Team Bios

Susanne Madden, MBA

President & CEO

Senior Consultant, Business Services

madden@theverdengroup.com

Location: Nyack, NY, USA

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Susanne Madden is founder and CEO of The Verden Group, a consulting firm founded to help practices navigate through the increasingly complex business of healthcare.
Her career has spanned across several sections of the healthcare industry. Prior to founding Verden, she was employed by UnitedHealthcare in the area of physician network management and spent several years as an independent healthcare consultant specializing in business development, revenue cycle remediation, vendor management and process improvement.

Formerly a practice administrator and billing manager, she understands the many different challenges facing practices today. With an MBA in both Management Systems and Information & Communication Systems, she has applied her formal learning to understanding the principles of knowledge management and how information can be transformed into comprehension at all levels with the right facilitation. The Verden Group is the culmination of that knowledge, which seeks to inform, transform and reform the business of healthcare today.

Susanne writes frequently and speaks regularly on the business aspects of healthcare and is frequently quoted in industry and media publications.

Robert E. Goff, PhD

Senior Associate, Business Services

goff@theverdengroup.com

Location: Nyack, NY, USA

Chip Hart

Senior Associate, Business Services

chip@theverdengroup.com

Location: Burlington, VT, USA

Herschel Lessin, MD

Senior Associate, Business Services

drlessin@theverdengroup.com

Location: Nyack, NY, USA

Oisin (Ush-een) Brennan

CCO (Chief Canine Officer)

oisin@theverdengroup.com

Location: Halifax, NS, Canada

Ahmed Nawaz, MBA

Manager

Research & Analytics Division

ahmed@theverdengroup.com

Location: Lahore, Pakistan

Ahmed is responsible for supporting all aspects of Verden’s operations and business development, finding new solutions for business dilemmas and ensures that Verden remains at the forefront of innovative solutions for our clients.

With a primary role in market research, analytics and marketing activities, he is our primary resource for research and analysis of industry data and managed care insurance companies.

A great asset, Ahmed brings a diverse skill set to The Verden Group, educated in Marketing with experience in customer service and operations management.

In addition to his work at The Verden Group, Ahmed also manages his own consulting company, Northern Sky, in Lahore, Pakistan.

Patricia Brennan

Senior Analyst

Research & Analytics Division

patsy@theverdengroup.com

Location: Halifax, NS, Canada

Having worked in hospitals and research departments for much of her career, Patsy's experience ranges from cancer research to immunology. With a comprehensive medical background, she brings a wealth of clinical and operational knowledge to every client engagement. Always fascinated with the mind, body, spirit connection, her enduring interests are in the areas of Psycho-neuro-immunology, Energy Medicine (particularly zero-point energy) and the science of longevity.

As Senior Analyst and primary researcher, she has reviewed thousands of Payer policies and has a keen insight into Payer strategies. Her considerable exposure to clinical operations combined with her aptitude for research gives her the ideal background to analyze and interpret managed care policy information for Verden’s analytics division. With her unique perspective and considerable curiosity, Patsy also identifies and posts the most meaningful and relevant stories for our Editorial pages.

Joe Madden

Project Manager

joe@theverdengroup.com

Location: Nyack, NY

As project manager for the group, Joe's responsibilities range from coordinating field logistics to managing client contracts, keeping accounts current and project details updated.

With a background in construction, he’d rather be outdoors and up a ladder most days than sitting at a desk, but Joe’s many years of experience coordinating teams, materials and seeing projects through to completion down to the last nail translates perfectly to the Verden environment.

Joe also holds certificates in art & design from the European Vocational Education Committee in Dublin , and digital video editing from the New York Film Academy. As such, he works on our web site work and video production for clients.

He is known to scuba dive every now and then and has a keen interest in music and traveling.

General Inquiries: 877-884-7770 ext 1 inquiry@theverdengroup.com

THE TEAM

EDITORIAL

Julie Wood, MSc

Consultant, Business Services

julie@theverdengroup.com

Location: Annapolis, MD, USA

Julie Wood comes to the Verden Group with almost 20 years of experience in the medical and pharmaceutical industries in the US and UK.

A highly motivated sales and consulting professional, Julie’s experience ranges from contract negotiations, health systems integration and new business development, to medical practice set up and operations management.

In her role as a Consultant with The Verden Group, Julie combines her Masters Degree in Physics & Chemistry with the hands-on experience of having worked for a wide variety of professionals across the field of medicine.

Focusing primarily on new practice recruitment and evaluation, data compilation, reporting, and medical home facilitation, Julie also consults on financial management issues and acts as a healthcare advocate.

