Bios

Bios

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.

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    Chetan Shukla, BE, MS, MBA

    A highly experienced consultant applying Lean principles toward facilities design and project management, Chetan has been a strong proponent of Lean methodologies for more than 10 years and excels in training Lean specialists and team members. His hands-on experience includes the management of numerous projects with manufacturers of medical devices, appliances and automobiles. As a member of the VALUMETRIX® Services team, Chetan, a certified Lean facilities designer, has successfully managed Lean design projects in laboratories and been an instructor for Six Sigma training classes. Chetan recently concluded the redesign of the entire laboratory for a mid-sized Midwest hospital where, using Lean principles, he was able to free up more than 15% of the lab space, while making space in all lab areas for growth.

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    Claudia French, MBA, MT (ASCP)

    A Six Sigma Black Belt, Claudia has 25 years of laboratory medical experience. After graduating from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelor of Science degree in medical technology, she earned her MBA at the University of South Florida. She began her healthcare career as a medical technologist, advancing to laboratory manager and then director of operations, responsible for assuring that processes were in place for every phase of operations, as well as overseeing cost accounting in the laboratory. Since 2004, she has led many Lean implementation projects at healthcare facilities in the U.S. and Canada and frequently lectures on Lean and Six Sigma at healthcare meetings. Her operations experience and clinical leadership coupled with Lean and Six Sigma combine for tools and insight that can make dramatic operational improvements. She is also affiliated with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists.

  • Dale Hershfield, MBA

    Dale is a results-focused process improvement leader with a Six Sigma Black Belt certification and broad experience in Lean principles, change management, strategy deployment and continuous improvement. He has over 20 years of experience partnering with leadership teams — engaging staff at all levels to achieve shared goals and deliver improved performance. Prior to joining ValuMetrix[reg] Services, he held positions with Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, and KI. Dale has successfully applied Lean principles in diverse settings, including healthcare, consumer goods manufacturing, industrial chemical production, distribution materials planning, and furniture manufacturing. He also has over 10 years of experience with Baldrige-based improvement approaches, including roles as applicant, examiner, and state program judge. Dale is a featured author and speaker on Lean and performance improvement topics. Dale received a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

  • Daniel Littlefield, R.Ph., MBA

    Dan has 30 years of healthcare experience in a series of clinical and management roles. After graduating from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy, he earned his MBA at the University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business. He began his healthcare career in retail pharmacy and then earned a specialty certification in nuclear pharmacy. As a nuclear pharmacist, he was responsible for providing radiopharmaceuticals and consulting services to physicians and hospitals. He advanced to pharmacy manager and then to director of operations, responsible for 13 facilities and 300 employees as well as financial performance. Since 2005, he has led Lean and Six Sigma implementation projects in the pharmaceutical industry and at healthcare facilities across the U.S.

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    Jamie J. Miles, MT, ASCP

    Jamie’s 27 years of hands-on experience within hospitals give him extensive knowledge of hospital, surgery, emergency and laboratory business practices, Process Improvement and design layout. He has served as a Supervisor in the departments of immunology and special chemistry for a large reference laboratory, as a Supervisor, Senior Technologist, and as a staff Medical Technologist within hospital laboratories. Jamie has expertise in the application of software tools for Lean and Six Sigma, which help him bring clients the benefits of the latest technology. During his career with VALUMETRIX® Services, Jamie has led multiple Lean projects in the laboratory, emergency departments, patient flow, surgery, blood donor centers and reference laboratories across healthcare organizations and has also mentored Six Sigma Black Belts for Johnson & Johnson certification.

  • Jo Ann Hegarty MT (ASCP) SBB
    Marketing Director VALUMETRIX® Services Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc.

    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 with over 30 years of experience encompassing 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 papers. She maintains registration and licensure with the American Society of Clinical Pathologists as a Specialist Blood Bank and a Medical Technologist.

