HPN introduces its new editorial board
by Rick Dana Barlow

Any successful magazine, whether in the consumer market or trade industry, relies on a pool of advisory experts to serve as guides as it navigates through events and issues pertinent to reader interest. Healthcare Purchasing News is no exception. Unlike some publications that may use their editorial advisory board members as mere window dressing on the masthead to give them street cred with advertisers and readers, HPN depends on its board members for recommendations on editorial topics, advice on editorial direction and assistance in recognizing leaders in the field on an individual, as well as departmental, level. They willingly provide the magazine and its staff with their vast industry knowledge and wisdom when needed for stories we publish and editorial calendars we develop. HPN has assembled and recruited an editorial advisory board that we feel reflects our broad professional readership base and represents some of the most influential thought leaders in the industry. That said, allow us to introduce you to the 13 members of HPN’s esteemed editorial advisory board.

Irwin Baker
Irwin Baker currently serves as director of marketing, healthcare services at Olympus America Inc.,  Melville, NY. In this role, Irwin provides leadership to the marketing effort for Olympus America’s healthcare and consumer groups to the healthcare market. He is responsible for the Olympus effort to effectively present the value of their products and services to the provider community. Managing the changing environment of group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and integrated delivery networks (IDN), he heads the effort to offer solutions to the multi-level provider customer base, in particular, Olympus America’s effort in IDN development and e-commerce. During his tenure with Olympus he also has held positions in sales, product marketing, strategic planning, business development and strategic alliance management.Prior to Olympus, he held sales, sales training, field marketing and field business development positions with Johnson & Johnson (J & J). During his tenure with J&J, he developed sales and marketing expertise in pharmaceuticals, medical/surgical and capital equipment. In his career, he has developed sales and marketing management experience and expertise in a wide variety of medical specialties, including cardiovascular, orthopedics, anesthesia, family practice, psychiatry, pulmonology, urology, gynecology, general surgery, vascular surgery, gastroenterology and colorectal surgery.

He currently serves as a member of the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association (HIGPA) and has previously been a member of the Corporate Council of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Surgeons (SAGES) and the International Federation of Societies of Endoscopic Surgeons (IFSES).

Secret weapon in management: Listening. I have seen too many times how managers have a fixed view of an opportunity or problem and are unwilling to listen and benefit from the counsel provided by resources they are paying to accomplish the work.
Must-have accessory: My laptop and BlackBerry(PDA). They allow me to keep in touch with colleagues and customers across the time zones. I just could not be anywhere near as productive and timely as I am without them.
What would people be surprised to know about you? In my high school and college years I was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist in a rock band. We had some local success and I actually went on to perform, in various roles, with various members of such well-known bands as Jay and the Americans, The Tokens, The Hassels (Billy Joel), The Grassroots, and Leslie West of Mountain. That experience was so much fun and actually helped prepare me for aspects of my business career.
How do you do your best thinking? When I take the time to dissect the situation I am dealing with and analyze it in small segments. Sometimes taking too much of a macro view of a project can blow the situation out of proportion. Understanding each component and putting it in the total perspective is how I’m able to understand the options available.
Dream collaborator: Going back to my youth and music, I’d have to say it would be Paul McCartney. I would love to play and sing with him. McCartney’s command of what he does is so impressive. By collaborating with him, I could also find out how he was able to maintain such a high profile career all these years. He certainly is an example who has been able to successfully manage change.
Bryant Broder
Bryant Broder, ACSP, currently is sterilization product manager for Skytron/TSO3. Broder is a central service, sterile processing and materials management professional with more than 28 years of experience in healthcare.

He has held numerous positions at Saint Mary’s Mercy Medical Center in Grand Rapids, MI, and the Detroit (MI) Medical Center. He also has consulted for industry and healthcare facilities on such topics as sterilization, washer decontaminators, case carts and instrument tracking systems. In addition, Broder has published more than 28 articles in both national and international journals and has been a speaker on numerous topics both nationally and internationally. He is a past president of the Michigan Society for Healthcare Central Service Professionals, The Greater Detroit Society of Healthcare Central Service Professionals and the 2002 past president of the American Society of Healthcare Central Service Professionals (ASHCSP).

