Zaida Aronovsky
Zaida Aronovsky joined Freed & Associates in March 2005. She has significant experience in IT project management and systems implementations in healthcare and retail environments. Prior to her position with Freed & Associates, Zaida was a Director at Gap, Inc. where she established and managed the project management office for Infrastructure Services. Zaida also led process improvement efforts for the company. Earlier in her career, she worked as a project lead for numerous systems implementations, including clinical systems and CPOE, in the healthcare and mental health arenas. She has a solid foundation in system methodology and excels in communication. She holds a PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in Organizational Behavior from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA.

Kathy Berry
Kathy Berry joined Freed & Associates in 2006 as the Human Resources Manager. She comes to F&A with 20 years experience in the human resource field. Kathy is an experienced senior level human resources professional with generalist proficiencies and is PHR awarded. Prior to her position with Freed & Associates, Kathy was Director of Human Resources of iMind Education Systems. Kathy’s broad leadership experience includes Director of Operations for an internet company with a national and international financial services client base, and Director of Human Resources for a large general practice law firm. Kathy holds a BS in Education from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX.

Leeann Brady
Leeann Brady joined Freed & Associates in 2000. She has over 17 years experience in hospital accounts receivables, IPA and hospital managed care contracting and collections. While at the firm, she has conducted accounts receivable reviews, managed the implementation of patient accounting and contracting systems, redesigned a collections department and identified and implemented billing and collections process improvements. She also has experience in policy and procedure development and user training. Leeann possesses strong negotiation and analytical skills and has worked with multiple patient accounting systems. She spent over eleven years at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley before joining Freed and Associates. Leeann has a BA in Social Science from the University of California Berkeley.

Pam Bruckert
Pam Bruckert joined Freed & Associates in 1999 as the Office Manager. She came to F&A with over 12 years administrative experience in a large Bay Area based medical center. Pam supports the major operational functions of the firm such as Administration, Finance, Human Resources, Benefits Administration, Telecom, Sales and Marketing. Pam also coordinates meetings and events. Prior to her tenure at the medical center, she worked for a large Bay Area based newspaper where she began as a clerk typist in the Advertising Department and advanced over her 15+ year career to Executive Assistant to the General Manager.

Brian Callahan
Since joining Freed & Associates in 1992, Brian Callahan has integrated clinical and financial systems into an existing IT environment as well as led hospital wide implementation projects. He has directed operational re-engineering and process improvement projects throughout the revenue cycle departments and has provided interim management in several operational disciplines in the acute care environment. Brian has also managed health plan product development teams through concept development, design, implementation, testing, launch and management phases. Brian has a BA in History from California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo.

Patty Caplan
Patty Caplan started working for Freed & Associates in 1998 and has several years of healthcare program planning, policy and project management experience. Her consulting experience includes clinical and patient accounting systems implementations, team development and meeting facilitation, business process re-design and training program development. Prior to joining the firm, Patty earned an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern. Before earning her graduate degree, she was the Development Director at the Mission Neighborhood Health Center (MNHC) in San Francisco. Prior to working at MNHC, Patty was a Presidential Management intern working on public health issues for the Federal Government. Patty has a BA in History from Cornell University.

Joann Chen
Joann Chen joined Freed & Associates in 2007. Joann is an experienced team lead and systems integration analyst and has led diverse teams of internal and external resources through the requirements, design, development, and testing project phases. Prior to her position with Freed & Associates, Joann was an Enterprise Solutions Architect and Design Lead with Tufts Health Plan in Massachusetts. Her career includes several years at Accenture working both nationally and internationally in their Global Architecture and Core Technologies Practice. Joann’s focus was on integration strategy and business process automation. Joann has worked with large insurance groups, domestic and foreign government organizations, and global communications firms. Joann holds a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Binghamton University.

Melvin Chung
Mel Chung joined Freed & Associates in 2004. He has more than 14 years of experience in system and project management. Mel’s background includes system and interface design, configuration and QA testing, business change management, process re-design, and performance measurement. Prior to joining Freed & Associates, he worked in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and high-tech fields. He holds in Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Linda Dorety
Linda Dorety joined Freed & Associates in 2006. She has over 25 years of experience in healthcare management and consulting. Linda has worked with hospitals, physician group practices, health plans, pharmaceutical distributors, and healthcare technology companies. Previous to joining Freed & Associates, Linda was the Director of Medical Services for Brown & Toland Medical Group. She has been an independent health care consultant and held management positions at Johns Hopkins HealthCare, University Hospitals of Cleveland, and Health Alliance Medical Plans. Her consulting experience includes business process design, system design, project management and strategy development. Linda has the ability to manage client relationships and work effectively with client teams. She possesses strong leadership, analytical, facilitation, and communication skills.

