Our Team
H*Works staff have extensive hospital experience and have led hundreds of engagements nationwide, incorporating the learning of these into our offerings and imparting the knowledge on each subsequent effort. Please click on any of the products below to learn more about a respective H*Works Consulting expert.
- Optimizing Revenue Cycle Performance
- Competing for Profitable Cases
- Maximizing Patient Access and Throughput
- Optimizing Labor Productivity Performance
- Rapid Margin Recovery Audit
Jeffrey D. Queen, MBA - General Manager and Executive Director (Top)
P 202-266-6792 / F 202-266-5700 / queenj@advisory.com / Download vCard
Professional Profile
Mr. Queen is a founder of H*Works Consulting and a Principal with The Advisory Board Company. Mr. Queen currently serves as General Manager and Executive Director of H*Works. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Queen has assisted hundreds of hospitals in achieving more prosperous growth, streamlined operations, and enhanced working environments.
Professional Experience
Since founding H*Works Consulting in 1999, Mr. Queen has served as a national expert in clinical operations and labor productivity. Mr. Queen’s clients have included large, multi-state health systems, academic medical centers, pediatric hospitals, and tertiary referral centers.
+ Read MoreRepresentative examples of Mr. Queen’s engagement experience include:
- Development of labor productivity systems, including productivity targets, accountability structures, and reporting tools
- Work and process redesign to enable hospital staff and managers to achieve productivity targets
- Redesign of surgical services access and efficiency, including OR governance, block schedule reallocation, and process improvements focused on turnover times and on-time starts
- Increase in emergency department and inpatient capacity by streamlining patient throughput and ensuring appropriate admission, patient placement, and discharge
- Redesign of case management departments to ensure strategic and operational alignment with organizational objectives
- Installation of programs to enhance employee engagement, staff retention, and recruitment
- Design and implementation of programs designed to more effectively engage physicians in assisting in hospital-led initiatives
In addition, Mr. Queen has served as a national speaker on topics related to clinical operations and labor management.
Prior to joining H*Works, Mr. Queen worked for Tiber Group, a Chicago-based health care consulting company, which is now part of Navigant Consulting. In this capacity, Mr. Queen provided strategic and operational guidance to leading health systems, physician groups, and managed care organizations across the country. Mr. Queen began his career in the banking industry serving in a variety of managerial positions.
Education and Certificates
- Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University
- Health Sector Management Certificate from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University
Professional Associations
- American College of Healthcare Executives
- Healthcare Financial Management Association
Jessica Wolf Dasher, MPH - Principal, Managing Partner (Top)
P 202-266-6597 / F 202-266-5700 / dasherj@advisory.com / Download vCard
Professional Profile
Jessica Dasher is a Managing Partner with H*Works. She is also a Principal of The Advisory Board Company. Ms. Dasher is responsible for assisting hospital partners with the development and implementation of operational programs in accordance with cutting-edge research from The Advisory Board Company.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining H*Works, Ms. Dasher served as a senior consultant with The Katz Consulting Group, Inc., a health care consulting firm based in suburban Philadelphia. During her tenure at KCG, she provided strategic and financial consulting services to a wide variety of hospitals and health systems throughout the country. Formerly, Ms. Dasher was a consultant with Ernst & Young’s Philadelphia-based health care consulting practice. She was also a financial analyst for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, and in this capacity assisted in the development of a city-operated, not-for-profit managed care organization. This organization is currently responsible for coordinating the behavioral health care needs of more than 400,000 Medicaid recipients in the city of Philadelphia.
