Georgetown
1221 22nd St NW
Washington, DC 20037
Getting to the Hotel
By Air: The closest airport is Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), which is 5.4 miles from the hotel. Other area airports are: Dulles International Airport (IAD), 25 miles from the hotel, and Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), 33 miles from the hotel.
By Train: The closest train station is Union Station (2.9 miles from the hotel). From there, you can take a taxi to the hotel or the Metrorail (Red Line) to Dupont Circle Station (1/2 mile from the hotel).
Here’s what attendees at the Telemed Leadership Forum 2018 have to say:
“Amazing Telemed conference! Loved the breadth of highly knowledgeable speakers, but yet the nice intimate size for having personal conversations and building new connections. Best Telemed conference I’ve been to!”
“I have never been to a Telemedicine Conference with such knowledgeable speakers and panelists. They were actually experienced in TM implementation and leadership and had wonderful perspectives.”
“The speakers were well informed and provided applicable cases that I can employ at home base. The individual presentations and presenters were accessible and stated that they are open to collaborate in the future.”
“The sessions I sat in on were very informative. More importantly, I had high-quality conversations with industry leaders, which is what I came for.”
“Great speakers, honest conversation around the real issues and barriers around telehealth.”
“The presenters and attendees are among a small but growing group who truly have experience with Telehealth in the real world. I thought the connection between ROI and needing to convince CMS that Telehealth needs to reimbursed sustainably was essential to the theme of the conference.”
Exhibit Opportunities
Here’s an opportunity to showcase your organization at an innovative, idea-packed, high-level conference on telehealth. This event is a gathering of the best and the brightest in healthcare — executives and physician leaders from hospitals and health systems, physician networks, health plans, academic medical systems, and telehealth providers, as well as government regulators/policymakers. Limited opportunities are available to get your brand in front of this audience. As an exhibitor, you will also be an attendee, giving you opportunities to network throughout the event.
To inquire about exhibiting opportunities for the 2019 event, email hello@telemed.org
Welcome Reception
- ONE AVAILABLE
- Signage
- Recognition
- Foyer table
- 2 chairs and wastebasket
- Two conference registrations
Lunch Sponsor
- TWO AVAILABLE
- Signage
- Recognition
- Foyer table
- 2 chairs and wastebasket
- Two conference registrations
Foyer Table
- TWELVE AVAILABLE
- 10’ wide foyer space
- 6 ft table
- 2 chairs and wastebasket
- One conference registration
Location
- 1221 22nd St NW, Washington DC
- hello@telemed.org