Matthew Dutton
Matt Dutton joined Freed & Associates in 2001. Matt has 14 years of experience in portfolio/project management, project management offices (PMOs), operations management, system implementation lifecycles, information systems management, system and interface design/configuration/testing, system and business change management, business process re-design, performance measurement and business development. Prior to his position with Freed & Associates, Matt was a Senior Manager with The TriZetto Group. He also spent nearly five years with Accenture’s (formerly Andersen Consulting, L.L.P.) Healthcare Change Management consulting division. In his career, he has worked with numerous health plans and providers across the country, as well as manufacturers and retailers, and focuses on large-scale system implementations and project management. Matt holds a Bachelor of Science in Managerial Economics from UC Davis as well as his PMP certification from the Project Management Institute.

Diane Emler
Diane Emler joined Freed & Associates in 2007. Diane has significant experience in strategic business planning, product design and implementation, large scale technology deployments, and quality and business process improvement and implementation. She is skilled at establishing effective working relationships, both internally and externally, and has the ability to communicate at all levels and lead project teams with high quality results. Prior to her position with Freed & Associates, Diane worked in a variety of healthcare arenas including a large scale technology services firm, health plans and insurance companies. Diane holds a BA in Health Services Administration from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA.

Dava Freed
Dava Freed is founder, President and CEO of Freed & Associates. Currently, she oversees the strategic direction of the firm, operations and directs the management team. Much of her time is spent maintaining and developing client relationships. Dava founded Freed & Associates in 1991 after spending 10 years with Accenture. While at Accenture, she conducted many information systems and accounts receivables projects and was heavily involved with HL-7. Her clients included a wide variety of healthcare providers, including university medical centers, Kaiser Permanente, numerous not-for-profit hospitals and physician groups. She graduated from the University of California Berkeley, where she received an MPH in corporate management, now the Health Services MBA/MPH program. She is past president of the Alumni Association Board. Dava received the Spirit of Public Health award in 2003 from the University of California at Berkeley, School of Public Health and Haas School of Business. Dava managed outpatient clinics for the San Francisco Department of Public Health prior to graduate school, and worked as a research assistant at Temple Medical School. She is very involved in her community by supporting Operation Access, where she is currently on the advisory group after serving on the board for 9 years. OA provides surgical services to the uninsured. Dava also volunteers extensively at Head Royce School where her son is a student.

Robin Figueroa
Robin Figueroa joined Freed & Associates in September, 2006. Robin has experience in Information Systems implementation and upgrades, functional requirements development, testing, training, and preparation of department and end-user documentation. Prior to her position with Freed & Associates, Robin was IT Manager of Applications and Projects in a major hospital setting . In her career she has worked with both inpatient hospital and ambulatory urgent care organizations. Robin holds a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Hayward.

Reva Gould
Reva Gould joined Freed & Associates in 2006. As a healthcare marketing professional, Reva has significant experience in product development and marketing including all aspects of product launch. In addition to her work in turnaround environments, she has demonstrated success with strategic and program planning as well as design and implementation of marketing processes for new business ventures. Prior to her position with Freed & Associates, Reva was Vice President of Marketing/Private Express with Message Secure Corporation. Reva directed the cross functional team tasked with testing and implementation of the secure PKI encrypted email system. In her career, she has worked with NWB Managed Care Development as a Vice President/Founding Partner and as the Vice President of Marketing of Bridgeway Plan for Health (Foundation Health Plan). Reva holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Marketing Management from the University of Rhode Island.

Adrienne Ladd
Adrienne Ladd has managed and worked on numerous systems implementation projects, system upgrades, process improvement projects, accounts receivable projects and systems planning projects. Prior to joining Freed & Associates in 1991, Adrienne was an independent consultant to Mount Zion Medical Center and Mount Zion Health Systems. From 1983 to 1989, she managed projects in patient accounting and medical records for Andersen Consulting's Northern California Health Care Group. Adrienne has an MBA in Finance from the University of Southern California.

Jim Larente
Jim Larente joined Freed & Associates in 2007. Jim has extensive experience in systems development, quality assurance, and project management. Prior to his position with Freed & Associates, Jim was Director of Systems Architecture & Applications Development at Spectera UnitedHealthcare Dental. His expertise includes developing software standards and methods, quality assurance and control, production systems management, project management and technical services. Jim also served as Interim CIO. Jim holds a Bachelor of Science – Information Systems Management from the University of San Francisco.

