Faculty

Paul Auchterlonie is chief executive officer of Altior Healthcare. He has nearly three decades of experience consulting for leading healthcare, education, and behavioral healthcare entities nationwide. As an executive advisor, CEO, and expert in education and behavioral health, he has spent the past decade operating his own consulting practice, focusing primarily on turning around and guiding entities in the behavioral health space. Auchterlonie enjoys building teams and companies, improving revenue cycle management, customer service workflows and infrastructure, marketing and PR, and is passionate about creating socially impactful entities. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, Auchterlonie worked for a research firm evaluating educational and mental health programs. He then earned his master’s degree in social sector administration from Harvard University. Auchterlonie has also worked for Harvard University, Elements Behavioral Health (startup phase 2009), Aspen Education Group, and The Right Step.

Eric Bailly is currently a Business Solutions Director at Elevance Health. In his 15th year at Elevance Health, Bailly’s role is focused on the enterprise substance use disorder strategy, with an ongoing emphasis on the enterprise opioid strategy. This work comes with an opportunity to shape Elevance’s organizational response when it comes to provider partnerships, vendor relationships and the provision of subject matter expertise tied to product development, government relations and corporate public policy.

Bailly earned a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN in 1993, and a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1996. Bailly is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the states of ND and CO and is a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor in the state of MN. Eric has worked as a behavioral health clinician in several settings including Outpatient Substance Use Disorder treatment services at both Kaiser Permanente and the Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment, both in the Denver, CO metro area. 

Bailly is also an adjunct professor at the Concordia College, School of Healthcare Professions in Moorhead, MN where he teaches Health Information Systems to undergraduate students pursuing degrees in healthcare and healthcare administration. Additionally, Bailly serves on a variety of boards and committees tied to organizations who are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of those who live with mental health and substance use issues.

Dexter W. Braff, MBA, MS, is the president of The Braff Group, one of the nation’s leading healthcare merger and acquisition (M&A) advisors according to Thomson Reuters. Celebrating its 20-year anniversary last year, the firm has completed over 330 healthcare deals and is the publisher of marketWATCH, marketALERT, viewpoint, and BRAFF onPOINT. With over 30 years of experience representing healthcare service companies, Braff is a recognized industry expert in healthcare M&A. He has written and contributed to feature articles in numerous healthcare industry publications and has a chapter in the Handbook of Business Valuation published by John Wiley & Sons. He is frequently interviewed on healthcare M&A by news outlets, including Bloomberg News, CNBC, USA Today, The Huffington Post, The Palm Beach Times, and numerous healthcare sector journals. Braff has presented seminars, moderated discussion panels, and has been the keynote speaker on various issues regarding healthcare M&A and finance at conferences across the country. He holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Science from the University of Oregon, and a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University, and he received the Vincent W. Lanfear Award for academic achievement.

Dr. Deni Carise has worked in the Behavioral Health industry for over 35 years.
Carise's career has spanned research, clinical, teaching, and treatment positions in the behavioral health field. She designed and implementing treatment in a de-novo startup that grew to 15 treatment programs in 5 years, clinical leadership at large (>100 programs) systems of care where she developed National Standards, Clinical Toolkits for over 30 evidence-based practices, and electronic health record systems. Carise was an NIH-funded scientist for 18 years and has published over 100 articles, books, and chapters. 

Carise worked extensively internationally, helping develop treatment systems in Nigeria, Mexico, Thailand, Egypt, Greece, Singapore, Brazil, and numerous other countries. She has also been featured in segments of Nightline, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBS evening news, and other media outlets and is quoted regularly in popular newsprint media such as Washington Post, USA Today, US News and World Report, Wall Street Journal, and others. Committed to the accurate portrayal of the field in the media, she consulted in two important films; Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street and Bridget Smith’s Sno Babies, teaching actors to accurately portray drug use, Narcan administration, treatment, and recovery.

Carise is an Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine (since 1997).  She earned both her B.S. (1988) and PhD (1993) in Clinical Psychology from Drexel/Hahnemann University in Philadelphia PA and was a NIDA Post-Doctoral fellow UPENN Center for Studies of Addiction 1994-1996. 

