Keynote Speakers
Kim Becking, J.D.
Change and Leadership Expert
Nicholas Webb
Futurist, Author and Innovation Expert
Nick Webb is a world-renowned strategist, bestselling author and futurist. He invented one of the first wearable technologies and one of the world’s smallest medical implants. He has been awarded more than 40 patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office for a wide range of cutting-edge technologies.
Nick is the founding CEO of LeaderLogic, LLC, a management consulting firm that helps organizations drive growth and profitability. He also is the author of The Innovation Playbook, The Digital Innovation Playbook, What Customers Crave, The Innovation Mandate and his bestselling book, The Healthcare Mandate. As an advisor, he works with some of the top brands to help them lead their market in Enterprise Strategy, Customer Experience (CX) and Innovation. Nick is also the executive producer and host of the award-winning documentary, The Healthcare Cure.
Western University of Health Sciences, a Top Southern California Medical School, awarded Nick his Doctorate of Humane Letters (Hon). Nick is also an Adjunct Professor and the Chief Innovation Officer of the Center for Health Innovation at Western University of Health Sciences.
Speakers
Angie Cooper
Senior Provider Relations Analyst, CGS Administrators, LLC
Angie brings more than 25 years of Medicare expertise to the Provider Outreach and Education team. She has worked on CERT error reduction and education for DMEPOS suppliers and physicians/practitioners. Angie is committed to helping providers with the challenges of understanding documentation and policy requirements and navigating the Medicare audit process. Her ultimate goal as an educator is to provide instruction that will result in Medicare provider compliance at the time of initial claim submission.
Carolyn De La Cruz, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery, Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Dr. Carolyn De La Cruz is full time faculty dedicated to the care of the breast reconstruction patient. She has had extensive post- graduate training spanning 10 years in research, general surgery and plastic surgery in Robert Wood Johnson and University of Miami. After completing her microsurgery fellowship at MD Anderson she joined the Pittsburgh team to bring microsurgical options to breast reconstruction patients. She performs all types of breast reconstruction including free flaps, implant based reconstruction and fat grafting for women who have had mastectomies. For over a decade the microsurgical program has thrived at Magee Womens’ Hospital under her direction. Dr. De La Cruz’s mission is to give each patient specialized and individualized care. Dr. De La Cruz is active in training plastic surgery residents and has won teaching awards for her dedication. She is active in basic science and clinical research has published numerous papers.
In order to provide complete surgical care to the breast cancer patient, Dr. De La Cruz also treats breast cancer related lymphedema. She has studied across the country and abroad to learn new techniques to improve the quality of life for these patients. She performs debulking procedures, lymphatic venous bypasses and lymph node transfers.
As a passionate advocate for breast cancer reconstruction, she is active in the community promoting awareness. Each year she organizes a BRA day event bringing together the community. Local artists are commissioned to create works of art that tell stories of breast reconstruction. This event has been widely successful and has increased awareness across the city. It is one of the highlights of Breast Cancer Awareness month each October in Pittsburgh.
Laurie Guest, CSP
Author and Customer Service Expert
Laurie began her training as a customer service expert at the tender age of 9. As a Midwest farmer’s daughter, she learned to master the art of customer engagement to sell more sweet corn than the competition. Laurie is a “go-to” resource for customer service excellence. For more than two decades, she has shared her practical point of view on customer service and staff development with audiences and companies across the country, blending real-life examples and proven action steps for improvement—a combination that results in over three-quarters of her clients asking for an encore appearance.
Prior to her life as a speaker, Laurie enjoyed more than 24 years of healthcare experience serving both a privately owned medical facility and a community hospital system. During her administrative career, she helped a multi-million dollar medical center become a regional leader of ophthalmic surgery. Because of her experience interacting directly with patients, she understands the challenges of working in a stressful, fast-paced environment.
Her latest book, The 10¢ Decision: How Small Change Pays off Big, presents her most sought-after and impactful strategies to find and retain the best staff and highest-quality customers while delivering exceptional guest experiences. Laurie has been quoted in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today on customer service, where she has shared her practical approach to getting service levels where they need to be in today’s economy. She also is a member of the National Speakers Association and is a Certified Speaking Professional, a designation held by less than 12% of speakers worldwide. To earn this distinguished honor, Laurie speaks to thousands of people each year and consistently receives stellar ratings.
Guenter Klose, MLD/CDT Certified Instructor, CLT-LANA
Founder of Klose Training & Consulting, LLC
Guenter Klose received his initial Manual Lymph Drainage (MLD) and Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT) training in 1984 at the Foeldi Clinic in Hinterzarten, Germany. Specializing in the treatment of Lymphedema, he became certified in 1987 as an instructor for MLD/CDT by the German Massage Therapy and Physical Therapy Association and continued working as instructor at the Foeldi Schools in Freiburg and Munich, Germany.