+ Read MoreRepresentative examples of Ms. Dasher’s engagement experience include:
- Has lead or managed more than 150 engagements with H*Works over her 6 1/2 year tenure
- Engagements have spanned a terrain that includes improving nursing recruitment and retention, inpatient and outpatient clinical operations (surgery, ED, and house-wide throughput), revenue cycle processes, nursing productivity, and service excellence
Education and Certificates
- MPH, concentration in health policy and management, Columbia University
- BA, Duke University
Professional Associations
- American College of Healthcare Executives
- American Public Health Association
Carolyn Ewing, MBA, MPH - Principal (Top)
P 202-266-5305 / F 202-266-5700 / ewingc@advisory.com / Download vCard
Professional Profile
Carolyn Ewing, a Principal with H*Works, is dedicated to supporting partner hospitals and health systems in achieving best practice-driven performance improvement in management and clinical operations. Ms. Ewing’s areas of expertise include emergency department throughput, inpatient capacity management, surgery efficiency, and surgery growth.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining H*Works, Ms. Ewing served as a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting’s health care practice. During her tenure at Deloitte, she provided operational and strategic consulting services to hospitals and health systems throughput the country. Her clients included academic medical centers, integrated delivery systems, and public hospitals. Previously, Ms. Ewing held a consulting position with PFCA, an Atlanta-based consulting firm, working in health system integration, performance improvement, and change management.
+ Read MoreRepresentative examples of Ms. Ewing’s engagement experience include:
- Across her client base, Ms. Ewing has helped her clients to achieve the following results:
- 20% average increase in effective bed capacity
- 25% average fewer patients leaving without being seen
- 43% average increase in OR block utilization
- Ms. Ewing has worked with more than 50 partner hospitals across the United States including: Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, UC Davis Medical Center, and Cambridge Health Alliance
- Additionally, Ms. Ewing has worked with NHS partner hospitals in the United Kingdom
Education and Certificates
- MBA, The Goizueta Business School at Emory University
- MPH, Concentration in Public Health Policy and Management from The Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University
Pearce Fleming, Jr., FACHE - Principal (Top)
P 202-266-6171 / F 202-266-5700 / flemingp@advisory.com / Download vCard
Professional Profile
Pearce Fleming is a Principal with H*Works, where he serves as an expert in workforce efficiency and elevating physician practice performance. Mr. Fleming’s expertise is derived from his experience in investor-owned, nonprofit, and academic medical centers, as well as federal and state legislative bodies and agencies.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining H*Works, Mr. Fleming served as chief executive officer of Summerville Medical Center, part of Trident Health System, which is of one of the highest employee, physician, and patient-rated hospitals within HCA. Mr. Fleming has also completed over $100 million in construction projects within the organizations he has led. He also founded a development program for hospital leaders focused on sustaining a high performance culture, finance, strategic planning, physician relations, human resources, quality, and diversity.
+ Read MoreWith a special expertise in organizational theory and structure, Mr. Fleming is adept at providing business design services, ensuring organizations are focused on working toward a shared vision. He has also served as a facilitator and coach to high performing teams. Mr. Fleming’s activities include extensive work in economic development, building alliances among diverse business constituencies, bridging the gap between the government/military and private-sector companies, and helping those in need.
Mr. Fleming has worked with over 30 partner hospitals across the United States including partners such as St. Luke’s Hospital, Feather River Hospital, Salem Hospital and Woodhull Medical Center. Mr. Fleming is also a health systems expert and has overseen and facilitated several system-level engagements with partners such as Mayo Health System and Intermountain Healthcare. In addition Mr. Fleming oversees the Rapid Margin Recovery Audit engagements and has helped organizations identify margin enhancement and recovery opportunities ranging from 1.2M – 5.8M.
Representative examples of Mr. Fleming’s engagement experience include:
- During his tenure at Summerville Medical Center, the organization achieved the following results:
- 38% increase in net revenue over three years
- 21% increase in admissions
- 15% increase in emergency visits
- 14% increase in ambulatory care visits
- 26% increase in medical imaging procedures
- 42% increase in deliveries
- Reduced employee turnover from 21% to 12%
- Reduced contract labor utilization from 19 FTEs to 2 FTEs
Education and Certificates
- MHA, Medical University of South Carolina
- BA, Wofford College
Professional Associations
- Board certified in healthcare management
- Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives
James Green - Principal (Top)
P 202-266-5443 / F 202-266-5700 / greenj@advisory.com / Download vCard
Professional Profile
James Green is a Principal in H*Works specializing in revenue capture. With 15 years of health care consulting experience, Mr. Green leverages his expertise in the revenue cycle management terrain with academic, teaching, and community hospitals to assist them in reducing bad debt, denials, A/R days, and increasing cash collections and total revenues. Mr. Green also has experience with integrated delivery network development, supply chain management, and clinical guideline implementation.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining H*Works, Mr. Green worked for seven years as a consultant with CSC Health Care Group (formerly APM Management Consultants). There he worked with academic, teaching, and community health care institutions in both West and East Coast markets. Mr. Green provided expertise on a variety of performance improvement initiatives including financial process redesign, the management of non-clinical resources, integrated delivery network (IDN) development, and supply chain management. Mr. Green was also instrumental in the clinical effectiveness practice, where he assisted clinical leaders in the development and implementation of clinical guidelines, pathways, and disease management programs.
+ Read MoreRepresentative examples of Mr. Green’s engagement experience include:
- Across his client base of more than 60 hospitals, Mr. Green has helped his clients to achieve the following results:
- 30% average bad debt decrease
- 250% average increase in point-of-service cash collections
- 33% average reduction in payer denials
- Has supported partner institutions in achieving substantial increases in registration accuracy, patient insurance verification, and precertifications/preauthorizations rates
- Guided institutions to improve A/R performance through increased point-of-service cash collections, reductions in DNFB, improved self-pay management, and proactive denials prevention and management processes
Education and Certificates
- BA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Nicole Latimer, MBA, MHSA - Principal (Top)
P 202-266-6535 / F 202-266-5700 / latimern@advisory.com / Download vCard
Professional Profile
Nicole DuPont Latimer is a Principal with the Advisory Board Company. Ms. Latimer’s areas of expertise and interest include surgical services, strategic planning, and quality of care. Since 1999, Ms. Latimer has worked with more than 300 hospitals in improving and growing their service lines.
Professional Experience
Previously, Ms. Latimer was the H*Works National Practice Leader for growth and service line planning. In this capacity, she helped hospitals determine investment and development strategies across key service lines, including: bariatric surgery, oncology, cardiovascular, and orthopedics.
Prior to joining the Advisory Board Company, Ms. Latimer was a manager with Deloitte Consulting, specializing in health care operations and turnarounds. In this capacity, she facilitated efforts to improve clinical and administrative processes related to direct patient care across inpatient and outpatient settings. In addition to process improvement, Ms. Latimer has assisted her clients with information system selection and implementation to support care management and supply chain operations.
+ Read MoreRepresentative examples of Ms. Latimer’s engagement experience include:
- Has assisted more than 300 hospitals, including: Aspirus Wausau Hospital, Allina Health System, Loyola University Medical Center, Mayo Foundation, Parkland Hospital and Health System, New England Baptist Hospital, HCA Midwest Division, UC Davis Medical Center, Carolinas HealthCare System, and Roper St. Francis Healthcare
- Possesses extensive experience in surgical services as she previously served as the National Practice Leader for surgical services
- Provides implementation support to target hospitals’ competitive response to ambulatory surgery centers, profitable surgical volume growth, perioperative efficiency, and procedural supply cost reduction
Education and Certificates
- MBA, University of Michigan
- MHSA, University of Michigan
- BA, Dartmouth College
Professional Associations
- American College of Healthcare Executives
Yaw Fellin - Senior Consultant (Top)
Professional Profile
Mr. Fellin specializes in maximizing surgery access and efficiency in the OR to improve turnover times and increase revenue-generating OR utilization. He is also an expert in inpatient to outpatient shift analysis. Mr. Fellin is an experienced facilitator, adept at gaining consensus across a variety of constituencies, including surgeons and anesthesiologists. Prior to joining the Advisory Board, Mr. Fellin worked as an Account Manager for Alphacor Medical Products in Washington, DC. In this role he was responsible for client training, inventory management and marketing strategy.
Education and Certificates
- BS, Health Policy and Administration, Pennsylvania State University
David Grazman, PhD - Senior Consultant (Top)
Professional Profile
Dr. Grazman’s expertise lays in improving clinical throughput issues, particularly emergency department and inpatient capacity management challenges. He has worked at institutions ranging from small community hospitals to large academic medical centers. Over the years, Dr. Grazman has held a variety of other positions at the Advisory Board Company, including serving as a Dedicated Clinical Advisor to member organizations, as well as a national presenter for the Health Care Advisory Board. Prior to joining The Advisory Board Company and H*Works, Dr. Grazman was a professor of public administration and healthcare management at the University of Southern California’s School of Policy, Planning and Development.
Education and Certificates
- PhD, Business Administration, Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota
- MA, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government
- BA, University of Missouri - Columbia
Virginia Harrison, RN - Senior Consultant (Top)
Professional Profile
Ms. Harrison specializes in operational strategies for elevating emergency department performance, maximizing hospital capacity and throughput, and enhancing OR efficiency. Ms. Harrison brings over 10 years of clinical hospital experience from the emergency department, surgical services, and ambulatory operations. Prior to joining H*Works, Ms. Harrison served as a senior process consultant for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta with several nurse leadership roles in the PACU, emergency department, and ambulatory services. Ms. Harrison also served in the Sewanee Emergency Medical Service prior to joining Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Ms. Harrison is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and has completed Black Belt training.
Education and Certificates
- BS, Nursing, Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
- BA, Religion, University of the South
- Six Sigma Green Belt Certified
David Klasnick, MBA - Senior Consultant (Top)
Professional Profile
Mr. Klasnick manages client engagements focused on reduction in premium labor costs, productivity initiatives, workforce recruitment and retention strategies. In addition, he helps partner hospitals identify areas in which they can benefit from implementation of supply cost management best practices. Mr. Klasnick’s areas of expertise include supply and labor cost management. Before joining H*Works, Mr. Klasnick was with Cardinal Health Consulting Services as a senior consultant and project lead.
Education and Certificates
- MBA, Daniels College of Business at The University of Denver
- BS, The University of Denver
Rachel Kramer, MHSA - Senior Consultant (Top)
Professional Profile
Rachel Kramer is a Senior Consultant with H*Works and a resident expert in operational strategies for improving patient throughput in the emergency department and inpatient capacity terrains. In addition to capacity management work, Ms. Kramer is an acting Engagement Director on the Rapid Margin Recovery Audit engagements, which provide a full review of hospital operations. Prior to joining H*Works, Ms. Kramer worked in administration at Middlesex Hospital in Connecticut.
Education and Certificates
- MSHA, George Washington University
- BA, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College
Fred Neis, RN, MS, FACHE - Senior Consultant (Top)
Professional Profile
Mr. Neis works closely with hospitals and health systems on initiatives that enhance clinical quality, expedite patient throughput, and improve revenue capture. Mr. Neis has more than 18 years of health care experience. Before joining H*Works, Mr. Neis served as director of the emergency department at Carolinas Medical Center, which supported more than 110,000 visits annually. As ED director, he provided clinical oversight on both the construction of a pediatric ED and the redesign of operational processes to improve efficiency and patient satisfaction. Mr. Neis has also worked on grant-funded policy and practice projects for health care providers. He served on the U.S. Institute of Medicine’s Prehospital EMS Subcommittee for the project titled: "The Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System."
Education and Certificates
- BSN, University of Kansas
- MS in Nursing Administration, University of Kansas
Gary Smalto, MD, MBA - Senior Consultant (Top)
Professional Profile
Dr. Smalto leverages his expertise to help hospitals improve perioperative surgery suite efficiency and address anesthesiology resource deployment challenges. Prior to joining the firm, Dr. Smalto was an instructor at George Washington University where he managed academic medical caseloads, instructed residents and medical students, and assisted in planning for an ambulatory surgical center. He has 10 years of private medical practice experience and served as director of pediatric anesthesiology at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Tampa Children’s Hospital.
Education and Certificates
- MD, Bowman Gray School of Medicine
- MBA, George Washington University School of Business and Public Management
- BS, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Terri Yancey, RN, MSN - Senior Consultant (Top)
Professional Profile
Ms. Yancey leads best practice implementation within the H*Works capacity for growth and case management engagements. In addition, she manages client engagements focused on reduction in premium labor costs, productivity initiatives, and workforce recruitment and retention strategies. Prior to joining H*Works, Ms. Yancey worked in a variety of health care settings, holding clinical and administrative positions in critical care, acute rehabilitation, case management, and performance improvement.
Education and Certificates
- MSN, University of Virginia
- BSN, University of Virginia