JCPH Masterclass Webinar Series

Adam Powell, PhD 

Dr. Powell is a lecturer at JCPH and president of Payer+Provider Syndicate, a management advisory and operational consulting firm focused on the managed care and healthcare delivery industries. A healthcare economist and published author, Dr. Powell's specialty as a consultant is using quantitative techniques to examine issues concerning technology, operations and firm decision-making. His peer-reviewed research has focused on improving healthcare quality in mHealth (mobile health) and in high-cost areas of medicine. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR): Mental Health and on the Scientific Advisory Board of PsyberGuide. He additionally is known for his expertise in global health informatics and has lectured extensively in Asia. Dr. Powell has been featured in over one hundred articles from outlets including JAMA, CNN, Forbes, Fox, Inc., CBS News, NBC News, Reuters, U.S. News and World Report, The Advisory Board, The Christian Science Monitor, Yahoo! Finance, Becker's Hospital Review, Fierce, Healthcare Finance News, HealthLeaders Media, KevinMD, mHIMSS, Modern Healthcare, Minyanville and Seeking Alpha.

Evan Anderson, JD, PhD 

Dr. Anderson is assistant professor in the public health program at JCPH with extensive in public health law research.  He uses qualitative and quantitative methods to describe how law and policy operate as structural determinants of health, and to identify how reform can promote wellness and equity. In this work, he  explores the use of law as an instrument of behavior change within public health governance.

Michael Anderson, MSIS, CSSMBB 

Michael Anderson is currently Associate Program Director for the Operational Excellence graduate program at JCPH, and Director of Operations at Jefferson Methodist Hospital, where he's responsible for providing oversight and consultation for execution of initiatives within quality/safety, patient satisfaction and finance and to devise efficiency strategies and quality control improvement plans conducive to growth and profitability

Michael is a cutting-edge visionary leader with more than 20 years of immense expertise in strategic planning, market development, new service initiatives, financial analysis, and fiscal management within the healthcare industry. Michael was previously the Associate Director for Clinical Effectiveness & Quality Improvement at University of Pennsylvania Health System where he led and help create high reliability master black belt teams to produce sustainable outcomes for the highest levels of the organization. He served as co-chair for the safety events reporting governance committee and the patient satisfaction steering committee. 

Michael holds a certifications in (CSSMBB) Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and (PM) Project Management. Michael holds a Bachelor's of Science from Rosemont University and a Master of Information Systems from Drexel University. 

Richard Hass, PhD 

Dr. Hass is an Associate Professor, and Program Director for the PhD in Population Health Science and Health Data Science Programs at JCPH. He completed his PhD in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences cluster of the psychology department at Temple University. His research focuses on applications of psychometrics, cognitive science, and data science to important issues in population health.

Rosemary Frasso, PhD, SM, SM, CPH

Dr. Frasso is the Victor Heiser, MD Professor and Public Health Program Director at JCPH.  She is aslo the Director of Mixed Methods Research, Asano-Gonella Center for Medical Education & Health Care at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. 

Dr. Frasso is a health equity researcher and public health educator. She earned a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice, as well as two master's degrees from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her current research focuses on the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in projects designed to improve population health, healthcare quality, access to health services for vulnerable populations and evaluation of educational endeavors in medicine, social work, nursing, allied health, and public health settings. 

Her expertise in qualitative methods focuses on traditional and alternative data sources and data collection approaches that are crucial to studies designed to inform, assess, and promote health equity interventions. 

Rebeca Almanza, MBA, LPN, CPHQ 

Rebeca is a lecturer in the Healthcare Quality & Safety and Healthcare Administration Program at JCPH. Rebeca’s healthcare career spans over 12 years with experience in rehabilitation care, hospital orthopedic/medical surgical unit, outpatient care, and managed care. She has extensive experience in quality programs, such as overseeing HEDIS®/STARS activities, managing accreditation efforts, and conducting projects for population health initiatives. Her quality career has centered around creating performance improvement programs for those with chronic conditions, children, and older adults. As of recently her passion for education has led her to create a new team to provide essential quality education to staff in Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace lines of business across the country. Other professional activities include consulting and mentoring. 

Andrew Kopolow, MPA, MSW, CPHQ, PMP, CLSSMBB, FNAHQ

Andrew is Assistant Director of the Healthcare Quality & Safety Program at JCPH. Mr. Kopolow draws on 20 years of experience in healthcare with roles ranging from direct practice behavioral health clinician to Director of Quality Management. He is a nationally recognized subject matter expert in healthcare quality and change management.