In 1990, Guenter came to the United States to assist Dr. Robert Lerner in establishing the first CDT treatment center for lymphedema patients located in New York City. Guenter’s work was instrumental in establishing the field of lymphedema therapy and training in the U.S. He assisted in opening numerous lymphedema treatment centers on the East Coast.
In 2003, Guenter established his own lymphedema training and consulting company, an organization dedicated to providing the highest quality lymphedema therapy training available. Guenter has facilitated the training of hundreds of lymphedema therapists from across the country and abroad.
Guenter has lectured extensively in the United States, Europe, and South America. His activities include presentations at the National Lymphedema Network Conferences, lecturing at physicians’ meetings in a large number of hospitals, as well as numerous lymphedema support groups across the country. He is the Program Director of the biannual Klose Training & Consulting Lymphedema Conference. Here in the U.S., Guenter actively treats lymphedema patients and teaches classes for MLD/CDT several times a year.
Guenter was a founding member of the Lymphology Association of North America (LANA) and served on the LANA Board of Directors from 1999-2004.
Ruth Reese
DMEPOS Education Representative, Noridian Healthcare Solutions
Ruth has worked in the DME industry for more than 21 years, holding a variety of positions with Interwest Home Medical, Praxair Healthcare Services, Amerita Specialty Infusion Services and the University of Utah Home Infusion Pharmacy. During her time with these companies, she has held positions as a reimbursement specialist, accounts receivable specialist and a reimbursement supervisor.
As DMEPOS Education Representative for all states under Noridian Healthcare Solutions contract jurisdiction, Ruth supports Noridian’s supplier community. She creates and presents training courses involving detailed billing, coding and coverage guidelines to ensure correct claim submission, resulting in proper Medicare DME payments.
Kathryn H. Schmitz, PhD, MPH, FACSM, FTOS, FNAK
Distinguished Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences
Director, Oncology Nutrition and Exercise Group, Penn State Cancer Institute
Dr. Schmitz’s research focuses on people living with and beyond cancer and investigates the role of exercise in improving physiologic and psychosocial outcomes, including symptoms, treatment tolerance, and other chronic diseases. In addition, Dr. Schmitz studies technology based supportive care interventions (that include physical activity) to improve outcomes among advanced cancer patients. She is currently MPI of the FORCE trial, a multi-site trial assessing effectiveness of resistance exercise on chemotherapy tolerability among colon cancer patients (R01-CA206196). She is also PI of multiple studies testing the effects of a tablet based supportive care intervention on symptoms and survival among advanced cancer patients (AICR Funded, R01-CA254659). She has held NCI funding consistently since 2001. Her research on resistance exercise and breast cancer related lymphedema has been translated into a physical therapy delivered program called “Strength After Breast Cancer” that is available in over 900 locations across the United States and beyond. Dr. Schmitz’s Oncology Nutrition and Exercise (ONE) group team is working to make exercise counseling standard of care at Penn State Cancer Institute, while simultaneously seeking to expand the exercise oncology research evidence base through ongoing clinical trials.
Dr. Schmitz was the moving force behind two American College of Sports Medicine development processes for exercise and cancer guidelines for patients in 2010 and 2018. She founded the Moving Through Cancer initiative of the American College of Sports Medicine, which has a bold goal of making exercise standard of care in oncology by 2029. She has written a popular press book to raise awareness about exercise for cancer patients and survivors entitled Moving Through Cancer that was released by Chronicle Books, Oct. 19, 2021. She is the past president of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Jodi Winicour, PT, CMT, CLT-LANA
Course Instructor, Physical Therapist, Klose Training and Consulting
Jodi Winicour graduated from Indiana University’s Physical Therapy program in 1993 and received her massage therapy certification in 1997 from Michigan’s Health Enrichment Center. Initially practicing general orthopedic physical therapy at Community Hospital East’s Outpatient Physical Therapy Department in Indianapolis, Indiana, she began specializing in the treatment of cancer patients in 1998 and lectured for the Physical Therapy Department of Indiana University.
Jodi was certified as an MLD/CDT Therapist by Klose Norton Training & Consulting in 1998. She received her CLT-LANA Certification in October, 2001.
In 2000, Jodi joined Cedars Sinai Medical Center where she worked to develop and expand the oncology and lymphedema program in Los Angeles for seven years. Since 2007, she has treated patients with lymphedema, cancer-related dysfunction, and orthopedic issues at Longmont United Hospital in Longmont, Colorado.
In addition to her work as a full-time clinician, Jodi has served as a class instructor for Klose Training & Consulting’s Lymphedema Therapy Certification course since 2000. She is also the author and instructor for one of Klose Training’s most successful continuing education courses, “Breast Cancer Rehabilitation.”
Jodi has taught and presented at courses and conferences across the United States and in Europe on the topics of lymphedema and breast cancer rehabilitation.
