Staff

Lori Hack

Ms. Hack is the principal and CEO of Object Health, a management consulting group that assists health care organizations and communities with leveraging health information to improve operational efficiencies and clinical health outcomes. Among her current projects, Ms. Hack is Program Liaison for the California Privacy and Security Advisory Board on behalf of the California Office of Health Information Integrity under the direction of Secretary Belshe. She also leads efforts in organizing Health Information Organizations (HIOs) in California for Alameda, Contra Costa, Riverside and San Francisco Counties. Ms. Hack also leads Object Health’s team in their work around clinic implementation of Electronic Health Records for achieving meaningful use. Previously Ms. Hack led the privacy and security efforts for the Long Beach Health Network, as well as coordinated the development of their business sustainability model.

Additionally, Ms. Hack served as Program Manager for the state technology initiative in the area of Mental Health Information Technology through the California Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). She currently serves as the Chair of the Board for the California eHealth Collaborative (CAeHC). Previously Ms. Hack served as Interim CEO for the California Regional Health Information Organization (CalRHIO) and Executive Director for Health Technology Center (HealthTech). She currently serves in her second term on the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) Privacy Expert Panel, directed by Secretary Leavitt of Health and Human Services. Ms. Hack earned her BA in psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles, and her MBA from the University of Southern California.

Sydney Foster

Sydney Foster is a Project Consultant for Object Health. Ms. Foster serves as liaison to the California Privacy and Security Advisory Board supporting the Privacy, Legal and Education Committees with subject matter expertise and private sector support. She also serves as an analyst for the development of business sustainability models for health information exchange efforts. She was previously employed with the Heath Technology Center (HealthTech), where she was responsible for a client network of over 40 hospitals and health systems across the United States and Canada. She has extensive experience working directly with clients to develop and execute strategic plans specific to client technology forecasting needs. While at HealthTech, Ms. Foster helped lead in the development of services and activities to build the competency of partners to plan for emerging technologies, including expert panels, forecasting reports, decision-making tools, and workshops on adoption and implementation issues. Ms. Foster earned a BA from Wellesley College, and an MBA from Rice University.

Walter C. Kopp

Walter C. Kopp is a Senior Consultant for Object Health, LLC and provides consulting services specializing in medical group practice management, physician succession planning, managed care, and healthcare technology implementation in Medical Groups. Services include strategic positioning and market analysis, medical group development, contract negotiations, service line development and operations reviews. Walter was previously Chief Operating Officer of the Physicians Foundation at California Pacific Medical Center. PFCPMC is a multispecialty medical group of over 100 physicians operating in over 45 locations throughout Northern California and Nevada. This group is comprised of mostly tertiary and quaternary specialists. Walter has helped this group through a challenging period of growth and change as the group has expanded and built a strong infrastructure while improving its operations and profitability. Previously, Walter was Chief Operating Officer of Menlo Clinic at Stanford University Medical Center. Walter was also Executive Director of BayCare Medical Group and Assistant VP and Director at St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco. In addition, he worked for large accounting firms, Alta Bates Hospital, University of Colorado Hospital, UC San Francisco, and the Ross Valley Medical Group.

Walter has served on various boards of Directors, including the National IPA Coalition, Marin Community Clinic, and the Bay Pacific Health Plan. He earned his BA degree from the University of California, Berkeley and his Masters in Health Administration from the University of Colorado.

Natalie Martin

Natalie Martin is a Senior Consultant for Object Health, LLC. Natalie’s expertise is in providing special services and advice in the nonprofit, healthcare, and technology fields. She leads company efforts in healthcare and technology service offerings with a focus on technology strategy, long term strategic planning, process analysis and implementation. She has a detailed understanding of state-of-the-art health care information technology. Natalie brings a grounded perspective of the challenges facing community clinics and health centers as they pursue technology-enabled quality improvement. She has hands on experience with region-wide initiatives to bring health IT to communities, including electronic health records, electronic prescribing, remote access and disease management technologies. Natalie works in close partnership with many funding organizations, including foundations and government agencies, to design innovative approaches to accelerating adoption of health IT among ambulatory care providers. She also supported numerous electronic health record (EHR) and chronic disease management system (CDMS) assessments and works with technology vendors to develop and execute their product, marketing and sales strategies.

