Institute Agenda

Monica E. Oss

Chief Executive Officer, OPEN MINDS

Monica E. Oss, M.S., Chief Executive Officer and Senior Associate, is the founder of OPEN MINDS. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. Ms. Oss is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field. She has unique expertise in payer financing models, provider rate setting, and service pricing. She has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, managed care programs, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.

Leon M. Hoover, MSW

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Amanda Nugent Divine, MS, LMFT

Chief Executive Officer, Kings View Corporation

Amanda Nugent Divine is the Chief Executive Officer for Kings View Behavioral Health Corporation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology, a Master of Arts degree in Media Psychology and has just achieved her ABD for her PhD in Psychology with a focus in Media and Technology. Amanda is licensed as a marriage and family therapist in the state of California and a licensed professional counselor in the state of Texas. She has extensive experience serving as a Clinical Director in both mental health and substance use disorder treatment settings, working with Tribal communities and teaching The Psychology of Marriage and Family as adjunct faculty for Sierra College. Amanda is also an Expert Consultant for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences licensing board.

Amanda attended university on a theater scholarship. She worked in the film industry as an actress, writer, producer, director for ten years in Los Angeles before meeting her husband Eric in Northern, California. Amanda loves spending time outdoors hiking with her family and her two Labradors and traveling to remote corners of the world.

John Lovelace

President, UPMC For You

John Lovelace holds several positions within the UPMC Insurance Services Division, through which he oversees the government health program lines of business with UPMC.  This includes the managed Medicaid programs, managed long-term services and supports, Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare and Medicare Special Needs Programs, individual medically underwritten coverage and the operations of federally facilitated marketplace operations.  He has been associated with UPMC insurance services for more than twenty years.

John serves on a variety of local, regional and national boards, including the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, which he serves as Board Chair; Medicaid Health Plans of America; and the National Managed Long-Term Services and Supports Health Plan Association.

He speaks nationally on key issues affecting publicly financed health care programs, with emphasis on people with disabilities and social determinants of health.  More locally, his advocacy efforts are focused on disabilities, services for women and children and behavioral health.

Mr. Lovelace holds graduate degrees in Rehabilitation Counseling from the State University of New York at Buffalo, as well as in Information Services from the University of Pittsburgh.

Monica E. Oss

Chief Executive Officer, OPEN MINDS

Monica E. Oss, M.S., Chief Executive Officer and Senior Associate, is the founder of OPEN MINDS. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. Ms. Oss is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field. She has unique expertise in payer financing models, provider rate setting, and service pricing. She has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, managed care programs, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.

John Lovelace

President, UPMC For You

John Lovelace holds several positions within the UPMC Insurance Services Division, through which he oversees the government health program lines of business with UPMC.  This includes the managed Medicaid programs, managed long-term services and supports, Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare and Medicare Special Needs Programs, individual medically underwritten coverage and the operations of federally facilitated marketplace operations.  He has been associated with UPMC insurance services for more than twenty years.

John serves on a variety of local, regional and national boards, including the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, which he serves as Board Chair; Medicaid Health Plans of America; and the National Managed Long-Term Services and Supports Health Plan Association.

He speaks nationally on key issues affecting publicly financed health care programs, with emphasis on people with disabilities and social determinants of health.  More locally, his advocacy efforts are focused on disabilities, services for women and children and behavioral health.

Mr. Lovelace holds graduate degrees in Rehabilitation Counseling from the State University of New York at Buffalo, as well as in Information Services from the University of Pittsburgh.

Leon M. Hoover, MSW

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.

Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics.  Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.

Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.

He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.

Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.

Peggy S. Terhune, Ph.D.

President Chief Executive Officer, Monarch

Dr. Peggy Terhune has served at the helm at Monarch since June 1995. As President and Chief Executive Officer she oversees Monarch's large, statewide network of services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental illness and substance use disorders, serving nearly 30,000 North Carolinians each year.

