How the Military Health System is Leading the Way - Federal Webinar Series| Cerner

Health Equity and Inclusion: How the Military Health System is Leading the Way

Wednesday, March 23, 2022 | 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET

Disparities in health equity and access have long been documented for racial and ethnic minorities. Recent research suggests that universal healthcare access can mitigate some, if not all, negative outcomes. The Military Health System (MHS), serving a population representative of the U.S. population, offers a unique opportunity to study and learn. Join us to hear what the latest research tells us about how service members and their beneficiaries—representative of racial and ethnic minorities—feel about their ability to access quality, culturally competent healthcare through the MHS, how universal healthcare access drives outcomes, and how their health outcomes compare to their civilian counterparts. What barriers remain in the Military Health System?

During this webinar, our experts will:

Explore the military family perspective.
Identify the pressing priorities and issues.
Learn how racial equity research is informing this phenomenon.
Understand what is being done in this arena to reduce health inequity.

Speakers:

Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos, PhD, MHA, Professor Center for Health Services Research; Director, Doctoral Programs in Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Prof. Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos joined the faculty of the Uniformed Services University in July 2015 in order to lead the development of robust health services and policy research and graduate programs in support of the US Military Health System. She is the Director of the Center for Health Services Research and the Director of Doctoral Programs in Public Health, with core teaching and graduate student advising responsibilities at USUHS and the National Defense University. Previously she served as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. With almost 200 publications and multimedia products, Dr. Koehlmoos is a health systems and policy scientist who specializes in leading complex tasks, program development, and capacity building across the spectrum of health systems building blocks. Prior to transitioning to domestic and defense healthcare, she lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia. She cut her teeth in public health leading the Health & Family Planning Systems Programme at ICDDR,B in Dhaka Bangladesh. Her research areas of interest include health equity, value-based care, women’s health, systematic review, and health and National Security. She serves as the National Secretary of the Gold Star Wives of America and as the Deputy Chair of the Cochrane Library Oversight Committee. A former Army Air Defense Artillery officer she is the widow of COL Randall “Moose” Koehlmoos and mother of CPT Robert, Michael, and 2LT David Koehlmoos.

Jennifer Akin, Senior Director of Policy and Social Impact Research, Blue Star Families

Jenny Akin is Blue Star Families’ Senior Director of Policy and Social Impact Research, responsible for overseeing Blue Star Families’ policy, social impact, and member research, and program evaluation efforts. She is a national thought leader on military life issues and has served as the Principal Investigator on research studies to understand the unique experiences of military and Veteran families of color; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on military and Veteran families; perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine; and barriers to seeking financial assistance, among other things. Prior to joining Blue Star Families in 2018, Jenny accumulated nearly a decade of experience in the private sector and academia, supporting national security-related programs at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, serving as a military policy fellow for the University of North Carolina system, and gaining experience in business development at a small defense contractor. Jenny has a Bachelor of Arts in Peace, War, and Defense (and History) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from North Carolina State University. She and her active-duty husband reside near Fort Bragg, NC with their son and two dogs.

Charo Bates, USAA Applied Research & Social Impact DEPLOY Fellow, USMC

Charo Bates joins Blue Star Families as the Applied Research & Social Impact DEPLOY Fellow, with support from USAA. Charo has spent the majority of her professional and educational career servicing military families as a Program and Project Manager over clinical operations with Military Treatment facilities in the NCR and working with the Wounded, Ill and Injured at the Wounded Warrior Regiment. Charo has committed over 10 years ensuring that military families receive the most comprehensive and supportive treatment during some of their more challenging chapters in their life.

Nasim Afsar, MD, MBA, Executive Vice President and Chief Health Officer, Cerner Corp.

Nasim Afsar, MD, MBA, oversees clinical care, quality and patient safety, caregiver relationships, government affairs, policy and regulatory, and business processes. Dr. Afsar will work to advance healthcare by placing patients at the center of health and care and providing insight and guidance to product development and other areas of Cerner to help improve the lives of patients and caregivers.
Before her role as Chief Health Officer, Dr. Afsar served as the Chief Operating Officer for UCI Health, with the vision of delivering excellent care for the population of patients in the region and beyond while creating the best place to work in healthcare.
At UCI Health, she led inpatient and ambulatory operations, including ambulatory care, inpatient progression efforts, clinical support services, ancillary services, public safety, building and construction, emergency management, and health system contracting, working closely with payors. Dr. Afsar also oversaw more than 80 clinics and the UCI Health Patient Access Center (call center, central authorization, and referral center.) Her work led to historically high ambulatory growth, surgeries, inpatient volumes, and tertiary care transfers to UCI Health.
Dr. Afsar has served in various healthcare executive roles throughout her career, including Associate Chief Medical Officer at UCLA Health, leading numerous health system initiatives in quality, safety, and patient experience. And, Chief Quality Officer for the Department of Medicine at UCLA Health, leading large-scale population health initiatives, including an innovative program, "Mind the Gap," which closed the highest numbers of care gaps in the system.

Moderator: James Schmeling, J.D., President and CEO, National Defense University Foundation

NDUF’s President and CEO James Schmeling, J.D., has over 25 years of unparalleled experience in building and leading organizations focused on higher education, military veteran nonprofits, and public private partnerships. At NDUF he is focused on bringing resources to the National Defense University to support its mission of educating senior national security leaders from the U.S. military, State Department, other executive agencies, the private sector, and students from our allies, partners, friends, including students from over 65 countries.
Prior to joining the NDUF, James Schmeling, J.D., was Executive Vice President for Student Veterans of America. Schmeling’s expertise includes building three research-focused institutes within premier public and private universities (the University of Iowa and Syracuse University). Schmeling established and co-founded:

The Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University and was appointed its first managing director.

The Coalition for Veteran Owned Business (CVOB) at IVMF.

The Business and Industry Roundtable at Student Veterans of America.

The Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University and was its COO and managing director.

Schmeling’s comprehensive focus on veteran-inclusive employment included collaboration with J.P. Morgan Chase’s Veteran Jobs Mission which has enabled over 200 major business and industry partners to hire nearly 300,000 veterans. He also serves as:

Member of the Veterans Employment Advisory Committee for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes initiative

Member of the Board of Directors of Corporate America Supports You and of the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network

Member of the Department of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach (ACVETEO)

Schmeling also has been a guest lecturer at the Disney Institute Heroes Work Here Program and for Small Business Administration (SBA) veteran and spouse entrepreneurship education programs in the U.S. and globally

Schmeling is a U.S. Air Force veteran, served for 6 years, and was honorably discharged as a sergeant. Post-service he earned a B.A. in political science with a minor in international studies (Latin America) from Iowa State University and a Juris Doctorate (JD) with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law.