SPEAKER BIOS

Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP

Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a not-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world. Founded in 1991 and based in Cambridge, MA, IHI is a catalyst for change, cultivating innovative concepts for improving patient care and implementing programs for putting those ideas into action. Thousands of health care providers participate in IHI’s groundbreaking work.

Dr. Berwick is Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Health Care Policy in the Department of Pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is also a pediatrician, Adjunct Staff in the Department of Medicine at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, and a Consultant in Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Berwick has published over 140 scientific articles in numerous professional journals on subjects relating to health care policy, decision analysis, technology assessment, and health care quality management. His research and commentaries have appeared in The Journal of the American Medical Association, The New England Journal of Medicine, The British Medical Journal, and others.  Books he has co-authored include Curing Health Care: New Strategies for Quality Improvement, New Rules: Regulation, Markets and the Quality of American Health Care, and Escape Fire: Designs for the Future of Health Care.

Dr. Berwick was chair of the Health Services Research Review Study Section of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research from 1995–1999, and Chair of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality from 1999 through 2001. He was vice chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force from 1990 through 1996. From 1996 through 1999, Dr. Berwick served as the first “Independent Member” of the Board of Trustees of the American Hospital Association. He also served from 1989 through 1991 as a member of the Panel of Judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program. He is a member of several editorial boards, including that of Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA). From 1987 through 1991, Dr. Berwick was co-founder and Co-Principal Investigator for the National Demonstration Project on Quality Improvement in Health Care (NDP). He is a past president of the International Society for Medical Decision-Making. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, serving on the IOM’s governing council from 2002-2007 and as a member of the IOM’s Global Health Board since 2005.

Dr. Berwick was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry in 1997 and 1998. Co-chaired by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Labor, the Commission was charged with developing a broader understanding of the issues facing rapidly evolving healthcare delivery systems and to help build consensus on ways to assure and improve the quality of health care.

Dr. Berwick has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the 1999 Ernest A. Codman Award, and, in 2001, the first Alfred I. DuPont Award for excellence in children’s health care from Nemours, one of the nation’s largest pediatric health care provider organizations. In 2002, he was given the “Award of Honor” from the American Hospital Association for outstanding leadership in improving health care quality, and in 2004 he was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London. In 2005, in recognition of his exemplary work for the National Health Service in the U.K., he was appointed honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire—the highest award given to non-British citizens.  In 2006, he received from the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Individual Achievement for making significant and lasting contributions to improving patient safety and health care quality.

A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, Dr. Berwick holds a master of Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and an MD cum laude from the Harvard Medical School. The father of four children (Ben, Dan, Jessica, and Rebecca), he is married to Ann (Greenberg) Berwick, an environmental attorney, Undersecretary for Energy in the Executive Office of Energy and Environment of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and former Chief of the Environmental Protection Division in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

Andrew Dreyfus

Andrew Dreyfus is Executive Vice President of Health Care Services for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. In that position, he is responsible for the company’s health and wellness, performance measurement and improvement, and provider contracting and services divisions. He is also leading the development of a new collaborative initiative to improve the quality and safety of health care in Massachusetts.

Andrew previously served as the first President of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, which works to expand access and reduce barriers to health care for Massachusetts residents. During his tenure, the Foundation awarded nearly $17 million in grants to community organizations and launched a series of policy initiatives, including the “Roadmap to Coverage”, which contributed to the successful passage of the state’s landmark 2006 Health Reform Law.
       
Andrew is a member of the board of the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center, the Harvard Risk Management Foundation and the Board of Advisors for the Brigham & Women’s Hospital Center for Surgery and Public Health.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Andrew served as Executive Vice President of the Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA).  At MHA, he led the development of nationally recognized initiatives to expand access to coverage, and improve quality and patient safety.
 
Andrew’s previous professional experience includes serving as the Massachusetts Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, and as Director of Operations and Director of Communications in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Human Services.

Lynn Nicholas

Lynn Nicholas, FACHE, joined the Massachusetts Hospital Association as President and CEO in August 2007 bringing with her more than 30 years of hospital and association experience.

Before her appointment to MHA, she led the American Diabetes Association.  And prior to that, Lynn served as President and CEO of the Louisiana Hospital Association.

Along with her service on many philanthropic leadership committees, Lynn is a member of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Task Force on Community Benefits.

She attended Tennessee Wesleyan College and earned a master's from Central Michigan University. Lynn is actively involved with American College of Healthcare Executives – a professional group – of which she is a fellow.  Lynn resides in Lexington, Mass. with her husband Nick.