Our People

The consultants at ValuMetrix Services come from a variety of backgrounds, giving you the benefit of  fresh perspectives and a wide range of experience. Some are former healthcare administrators who specialized in quality improvement. Others have worked in process improvement at manufacturing facilities. In each case, your consultant has years of experience with process improvement in a real-life setting.

Senior Management

Rick Malik is responsible for overall management of the ValuMetrix Services Organization. He credits his experience in the manufacturing field – where Six Sigma was born – for helping him to internalize the principles of Process Excellence and recommend effective workflow and change management solutions to his clients.

Rick worked as a registered medical technologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Laboratories, where he served as assistant supervisor in the Immunoassay/Tumor Marker Lab. Rick then spent several years as a Regional Health Systems executive at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, during which time he focused on managing OCD business within the large integrated delivery systems in the Pennsylvania and New York areas.

Prior to joining ValuMetrix Services, Rick served as an account executive for Parametric Technology Corporation, where he specialized in Web-based enterprise information management and computer-aided design solutions.

Rick is a graduate of Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology. He received his medical technology certification from St. Vincent Hospital School of Medical Technology, also in Pennsylvania.

As marketing director for ValuMetrix Services, Jo Ann creates the dynamic marketing strategies that promote Ortho’s Process Excellence-powered services to the health care market.

Jo Ann has served in a variety of marketing and product management roles at health care companies. Her 30 years of experience encompass both marketing management and health care delivery.

Prior to joining Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Jo Ann worked as Marketing Director for the Consulting and Services [division?] of Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems. There, she was instrumental in expanding the Surgery Consulting and Operations Solutions service lines. As a marketing executive for a variety of product lines – including endovascular guide wires, blood collection bags and pneumatic compression devices – Jo Ann launched more than 12 new products, directed product training and developed highly successful marketing communication and promotional strategies.

Jo Ann’s technical background includes experience as a medical technologist and as an assistant supervisor of a transfusion service for a mid-size community medical center. For more than 10 years, she performed complex immunohematology reference work in the world-renowned Philip Levine Reference Laboratory Blood Consultation Service at Ortho Diagnostics. She has also held positions in quality assurance and field technical support.

Jo Ann is a member of the American Association of Blood Banks and has co-authored several important papers. She maintains registration and licensure with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists as a Specialist Blood Bank and a Medical Technologist.

With more than 20 years of experience in the field of healthcare, Steven Friedland has demonstrated expertise in sales, marketing, corporate contracting and business development. For the past 14 years, he has held sales and management positions at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, focusing on corporate accounts, customer service, and now the ValuMetrix Services Group.

Steve joined the Clinical Diagnostics sales organization in 1991. As one of the founding members of a new Health Systems Executive team, he managed a group of accounts in the Southeast U.S. In 2001, he oversaw a group expansion and became responsible for the eastern half of the country. Many of the early pilot projects using Process Excellence in hospital labs were implemented within this group of accounts.

Prior to joining Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Steve represented products for cardiology and the clinical laboratory in the hospital and physicians' office markets. He is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. He has multiple certifications in management, high-performance team development and negotiation skills.