Julie is also an extraordinary jewelry maker, successfully running a small business part-time and is an accomplished Cellist playing with the Columbia Symphony and the Anne Arundel Orchestras in Annapolis, MD.

Yossi Faber, MBA

Senior Consultant, Special Projects

yossi@theverdengroup.com

Location: Nyack, NY, USA

Yossi brings both experience and education to the table, having earned an MBA with honors in Healthcare Administration and 14 years experience in the healthcare industry. Yossi owns and manages Faber Healthcare Solutions, a consultancy in New Jersey, he owns Clean Bill of Health, a third party billing company, he is a member of Gerson Lehrman Group Councils, which are industry- and discipline-focused networks of professionals from around the world, and is a member of the Round Table Group Expert Network, an organization of world-class industry experts who provide research, consultation, and expert witness testimony services.

He is an invited lecturer at major academic medical centers, including the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the New York University School of Medicine, Hackensack University Medical Center and the Albert Einstein School of Medicine.

Yossi serves as a special projects consultant for The Verden Group. With career experience working with major academic medical centers, not-for-profit organizations and private medical practices, Yossi has worked in operating rooms, in research facilities, and in private practice management, with line employees, mid-level managers, physicians and directors.

Heidi Hallett

Director of Communications

Marketing & Communications Division

heidi@theverdengroup.com

Location: Halifax, NS, Canada

With more than 14 years of experience in Marketing and Communications, Heidi Hallett brings her passion for words to The Verden Group. Combining a strong grasp of both written and verbal communications with a flair for helping clients deliver their messages more effectively, Heidi's motto is "words that work".

Whether it's developing marketing materials, editing websites or drafting communications pieces for clients, Heidi brings a unique perspective and a wealth of enthusiasm to every project. In addition to her role as Director of Communications for The Verden Group, she is the creative writer for wordbird, a communications company in Halifax, NS and the coordinator of the Writers In The Schools program at the Writers' Federation of NS.

Scott Hodgson

Graphic Design & Marketing

Marketing & Communications Division

scott@theverdengroup.com

Location: Halifax, NS, Canada

Scott ischarged with bringing fresh design ideas to the Verden Group and our clients. With a finely tuned, problem-solving approach to marketing communications, Scott keeps marketing initiatives on track and ensures delivery to the right audience as effectively as possible. Using audience-focused solutions and an ability to integrate straightforward communications with the complexities of the healthcare industry. Scott has greatly enhanced Verden's visibility in the marketplace. In addition to his role with The Verden Group, Scott has more than 15 years of expertise in marketing, identity and design and works with private and institutional clients in the US, Canada and abroad.

With more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry, Robert E. Goff is a recognized expert in care delivery, organization and financing. His career has spanned a wide range of leadership positions as a hospital administrator, regulator, managed care executive, consultant and association executive. He has been an adjunct professor, at the New School University, instructing in Managed Care and Healthcare Strategic Planning and is a frequent lecturer to physicians and community organizations.

As an entrepreneur he has been responsible for the development of numerous health care businesses, including one of the first for-profit HMOs in New York State, the first network model Medicaid managed care plan in New York, one of the earliest physician practice management companies, a chain of urgent care centers, as well as a variety of provider based health care business initiatives.

Mr. Goff currently serves as CEO of University Physicians Network, LLC (UPN) in New York City, an organization of physicians engaged in supporting the private practice of medicine and its relationship with managed care companies. Additionally, Mr. Goff holds advisory roles with a number of emerging healthcare companies, and is active in consultative roles including the position he holds at the Verden Group.

Dr. Herschel Lessin has been a full-time practicing Pediatrician since 1982 and has served as an expert witness in Pediatric malpractice litigation since 1987, working for both plaintiff and defense. He was board certified in Pediatrics and has been recertifed twice. He is participating in the new maintenance of certification program of the American Board of Pediatrics. Trained at Stanford and Yale, Dr. Lessin has experience in case review as well as both deposition and trial testimony. He a founding member, former medical director and directior of clinical research, and vice president at one of the largest Pediatric practices in the United States, The Children's Medical Group, PLLC (www.childrensmedgroup.com).

Herschel Lessin, continued:

In addition to his Pediatric expertise, Dr. Lessin has extensive experience and involvement in all aspects of Managed Care. He was a founder, and for 12 years, was Chairman of a 2000 physician IPA that contracts with Managed Care organizations and covers over 150,000 lives. He is a Certified Managed Care Executive through America's Health Insurance Plans, the Managed care trade organization.

He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of a not for profit Health Insurance Company with 700,000 covered lives and nearly $3 billion in annual premium.