Mercy Health employee named national innovation advisor

In December 2011, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services selected 73 individuals, including Margaret Namie, of Mercy Health, to the Innovation Advisors Program.

Namie works as divisional vice president of quality for Mercy Health, a network of  more than 80 hospitals, senior living communities, outpatient centers and physician practices based in Cincinnati. Mercy will receive $20,000 to help support Namie’s work as an advisor. Candidates range from physicians to nurses to allied health professionals to instructors. The CMS, created by the Affordable Care Act, looks at criteria, such as career achievements, the organization's commitment to their work and skill sets.

“I have long advocated finding and sharing best practices in patient care as a way for healthcare providers to improve the health of the communities they serve,” Namie says. “The opportunity to learn from and share ideas with healthcare leaders from across the country will help us improve the health of men, women and children throughout the United States and right here in Cincinnati.”

The program is part of CMS’s wider effort to transform the healthcare system both financially and operationally. Chosen from 920 applicants from around the country, advisors will go through an intensive orientation then test new models of care and build partnerships to share ideas and outcomes both locally and nationally. By attending in-person meetings as well as remote sessions, advisors can deepen their knowledge in health care economics and finance, population health, systems analysis and operations research.

In its first year, the Innovation Advisors Program hopes to appoint 200 people to create a network of healthcare professionals and organizations working towards the same goals.

By Evan Wallis