Secret weapon in management: My presence and ability to listen.
Must-have accessory: A Mont Blanc pen.
What would people be surprised to know about you? I lived in Las Vegas for 17 years so I am living proof that what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas.
How do you do your best thinking? Of course, when I’m under a deadline.
Dream collaborator: That is dependant on the need. However, I think I would have to go with Einstein. He usually gets the job done.
Joe Colonna
Prior to joining Strategic Initiatives in Healthcare LLC, Jackson, NJ, in February 2004 as president and CEO, Joseph Colonna was the senior vice president for Tampa, FL-based NCI Inc., a 20-year-old leading healthcare firm specializing in knowledge transfer, business transformation and performance optimization. In this capacity, he managed the company’s supply chain and expense control consulting services, co-created several educational conferences for integrated delivery networks (IDNs), group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and the supplier industry. Colonna’s duties also included the facilitation of healthcare focus groups and serving as moderator at NCI’s major national conferences.

Colonna is well known on both the provider and supplier sides of the healthcare industry. His blend of healthcare expense control expertise includes seven years as a vice president for Shared Services Healthcare, Atlanta, one of the largest voluntary group purchasing programs in the country. During this period, he oversaw the group purchasing program for hospitals, developed an alternate-site volume purchasing program and established a consulting service for expense control and supply chain services. Prior to his work in the shared services and group purchasing industry, Colonna worked for Owen Healthcare Inc., the largest contracted management services company in the United States, for five years as a supply chain/materials management director.

Colonna is a member of the Association For Healthcare Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM) and the Professional Society of Group Purchasing Executives. In addition to making several presentations at professional society meetings, he has published numerous articles pertaining to healthcare expense control. He has contributed heavily to the purchasing and materials management profession by co-creating and presenting an educational program throughout the U.S. for entry-level personnel. He continues to serve on the Board of Advisors for NCI Inc.

Secret weapon in management: Listening to the great people around me.
Must-have accessory: My cell phone. Sad but true.
What would people be surprised to know about you? That I come from a theatrical family. I did not go into acting because of a condition called severelackotalent.
How do you do your best thinking? When I am working with a team.
Dream collaborator: Socrates. I like his method for problem solving. Not so much his choice in drinks.
Niklaus Fincher
As the senior director of capital services for VHA Inc., Irving, TX, Niklaus Fincher brings more than 25 years of experience as a clinician, RIS/PACS operations/implementation manager, medical equipment planner and consultant to the VHA team. Prior to joining VHA, Fincher served as the director, equipment planning and management for Centex Resource Group, a division of Centex Construction. His responsibilities included equipment planning project management for Centex clients such as Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Nashville, TN, and Middletown Regional Hospital, Middletown, OH.

Before joining Centex, Fincher served as vice president, customer operations at INPHACT Inc., a Brentwood, TN-based RIS/PACS provider of digital imaging products and services to hospitals and imaging centers located throughout the U.S. Fincher managed all departments responsible for the successful implementation, training and on-going support of INPHACT’s RIS/PACS products and services. These departments included account management, installations, applications, product administration, interface development, 24/7 customer support and transcription services.
Prior to joining INPHACT in 1999, Fincher held the position of principal and vice president at Partners Healthcare Group, Brentwood, TN, where he provided strategic planning and consulting services to a variety of healthcare clients throughout the U.S. and Canada. These services included long-range capital equipment planning, technology assessment, staff productivity analysis, group purchasing contract negotiations and medical equipment planning for healthcare construction.
Fincher’s experience also includes extensive negotiation and purchasing skills. Prior to helping start Partner’s Healthcare Group, he served as the director of capital equipment contracting for MedEcon Services Inc., a Louisville, KY-based national group purchasing organization. At MedEcon, Fincher was responsible for negotiating purchasing contracts with capital equipment vendors for more than 1,200 healthcare facility members located throughout the U.S. In addition to negotiating contracts, Fincher started and implemented MedEcon’s equipment consulting program, which provided member facilities with technical and financial recommendations on pending equipment purchases. MedEcon was acquired by Managed Healthcare Associates, Florham Park, NJ, in late 1998.

Prior to joining MedEcon, Fincher served as an investigative analyst for MD Buyline in Dallas, where he was responsible for developing new databases for diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy devices. These databases were used to provide member facilities with technical and financial recommendations on pending equipment purchases. While at MD Buyline, Fincher also participated in member training programs and vendor negotiation sessions.
Secret weapon in management: Never attend a meeting unprepared and always listen carefully to superiors, staff, business associates, clients/customers and vendors.