Under Peggy's leadership, Monarch has implemented evidence-based and best practices in all areas, has successfully added numerous services, enhanced community integration, improved customer satisfaction, reduced turnover, and has effectively developed programs to serve consumers with multiple disabilities. She has grown the agency significantly, in part, due to the excellence of the supports offered. She diligently pursues her methodology to
incorporate continuous improvement within the organization. Peggy has served as an advocate for people with disabilities for more than 40years and she has often been invited to present at national conferences and technical workshops across the country, particularly on emerging practices that are used at Monarch. She has also served as an adjunct faculty member at Rochester Institute of Technology, Strayer University and is currently teaching at Wingate University.

She is a founding board member of the North Carolina Providers Council and past president of the National Conference of Executives of the Arc. Additionally, Peggy was appointed to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Waiver Advisory Committee (DWAC) and has been appointed twice to the N.C. Commission on Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services. She is also a board member of the N.C. Council of Developmental Disabilities and was appointed twice by the Governor. Peggy is a past member and officer of the Board of Directors for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) North Carolina and former member of the Benchmarks' Board of Trustees.

Peggy is the recipient of numerous regional and national leadership awards. In 2016, she was the first­ ever recipient of the Distinguished Professional Award in Diversity and Cultural Competency by The National Conference of Executives (NCE) of The Arc. The award recognizes leaders from The Arc's national network of nearly 700 chapters that provide innovative programs that meet the needs of the diverse I/DD community.

A graduate of Indiana University, Peggy received a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy, she earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Teaching with a concentration in Cultural Studies/Human Development/Families from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is culturally competent, and her competencies include a wide range of clinical and administrative skills.

Jim Fiorenzo, MBA

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

James Fiorenzo, MBA, brings over 40 years of business management experience in health care to the OPEN MINDS team. For OPEN MINDS customers, he brings a wealth of experience in the mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, long-term care systems development, hospital administration, and pharmacy management.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Fiorenzo served as the President of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Hamot Hospitals. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for managing the enterprise of over 3,000 employees and $550 million in annual revenue.

Over the course of five years, Mr. Fiorenzo was the lead on three hospital acquisitions and the acquisition of multiple physician practices. He also led the initiative to acquire and integrate the largest provider of behavioral health in northwestern Pennsylvania into the UPMC system.

During his tenure, Mr. Fiorenzo expanded philanthropic giving to the organization through a revamped development department, managing over $25 million in assets. He also developed one of the first school-based primary care programs, as well as creating a psychiatric primary care program.

Prior to UPMC, Mr. Fiorenzo served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Hamot Medical Center. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for the enterprise, enhancing system revenues by 40% over a five-year period. He was responsible for a major efficiency and operational overhaul of the inpatient services of the hospital, saving $12 million. He also developed programs that resulted in a 15% increase in regional referrals to organization and grew its outpatient service volumes by 30%.

Before his time at Hamot Medical Center and UPMC, Mr. Fiorenzo was the founder and president of Great Lakes Home Healthcare Services and of Bayside Pharmacy & Physician Supply. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for organizing and creating the first hospital-based home care company. He grew the organization into a $25 million regional home health care company with five regional branches. The organization exceeded all budgeted goals and grew to provide a comprehensive service array of nursing, medical equipment, infusion therapy and clinical services with over 150 employees.

Mr. Fiorenzo earned his Master of Business Administration from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Pharmacy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Toni Pergolin

President & Chief Executive Officer, Bancroft NeuroHealth

Toni Pergolin is a highly regarded strategic leader with acute financial acumen who has
successfully grown companies organically and through mergers and acquisitions.

Currently serving as President and CEO of Bancroft, one of the largest human services providers in New Jersey and the Greater Philadelphia region, she has more than doubled the size of the company in ten years. Her ability to lead nonprofit organizations with a focus on delivering excellence with a healthy margin has resulted in a decade of profitable returns enabling reinvestment in the organization’s mission.

She was selected as one of the 50 most influential people in South Jersey by South Jersey Biz in 2015, won the SmartCEO Cornerstone Award 2015, was among The Who’s Who in Healthcare in South Jersey in 2017 and SJ Magazine Women of Excellence in 2019.