Julie Larson
Julie Larson is a Registered Nurse who joined Freed & Associates in 2000 with over 20 years of experience in health care. She was a senior manager for information systems in two health care delivery systems where she presided over numerous system selections and implementations of a wide array of administrative, financial and clinical applications. She has led network upgrades, strategic systems planning efforts, integration testing, training material development and go live management. She managed the process change team for improving the timeliness of cash collections throughout a hospital’s ‘front-end’ processes. Before joining the firm, Julie was an Applications Manager for NorthBay Healthcare System. Prior to that, she was the Director of Information Systems and Telecommunications for Mills-Peninsula Health Services. Julie has an MPA from the University of San Francisco and a BS in Nursing from San Jose State College.

Heather Lee
Heather Lee joined Freed & Associates in 1999. Since then she has managed interface development for systems integration projects, provided project oversight for a physician practice EMR implementation, managed the assessment and implementation planning for a large scale systems implementation and developed the security structure and training approach for a hospital EMR implementation. Prior to joining the firm, Heather was a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting, where she worked on custom application design and development, organizational redesign, change management and healthcare revenue enhancement projects. While living in the DC area, Heather conducted pharmaceutical reimbursement policy analysis and advocacy with State & Federal Associates and served as a Senior Research Associate with the Health Care Advisory Board. Heather has a BA in English with a concentration in Business from Georgetown University.

Suzanne Leupold
Suzanne Leupold joined Freed & Associates in 2007 with significant healthcare experience in operations, strategy and business process re-design. Suzanne has served as a director and consultant across multiple healthcare environments including hospitals, ambulatory care centers, physician practices, academic medical centers, and health plans. Prior to her position with Freed & Associates, Suzanne was a National Director of Product Development and Management with Kaiser Permanente Health Plan, specializing in the development and launch of consumer directed health care products. She has several years experience in revenue cycle management, systems requirements, financial analysis, business process re-design, operations management, and complex project management. Suzanne also spent several years with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young consulting firm in their health care consulting practice. Suzanne holds a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration from Duke University.

Bob Lucas
Bob Lucas joined Freed & Associates in 2007. Bob has significant experience in payor insurance systems that include business integration, data modeling, system consolidation, methodology, Ecommerce and regulatory compliance. Prior to his position with Freed & Associates, Bob was a Senior Business Analyst with United HealthGroup and Pacific Dental Benefits. He was also a technical Project Manager for the Caspian Consulting Group. In his career, he has worked with insurance companies, banks, brokerage houses, and a manufacturer of medical monitoring equipment. Bob holds a Masters degree from Harvard University.

Amy Luisetti
Amy Luisetti joined Freed & Associates in 2002 and has worked on several clinical system implementation and clinical process redesign projects. She has nine years of business experience in healthcare management and information systems consulting and has worked with hospitals, health plans, pharmaceutical distributors, and healthcare technology companies. Her consulting experience includes project management, business process design, system design, and strategy development. Prior to joining the firm, Amy was a consultant with Primitive Logic and before that, a consultant with the Accenture Healthcare Practice group. Amy has an MPH from the University of California Berkeley and a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of California Davis.

Jamie Michener
Jamie Michener joined Freed & Associates in 2007. Jamie has experience in systems implementation and data analysis. Prior to his position with Freed & Associates, Jamie was a report manager with a software development company focused on healthcare systems improvement. He also has experience in curriculum development and teaching in the secondary grades. Jamie holds a Bachelor of the Arts from Lewis & Clark College.

Agnes Mericle
Agnes Mericle joined Freed & Associates in 2000 and has worked on patient accounting and medical records systems implementations, conducted accounts receivable reviews, implemented business office process improvements and served in interim analyst and management roles in a hospital business office. Prior to joining Freed, she worked as a consultant for Siemens where she gained experience in patient accounting implementations and interfaces, analyzed data flows, developed policies and procedures and conducted training. She also has worked for a billing company and supervised staff. She has in-depth knowledge in a variety of vendor patient accounting applications and of ICD-9/CPT codes. Agnes has a BS, MS in Economics and Organization of Foreign Trade from the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland.

Lori Moore
Lori Moore joined Freed & Associates in 2006. She has many years of experience prior to joining the firm in hospital and medical practice operations. Lori has worked directly with physicians to improve their practice and as a liaison to physicians from a healthcare provider perspective to create more synergistic relationships. Her consulting experience includes developing process improvements for physician groups as well as admitting, registration, financial counseling and insurance verification for a major San Francisco hospital. Lori is very detailed oriented and has great experience communicating to all levels of an organization. She has a Masters degree in Business Administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. Lori is also a certified medical staff coordinator.