Must-have accessory: An up-to-date electronic calendar and contacts index.
What would people be surprised to know about you? I love facts and statistics.
How do you do your best thinking? I tend to be organized and methodical. I like to approach issues or projects in increments in which progress can be clearly monitored.
Dream collaborator: Colin Powell. While I may not agree with some of his politics, I do believe he’s probably one of the most ethical, intelligent, capable individuals to leave their historical mark. His power of persuasion is indisputable.
Deborah Laughon
Deborah Laughon, RN, BSN, MS DBA, CCRN, currently holds the position of manager of systems improvement at Lakeland (FL) Regional Medical Center. She came to this position after 30 years in cardiovascular critical care nursing, both as a bedside nurse and for the last 15 years a multi-unit department manager. This role enables her to utilize her diverse and strong clinical, management and business backgrounds to plan, implement and evaluate the various projects to improve clinical outcomes and economic efficiencies across the organization.

Laughon also is a lead faculty for the University of Phoenix in their Master’s of Nursing, Healthcare Science and Business programs in Orlando. She teaches courses such as Health Care Finance, Economics, Strategic Planning, Human Resources and Organizational Learning.

Laughon has been very involved in the American Association of Critical Care Nursing, holding a number of positions locally and nationally. She currently serves as the National Treasurer and one of the 12-member Board of Directors. She is married to her husband Danny of 30 years, has three children, ages 17, 22, and 23 and a 1-year-old grandson. She also cares for her 84-year-old mother and mother-in-law. She loves traveling, reading, time with her family, the sun and "staying busy" in the many aspects of her life.

Secret weapon in management: Connection to the frontline workers... those who are in the trenches... if you can’t do it personally, then go actively observe or engage them in questions.
Must-have accessory: IT support. They can do what I need in a few seconds and it makes your life so much easier.
What would people be surprised to know about you? That I have a soft spot as my high energy and passion often are seen very differently.
How do you do your best thinking? Spontaneously. I am very good at thinking but I do need time to go back and validate the details – often late at night.
Dream collaborator: The staff, colleagues to bounce ideas off of.
John Mateka
John Mateka, MBA, FAHRMM, is the southeast regional vice president of supply chain at Holy Cross/Mercy Hospitals in Southeast Florida, affiliated with Catholic Health East. Mateka earned his undergraduate in business from Northeastern Illinois University, MBA from Baldwin Wallace College and MHA from Ohio State University.

Mateka has devoted more than 25 years in healthcare materials and resource management working in medium to large multi-site hospitals. He has presented nationally, appeared in a variety of materials management/purchasing magazines, including authoring a number of materials management supply chain articles. Mateka is extremely active in the Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM) where he has chaired and worked on numerous committees, including H2E – Environmental Preferable Purchasing, Technology Summit and Project Perfect World. Elected as board representative for Region 5 and again for Region 4, Mateka is currently serving his term as 2004 AHRMM president.

Secret weapon in management: Intuition and the ability to read people. This has served me well in negotiations and employee hiring and team building.
Must-have accessory: The obvious, I guess – the portable PC. I can’t imagine being able to work without it.
What would people be surprised to know about you? Because I am somewhat of a large individual with a deep, loud voice and frequently frown when I am deep in thought I may present an intimidating demeanor. I think some folks, however, might be surprised by my overall sensitivity, shyness and general compassion for people.
How do you do your best thinking? Physiologically I have been unofficially classified as a thinker – and typically that is what I do a lot of. Since I try desperately to separate work from pleasure, my best business thoughts come at the end of the day when the phones stop ringing and the office is quiet. I tend to ramp up during the course of the day and am usually firing on all eight cylinders, high speed when 6 p.m. comes around. Thoughts and ideas are really flowing then. My staff can attest to this with my typical late evening e-mails.
Dream collaborator: Again, keeping work and pleasure apart, I like to share my business ambitions, thoughts or desires with whomever I may be mentoring at the time. I have found they are eager to learn and ask questions that help me develop new or innovative ideas or plans. Or bring me back to earth when I am really out there.
Eileen McGinnity
Eileen McGinnity, president of Aspen Healthcare Metrics, Englewood, CO, has more than 25 years of healthcare experience, including 18 years as a consultant specializing in business development, marketing and clinical program management for hospitals and integrated delivery networks (IDNs). McGinnity started Aspen Healthcare Metrics in 1994 to provide clinical service line cost management consulting to adult, acute-care hospitals.

Aspen Healthcare Metrics’ service line expertise includes cardiovascular surgery, cardiology, orthopedic surgery, spine surgery and other high-volume clinical areas. Prior to starting Aspen Healthcare Metrics, she was vice president of the Strategic Cost Management division at Ronning Management Group (Brea, CA), and senior consultant at LBA Healthcare Management (Englewood, CO).

