About Us
Julie A. Kliger, MPA, BSN
Julie A. KligerPrincipal and CEO
Over the last 26 years Julie Kliger has established herself as a leading voice for patient safety and improved outcomes. Her work in addressing practice redesign in healthcare has been nationally recognized for its unprecedented achievements in reducing medication administration error and sepsis mortality.
Ms. Kliger's most recent work concentrates on the critically important work of healthcare’s front-line clinicians. With the University of California at San Francisco's Center for Health Professionals she is directing the Integrated Care Leadership Network (ICLN), which began as an $18 million, multi-year/multi-system project (The Integrated Nurse Leadership Program) to measurably improve outcomes. Current outcomes include:
- 43.7% reduction in sepsis mortality
- 30.0% reduction in medication errors
In addition to the above noted work, Ms. Kliger is also working with the California Association of Public Hospitals as the state-wide sepsis consultant, Stanford University’s Clinical Excellence Research Center as coach to the Fellows, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) as a faculty member, Daughters of Charity Health System as their state-wide sepsis consultant, Agency for Health Research Quality Innovator, 3M, among other private and not-for-profit organizations.
To further her work, Ms. Kliger established The Altos Group (www.thealtosgroup.com), an organizational improvement and management advisory firm that works exclusively with healthcare organizations. With a philosophy focused on outcomes, implementation and partnership, The Altos Group helps clients achieve quantifiable improvements in care by developing the leadership skill-set of front line clinicians.
Prior to establishing her own firm, Ms. Kliger worked for the University of California Office of the President in the Division of Clinical Services Development as Associate Director of Quality. In this position she led the implementation of the first ever system-wide, web based error reporting program which is still active across all five academic medical centers. Due to her work on this project, she was asked to be a member of the National Quality Forum’s task force to develop a national taxonomy standard for error reporting systems.
Ms. Kliger is a published author and her articles can be found in the Archives of Internal Medicine (April, 2010), Joint Commissions' Journal on Quality and Patient Safety (Dec, 2009 and Feb, 2012), Journal of Nursing Administration (March, 2010) among several other notable publications. She has been an invited speaker at numerous national conferences including, Joint Commission, National Quality Forum, University Health Consortium (UHC), RAND Corp., Stanford University, American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), BMJ’s International Conference, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Moore Foundation, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE).
Ms. Kliger completed her Master's in Public Administration at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government where she focused on patient safety and error reduction policies. aShe holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing from Columbia University in New York City and a Bachelor’s of Arts from UC Berkeley.
Philip Levin, MD
Philip LevinFaculty
Dr. Levin is a Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at David Geffen School of Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology. He also is the Vice Chief of Staff, the Medical Director of Perioperative Services, and Chair of Surgery and Anesthesiology Committee at Santa Monica/UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. He has been associated with UCLA since finishing his Anesthesiology residency in 1996. He specialized in Liver Transplant anesthesia for over 12 years. He graduated with a Bachelor's of Science degree from University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. He then went to Medical School at the University of Illinois in Chicago and completed his residency program at UCLA.
Martie Mattson, RN, MSN, CNS, CCRN
Martie MattsonFaculty
Ms. Mattson is a Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist, Educator and Consultant, and an Assistant Clinical Faculty in UCSF’s Department of Physiological Nursing. She has extensive experience in critical care nursing as a staff nurse, manager, educator and clinical nurse specialist. Currently she is the Sepsis Consultant for the Integrated Nurse Leadership Program Sepsis Project under the UCSF Center for the Health Professions and the Daughters of Charity Health System CARE Program. Her previous position was the Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist at California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, California, where she co-chaired the project to implement the Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommendations at CPMC. In addition she consulted with other Sutter affiliated hospitals to assist them in setting up their sepsis management programs.
Ms. Mattson has authored two chapters in the Critical Care Nursing Secrets book and has frequently lectured on a variety of critical care topics throughout the Bay Area and the state. She is a member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. She is a retired Army Nurse Corps Colonel and served in Vietnam, Korea, Colorado, and California.