Pergolin received the Campbell Soup Extraordinary Leadership Award and was awarded the first Corporate/Business Award by Maria's Women United. She has been recognized for her leadership in many publications including SmartCEO Magazine, Philadelphia Business Journal, SNJ Business People, SJ Biz, Main Line Today and received recognition for advancing women's equality. Most recently she received the Women of Excellence Award for Business Excellence by SJ Magazine.

She currently serves as the Chairwoman for Peirce College and as a director on the boards of
Fulton Bank and South Jersey Chamber of Commerce. She also is a member of the FPA Wealth Management Advisory Board.

Prior to joining Bancroft, she worked at the University of Pennsylvania Health System for 14 years in various positions, including Chief Financial Officer for Pennsylvania Hospital. She received her undergraduate degree in accounting from Pennsylvania State University and her master's in health administration from Saint Joseph's University.

Pergolin’s first book, Too Important to Fail: Leadership Lessons for Nonprofits comes out in
January 2020.

Paul M. Duck

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Paul M. Duck brings over 40 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.

Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.

Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.

Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.

Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.

Mark Mishek

President & Chief Executive Officer, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Mark G. Mishek is a Minnesota native with extensive executive-level experience in health care. Mishek was named President and CEO of Hazelden in August 2008 by the Hazelden Board of Trustees and officially assumed this role in November 2008. With the merger of Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center in February 2014, Mishek became President and CEO of the newly-formed Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

Mishek's career in health care spans 30+ years. He came from the Allina Hospitals & Clinics system, where he held various senior positions, including President of United Hospital of St. Paul, Executive Vice President for Law & Public Affairs and General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is an outstanding organization with a rich legacy and a bright future," said Mishek. "I am honored and grateful each day to lead such a highly respected, mission-driven company. Our organization truly is an international leader in helping people sustain lifelong recovery to addiction to alcohol and other drugs. I'm excited to continue to build upon our strong foundation, started over 60 years ago, to assure that the message of hope and recovery reaches the broadest possible audience.

Mishek earned a B.A. degree with high honors from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. degree with honors from the University of Minnesota Law School. He is the former chair of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. He is a past board member of Portico Healthnet, Capital City Partnership and ClearWay Minnesota.

He lives with his family in St. Paul and is in long-term recovery from the disease of addiction.

Jim Fiorenzo, MBA

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

James Fiorenzo, MBA, brings over 40 years of business management experience in health care to the OPEN MINDS team. For OPEN MINDS customers, he brings a wealth of experience in the mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, long-term care systems development, hospital administration, and pharmacy management.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Fiorenzo served as the President of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Hamot Hospitals. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for managing the enterprise of over 3,000 employees and $550 million in annual revenue.

Over the course of five years, Mr. Fiorenzo was the lead on three hospital acquisitions and the acquisition of multiple physician practices. He also led the initiative to acquire and integrate the largest provider of behavioral health in northwestern Pennsylvania into the UPMC system.

During his tenure, Mr. Fiorenzo expanded philanthropic giving to the organization through a revamped development department, managing over $25 million in assets. He also developed one of the first school-based primary care programs, as well as creating a psychiatric primary care program.

Prior to UPMC, Mr. Fiorenzo served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Hamot Medical Center. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for the enterprise, enhancing system revenues by 40% over a five-year period. He was responsible for a major efficiency and operational overhaul of the inpatient services of the hospital, saving $12 million. He also developed programs that resulted in a 15% increase in regional referrals to organization and grew its outpatient service volumes by 30%.

Before his time at Hamot Medical Center and UPMC, Mr. Fiorenzo was the founder and president of Great Lakes Home Healthcare Services and of Bayside Pharmacy & Physician Supply. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for organizing and creating the first hospital-based home care company. He grew the organization into a $25 million regional home health care company with five regional branches. The organization exceeded all budgeted goals and grew to provide a comprehensive service array of nursing, medical equipment, infusion therapy and clinical services with over 150 employees.