Samir Panchal
Samir Panchal joined Freed & Associates in April 2005. Samir has significant experience in healthcare strategy, system selections, implementations and go-lives and revenue cycle work. Prior to his position with Freed & Associates, he was a Senior Business Development Manager with Oracle working on the healthcare product development team for HTB which focused on healthcare mergers and acquisitions, strategy, vendor partnerships, and product development. During his career, he worked for Cap Gemini Ernst &Young (CGEY) in their healthcare strategy and transformation group. Samir also has two patents in telemedicine and five publications in various journals including JHIMSS and cardiology journals. He has an MBA from the University of North Carolina and an MSEE from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Eliza Paulling
Eliza Paulling joined Freed & Associates in 2000. While at the firm, she has directed the testing phase of several system implementations on a variety of platforms. As the testing lead she wrote test plans, managed a testing team, documented results and resolved issues. Eliza has also been a training lead, a role in which she wrote training materials, managed training logistics, and conducted training sessions. Her experience includes writing policies and procedures, analyzing and re-designing front end business practices, planning for data conversion, and managing the back loading of patients for a large hospital conversion. Before joining the firm, Eliza gained a wide range of project management experience as an Account Executive for Banc of America Securities and as the Associate Director of Development for the Pacific Crest Outward Bound School. Eliza holds a BA in European Studies from Barnard College, Columbia University.

Melissa Perez
Melissa is an Accounting Administrator at Freed & Associates. She is a certified tax preparer and has also worked as an accounting assistant for both non-profit and for-profit organizations. Prior to her accounting career, Melissa served as Director of Bilingual Program at Instituto Chapultepec in Culiacan, Mexico, and was an English Language Compliance Specialist for the Fremont USD. Melissa received her Master of Education from SUNY Buffalo and her BA in Asian Studies from Hamilton College.

Katherine Peterson
Katherine Peterson joined Freed & Associates in February, 2006. She has worked in many environments including hospitals, health plans, and software providers. She came to the firm with five years experience in benefits consulting to major corporations and managing operations for a large California healthcare insurance firm. She possesses strong analytical and communications skills and has great attention to detail. Katherine holds a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley.

Julie Richards
Julie Richards has been with Freed & Associates since January 1997. She currently provides oversight on projects and participates in the Senior Management team of the firm. She has also filled the Manager of Client Relations role for F&A. She supported existing business relationships, reached out to new clients and assisted with staffing and recruitment. As a consultant, she has managed and worked on numerous projects including a costing and defensible pricing review, a customer service redesign project for a healthcare system consisting of seven hospitals, an accounts receivable assessment for a large hospital chain and a number of small system and business review projects at local hospitals. She was also involved in a major redesign project related to combining and integrating an HMO and a not-for-profit community hospital and developing system specifications for a dental insurance carrier. She has worked with physicians and hospital staff at every level of operations. Prior to coming to Freed & Associates, she worked for major hospital chains in the Boston area. Julie has an MBA in Finance and Corporate Accounting from the University of Rochester.

Mike Seel
Mike Seel first joined Freed & Associates in 1994. After a brief leave to earn a MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, he returned to the firm in 2001. During his tenure with the firm, Mike has managed the implementation of a medical records module and associated interfaces. He redesigned workflow processes and systems functionality for the ADT and insurance modules of an enterprise patient management system. Mike also managed the functional design, systems modifications, testing and training aspects for the conversion of a follow-up and collection system. Other projects he has supported include a systems and revenue review at a multi-hospital health system, a strategic systems planning project, the development of RFPs for a Radiology system and a QM system, and planning for a service agreement between an HMO and medical center. Mike has a BA in English from the University of Notre Dame.

Alan Stadelhofer
Alan Stadelhofer joined Freed & Associates in 2000. Since then, he has been a project lead on several healthcare system implementations where he demonstrated extensive skills in managing teams as well as working at a detail level with data analysis and conversions. Alan communicates well with both business users and IT, often working in roles to help the two groups function effectively together. He has also worked on process redesign and user training in accounts receivable projects. Before joining the firm, Alan was an IT Systems Analyst at NorthBay Healthcare Systems. There he focused on finding technology methods to enhance business practices. Alan has a BS in Managerial Economics from the University of California at Davis.

Ben Steinbach
Ben Steinbach joined Freed & Associates in October, 2006. Ben has significant healthcare experience including participating in all phases of system implementations, designing and implementing HL7 and non-HL7 interfaces, project management and pharmacy operations. Prior to his position with Freed & Associates, Ben worked for a leading provider of healthcare technology as an integration engineer and project manager. He was a member of the professional services team for their start-up efforts in Europe. He also worked in the B2B software sector where he created and facilitated a national end-user training program. He has experience in both retail and hospital p harmacy settings. Ben also performed a tour of duty in US Navy. He holds a California License for Pharmacy Technician. Ben earned a BA in History from California Polytechnic University.

