6 Influential Speakers in Healthcare Ready to Share Their Wisdom

Melody Barnes advised President Obama and served as Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) for 3 years. During her tenure, the DPC worked with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Treasury to implement important healthcare reform legislation.
Dr. Hymanis a family physician and a four-time New York Times bestselling author. He is an international specialist in the field of Functional Medicine, which is a combination of Western alternative and conventional medicine. It revolves around the belief that diet, nutrition and exposure to environmental toxins are the root causes of chronic illness.

Every industry is in need of inspiring examples – individuals who have reached pivotal professional heights and through their knowledge and experience can provide valuable insight into their industry. Here we present 6 influential individuals who have considerable expertise in different aspects of healthcare and are willing to share their wisdom.

Melody Barnes

Center for American Progress / Flickr / CC BY-ND

Barnes has also overseen the implementation of important new food safety regulations. In addition she was part of a team that created the first comprehensive national strategy to curtail the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic. One of her most ambitious projects to date remains her joint effort with First Lady Michelle Obama and the Let's Move! campaign, which aims at eradicating childhood obesity.

Kevin Pho, MD

Kevin Pho is a practicing internal medicine physician and founder of KevinMD.com, which Forbes refers to as a “must-read blog.” CNN has also recommended Kevin's twitter feed as one of the five best in healthcare. Dr. Pho comments on recent healthcare developments, burning issues, reforms or anything else that stays under the mainstream media radar.

His blog has over 1 million monthly page views and is often cited by the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN and New York Times. KevinMD.com was founded in 2004, and today is an influential social media platform with over 1,000 contributors including doctors, policy experts, nurses, surgeons and even medical students.

Mark Hyman, MD

Dr. Hyman is Chairman of the Institute of Functional Medicine. Doctors specializing in Functional Medicine develop individual treatment plans for each patient based on how the immune, endocrine or gastrointestinal systems of the patient interact with the surroundings.

He is the author of three books which have been featured on PBS, 60 minutes, Larry King Live and several other programs. He also went to Haiti immediately after the earthquake and worked on the ground as part of the Partners in Health volunteer program.

Bill Thomas, MD

SUNY Cortland /Read Media / William Thomas

Dr. Thomas is an authority on geriatric medicine and care of the elderly. He is also the leader of the online Changing Aging movement. In his attempt to redefine the meaning of long-term global care, he founded The Eden Alternative and Green House Project. The former is an international non-profit that also has affiliates in all 50 US states. The idea behind it is that nursing homes should be filled with laughter and continual personal growth.

Dr. Thomas likes to refer to himself as a “nursing-home abolitionist,” and driven by such an attitude he developed the Green House Project. The project creates an alternative living environment in which 7-10 seniors live in small communities and are encouraged to live full and vibrant lives.

Dr. Thomas has a steady media presence and has been interviewed by Time Magazine, New York Times, CNN and Washington Post.

Joe Flower

Joe Flower has observed the ever-changing healthcare system in the US for the past 30 years. He has worked as a consultant with the World Health Organization, the Global Business Network, as well as numerous state hospital associations throughout the U.S. He has also authored or co-authored 9 books and written hundreds of healthcare articles.

In addition, Flower wrote Healthcare Beyond Reform: Doing it Right for Half the Cost, which is considered to be the manifesto on the state of our healthcare and where it should be heading. His conclusions were based on his in-depth survey of innovation and established healthcare patterns. He is also a regular columnist at the Healthcare Forum Journal.

Jeffery Bauer, PhD in economics

Dr. Bauer is a nationally recognized medical economist. He has worked towards the creation of a healthcare delivery system with multi-stakeholder partnerships at its core. Dr. Bauer is a frequent speaker at national and international medical conferences and seminars with his major focus falling on medical science, information systems, public policy, and health reform.. He has over 200 publications, including 4 books on technology, healthcare and data analytics as well as numerous articles in professional journals.