Mr. Fiorenzo earned his Master of Business Administration from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Pharmacy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Mark Mishek

President & Chief Executive Officer, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Mark G. Mishek is a Minnesota native with extensive executive-level experience in health care. Mishek was named President and CEO of Hazelden in August 2008 by the Hazelden Board of Trustees and officially assumed this role in November 2008. With the merger of Hazelden and the Betty Ford Center in February 2014, Mishek became President and CEO of the newly-formed Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

Mishek's career in health care spans 30+ years. He came from the Allina Hospitals & Clinics system, where he held various senior positions, including President of United Hospital of St. Paul, Executive Vice President for Law & Public Affairs and General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is an outstanding organization with a rich legacy and a bright future," said Mishek. "I am honored and grateful each day to lead such a highly respected, mission-driven company. Our organization truly is an international leader in helping people sustain lifelong recovery to addiction to alcohol and other drugs. I'm excited to continue to build upon our strong foundation, started over 60 years ago, to assure that the message of hope and recovery reaches the broadest possible audience.

Mishek earned a B.A. degree with high honors from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. degree with honors from the University of Minnesota Law School. He is the former chair of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. He is a past board member of Portico Healthnet, Capital City Partnership and ClearWay Minnesota.

He lives with his family in St. Paul and is in long-term recovery from the disease of addiction.

John F. Talbot, Ph.D.

Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Jefferson Center for Mental Health, & Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.

Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics.  Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.

Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.

He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.

Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.

Paul M. Duck

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Paul M. Duck brings over 40 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.

Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.

Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.

Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.

Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.

Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics.  Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.

Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.

He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.

Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.

John F. Talbot, Ph.D.

Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Jefferson Center for Mental Health, & Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Jim Fiorenzo, MBA

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

James Fiorenzo, MBA, brings over 40 years of business management experience in health care to the OPEN MINDS team. For OPEN MINDS customers, he brings a wealth of experience in the mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, long-term care systems development, hospital administration, and pharmacy management.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Fiorenzo served as the President of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Hamot Hospitals. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for managing the enterprise of over 3,000 employees and $550 million in annual revenue.

Over the course of five years, Mr. Fiorenzo was the lead on three hospital acquisitions and the acquisition of multiple physician practices. He also led the initiative to acquire and integrate the largest provider of behavioral health in northwestern Pennsylvania into the UPMC system.

During his tenure, Mr. Fiorenzo expanded philanthropic giving to the organization through a revamped development department, managing over $25 million in assets. He also developed one of the first school-based primary care programs, as well as creating a psychiatric primary care program.

Prior to UPMC, Mr. Fiorenzo served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Hamot Medical Center. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for the enterprise, enhancing system revenues by 40% over a five-year period. He was responsible for a major efficiency and operational overhaul of the inpatient services of the hospital, saving $12 million. He also developed programs that resulted in a 15% increase in regional referrals to organization and grew its outpatient service volumes by 30%.

Before his time at Hamot Medical Center and UPMC, Mr. Fiorenzo was the founder and president of Great Lakes Home Healthcare Services and of Bayside Pharmacy & Physician Supply. Mr. Fiorenzo was responsible for organizing and creating the first hospital-based home care company. He grew the organization into a $25 million regional home health care company with five regional branches. The organization exceeded all budgeted goals and grew to provide a comprehensive service array of nursing, medical equipment, infusion therapy and clinical services with over 150 employees.

Mr. Fiorenzo earned his Master of Business Administration from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Pharmacy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, EdM

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Joseph P. Naughton-Travers, Ed.M., Senior Associate, has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. In this tenure as senior associate with OPEN MINDS since 1998, he has served as lead of dozens of client initiatives, served as editor of OPEN MINDS publications, and is the author of many groundbreaking articles and presentations.

