Healthcare (General) Consultants: 28

Emin Gharibian, PsyD, is a Clinical Psychologist specializing in Forensic Psychology and Neuropsychology with over 10 years of experience in assessing, treating, and consulting on psychological disorders.

Dr. Gharibian's training and experience have been in psychological and neuropsychological assessments in a variety of clinical settings including private practice, outpatient mental health clinics, psychiatric hospitals, forensic hospitals, and correctional facilities. 

He specializes in providing comprehensive psychological and neuropsychological evaluations for various conditions including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, complications from a stroke, traumatic brain injury, concussions, learning disabilities, ADHD, and PTSD.

He also specializes in forensic psychological and neuropsychological evaluations for immigration hearings, mental health diversion and mitigation, testamentary capacity, competency to stand trial, personal injury, worker's compensation, and fitness for duty. He provides consultation services to personal injury and worker's compensation attorneys on psychological and neuropsychological-related matters.  He has also testified as an expert and served as a consultant for the defense and prosecution in state and federal court.

In addition to his private practice, he is a forensic psychologist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He conducts psychological evaluations to evaluate patients for violence risk and determine if they meet the criteria to be committed to a state hospital, write court reports, and testify in court as an expert witness.

Dr. Gharibian is appointed to the Los Angeles Juvenile Court Expert Witness Panel and Adult Criminal Court Expert Witness Panel. He is also a member of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.

Areas of Forensic Expertise:

Dr. Steven J. Helfand, PsyD, is a licensed Psychologist with over 25 years of direct Correctional Mental Health and Health Leadership experience. He has overseen the mental health and health service delivery in over 50 small, mid-size, and large scale jail, prison, and juvenile systems in accordance with national and local standards as well as multiple consent decrees and settlement agreements.

Dr. Helfand holds long term certification as a Certified Correctional Health Professional through the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) where he was a contributor to the inaugural Mental Health Standards and a long standing presenter of those standards. He is a former Board Chair for the Academy of Correctional Health Professionals and has published book chapters and articles related to behavioral treatment (self-injury and management of the disruptive inmate) and management plans, and serves as a consultant and expert witness to address those challenges.

Dr. Helfand has served as Executive Director of Bleuler Psychotherapy Center since 2015 overseeing both the licensed OMH and OASAS programs. He currently consults to NCCHC Resources Inc providing evaluation and technical assistance to several jail systems and to DHS related to conditions of confinement. He has held the position of Senior Vice President of Operations for Correct Care Solutions, overseeing mental health and health services in city and county jails throughout the east coast. Dr. Helfand is the former: Statewide Director of Mental Health for all Connecticut jails and prisons, Deputy Director / Acting Director of Mental Health at Rikers Island jails, Director of Forensic Mental Health at Nassau County Correctional Center, and Director of Mental Health / Health Service Administrator at the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice.

Business Consulting Services - Dr. Helfand is often called upon to assess the functioning of jail based mental health programs and to offer recommendations within the framework of national standards, best practices, and local requirements. He has extensive experience and documented success in:

• Contract Monitoring of Mental Health / Health Vendor Services
• Suicide Prevention Policy and Physical Plant Review
• Monitoring and Implementation of Federal (Department of Justice) and Local Consent Decrees / Settlement Agreements related to Mental Health Care
• Jail / Prison Policy Development
• Jail / Prison Mental Health Program Development
• Management of Self-Injurious / Disruptive Inmates
• NCCHC Accreditation Preparation 
• Application of National Mental Health Standards and Regulatory Issues
• Systems Developed for the Assessment and Treatment of the Mentally Ill
• Use of Force / Segregation with the Mentally Ill

View Dr. Steven J. Helfand's Expert Witness Profile.