Ms. Mattson earned her nursing diploma from Pittsburgh Hospital School of Nursing, her BSN from Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado and her MSN from the University of San Francisco.
Michele A. Rubin, PhD
Michele A. RubinFaculty
Dr. Rubin is currently the Accreditation and Licensing Principal Consultant for the UC San Diego Health System, has over 20 years experience in Health Care Regulatory Affairs and Compliance, Quality Improvement, Leadership and Risk Management.
She has extensive experience with Tracer Methodology as well as all aspects of health care licensing and accreditation. Areas of expertise include licensing and regulatory plan development, TJC Accreditation Compliance and TJC Disease-Specific Certification (DSC). This includes managing compliance activities that address all TJC functions and standards, including the Environment of Care, Life Safety, Emergency Management, Patient Rights, and National Patient Safety Goals.
Dr. Rubin also provides support during and after CMS Surveys, including partial and full validation surveys, advice during Immediate Jeopardy Situations, and guidance on compliance with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, among other functions.
Dr. Michele A. Rubin’s extensive education includes a Ph.D. and Masters from UC San Diego, and a Masters in Management of Health and Human Services from The Florence Heller School of Advanced Studies in Health Administration and Social Welfare from Brandeis University.
Joan Grebe, MA, OT
Joan GrebeFaculty
Joan Grebe is an independent healthcare consultant specializing in educating others about quality improvement tools and techniques and facilitating quality improvement teams. She currently works with several national organizations to develop training series geared to strengthen systems at the strategic level and to develop technical support for improving the patient experience and the system’s clinical performance. In addition, Ms. Grebe is an Improvement Advisor for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Sepsis Collaborative. Previously, she was Improvement Advisor for the Improving Outcomes for High Risk and Clinically Ill Patients IMPACT Community of IHI and Assistant Director for IHI in the National Vascular Access Improvement Initiative “Fistula First” large spread project, conducted in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the End Stage Renal Disease Networks.
Joan received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts degree from Tufts University, Boston School of Occupational Therapy. Her experience as an occupational therapist at both the staff and administrative levels includes acute inpatient, rehabilitation, home health, outpatient, and long-term care.
She is a certified Zenger-Miller trainer and is a member of the American Society for Quality, the American Society for Training and Development, and the American Association of Occupational Therapy. Joan is also trained in Appreciative Inquiry facilitation and the Lean approach to quality improvement.
Thomas Huber, MS
Thomas HuberFaculty
Thomas is a performance improvement advisor. His primary focus is on creating high performing front line teams that drive organizational performance. As an applied researcher and faculty member at Dartmouth Medical School he helped develop the microsystem model; a comprehensive approach to transforming organizations toward superior cost, quality, and service. Since 1996 he has worked with clients across the care continuum in more than 30 states. He has a MS degree from the Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy, and a BA in Philosophy and Psychology from Dartmouth College. He has taught training seminars at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and the American Hospital Association. Thomas lives in the Bay Area and enjoys kite surfing in the summer and skiing in the winter.
Martin Luz, MA
Martin LuzFaculty
Martin has been working in the field of public relations and strategic communications for 20 years. He brings extensive experience in a wide range of disciplines from message development, identity and branding, to media relations and internal communications. His diverse background as a practitioner includes work at PR agencies, in-house (managing corporate PR and communications programs), and as an independent consultant. Martin's industry specialties include insurance (life/health), asset management and banking, energy, management consulting and not-for-profit institutions. As a writer, he brings a specialty in thought leadership programs, having completed white papers and supporting collateral on a breadth of topics. He has written annual reports, identity and banding brochures, product collateral, websites — and entire range of marketing and communications materials. His ghost-written articles for clients have appeared in dozens of business publications in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Boston University and an MA in Creative Writing from The City University of New York.