Lee Dilworth founded ReVIDA Recovery Centers to establish a premier network of outpatient treatment centers committed to evidence-based clinical excellence, regulatory compliance, stigma reduction and comprehensive behavioral healthcare.  As ReVIDA’s Chief Executive Officer, Dilworth executes the company’s strategic vision by working closely with ReVIDA’s Senior Leadership Team and distinguished Board of Directors.  Dilworth is also active in industry, legislative and public policy initiatives.  Prior to forming ReVIDA, he served as Chief Administrative & Legal Officer of American Pathology Partners, General Counsel of Attentus Healthcare, managing partner of a Nashville law firm, and co-founder of a health and disease management company. Dilworth serves on the Board of Trustees of Furman University.

A nationally recognized speaker on ethical digital marketing for healthcare organizations, Dan Gemp maintains a year-round speaking schedule, forecasting digital marketing trends and delivering the strategies to capitalize on them. His unique perspective, at the intersection of business, digital marketing, and healthcare, has positioned him as a thought leader and go-to contributor to healthcare conferences, podcasts, webinars, and publications including Bloomberg and The New York Times.

As president of Dreamscape Marketing, Gemp has made it the company’s mission to provide healthcare leaders a trusted partner in the development, execution, and management of a performance website and ROI-focused digital marketing campaign that achieves their business development goals through connection with and nurturing of highly qualified new patient opportunities.

Pamela Greenberg is the President and CEO of the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW). Greenberg joined the association in 1998 and since that time has become a nationally recognized leader on managed behavioral health care policy.

ABHW is the leading association working to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and advance federal policy to improve mental health and addiction care. ABHW represents major national and regional health plans who care for more than 200 million people.

Greenberg has extensive experience in behavioral health policy, particularly in the areas of parity, prevention, access, integration, and outcomes. Greenberg currently serves on the Joint Commission’s Behavioral Health Care Accreditation Advisory Council and URAC’s Health Standards Committee and Parity Advisory Council.

Prior to joining ABHW Greenberg was the Deputy Director of Federal Affairs for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). Before joining AHIP Greenberg was a Legislative Assistant at Capitol Associates, a healthcare consulting firm in Washington, D.C.

Greenberg has a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University.

Based out of Naperville, IL, Nate Hartmann is a 14-year veteran of the substance use treatment industry. He is a member of the executive leadership team of Symetria Recovery as the Corporate Vice President of Operations. He leads the strategy, people, and process functions of the patient acquisition and field operations teams. Symetria, a network of 12 outpatient MAT clinics licensed as OTP’s, utilizes a full suite of clinical, medical, and psychiatric services to treat patients funded primarily by commercial payors. Nate has robust experience leading teams and driving growth from his time spent at previous assignments with regional and national platforms JourneyPure, American Addiction Centers, and Foundations Recovery Network. During his time in this field, Nate earned a bachelor’s degree in management and human relations from Trevecca Nazarene University and a master’s degree in business administration from the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Jeff Spight is the Chief Executive Officer of MIND 24-7, and he was recently the President of ACO Market Operations for Wellcare/Universal American, responsible for their 35+ ACOs participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program and the Next Generation ACO models. He has over 20 years of experience in healthcare including serving in leadership roles at health plans such as AmeriHealth Mercy, Bravo/Healthspring, and WellCare. In the past, Spight was part of the executive team with McKinsey & Company’s Leading Systems Network and McKinsey’s Advanced Healthcare Analytics groups where he worked with international health systems in the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Australia. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board for Troy Medicare and previously served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations. Spight has an MBA from Stanford University and a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Colorado College.