• Neurological Injuries (Brain and Spinal Cord Injury)
• Burns
• Orthopedic Injures
• Amputation
• Chronic Pain
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Expert Testimony
• Life Care Planning
• Mini/Preliminary Life Care Plan
• Video Services
• Medical Record Review
• RN Independent Medical Exam
• Medicare Set Aside Trust Analysis
• Medical Bill Auditing
• Questions: Deposition Cross Examining

Dr. Robert B. Sklaroff, MD, is medical specialist Board-Certified in Internal Medicine since 1977 and in Medical Oncology since 1979. Currently a solo practitioner, Dr. Sklaroff has been an Independent Medical Examiners since 2009.

Dr. Sklaroff has testified on the issue of health care before nine governmental bodies including the National Cancer Advisory Board. He has also provided written testimony to the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means and delivered over 190 lectures on topics within his area of expertise including smoking cessation. A prolific author, Dr. Sklaroff has written numerous articles on issues involving cancer and smoking.

Professional Societies:

View Dr. Sklaroff's Expert Witness Profile.

Research & Planning Consultants, LP (RPC) has been assisting clients with expert services for over 45 years, including consulting and expert witness testimony for personal injury, healthcare litigation, commercial litigation and Certificate of Need matters. RPC also offers a wide selection of health data. They have served clients across the U.S, from Alaska to Florida and from New England to California. 

A Complete Team of Damages Experts for Personal Injury Litigation

Research & Planning Consultants, LP provides the following services: 

• PERSONAL INJURY - RPC provides comprehensive damages analysis in personal injury litigation. Their expert team has life care planners, vocational evaluators, board-certified physicians, economists and neuropsychologists. 

Areas of Expertise include: Life Care Plans, Loss of Earning Capacity or Support, Present Value of Damages, Medical Bill Analysis, Chargemaster Analysis, Neuropsychological Testing & Traumatic Brain Injury, Vocational Evaluations, IMEs, Section 18.001, Prestanding ED Chargemaster Analysis

• COMMERCIAL LITIGATION- RPC has provided expert analysis on commercial litigation concerning many industries: chemicals, refining, forestry, waste management, pipelines, water resources, oil and gas EDP, fisheries, agriculture, electrical generating plants, transmission lines, telecommunications, and real estate development. Our special expertise in the healthcare industry has proven valuable to business litigators unfamiliar with this complex industry.

Areas of Expertise: Breach of Contract / Commercial Economic Damages, Construction Disputes, Litigation over Non-Competitive Agreements, Environmental Torts and Toxic Torts, Commercial Disparagement, Wrongful Termination

• HEALTHCARE LITIGATION - RPC offers economic, statistical, data and clinical analysis in a wide range of healthcare litigation. They have experience with payment disputes, qui tam litigation, physician-hospital disputes, practice valuations and construction litigation. 

Areas of Expertise: Qui Tam Healthcare Litigation, Medical Staff Disputes, Professional Liability, Payment Disputes, Health Facility Construction Disputes, Freestanding ED Chargemester Analysis

• CERTIFICATE OF NEED - RPC provides Certificate of Need (CON) planning services nationwide. We have over 35 years of experience developing regulatory strategy, preparing applications and testifying in public and administrative hearings.

Areas of Expertise: Satellite Hospitals, New Hospitals, Relocation and Transfer of Beds, Observation Beds, Geriatric Psychiatric Units, Children’s Hospitals, Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Units, Neonatal Intensive Care Units, Open Heart Surgery Services, Long Term Acute Care Units, Projects that exceed CON Capital Threshold Limits, Projects for Specifically Listed Services, Programs Requiring CON, Hospices, Senior Living Facilities

Ronald T. Luke, JD, PhD, is a principal consultant and President of RPC, LP. Ron joined RPC in 1976 and became its president and principal owner in 1979. He has consulted on projects for health care providers, managed care plans and public agencies in more than 25 states. He also serves as an expert witness in trials, administrative proceedings and legislative hearings.