McGinnity has consulted nationwide on implementation of successful invasive cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, and pulmonary medicine value enhancement projects. She has developed successful outreach programs designed to strengthen referral relationships and increase market share for regional specialty programs. She has spoken at national meetings of healthcare organizations, and has published a variety of articles on clinical program management issues.

Secret weapon in management: Be flexible – there’s usually more than one good way to accomplish the task. Must-have accessory: A cold can of "Tab" soda (yes, they still make it).
What would people be surprised to know about you? I have a pilot’s license that I never use.
How do you do your best thinking? By pedaling up a mountain pass on a bicycle – 65 miles/day is my best thinking distance.
Dream collaborator: My business partner, Dan Piro, because we have built a successful business and still get along after 10 years.

Niven Narain
Niven Narain has been a research associate in the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine since 2001. Narain is a co-inventor of Q-Soothe™, a topical cream that relieves muscular fatigue and joint pain and has developed technology to facilitate the investigation of lipophillic reagents in cell culture, which is covered in the current technology. He is a co-investigator on clinical trials pertaining to skin cancer at the University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center and to athletic performance with the University of Miami Hurricanes football team. Current research seeks to establish the mechanisms by which apoptosis is selectively induced in cancer cells by administration of Coenzyme Q10. His current areas of scientific investigation include cutaneous and mesenchymal malignancies.

Prior to University of Miami, Narain served as a research assistant at Columbia University Medical Center’s Department of Biochemistry from 1998-2000. At the hospital he studied the effects of Nitric Oxide potentiates glucose induced insulin release in pancreatic beta cells. During the 1999-2000 school year he also served as a biology/chemistry instructor at J&G Academy, Great Neck, NY. He joined Columbia after spending a year as a microbiology laboratory assistant at St. John’s University, Department of Biological Sciences.

Narain also has volunteered 1,000 hours in 1998-2000 in the emergency room of Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center, in New York, helping physicians and staff members administer patient care. He volunteered 200 hours in 1999-2000 with the chaplain service at St. John’s Queens Hospital, Forest Hills, NY, offering family counseling with ICU patients and families of victims in the departments of emergency medicine and surgery. Prior to that he volunteered 800 hours in 1996-1997 in the emergency room of Columbia-Osceola Regional Medical Center, Kissimmee, FL, assisting the ER staff in administering basic care, observing surgical procedures and trauma cases.

Secret weapon in management: I strive to garner the spirit of inclusiveness within my group that serves to empower each individual to perceive responsibility not as a task but rather as a pathway to collective success.
Must-have accessory: I definitely must remain in communication with my group. Access to e-mail, cell phone and pager is critical to ensuring that issues are resolved in an expeditious manner.
What would people be surprised to know about you? Contrary to popular belief, I have a soft, "emotional" side.
How do you do your best thinking? Most definitely when I am alone and after prayer.
Dream collaborator: My dream team consists of Dr. Ben Carson, a Johns Hopkins University neurosurgeon, Nobel Laureates and co-discoverers of HIV, Dr. Luc Montagnier (Institut Pasteur in Paris and CUNY-Queens College, NY) and Dr. Robert Gallo (University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute).
Michael Rudomin
Michael Rudomin is vice president, consulting services at AdvanTech Inc., Annapolis, MD. In this role, he has corporate responsibility for providing, managing and marketing the company’s consulting services to the healthcare industry. Rudomin has more than 25 years of healthcare experience in both hospital management as well as consulting. He has worked in small institutions of 100 beds as well as major academic medical centers in excess of 1,000 beds.

At AdvanTech Inc., Rudomin oversees the company’s provision of consulting and outsourced management services as well as the implementation of other technology at customer sites. Prior to its acquisition by AdvanTech Inc., Rudomin was a founding principal of Quantum Healthcare Services Inc., where he was responsible for the development and management of the company’s consulting services to all sectors of the healthcare industry.

Before forming Quantum, Rudomin was assistant vice president at Concepts In Healthcare Inc., responsible for managing major client assignments as well as marketing the company’s services to new clients. Rudomin also has worked as a management consultant for Arthur D. Little Inc., where his responsibilities included strategic planning for hospitals and major health care corporations, hospital information system assessments and materials management analyses.

Prior to his consulting career, Rudomin was the director of materials management at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. In this position, he developed and implemented the medical center’s first Total Quality Management initiative, re-engineering a supply partnership with a major vendor and significantly reducing supply order/receipt/payable cycle time and costs. Rudomin also chaired a task force that developed the requirements for an automated system to integrate the materials management and accounts payable activities of the university hospital, medical school and physician group practice.