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    Lewis Lefteroff, MSIE

    As a Lean Tool Master and Six Sigma Black Belt, Lewis is an expert in driving business excellence. Lewis began his career as an Industrial Engineer, earning both Bachelor of Science and Master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami. After leading numerous improvements in medical device manufacturing, Lewis moved along the value stream towards the customer, driving Lean improvements in materials management, quality systems, and now the hospital environment. Since joining VALUMETRIX® Services, Lewis has led teams to improvements across the hospital including Laboratory Services, Operating Room, Sterile Processing, Pharmacy, Diagnostic Imaging, and others. In his early management roles, Lewis was a pioneer in addressing the challenges of “managing in a Lean environment” and in addition to project management and change management at the department/process level he works with senior executives to develop their strategies for deploying Lean improvements and changing the culture across the larger organization.

  • Martha Sunyog, MT (ASCP)

    With over 30 years of medical laboratory experience, Martha has an in-depth understanding of laboratory operations and the challenges facing today’s clinical leaders. After graduating from Denison University with a BS in Biology, Martha began her career as a Medical Technologist in Naples, Florida. She served as the Manager of the local community blood center and transfusion services for a number of years, and then became the Laboratory Administrative Director of DSI Laboratories, part of the NCH Healthcare System, overseeing operations for two hospital laboratories. Since joining Ortho Clinical Diagnostics VALUMETRIX® Services in 2008, Martha’s responsibilities include being a project leader for laboratory assessments and a team member of Lean implementation projects throughout North America using Process Excellence principles and tools. Martha is a six sigma yellow belt, and frequently lectures on Lean and Six Sigma at healthcare conferences.

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    Michael Monaco

    A Lean expert with broad national and international experience, Mike is a strong, hands-on leader with an extensive background in staff training and coaching, all of which he utilizes “to help create change in a continuous improvement environment.” As a long-time proponent of Process Excellence, Mike trained with Shingijitsu, one of Japan’s leading Lean consulting firms, and has extensive experience in Toyota Production System (TPS) methods and principles. Mike has successfully applied Lean and statistical improvement techniques in more than 75 kaizen projects. With VALUMETRIX® , Mike received accolades for his role in creating a Lean process at a Mexican site. Based on the results, the client realized that Lean would allow them to improve patient flow, thus process more tests and grow their business.

  • Norka Saldaña, PhD

    With more than 15 years of management and leadership experience in business and academia, Norka is a certified Six Sigma Master Black belt. She was a member of the Johnson & Johnson worldwide team that developed an innovative, up-dated Lean Training curriculum with a modular design. As a Process Excellence trainer, she developed and delivered virtual online training for Lean 5 S, Six Sigma Awareness, Project Sponsorship and Analytical Primer, conducting 18 sessions with 283 participants in 2006. She also developed Yellow Belt Training tailored to the Environmental Health and Safety community and delivered sessions in the U.S., Europe and Puerto Rico. Prior to joining the corporate world, she served as an assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in the School of Engineering, Industrial Engineering department.

  • Paul M. Button, LRSC

    A transformational change agent operating on the principle of “keep it simple and never accept the status quo,” Paul has demonstrated the endless potential in productivity improvements achieved through the utilization of Process Excellence tools (Lean and Six Sigma). He has accumulated more than 21 years of experience in the international diagnostics industry and has held responsibilities across many functional groups. A native of Wales, Paul carried out a Lean collaborative study with a leading Welsh hospital that resulted in turnaround times for routine ward blood tests decreasing from nearly 20 hours to only 58 minutes. He also worked on Lean Assessments with the UK National Blood Service Testing Services, which identified potential cost savings, on a national level, in excess of £2.3MM per annum, and with the NBS National Transfusion Microbiology Reference Laboratory to identify cost savings of £629,933.