John Tanner, PMP
John has over 20 years experience in healthcare. He has significant experience in healthcare IT projects and product management. John also has a strong healthcare software development and implementation background and is an experienced business analyst. John has exceptional communications skills and is a highly effective relationship-builder and manager. Prior to his position with Freed & Associates, John was a Senior Project Manager with Perot Systems at Stanford Hospital and Clinics. He has also held product management positions at LifeMasters and Oracle. His past experience at GE Healthcare (IDX Systems) and McKesson provided him with a strong background in IT development and implementation. John holds a BS in Allied Medical Professions from The Ohio State University, and he is PMP certified.

Jennifer Taylor
Jennifer Taylor joined Freed & Associates in 2005. Jennifer has significant experience in healthcare consulting, specifically with project and operations management, business process re-design, business change management, performance measurement, system selection and business development. Furthermore, Jennifer received certification in Six Sigma as a Green Belt. Prior to her position with Freed & Associates, she was a Senior Consultant with an industrial engineering and operational improvements company working in both hospital and pharmaceutical/biotech environments. She also spent over a year with a hospital management engineering consulting company developing process improvements for a 3-hospital network. In her career, Jennifer has worked with numerous hospitals, health plans, pharmaceutical and biotech companies across the world, focusing on quality, operational excellence, and project management. Jennifer holds a Bachelors of Science from Western Michigan University.

Robert Thorwald
Rob Thorwald joined Freed & Associates in 1998. As a consultant for F&A, Rob first served as interim Chief Information Officer for a medical center and then an insurance company. His career encompasses over 20 years of experience in the banking, retailing, engineering and healthcare industries. He has managed all aspects of information system technology including system selection and implementations, data center construction and management, and voice and data telecommunications technology implementations. Before joining Freed & Associates, Rob was Chief Information Officer for the Western Division of Sutter Health, Inc. He has also held management positions with Wells Fargo Bank and Lucky Stores, Inc. Rob has a B.S. in Business Administration from California State University, San Francisco.

Elizabeth Townes
Liz Townes joined Freed & Associates in 2001 and has managed patient accounting projects and served as the interim billing manager for a leading Bay Area medical center. Previously Liz was a senior consultant at Compuware Corporation, where she was a project manager and business analyst for full application lifecycle projects at major HMO and telecommunications organizations. Before becoming a consultant, Liz spent nine years in transportation and logistics management at computer manufacturing and wearing apparel firms, where she worked on a variety of IT projects. Liz has a BA in Psychology from Smith College and an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Shani Trudigan
Shani Trudigan joined Freed & Associates in 1999 with extensive healthcare industry experience in information system design, testing, implementation and business process re-design. While with the firm, Shani has developed cross-departmental ADR (Medicare’s Additional Data Request) processes, coordinated business office facility move projects, coordinated the implementation and maintained Siemen’s MedSeries4 (MS4) applications, and developed and trained staff on improved financial counseling processes. She has served as the project manager on several projects and has also been an interim billing manager. Shani also serves as an internal resource for the HIPAA Privacy regulations. Prior to joining Freed & Associates, Shani was a consultant with Andersen Consulting and later a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting’s Health Care Center of Expertise group. Shani has a BS in Business Administration, with a concentration in Information Systems, from the University of Washington.

Cliff Veltenaar
Cliff Veltenaar joined Freed & Associates in October, 2006. He has over 15 years experience in healthcare IT systems implementation, interface analysis and integration, particularly in HL7 environments, and process re-engineering. Cliff is skilled at managing teams as well as working at the detail level. Prior to his position with Freed & Associates, Cliff was an IT Project Manager for two major hospital systems. He has also served as an Interface Consultant and Manager for two major medical centers. In his career, he has worked with hospitals, manufacturing and wholesale industries.

Yeeling Wu
Yeeling Wu joined Freed & Associates in 2003. Since then, she has worked with several departments of a local children's hospital to review and improve charge capture processes, identify opportunities for enhancing revenue and update procedure cost accounting data. Prior to joining F&A, she spent over seven years with the Health Services Consulting Group at Accenture. She worked on projects ranging from large scale systems implementations to business process design efforts. Her experience covers a wide range of health plan operations including claims administration, provider reimbursement, membership accounting, and medical management. Before joining Accenture, Yeeling completed graduate course work in Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. She also holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of California at Berkeley.