Mr. Kopolow’s passion for advancing the Healthcare Quality profession can be seen through ongoing volunteer service at both national and local healthcare quality organizations. Examples include helping to overhaul the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) Code of Ethics for the Healthcare Quality Profession, contributing to the expansion of the NAHQ Healthcare Quality Competencies Framework, and participating in the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) Blue Ribbon Panel to establish Graduate Healthcare Quality Certification Program Standards. Mr. Kopolow helped organize a network of local Healthcare Quality Associations across the United States (known as the Healthcare Quality Collective) in support of continuing healthcare quality education. He was inducted as a NAHQ Fellow in 2021.

Mr. Kopolow served as the  first Competencies Commission Chair of the National Association for Healthcare Quality's Board of Directors (2016-2017), and as  President of the Association for Healthcare Quality of Arizona (2020-2021).

Laurel Pickering, MPH 

Laurel joined the adjunct faculty of JCPH in 2021, bringing her years of experience in healthcare quality and market-based reform to her teaching.  She is currently President & CEO of the Gateway Business Health Coalition (BHC) and its sister organization, the Midwest Health Initiative (MHI). The BHC represents leading employers, who provide health benefits to thousands of lives in Missouri and millions nationally. The mission of BHC is to support employer efforts to improve the well-being of their employees and enhance the quality and overall value of their investments in health benefits. MHI brings together those who provide, pay for, and use health care to share knowledge and develop regional solutions for the problems that challenge our health care system. As a nonprofit, regional health improvement collaborative, MHI is dedicated to generating data insights that support multi-stakeholder collaboration for higher quality, more affordable health care.

Before joining BHC, Laurel was Head, Strategic Alliances at Centivo and was Executive Vice President, Enterprise Solutions for Welldoc. Laurel was the President & CEO of Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) for over 20 years. There, she built an employer-led coalition of healthcare leaders and other stakeholders with the mission of empowering members to drive excellence and value in healthcare and the patient experience. Under Laurel’s leadership, NEBGH became one of the most active and influential healthcare-focused business coalitions in the country, dedicated to a value-based delivery system.

Laurel serves on the Board of Directors of HealthPass and the Population Health Alliance. She is Co-Chair of the Advisory Council of the Center for Workplace Mental Health. Laurel received her BA in Anthropology from SUNY Albany and MPH from Emory University.

Mary Reich Cooper, MD, JD 

Dr. Cooper is an Associate Professor at JCPH who holds multiple roles: Program Director for Healthcarecare & Safety; Healthcare Administration; and Operational Excellence. She is also the Interim Director of the Population Health Program. She designed and inaugurated the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Leadership (QIPS) program and the implementation of the Health System Science curriculum for the Sidney Kimmel Medical College in the JeffMD curriculum. 

Much of Dr. Cooper’s career has been leading healthcare quality and patient safety for academic medical centers and affiliated organizations. Dr. Cooper was the Chief Quality Officer and Senior Vice President, Clinical Services for the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) from 2012 to 2021. At CHA, she was responsible for overseeing the implementation of High Reliability Science throughout the hospitals in Connecticut, creating value for the hospitals with their quality and safety strategy, and working closely with the state government and quality organizations. Dr. Cooper also oversaw CHA’s work in Population Health, including Social Determinants of Health and the Connecticut Perinatal Quality Collaborative.

David Olsen, PhD, MS

Dr. Olsen is lecturer in the Health Data Science program at JCPH. He has over 30 years experience in various analytical and leadership roles based primarily in the global energy industry. Areas he worked in focused on forecasting, pricing, market analytics, and finance.  His current interests include data science, machine learning, and big data analytics to derive insights and develop innovative solutions to complex problems to promote public health. Dr. Olsen also has expertise in programming including SQL, SAS, and R.

Mary Reich Cooper, MD, JD 

Dr. Cooper is an Associate Professor at JCPH who holds multiple roles: Program Director for Healthcarecare & Safety; Healthcare Administration; and Operational Excellence. She is also the Interim Director of the Population Health Program. She designed and inaugurated the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Leadership (QIPS) program and the implementation of the Health System Science curriculum for the Sidney Kimmel Medical College in the JeffMD curriculum. 

Much of Dr. Cooper’s career has been leading healthcare quality and patient safety for academic medical centers and affiliated organizations. Dr. Cooper was the Chief Quality Officer and Senior Vice President, Clinical Services for the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) from 2012 to 2021. At CHA, she was responsible for overseeing the implementation of High Reliability Science throughout the hospitals in Connecticut, creating value for the hospitals with their quality and safety strategy, and working closely with the state government and quality organizations. Dr. Cooper also oversaw CHA’s work in Population Health, including Social Determinants of Health and the Connecticut Perinatal Quality Collaborative.