Active in the Health Policy Arena, Dr. Luke has been accepted as an expert in Economics, Socioeconomic Impact Analysis, and Policy Analysis by state and federal courts, and state administrative agencies. The types of cases in which he has provided expert testimony include personal injury, contractual disputes, health care payment disputes, construction defects, utility construction permitting, and certificate of need. He has testified on health care matters including market structure, billing fraud and abuse, reasonableness of charges, medical staff credentialing, workers’ compensation fee guidelines, utilization review, physician contracts, and managed care contracts.

Kacy L. Turner, MS, CRC, CVE, CLCP, is a Certified Life Care Planner and Vocational Consultant with RPC. She has over 20 years of experience in Rehabilitation. Ms. Turner has experience writing life care plans for both plaintiff and defense clients. She has experience as a rehabilitation consultant in three states and has been qualified as a testifying expert in state and federal court.  

Ms. Turner has worked on cases in several states as well as the country of Trinidad. To determine the pre-injury and post-injury employability in personal injury cases, she provides vocational testing, transferable skills analysis, job requirements analysis, rehabilitation plans, and definition of reasonable accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act. She is a member of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, the Texas Association of Rehabilitation Professionals and Providers of Services, and Vocational Evaluation and Career Assessment Professionals.

Brian Piper, PhD,  is an Economist with RPC specializing in Quantitative Analysis and Modelling. He works on a variety of cases including personal injury and certificate of need. He is experienced in data extraction, management, simulation, and analysis using STATA, SQL, ARC GIS and a variety of other programs. Dr. Piper has taught graduate classes in statistics and econometrics in both MBA and Ph.D. programs.

Dr. Piper is an experienced expert, providing testimony, reports, and affidavits on the issues of economic damages in personal injury litigation, healthcare litigation, False Claims Act litigation, and other commercial litigation. He has testified on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. 

Dr. Piper specializes in the economics of healthcare. He has been retained by healthcare providers and insurers in payment disputes. He has analyzed the reasonableness of charges and expected payment for past and future medical services for providers, insurers, plaintiffs, and defendants. Besides work in litigation, Dr. Piper has provided analysis of Certificate of Need applications and the economic impacts of proposed legislation.

Georgia J. Persky RN, MBA, PhD, CLNC, is a seasoned nurse with over 40 years of broad Clinical Nursing experience and 25 years of Senior Leadership in Healthcare Organizations. She has expertise in the micro issues in direct patient care and the broad Management, Quality, State, Federal, and Joint Commission regulatory issues in hospitals and long term care facilities. Dr. Persky provides private consulting for hospitals that want to improve patient care quality and satisfaction. A national speaker and author, her services are in demand for engagements on healthcare issues. 

Litigation Consulting Support - As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant and Quality Reviewer, Dr. Persky has investigated hundreds of Malpractice and Injury cases as a quality reviewer and can assist in legal case review with chronologies, timelines, and evidence based reports. Dr. Persky's services are available to attorneys for plaintiff and defense seeking an expert in nursing and patient care with a strong understanding of how hospitals and nursing homes work. 

Facility Consulting Services:

• Provide hospital and nursing leadership and support in turnaround or acute regulatory situations
• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate Patient Care Services structure, processes and patient satisfaction initiatives
• Mentor nursing leadership team or screen and recruit new leadership
• Recommend strategies and tactics to improve efficiency or effectiveness in nursing and hospital operations
• Assess Perioperative Services and improve volume and patient flow
• Provide focused plan and implementation to address regulatory and accreditation issues and prepare leaders and staff for regulatory visits
• Develop Nursing, Operational and Strategic plan for handoff to new leadership team

Background Experience - Dr. Persky has served as Vice-President of Nursing and Patient Care Services for 25 years and most recently, New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University Medical Center. For nine years, she was responsible for Risk and Quality Management and Patient Satisfaction for a 750 bed academic hospital. She directed a $200 million budget with 33 patient services units and Care Management, Respiratory Therapy, Social Work and Admitting Departments with 9 direct reports and 2,000 patient care employees. 

