Judges Bio's
Michael Cull, Ph.D., M.S.N. is a licensed nurse practitioner with a specialty in child and adolescent psychiatry. He holds a Master of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University and received his PhD from the Institute of Government at Tennessee State University. Dr. Cull is currently the Deputy Commissioner for Child Safety for the State of Tennessee. Prior to his position as Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Cull was Assistant Professor in Health System Management at Vanderbilt and the Director of Education and Dissemination in the Office of Quality and Patient Safety for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. His prior experiences at Vanderbilt include serving as Executive Director of the Community Mental Health Center, Administrative Director of the Department of Psychiatry Patient Care Center, and Director of the Center of Excellence for Children in State Custody. Dr. Cull has extensive experience with organizational evaluation and improvement in healthcare and the human services.
Julianne (Julie) Morath, RN, MS, is a recognized expert in health
care quality and patient safety. She serves as President and CEO of the
Hospital Quality Institute (HQI), a collaboration of the California Hospital
Association and the three Regional Associations. Prior to joining HQI, Morath
served as Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer for Vanderbilt University
Medical Center. She is a founding and current member of the Lucian Leape
Institute of the National Patient Safety Foundation and serves on the Board of
Commissioners of The Joint Commission and the Board of the Virginia Mason
Medical Center and Health System. Morath is a distinguished advisor to the
National Patient Safety Foundation, past member of the National Quality Forum
Best Practices Committee, and member of the Advisory Board to the Association
of the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Recently, she was named
by Becker Hospital Review as one of the top 50 experts leading patient safety.
Morath has more than three decades of executive and academic
experience in health care that includes the University of Cincinnati, Brown
University, University of Rhode Island, University of Minnesota, and Vanderbilt
University. Her work is distinguished through translating research into
practice and building cultures of safety and excellence. Before joining
Vanderbilt, Morath served as COO of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of
Minnesota. She is on the editorial boards of American Nurse and the Journal
of Quality and Patient Safety.
Daniel Nelson, MD has more than thirty years of experience
practicing as an ophthalmologist. He also serves on the board of directors for
Westfields Hospital in New Richmond, Wisconsin, and on the board for the
HealthPartners Research Foundation, where he is the chair of the finance and
audit committee. Within the HealthPartners Medical Group, he is a member of the
Eye Care Group and co-directs the HealthPartners Medical Group Improvement
Institute. Dr. Nelson also remains active in clinical and basic science
research projects. He received his medical degree and ophthalmology residency
and specialty training in cornea and external disease at the University of
Minnesota Medical School.
Richard (Rick) Norling, MHA, has provided
transformational leadership for improving America’s healthcare for over three
decades. In so doing, he has championed organizational excellence – delivery of
value to stakeholders, ethics and transparency in operation. Norling was CEO of
Premiere Inc., president and CEO of Fairview Health System and executive vice
president and COO of UniHealth America. He has served on the boards of several national,
state, and local organizations. Including Premiere, the cross-industry national
Healthcare Leadership Council, Malcolm Baldridge Foundation, Institute for
Healthcare Improvement, Pacificare Health System, and Blue Cross of California.
For many years he has been a leader in the Organizational Development
Partnership Network, based in Great Britain, which collaboratively studies the
healthcare systems of developed countries around the globe.
As a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Healthcare
Improvement, Rick speaks with experience afforded by that frontline work,
enduring passion for improvement rooted in an educational ground of systems
improvement and healthcare management, and broad perspective on America’s
overall health system—how it compares to its potential and in the world, and
what it needs to advance.
John Overton, M.D., has a longstanding interest in
safety and process improvement in health care and aviation. He is a member of
the American Medical Association, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the Air
Medical Physicians Association and he serves as a Board Member for the
Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems.
Dr. Overton’s current pursuits consist of consulting
in health care safety and participation in a multidisciplinary alliance of professionals
whose focus is just culture, risk and safety management, operational audits,
and organizational leadership. As a professional invested in maximizing safety
and system efficiency, he acknowledges that there is much to learn and share
across disciplines.
Mark Sims, MBA, is the CEO of Grand Strand Regional Hospital
in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Sims previously served as chief executive
officer of TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center, a 109-bed acute care facility in
Smyrna, TN. Prior to TriStar StoneCrest, he served as chief executive
officer at Parkridge East Medical Center, Chattanooga, TN, and chief executive
officer at Grandview Medical Center, Jasper, TN.
Judging process and schedule
With 15 teams and 6 Judges we have designed a new system for our competition process so that we can continue to accommodate all teams presenting on the same day. All Judges are trained together for consistency and standardization using the judging rubric and scoring. Judges will rotate between the two presentation rooms throughout the day. Teams will not be required to present a 2nd time. Instead, judges will rely on the standardized scoring process and will have the ability to review recorded presentations during final deliberations as needed. Teams have been assigned numbers, presentation times, and presentation rooms. Each team will have 20 minutes to present followed by a 10 minute question and answer period. Teams will then have an additional 10 minute feedback session with judges immediately following the Question and Answer period. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be announced at the awards banquet on the evening of Saturday April 18th. Please note: While final numerical scores are never shared with any teams, all participants will receive a link to their own presentation along with links to the winning presentations. Judges will be present at the Awards banquet and welcome opportunities for conversation. The full presentation schedule is listed below:
