Kurt Herzer

Experience

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  Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

  Oct 2005 - May 2009

  Clinical Researcher, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine

  • Co-directed the integration of Lean Six Sigma methodologies into the management of a 16-operating room surgical suite, created a portfolio management system to track over 100 quality improvement projects, leading to improved efficiency and patient safety• Created the concept of in-situ simulation as a mechanism for safely pilot-testing new surgical programs; this led to the integration of 3 new revenue-generating surgical services at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the seminal publications on in-situ simulation, and a national award from the Society for Simulation in Health Care• Drafted the business plan to create a hospital-wide Difficult Airway Response Team (DART) Program, secured $500,000 of startup funding from The Johns Hopkins Hospital Patient Safety Department, and eliminated airway-related patient deaths and insurance claims during the nearly 10 years since the program’s launch • Created and directed an educational program in quality improvement, risk management, and patient safety for Johns Hopkins undergraduates that trained a dozen students and became a model for training residents Show less

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  NHS

  Jan 2007 - Mar 2008

  Woodrow Wilson Research Fellow

  • Conducted interviews with National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) staff and clinicians, pharmacists, risk managers, and executives at UK hospitals as part of qualitative assessment of the largest and most advanced medical error reporting system in the world• Developed natural language text-searching algorithms of unstructured error description free text to reclassify reported medical errors into a clinically meaningful taxonomy to improve learning from past medical errors• Prepared extensive summary and co-authored final project report submitted to the World Health Organization Show less

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  World Health Organization

  Jun 2008 - Aug 2008

  Woodrow Wilson Research Fellow, World Alliance for Patient Safety

  • Selected after competitive application process (>500 applicants from around the world)• Led literature review process and conducted data analysis for technical reports for the First Global Patient Safety Challenge, a global WHO initiative to improve infection control and hand hygiene in hospitals in over 43 countries• Created a statistical model to estimate the global burden of healthcare-associated infections and drafted a grant to support a project to implement this model

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  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

  Apr 2009 - Sept 2009

  Policy Researcher, Office of Health Reform

  - Analyzed data from multiple federal agencies and sources to draft talking points on prevention, wellness, chronic disease, and disparities for Presidential and White House town halls on healthcare reform- Researched and wrote an economic position statement on the merits of healthcare reform for middle class Americans for the Middle Class Task Force, Office of the Vice President of the United States- Developed and implemented the “Success Stories in American Health Care” publication and media series, highlighting notable achievements in the US healthcare system as part of President Obama’s domestic agenda- Briefed the Secretary of Health and Human Services prior to media interviews- Led comparative analysis of health reform and economic issues in 1993-1994 versus 2008-2009 at the request of the Secretary and wrote a report documenting findings Show less

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  The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

  Jan 2010 - Jan 2017

  Fellow, Medical Scientist

  - Designed and led numerous evaluations relevant to US health policymaking that focused on the relationships between variation in practice patterns, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes and behaviors- Developed new datasets that integrated insurance claims, national surveys/patient-reported sources, clinical registries, and geographic information and used econometric methods for analysis and risk adjustment - Generated over $100,000 of research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Health Assessment Laboratory/Medical Outcomes Trust, and professional medical societies - Published over a dozen papers in leading international medical journals, including The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), British Medical Journal (BMJ), and The Lancet - Managed and directed a diverse portfolio of health services projects from design to implementation, including clinical quality improvement initiatives and cost effectiveness assessments - Spearheaded development of enterprise-wide accessibility solutions for low-vision users of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s electronic medical record system in conjunction with health system IT leadershipDissertation: “Medicare Spending and the Health and Health Behaviors of Older Americans” Committee: Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD; Albert Wu, MD, MPH; Lauren Nicholas, PhD Show less

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  U.S. Department of Education

  Jan 2010 - Jan 2011

  Commissioner, Advisory Commission on the Accessibility of Instructional Materials

  - Appointed by President Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, to first commission in U.S. history charged with examining accessibility of instructional materials for postsecondary students with disabilities - Received public testimony from American citizens in multiple regions of the United States- Contributed to the development of recommendations and drafting of the Commission’s report to Congress

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  Oscar Health

  Jan 2017 - Jan 2020

  Head of Population Health

  - Built and led 40 person incubator team of engineers, data scientists, implementation scientists, and clinicians responsible for rapid experimentation and innovation at the intersection of Oscar’s technology, data, and human capabilities for Oscar’s 420k member population- Led Oscar’s population surveillance and intervention strategy for COVID-19 pandemic across 15 states and 26 markets- Served as senior leader orchestrating efforts between the Population Health, Data, Product, and Engineering teams and executive leadership- Led the design, evaluation, and implementation of a portfolio of population interventions focused on improving health outcomes, reducing costs, and addressing social barriers to health and wellness — areas targeted included medication non-adherence, low-value ER use, cancer screening, medication savings opportunities, and readmissions reduction- Oversaw federal Risk Adjustment operations, including member outreach, chart retrieval, and RADV audits for commercial and new Medicare Advantage (MA) business- Oversaw Stars and HEDIS Programs for commercial business, including program operations and improvement interventions, obtaining Oscar’s first-ever 4 Star ratings for clinical quality- Served as physician lead for external partnerships, including Oscar’s relationship with Cleveland Clinic, focused on integrating care management and member experience activities- Led development of population health management strategy to meet regulatory compliance and accreditation standards for the National Council of Quality Assurance (NCQA)- Mentored and coached numerous associates, managers, and more junior directors across multiple teams and departments Show less

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  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  Jan 2019 - now

  Adjunct Faculty
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  Praava Health

  Nov 2020 - now

  Global Advisor
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  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  Dec 2020 - Dec 2023

  Senior Advisor, Data & Analytics

  - Responsible for setting vision and strategy related to organization-wide use of data and analytics for division of CMS responsible for improving quality of care for 150M Americans. This included modernizing technology and data infrastructure and developing new platforms for advanced analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing across the world’s largest collection of healthcare data; drove 1200% increase in use of interactive dashboards across 2,000-person user community.- Provided strategic direction for use of data in CMS COVID-19 response, integrating with other federal agencies including CDC, HHS data systems, and external entities- Developed data strategy for program design and scientific evaluation for numerous CMS programs including $5B Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) program, Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) evaluation for Congress, and CMS first-ever national registry and rollout integrating Medicare claims and provider clinical data for coverage determination (focused on Alzheimer’s monoclonal antibody drugs)- Led development of novel methodologies for identifying mismanagement in the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes — including fraud/waste/abuse, problematic owners, misuse of antipsychotic medications and drove detailed medical reviews and investigation.- Led design of corporate governance practices including and Objective and Key Results (OKR) system to align agency work and drive accountability across 800 employees.- Advised and assisted other federal entities as needed on matters pertaining to technology and data, including NIH, ARPA-H, CDC, DOJ, White House, FDA, as well as for special initiatives (White House Cancer Moonshot).- Focused on talent acquisition of data scientists and technology leaders for key senior executive service positions overseeing IT; evaluated procurement for bulk purchasing agreements related to technology and data. Show less

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  Rubrum Advising

  Jan 2024 - now

  Principal

  Advise diverse healthcare clients on issues pertaining to data strategy, evidence development and scientific evaluation, product design and development, commercialization, and federal regulatory policy.