ACPE news - American College of Physician Executives

Physician Executive, July, 2001

Meet ACPE's New President & Board Members

Martin Hickey, MD, MS, CPE, FACPE

ACPE's new president, Martin E. Hickey is president and chief executive officer of Lovelace Health Systems, Inc. in Albuquerque, N.M.

Prior to moving to that position, he was the chief medical officer for the organization. Lovelace is a fully integrated health system that includes a 270-physician multispecialty group, a 250,000-member health plan with 3,000 IPA physicians, and a large medical center in Albuquerque. Hickey is general manager of Lovelace-CIGNA Health Plan of New Mexico.

Hickey is also an associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of New Mexico and lectures nationally on managed care, disease management, physician leadership and health care administration.

Before joining Lovelace, Hickey was executive director of managed care services at the University of New Mexico Medical Center and medical director of University Physician Associates. Before his appointments at the university, he developed and directed a rural health system in New Mexico for the Veterans Administration.

Hickey began his clinical and administrative career in the U.S. Indian Health Service, serving for seven years on the Navajo reservation. He received his medical degree from Rush Medical College and his master's degree in administrative medicine from the. University of Wisconsin.

Susan Freeman, MD, MS, CPE, FACPE

"The ACPE of the future will provide strategies, knowledge and networking for physician executives to actively lead change in the business of medicine," predicts new board member Susan Freeman. At the same time "preserving the physician-patient relationship, but realigning the financial model and incentives."

As senior medical director and vice president of Minneapolis-based Definity Health, Freeman is at the forefront of a next-generation consumer-focused health plan. With an impressive track record in governance, policy, and quality of care issues, she has also served in such leadership roles as chief of endocrinology and vice president of medical affairs for Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn.

"We must strengthen our collective voice," Freeman says of ACPE. She also feels the College should, "bring academic, corporate and community physician executives together, extend the reach of our publications, and continue to expand educational opportunities."

After earning her medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Freeman completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Rochester, Minn. She also holds a master's degree in health care administration from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

An ACPE member since 1994, Freeman earned her CPE in 1999, and serves on the credentials committee for the Certifying Commission in Medical Management. She became an ACPE Fellow in 2000.

Donald E. Melnick, MD, FACPE

Active in ACPE since 1979, Donald Melnick presides over the National Board of Medical Examiners as its president and chief executive officer. An academic internist and clinical pharmacologist, his experience includes: teaching medical students, primary care practice, quality assurance consulting, managing a faculty group practice, hospital board membership, and management of large, institutional operational and research projects.

In looking to the future, Melnick feels ACPE should focus on its core competencies. "ACPE's educational offerings must couple superb teachers and content selection with emerging technologies," he says, noting this would allow "convenient, efficient, targeted access to learning." He thinks College initiatives, such as the new leading Beyond the Bottom Line program, are keys to future success and "must be the first of many visions to marry solid business with medicine's traditional ethos focusing on the well being of patients."

Melnick earned his medical degree from Loma Linda University in California. He is a Fellow of ACPE, the American College of Physicians, and the American College of Medical Informatics.

Barry Silbaugh, MD, MS, FACPE

"I see ACPE emerging as a wellspring of innovative ideas and visionary leaders for health care," says Barry Silbaugh. "Building on a heritage of patient-centered service, we should imagine a leadership philosophy that couples financial discipline with reverence for the clinician's artistry in improving health care."

The vice president of medical operations for Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, a system of 70 hospitals employing nearly 800 physicians nationwide, Silbaugh brings expertise in private group practice to ACPE's board.

Former medical director of New Mexico Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Silbaugh earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. He also earned a master's degree in administrative medicine from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Also a proponent of ACPE's new initiatives, Silbaugh says, "We must develop measurements that show the value of Leading Beyond the Bottom Line, assume leadership in patient safety, and encourage advanced certificate and degree programs for physicians."