View Dr. Persky's Expert Witness Profile.

Dr. Patricia J. Bartzak, DNP, RN, CMSRN is a doctorally prepared Registered Nurse, with active nursing licenses in both Massachusetts and California.  Dr. Bartzak provides direct patient care in the hospital setting.  In addition to nursing research and education positions. Dr. Bartzak demonstrates both a wide and deep involvement in the nursing field. Her clinical practice provides the relevance, skill set, and understanding of what’s needed to create an environment that finds the evidence to optimize patient outcomes and leads the next generation of nurses. Dr. Bartzak utilizes peer-reviewed journal databases and meticulously references her sources and synthesizes information on complex nursing and health-related subjects. Currently working in a hospital designated as level 1 trauma center. 

Dr. Bartzak has completed the Intensive Course on Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) at the Fuld Institute at Ohio State University (2019) and is co-leading the adoption of EBP for a national organization. Dr. Bartzak has demonstrated skill in data mining and concept simplification to provide background and context for complex healthcare matters. Dr. Bartzak has worked in both union and non-union environments, and has the background and experience to consult with hospital leadership to engage and strengthen nurse’s investment in the workplace. Dr. Bartzak has written policies and procedures so she can assist other organizations in policy review and recommendations to ensure broad coverage, while also maintaining a risk management balance. Dr. Bartzak is versed in core measures and patient safety initiatives, and can provide an independent evaluation of practice issues and outcomes.

Finally, Dr. Bartzak has taught at all levels in nursing education from associate to doctoral, and can provide recommendations related to student progress in the academic area, and issues related to new graduate nurses transitioning into practice.

View Dr. Bartzak's Expert Witness Profile.

Mustafa A. Mufti, MD, is a board certified general Adult Psychiatrist and Forensic Psychiatrist.  Presently, he serves as the Director of the Psychiatry Residency Training Program at Chrisitiana Care.  Prior to this he served as the Clinical Director of Forensic Services at Delaware Psychiatric Center.   During his time as the Clinical Director of Forensic Services, he oversaw Delaware’s only maximum-security forensic psychiatric service center. 

After graduating from medical school, Dr. Mufti worked as a clinical researcher at Emory University School of Medicine. As a researcher he worked on studies related to post traumatic stress disorder, depression and cardiovascular disease, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and deep brain stimulation. 

Dr. Mufti completed his residency training at the Delaware Psychiatric Center and went on to complete a fellowship in forensic psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. His work has been published in numerous reputable journals and he has presented at conferences nationally and internationally. In addition to his clinical and administrative responsibilities, Dr. Mufti is actively involved in the teaching of medical students, future psychiatrists, and forensic fellows in training.

Legislative Experience - From May 2016 to December 2020, Dr. Mufti received confirmation by Delaware Senate to serve a three-year term, as Advisory council to the Governor on all matters related to the provision of inmate healthcare services, and review all statistics related to the inmate healthcare. In June of 2019, Dr. Mufti assisted in drafting the amendments to ACHRC House Bill 173.

Training Experience:

• Mental Health Credentialed Screener Training, Delaware Health and Social Services/Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and
  Mental Health, January 2019
• Mental Health Credentialed Screener Training, Delaware Health and Social Services/Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, January 2020
• Mental Health Defenses in Delaware, Criminal Law Section of the Delaware Bar Association, February 2020

View Dr. Mustafa A. Mufti's Expert Witness Profile.

Milliman’s Tampa Office provides a variety of Health Insurance, Health Care services, and Pharma consulting services to law firms, health plans, insurance companies, HMO’s, Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans, hospitals and other providers, employers and government agencies. Stuart Rachlin and other staff are experienced actuaries and related consultants.  

We provide support to our clients with all types of health related services including Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plans (MAPD), Part D plans (PDP), ACA plans, medical, dental, long-term care, Medicare supplement & critical illness.