Nick Stavros began working in the addiction treatment field in 2013 when he joined Community Medical Services in the role of business development manager. He was promoted to CEO later that year. Previously, Stavros was an intelligence analyst and Arabic linguist in the U.S. Army and was later promoted to an infantry officer in Iraq. Upon honorably discharging from the Army, Stavros received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Stavros currently sits on the boards of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence; Arizona State University’s Medical Advisory Board; the Office of the Arizona Governor’s Parents Commission on Drug Education & Prevention; and the Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network NCAD Advisory Board. Stavros is also the Chair of the Arizona Opioid Treatment Coalition and he Co-Chairs the Substance Abuse Task Force for the Arizona Council of Human Service Providers and the Drug Policy Research and Advocacy Board. Community Medical Services offers opioid-treatment (OTP & OBOT) services through 46 centers accross 9 states. CMS' vision is "To eliminate the consequences of substance-use disorders in our communities" and is determined to treat those suffering from substance-use disorders from a place of compassion, treating our patients with the utmost dignity and respect.

Kevin Taggart, CM&AP, is a Managing Partner at Mertz Taggart. Prior to co-founding Mertz Taggart, Taggart founded a land development and home building company. He gained invaluable experience running all aspects of the business, including raising money, negotiating and purchasing land, planning and rezoning, permitting and building infrastructure (roads, sewers, water, pool, clubhouse, etc.), building houses, and putting together and executing a marketing plan. Taggart has also been a co-owner of a home care company. As an owner, he increased volume through managing and measuring processes and systems and increased the EBITDA through topline growth and stringent cost controls. Taggart understands all aspects of running a healthcare company and brings a unique perspective to his clients. As a former agency owner with almost 200 employees, he has firsthand knowledge of the concerns owners face today which, in turn, better assists him in helping them and prospective buyers by implementing a truly client-focused strategy. After successfully selling that company to a large publicly traded company in 2010, he has been selling healthcare companies. Taggart has been invited to speak at several national and regional healthcare conferences with topics ranging from the process of selling a healthcare company to maximizing value prior to a sale. Taggart graduated from the University of Georgia with a BBA and majored in finance.

Kyle Van Duser Ph.D. serves as a tenured Associate Faculty member with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research concentration is on analyzing institutional data to measure outcomes and benchmarks. One of Van Duser’s notable accomplishments with the university includes launching a scholarship program that awarded over one million dollars in funds to students solely based on a retention prediction model he built. Van Duser also is the founder of Pacific Analytics, a private consulting firm that helps behavioral health organizations empirically measure treatment effectiveness through quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Van Duser holds a Master of Science in Counseling and a Doctor of Philosophy in Education, with course concentration in statistics and measurement.

Kathryn Walker, APRN, CRNA, PMHNPS, is a nurse anesthesiologist, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, and the founder and CEO of Revitalist Lifestyle and Wellness, a publicly traded company headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Walker is known by many of her peers as a thought leader in psychedelic medicine and a subject matter expert in ketamine therapies.

With more than two decades of healthcare administration experience in psychiatric care and substance abuse treatment, physical rehabilitation, long-term care and acute hospital services, Dr. White joined MedMark as president and CEO in January 2008, growing the company from 3 clinics in California to over 390 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Now known as BayMark Health Services, the company is the largest opioid treatment company in North America offering a continuum of outpatient treatment services, outpatient detox and recovery services, short and intermediate term residential treatment, inpatient withdrawal management services, and virtual online treatment. Prior to joining the company, he served as president, hospital management services, for Nashville-based Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of Horizon Health Corporation, managing over 180 hospital locations and overseeing rapid expansion and acquisition strategies, resulting in the acquisition of 15 hospitals until the company merged with Psychiatric Solutions in 2007. Prior to Horizon, Dr. White was the CEO of Charles River Health Management, a psychiatric contract management company in Boston and at Charles River Hospital, a specialty psychiatric and substance abuse hospital also in Massachusetts. He received a bachelor’s degree in science from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and obtained master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Christopher Wolfington is the Founder and Chief Financial & Strategy Officer of FinPay. Wolfington is a business leader and entrepreneur with decades of business experience in technology, healthcare, payments, consumer and more than 31 financial services companies. He lives in Philadelphia and supports multiple charitable organizations, particularly focused on education, child development, and the United States Military.