Alyson Falwell, MPH
Alyson FalwellDirector of Operations
Alyson Falwell joined The Altos Group in January, 2009. Previously she was manager of the Patient Safety Consortium, a collaborative of more than 120 hospitals working together under a Stanford University-based AHRQ-funded grant to measure and improve hospital safety culture. Based out of the Center for Health Policy/Primary Care and Outcomes Research at Stanford, Ms. Falwell managed several projects relating to patient safety, safety culture and the use of medical simulation. Prior to that she worked with the University of Washington's End-of-Life Care Research Program on projects aimed at improving palliative care in the ICU and improving physician and patient communication around end-of-life issues. From 2000 to 2002, she worked with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania on clinical and public health research projects.
Ms. Falwell received a BA in psychology and political science from Skidmore College, and a Master of Public Health degree in health and policy research from the University of Washington. In 2004 she received the American Public Health Association's Master's Student Research Award. Her research interests include the utilization of healthcare services among caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease, and how psychosocial factors influence the use of health services. She is active in several San Francisco area organizations that work on issues of hunger and food insecurity, including Share Our Strength, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Glide.
Robert Duffy, MPA
Robert DuffyDirector of Strategy & Development
Bob Duffy has devoted his career to developing and implementing strategies that impact key issues in the public service sector. Bob is known nationally for his political acumen, particularly regarding his work on key local, state, and national campaigns and issues. His passion is now focused on making the world a better place through reducing healthcare costs and improving quality. He produces the Massachusetts Teachers Association's (MTA) TV & Radio advertising and earned media campaigns, creates public affairs and cause marketing programs, and provides crisis communications and public relations assistance to MTA locals throughout Massachusetts. Bob created and serves as President of an award winning 501c3 foundation, Reading Matters Inc, which uses cause marketing to promote student achievement in Massachusetts.
Bob has consulted for former U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, U.S. Sen. John Kerry and numerous candidates and political causes including the President's Summit for America's Future, and other groups that promote volunteerism and public service. As a White House Advance person for the Clinton Gore Administration and the Clinton Gore election committees, he helped organize the 1996 Inauguration and worked on over 75 White House events involving President and Hillary Clinton, Vice President and Tipper Gore and various cabinet secretaries. He represented the White House in planning and conducting high profile diplomatic visits to Bosnia and Egypt. He also has covered politics and government as a print, television, and radio journalist at BusinessWeek Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Boston Business Journal, WMEX Radio and several local television stations in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Alaska.
Bob holds a B.S. in Journalism from Northeastern University and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Katherine Kim, MPH, MBA
Katherine KimFaculty
Kathy has spent over 20 years leading teams to innovate and excel in healthcare and technology enterprises such as Brown & Toland Medical Group, UCSF Medical Center, Brigham & Women's Hospital (Partners Health System), Alta Bates Medical Center (Sutter Health), and Oracle. She is also an entrepreneur: CEO of a venture-funded startup (one of only 2% of venture funded startups led by women nationally), leader of a business incubator, and Founder and President of Kim Consultants. Her consulting work focuses on strategic planning, leadership, and driving innovation with health information technology.
Kathy currently combines consulting with teaching and research as Professor in Residence of Biology and the Health Equity Institute for Research, Practice and Policy at San Francisco State University. Her research focuses on innovation and adoption in healthcare technology and service delivery, as well as the role of diversity and leadership. She has received awards from the American College of Healthcare Executives, UC Berkeley, American Association of University Women and others. Kathy is a published author of healthcare articles and papers and fiction. She earned an MPH and MBA from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Biology from Harvard College.
Laurie Bodine, MBA
Laurie BodineFaculty
With twenty-five years of experience in business development, leadership and strategic planning, Laurie Bodine works with medical device and healthcare delivery communities to drive engagement, well being and performance improvement.
Laurie's dynamic guidance has contributed significantly to many professional and charitable organizations as well as to the individuals in the organizations. With deep experience and knowledge in team building, effective communication and transformational leadership, her proven expertise and processes are invaluable in developing the organizational support necessary to successfully achieve a wide range of individual and collective goals, priorities and objectives.
She earned a BS in Nutrition from the University of California, Davis and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine. Past clients include 3M, Baxter International, Edwards Lifesciences, Genentech, NBC, Medco, The Soroptomists, The Ethics and Compliance Officer’s Association, and Stanford University’s National Campaign for Youth.