  • R. Rodney Momcilovic, MBA, MT

    With more than 30 years of direct clinical operational laboratory and hospital experience in public, private, corporate, and government run organizations of variable sizes, Rodney can contribute thoughtful insights from a variety of perspectives. Rodney holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, as well as a MBA in Finance and Health Services Administration that is reinforced with 13 years of management positions in the areas of quality improvement and performance, the blood bank, the core laboratory, and microbiology. Rodney has served as a CAP-trained inspector and played significant roles in Joint Commission, American Association of Blood Banks, and FDA regulatory and accreditation preparation inspection processes. He has been an active material and resource panelist for Advance for Medical Laboratory Professionals as well as an Editorial Advisory Board member for CLMA.

  • Richard Albertini

    Rich is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 15 years of experience in manufacturing operations, process improvement/Lean and Six Sigma, and Supply Chain in two Fortune 500 companies. He has a proven record in the deployment of Six Sigma methodologies, teaching and mentoring Belts in the application of Process Excellence and achieving certification (350+ certified Green Belts and Black Belts); and driving results in industrial and medical device/biotechnologies industries. Rich holds a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Florida, a Masters of Engineering (ME) from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and he is currently pursuing an Executive MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and an Advanced Project Management Certification (SAPM) at Stanford University. He is also recognized as a Senior Member of the American Society of Quality (ASQ) and holds the Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence (ASQ CMQ/OE) certification. On his spare time, Rich is an Associate Faculty at the University of Phoenix Graduate School of Business (On-Line) where he teaches “Strategy and Value Creation” to students in Latin America.

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    Rick Malik MT (ASCP)
    World Wide Director VALUMETRIX® Services Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics

    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. Rick is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

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    Shana Padgett, BS, MT(ASCP)

    Shana is a board certified Medical Technologist with over 20 years laboratory experience and 4 years providing instruction at a Minnesota professional practices university. Prior to joining the VALUMETRIX® team in the summer of 2006, Shana had the opportunity to participate in VALUMETRIX® supported lean initiatives in her Minnesota hospital system laboratories, first as a team member and then as team lead. She then led her peers in several internal initiatives, including pharmacy, billing and referral testing. Since joining VALUMETRIX® Services, Shana has successfully led initiatives and coached teams to realize enterprise level, transformational change. She has developed teams and leadership in Laboratory Services, Surgical Services, Pharmacy, Patient Admissions, Business Operations and others. Shana’s passion for ensuring the future of quality, affordable healthcare includes educational content to address the significant challenges faced in staff engagement, managing and leading in a lean environment and change management in a cultural revolution. Shana is experienced in coaching and mentoring to drive change, at all levels, from the bench to the boardroom, as organizations align their strategic plans for financial security, growth, quality and continuous improvement.

  • Steven Friedland
    Managing Principal VALUMETRIX® Services Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc.

    With more than 20 years of experience in the field of healthcare, Steve 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.

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    Susan F. South, MAOM, MT (ASCP), SBB

    After a long career in blood bank management, Susan has earned a stellar reputation as a consultant, writer and presenter at professional meetings and conferences. For more than 20 years, she managed a consultation laboratory that provided education, training, quality assurance testing and problem loving for more than 1,000 hospitals in a 19-state region and for 23 United Blood Services donor centers. As a faculty member for the Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Blood Bank Education program, she developed and implemented refresher courses, a technical training program and a Specialist Blood Bank (SBB) program for presentation to a multi-state area. Susan has been on the cutting edge of the educational efforts in Lean and Six Sigma methods, presenting many programs. She also has written and lectured extensively on change management and has received numerous awards for innovation and leadership in the field of transfusion medicine and Lean and Six Sigma applications.

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    Tim Orr
    Vice President, Marketing, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics

    Since joining OCD in 1994, he has held several key positions worldwide, including Director U.S. Marketing, Worldwide Marketing Manager (based in London), Worldwide Strategic and Business Planning Manger, Director Sales and Marketing Asia Pacific Region, and International Managing Director for several OCD international affiliate companies. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Lake Forest College and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from The Graduate Institute. A member of the Biomedical Marketing Association and member of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry, he has served on the Johnson & Johnson Asian Philanthropic Committee, chairperson for OCD’s United Way and Good Government Fund campaigns.