Rudomin also has held several positions at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, including that of inventory manager, where he was responsible for $12 million of inventory as well as designing enhancements to the hospital’s integrated purchasing, receiving and accounts payable systems.

Secret weapon in management: Share the credit when things go well and take the blame when they don’t. When good things happen, they are usually a result of people working together, or at the least providing you with the information and support you need to be successful. If things don’t go well, step up to the plate, acknowledge them, fix them and then prevent them from happening again. 
Must-have accessory: Good old low-tech yellow "Post-it" notes. I use them for everything, including marking pages in a report or journal article, writing myself reminders of things to do or people to contact, jotting down phone messages for somebody else.
What would people be surprised to know about you? For relaxation, I fly airplanes. Even though it takes intense concentration and constant attention to the details to fly safely, I find it relaxing because it forces me to leave all my other issues behind and on the ground.
How do you do your best thinking? I think best when I find the issue before me to be challenging and not something that I have done many times before. I enjoy the intellectual process of figuring new things out or new ways to accomplish an old problem.
Dream collaborator: Bill Gates, but not because of anything having to do with computers. Rather, because he has demonstrated through his charitable foundation a deep passion for attacking the world’s seemingly unsolvable problems, many of which are related to healthcare.  

Jean Sargent
Jean Sargent, ACE, CRCST, CHL, FCS, CMRP, corporate director, central service/receiving, UCLA Healthcare, Los Angeles, has been involved in the healthcare field in central service for more than 26 years. Sargent began her career working in decontamination, advancing her way through the various department functions to her current position at UCLA Healthcare. Sargent also has been active on both the local and national levels of the Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM) (for the last seven years) and the International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM) (for the last 12 years).

Sargent currently serves as the chairperson of IAHCSMM’s Professional Development Resource Council (PDRC), which oversees the instructors of the certification course. Sargent has taught more than 200 students in the certification course to date. She actively pursues educating staff about central service and other topics surrounding materials management. She has been the education director for the California Central Service Association and has spoken at the traveling education seminars for the last two years. Sargent has spoken at local and national IAHCSMM meetings.

Sargent also has been active with ARHMM, serving on the education committee, speaking at four national conferences and is currently the Region 9 Board Member. Her main concern and passion is education.

Secret weapon in management: I feel that my knowledge, based on my experience, of the processes within the department and the understanding of how the processes support patient care allow me to interact with all levels of the organization in a supportive manner.
Must-have accessory: I must have actual data to ensure I make decisions that are appropriate for the department/organization, as well as education.
What would people be surprised to know about you? People may be surprised to know I have two daughters aged 25 and 22 and that my husband is younger than me.
How do you do your best thinking? I do my best thinking while driving in LA traffic.
Dream collaborator: SPSmedical’s Chuck Hughes. I find that as a person he is someone that we should all look to for guidance in regards to responsibility and ethics. He is someone I look up to.

Bob Simpson
When you talk about a diversified healthcare background, you can easily refer to Bob Simpson, currently president and CEO of LeeSar, the supply chain management division, and Cooperative Services of Florida, the group purchasing organization for Lee Memorial Health System, Fort Myers, FL, and Sarasota (FL) Memorial Healthcare System.

From 1976 to 1982, Simpson was the director of operations for the Northeast Red Cross Blood Service and during that famous blizzard of 1978 he was responsible for ensuring the blood supply moved while New England was buried under 12 feet of snow, having assigned to him a platoon of soldiers, armored personnel carriers and a helicopter.

From 1982 to 1983, Simpson was the director of materials management and project coordinator and assisted in building the first United States Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center at Tuft’s University in Boston where the federal government made a commitment to bring in the top nutrition researchers from around the world to study the effects nutrition has on the aging population.

From 1984 to 1994, Simpson was at the Neponset Valley Health System where he led the effort to centralize materials management services for the first multi-hospital healthcare system in the New England area as vice president of materials management for that system.

In 1994, Simpson joined Healthcare Services of New England and, as its vice president, developed total service contracts for their membership.

From 1995 to 2002, Simpson held several executive positions at TFX Surgical Group, where he led the development of a national accounts effort and the development of a service division to assist customers in lowering their total operational cost.

On March 1, 2002, Simpson returned to the provider side of the business to run LeeSar and Cooperative Services.