Natalie earned a BA from Saint Joseph’s University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

Linda Ackerman

Linda Ackerman is a legal consultant for Object Health and is staff counsel of PrivacyActivism, a San Francisco-based consumer privacy organization. PrivacyActivism (www.privacyactivism.org) focuses on the collection and use of personal information by government and private business. Ms. Ackerman has served as Privacy Officer for the Long Beach Network for Health and assists the organization in the development of privacy and security policy at a state and national level. Ms. Ackerman is particularly interested in ensuring that the privacy of medical records is protected as the health care industry moves toward universal electronic health information exchange. She is a member of the board of directors of the California Regional Health Information Organization (CalRHIO) and a Real ID Privacy and Security Workgroup convened by the California Office of Privacy Protection. Previously, she was a member of the Transportation Security Administration’s Secure Flight Working Group. Ms. Ackerman received her undergraduate degree from Mt. Holyoke College. She is a graduate of St. Louis University Law School and has an MA in history from San Francisco State University.

Julie Keating

Julie Keating is a Project Consultant for Object Health.  Julie has extensive experience in Outpatient Practice Management and Systems Implementation.  Previously held positions include Senior Systems Analyst for the Physician Billing Department at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York,  and Director of the Cancer Center Business Services Unit at UCSF Medical Center.   Earlier in her career at UCSF, she was responsible for the design, implementation and management of the first automated Clinic Appointment System for over 1100 providers.  Julie earned her BA in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley.

Rodney Gauna

Rodney has worked in emergency healthcare in San Diego and Imperial County for more than 5 years. Prior to joining the Object Health team, Rodney worked as a Systems Analyst for a large multi-specialty clinic in the Imperial County with 10 locations. Rodney’s expertise includes meaningful use reporting from more than a dozen EHR systems including NextGen, eCW, athenaHealth, Greenway, Office Ally, and PrimeClinical, among others. Rodney advises clients in their health information exchange strategic and operational planning. In addition, he manages HIT implementation programs for clinics and private practices. Rodney is a nationally registered Emergency Medical Technician (optional scope) and holds an Associates Degree of Applied Science in Emergency Medical Science.

Robert Jordan

Bob Jordan has 35 years management experience working in startups, mid-size companies, and large corporations. He has a BS degree from the US Naval Academy. As an independent consultant, Bob has provided business planning, assessment, and electronic health record planning and implementation. He helped two small companies survive recessions by raising needed funds through private or bank loans. Prior to his work in healthcare, Bob had an extensive career in technology and communications. Bob currently leads an adult education program, and previously raised funds for academic programs at California Lutheran University.

Catherine Brazeal

Kelly Brazeal has worked in healthcare in Los Angeles and Ventura County for more than 20 years, and currently works as an electronic health record consultant to clinics located in Los Angeles County. She has a Master’s in Public Health from Northridge and BS in Health Education. Prior to her consulting roles, she worked at hospitals, health plans and IPAs in San Fernando Valley. She edited the Blue Cross member newsletter, conducted health events throughout the Valley, trained physician staffs, and solved provider problems for health plans.

Mike Brand

As a Consultant for Object Health, Mike feels privileged to help providers and clinics transition into this new, electronic era of coordinated healthcare. His expertise is in Go Live preparation and execution, end-user training, and workflow optimization. Prior to joining Object Health, Mike worked for UCLA Venice Family Clinic as a NextGen Trainer and Implementation Specialist. He was also employed under federal contract as a consultant to HIMSS where he researched and wrote a wide variety of Best Practices for dissemination to Regional Extension Centers nationwide. Additionally, his background is reinforced by 14 years of technical project management for entertainment entities such as National Geographic and Warner Bros. Mike is most interested in simplifying the challenges surrounding the Go Live event so that physicians and health centers can focus on their patients. He holds a Bachelors from Boston College and a Masters from San Diego State University. He is also a graduate of the Government Health IT Workforce Training program with a HITPRO certification.