CHAIRPERSON

DAPHNE PIERCE-SMITH, RN, MSN-FNC/P 

Accreditation, Certification, and Regulatory

Daphne serves as the Chairperson for the Quality Oversight Committee. Ms. Pierce-Smith has more than 37 years of professional experience in healthcare and has held several leadership and educator positions – Clinical Nurse Manager, Research Manager & Educator, Change-Agent, Research Chairperson, Pediatric Nursing Instructor, and Adjunct Faculty. In 1989, Daphne received a Master of Science in Nursing - Family Nurse Practitioner/Clinician track - and was certified as a Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC) by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) for 20 years. In 2008, she completed a two-year certification program in healthcare management, and in 2013, she completed a federally funded program based on the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 and received a certificate as a Health Information Technology Pro-Clinician/Practitioner Consultant. Daphne was a guest researcher at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and co-authored numerous abstracts, manuscripts, and medical and nursing articles while employed at Emory University School of Medicine (EUSOM). She sat on several regulatory, academic, state, and national boards, as well as EUSOM Institutional Review Board. For several years, Daphne also sat on the Commission for Nursing Practice for Georgia Nurses Association (GNA) and wrote articles for their official publication. She is published and has been a contributing author in gastroenterology (GI) textbooks and clinical GI handbooks for more than 20 years.

MEMBERS

NIRMAL PATEL, MD, MPH

Medical and Clinical Advisor 

Dr. Nirmal (Nim) Patel is a primary care physician, trained at the University of Manchester, UK where she received her Doctor of Medical (MD), then at Yale, where she received her Master of Public Health (MPH). Nim is passionate about high quality, patient centric care delivery, using evidence, data and information technology to improve efficiency at the point of care. She has more than two decades of experience working with senior executives, and her teams, in developing high performing primary care delivery systems and digital health solutions, that are outcomes focused. Nim has deep knowledge of the US healthcare system, clinical care, health benefits and her insights inform her approach to strategy, business and markets she has been responsible for. Having worked within the large employer, hospital, managed care and growth, early-stage company environments, Nim understands business imperatives of stakeholders and her work focuses on business solutions and timely delivery. Her differentiated knowledge of clinical operations, evidence-based medicine, HIT and care variation, have enabled her to innovate in the design of optimal primary care delivery systems, which when combined with her strong quantitative skills have allowed Nim and her teams to consistently measure outcomes and success. Nim is a subject matter expert in tele/digital health having created first of the kind care-ata-distance solutions focused on primary care, dermatology, as well as behavioral health. She understands high performing ACOs models, development, deployment of innovative population health software with clinical decision support and telehealth applications for the point of care, to drive affordability and quality. Nim is a respected thought leader and spokesperson for the businesses she represents. Areas of research, public speaking engagements are notable, she participates in nationally renowned boards, leadership councils as well as advisory boards of venture capital and early-stage companies and is often in the media sharing her expertise.

JAMES (Jim)  GANNON II

Associate General Counsel - & - Chief Privacy Officer

As Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer, Jim oversees a variety of legal matters for StayWell, including commercial contracting, as well as regulatory and intellectual property matters.  Jim comes to StayWell after a decade in private practice at the law firm of Montgomery McCracken in Philadelphia, PA, where he divided his time between the business group, serving as a corporate and patent attorney, and the litigation group, counseling clients with respect to regulatory compliance in a variety of areas, including HIPAA, the Federal Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act, the False Claims Act, and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Jim received his bachelor's degree from The Pennsylvania State University and his Juris Doctor degree from Temple University's Beasley School of Law.  Jim is a registered patent attorney, with experience prosecuting patent applications in the mechanical, chemical, and biotechnological fields.

SARA GREEN 

Senior Director, Content Strategy & Development

Sara Green has directed health and medical content with a strong consumer lens for over a decade. She serves as senior director of content strategy for all media for WebMD Ignite, including digital, video, animation, print, AI, and interactive. In addition to prior roles directing and developing content at Rodale and Remedy Health media, she taught nonfiction writing at Columbia University, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Journal. Health and medical content Sara strategized, edited, and produced has been nominated for and won multiple awards including National Magazine Awards, Digital Health Awards, and a James Beard Award.

CARLYN DOYLE, MSHI, RHIA, CHPS, HCISPP, CDPSE

Compliance Manager, WebMD Health Services

Carlyn is a Compliance Manager for WebMD Health Services,  WebMD, The StayWell Company, LLC, and Krames LLC. She also supports compliance efforts for other affiliates within Internet Brands (IB).Prior to  working for WebMD Health Services and affiliates of Internet Brand, Carlyn worked for Multnomah County's IT Department as a Senior IT Data Protection Analyst and as the Privacy and Policy Coordinator for Multnomah County's Department of Human Services. She has extensive experience with data protection laws such as HIPAA and GDPR; healthcare compliance regulations; and is instrumental in the development and implementation of the organization's compliance program. Carlyn holds a Master’s Degree in Health Informatics, and has certifications specializing in healthcare information management, privacy, security, and data protection. She is a member of AHIMA’s Privacy and Security Practice Council and has held leadership roles for AHIMAs Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Health Information Management (CCHIIM). 

PATRICIA HYLE

Director, Product Management

Patricia has over 12 years’ experience in bringing patient education solutions to the market place. She enjoys working with clients and partners who are helping patients and consumers understand their health care options and improve their health journey and outcomes. Patricia focusses on bringing together the right business and people process, turning data into information and utilizing winning technology.  Patricia has developed successful products for point of care and care management organizations. In addition, she leads initiatives to enable clients to meet their accreditation goals including Meaningful Use, NCQA, and URAC.

KRYSTLE BOUCK

Vice-President, Customer Experience 

Krystle has more than 15 years of experience as a Customer Support Leader in the Software Industry. She has led support organizations from Consumer start-up through integration of multiple B2B acquisitions with deep knowledge in technology implementations, integrating many different CRMs, LMS and Telephony Systems. Krystle started her career as a Technical Support Engineer and now leads support for WebMd Provider Services, consisting of Krames, Mercury Healthcare and WebMd TV Customer Care. Her passion is helping people and ensuring our customers have the best experience possible.

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L. RENEE WATSON, MSN-NLH, RN

Senior Manager, Clinical Content Team 

Renée's background includes oncology, hospice and palliative care, triage nursing, ambulatory care and physician services leadership, healthcare quality, and medical writing. Ms. Watson holds an Associate of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Boise State University and a Master of Science in Nursing Leadership in Healthcare (NLH) from Gonzaga University. Renée previously sat on the Idaho Medical Board's Dietetics Licensure Board and was appointed by the governors of Idaho to two terms on the Idaho State Board of Nursing from 2016 to 2024.