In addition, during 1995, Bob was the International President of the Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management and in 1997 received the "The George R. Gossett Leadership Award," AHRMM’s most prestigious recognition. He is also the founder and Board of Trustees member of Project Perfect World, which takes medical teams around the world to provide free surgery for needy children.

Secret weapon in management: I have two management tools that have worked well for me over the years. 1. Empower. All of my direct reports are given the authority they need to be successful to set the direction for their areas of responsibility. 2. Seek out input from the people who use our services. Without this strong communication process we would never be successful. These days I see myself more as a coach than a boss.
Must-have accessory: My Palm Pilot. My days are so busy and priorities change by the minute. My Palm is a direct interface with my executive assistant who can change my calendar as she needs to.
What would people be surprised to know about you? I am an old car enthusiast and have rebuilt several old vehicles. My current project is a total frame-off restoration on a 1963 Chevrolet Impala SS Convertible. Finish date is estimated for Spring 2005.
How do you do your best thinking? I need to be alone early in the morning with no disturbances. I use meditation techniques and picture the perfect supply chain.
Dream collaborator: Jack Welch. I have read all of his books and had the opportunity to meet him when I worked for the Department of Agriculture. He’s a great business leader.
David Strong
David Strong is director of logistics services at Integris Health, a two-hospital and multiple-clinic IDN in Oklahoma City, OK. Strong has more than 30 years of leadership experience in materials management at hospitals and multi-hospital systems in Texas, Tennessee, Michigan and Oklahoma.

At Integris, Strong directs purchasing, accounts payable, warehousing, inventory control, distribution, linen management, surgical supply, sterile processing, print/mail center, contract management and value analysis. Before joining Integris in August 1999, Strong served as system director of materials management for the El Paso (TX) Market of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. for three years. Strong was responsible for two Columbia/HCA hospitals, numerous clinics and local service centers.

Prior to Columbia/HCA, he spent two years as corporate director of materials management at Detroit, MI-based Horizon Health System, which included two urban hospitals and numerous clinics and physicians’ offices.

Strong began his career 30 years ago at Methodist Hospital, Memphis, TN, before moving to Medical Plaza Hospital, Fort Worth, TX, then to Fort Worth (TX) Osteopathic Hospital, then to Providence Hospital, El Paso, TX, and then to St. Luke’s Hospital, Saginaw, MI, before moving to Horizon Health.

An AHRMM Certified Senior, Strong has been an association member since 1980 and was the AHRMM Board Member from Region 5 (Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin) from 1992 to 1994. He served as president of the Michigan Association of Healthcare Purchasing and Materials Management in 1991.

Secret weapon in management: The ability to see the bigger picture and know how my department and our activities impact that picture, and specifically the bottom line.
Must-have accessory: Sense of humor and thick skin.
What would people be surprised to know about you? I am impatient with people who want to discount the financial benefits we bring to the table.
How do you do your best thinking? Analyzing data and looking for the creative approach.
Dream collaborator: David Mason with the Omniflex Division of Omnicell. David was the president of BCX (which Omnicell acquired). I would love to collaborate with David. He could take some of my wild, way-out ideas and maybe turn them into software and help streamline the supply chain.
Ray Taurasi
Ray Taurasi is director of business development for Case Medical Inc., Ridgefield, NJ. His healthcare career spans more than three decades as an administrator, educator, technologist and consultant. Taurasi is a past president of the International Association for Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM) and has served on and contributed to many national committees with myriad professional organizations, manufacturers, corporations and prestigious healthcare networks.

Taurasi has been a faculty member of numerous colleges teaching in the divisions of business administration and health sciences. He has authored several articles and textbook chapters and has been a featured speaker on the international scene. He has been very involved in community health affairs and served two terms as an elected political official on the Board of Health of his hometown. He served as the board’s vice chairman for six years. Taurasi is an active member and contributor to many professional associations and regulatory entities on the local, national and international level. In addition to professional credentials in the field of central service technology and education, he holds a B.S. degree in management and counseling and an MBA. His dedication to the healthcare field and community service has won him international recognition and several prestigious awards.

Secret weapon in management: No secret weapon. Good human relations skills, values and consistency are important. Surround yourself with talented staff and empower them to do their job and shine! Celebrate success and maintain symmetry in life – work hard and play hard!

Must-have accessory: My laptop – have computer will travel. I am lost without it!
What would people be surprised to know about you? That basically I am a shy guy.
How do you do your best thinking? Via critical analysis accompanied with gallons of coffee.
Dream collaborator: An opened minded, creative, positive, accountable, team player. HPN