Mr. Naughton-Travers brings to OPEN MINDS a broad range of experiences in private and public sector delivery of behavioral health and social services. He started his career as a behavioral health clinician, working in both child welfare and community mental health clinic settings. Subsequently, Mr. Naughton-Travers held a senior business operations management position for a psychiatric hospital system and its community mental health clinics.  Later, he was vice president of a firm specializing in information systems and billing and receivables management for community-based mental health programs.

Since joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Naughton-Travers has developed business solutions for provider and professional organizations, state and county government, technology companies, and venture capital firms. His primary areas of expertise include strategic planning and metrics-based management, electronic health record (EHR) and technology selection and implementation, operations improvement, and corporate compliance. For the past decade, over half his consulting practice has focused on aiding organizations in technology selection and implementation, including all aspects of strategic technology planning, functional specifications development, request for proposal development, vendor selection, and contracting.

He has written numerous articles, including “Winning the Human Resource Wars: Tried, True and New Strategies for Behavioral Health and Social Service Organizations,” “Five Pillars of Management Competency,” “Data Driven Decision Making: Moving to an Organizational Measurement Culture,” “Survival of the Smartest: What is Your Organization’s Information Literacy IQ?,” and “Strategic Human Resource Management: Aligning Compensation with Employee Performance and Organizational Strategy.” Mr. Naughton-Travers is also a nationally recognized speaker, having conducted hundreds of executive and professional executive training events around the nation.

Mr. Naughton-Travers received his Bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio and his Masters’ of Education in Counseling Psychology from Boston University.

Paul M. Duck

Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS

Paul M. Duck brings over 40 years of experience in leadership and management focusing on managed care, health information technology organizations, strategy, business development, and market expansion, and customer experience optimization to the OPEN MINDS team.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Duck served as the Vice President, Strategy & Development at Beacon Health Options. In this role, Mr. Duck led the organization’s strategy and business development efforts – responsible for a 30% increase in net revenue and initiated over $1 billion in revenue generation. Mr. Duck was active in national behavioral health initiatives as an executive of Beacon Health Options, including participating as a speaker at national and state association meetings.

Before joining Beacon Health Options, Mr. Duck was the Vice President of Business Development at Netsmart Technologies. During his tenure, Mr. Duck was responsible for business planning, including, the oversight of strategic activities including acquisitions, development, and execution of strategic initiatives, and positioning, and sales of large strategic customers. He also led the rollout of the company’s benchmarking and data analytics product suite.

Prior to Netsmart, Mr. Duck served as the Chief Executive Officer for Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, a large group practice with five clinic locations and two ambulatory surgical centers. As the organization’s chief executive officer, Mr. Duck was responsible for significant positive changes in leadership and corporate culture, financial and operational performance, compliance, and governance. Mr. Duck improved net collections by over $1 million per month and grew the practice through negotiating better contract rates with payers. He also implemented an organizational rebranding initiative and launched a new marketing campaign.

Prior to Coastal Orthopedics and Pain Management, Mr. Duck served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Florida Radiology Imaging, one of the largest outpatient diagnostic imaging service companies serving the greater Orlando market. During his tenure, Mr. Duck led the construction of three new, full modality, diagnostic imaging locations. Mr. Duck revolutionized the company’s culture by creating a highly attractive and functional work environment.

Mr. Duck earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his Associate of Arts in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Electronic Technology Institute. Mr. Duck received an award by Inc Magazine for leading Florida Radiology Imaging as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. Mr. Duck recently served as a contributing author to the book The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America.

Monica E. Oss

Chief Executive Officer, OPEN MINDS

Monica E. Oss, M.S., Chief Executive Officer and Senior Associate, is the founder of OPEN MINDS. For the past three decades, Ms. Oss has led the OPEN MINDS team and its research on health and human service market trends and its national consulting practice. Ms. Oss is well known for her numerous books and articles focused on the strategic and marketing implications of the evolving health and human service field. She has unique expertise in payer financing models, provider rate setting, and service pricing. She has led numerous engagements with state Medicaid plans, county governments, private insurers, managed care programs, service provider organizations, technology vendors, neurotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations, and investment banking firms – with a focus on the implications of financing changes on delivery system design.