We assist clients nationwide with forensic actuarial work, rate filings, regulatory compliance, reserve projections, valuations, employee benefit analysis and design, mergers and acquisitions, claim cost analysis, and fee schedule analysis.

These health care services are used in litigation relating to:

• Life care planning
• Contract development and fee schedule analysis
• Pricing & Underwriting
• Senior Services
• New benefit plan design

M.K. Wickens, PLLC, is a Health Care Fraud and Compliance company. Principal, Mary Wickens, JD, CFE has over 35 years experience in the Healthcare Insurance, Managed Care, and Compliance Industry. Her experience includes advising and counseling health care providers, insurers, government contractors, and others in compliance, ethics, fraud and abuse, Medicare, Medicaid and Federal Employees Plan, managed care, and other matters. 

Consulting Services:

• Internal Investigations - As a highly experienced investigator, Mary Wickens is available to provide swift and thorough review of potential compliance and ethics issues. She is seasoned at handling potential whistleblower concerns, C-suite investigations, and reporting for self-disclosures. She provides comprehensive, understandable reports and recommendations to executives, audit committees, and auditors.
• Compliance Consulting - Ms. Wickens is experienced in providing site reviews, red team reviews, and independent compliance reviews. She has in-depth knowledge developing and implementing effective corrective action plans and extensive experience in responding to government and commercial audits and investigations.

Background Experience - Ms. Wickens is a former compliance officer for a major health insurer and former legal and compliance specialist for a CMS Medicare Program Safeguard Contractor. Also a former operations director for government programs (Medicare Part C, Medi-gap, and FEHBP) for a major HMO, she is experienced with government audits and investigations, commercial audits, as well as self-reporting and internal investigations. 

Ms. Wickens has decades of experience as in house counsel to HMOs and health insurers. She has drafted, developed, negotiated, and implemented numerous healthcare provider-payor contracts, and developed and implemented codes of conduct, ethics programs, compliance programs and numerous corrective action plans. Ms. Wickens has authored numerous professional publications and presentations on health care fraud and compliance, government and commercial audits, compliance programs, and healthcare contracting. 

View Mary Wickens' Expert Witness Profile.

Cathy Ciolek, DPT, FAPTA, Cathy Ciolek, DPT, FAPTA, President of Living Well With Dementia, LLC, has over 30 years of experience as a Geriatric Physical Therapist. Dr. Ciolek is board certified as a Geriatric Clinical Specialist, a Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP), and Certified Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care Trainer (CADDCT) by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners. 

Consulting Services: Consultation for individuals, care partners, and facilities to address challenging issues that impact well-being and quality of life for people with dementia.  Examples include:

• People with frequent Falls and developing Falls Assessment Process and Teams
• Behavioral Expressions of Unmet Needs
• Inappropriate Medications and Anti-psychotic Medication Reduction
• Unrecognized Pain
• Alarm Use Reduction
• Culture Change and Change Management

Background Experience: Dr. Ciolek previously served as Regional Director for the Pennsylvania Restraint Reduction Initiative (PARRI), providing education and consultation for issues related to well-being (falls, engagement, medication reduction) to nursing homes throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania via a CMS grant. 

Prior to that, Dr. Ciolek served as assistant professor and director of clinical education for the University of Delaware, Department of Physical Therapy. She has practiced as a physical therapist in outpatient, SNF, home health and CCRC facilities over the course of her career.  She is a former Instructor/ Guest Lecturer/Lab Instructor at multiple universities including: Drexel University, Temple University, AT Still University/Arizona School of Health Sciences, Widener University, and Rocky Mountain University.

Dr. Ciolek speaks and delivers seminars throughout the nation on topics including dementia, exercise for aging adults, falls and fall risk mitigation, and Person-Centered Care. She is also a noted author on geriatric issues with books entitled, “Cognitive Issues in the Older Adult," “Restraint Assessment,” and “The Older Adult With Multiple Comorbidities.”

Geriatric Physical Therapy Thought Leader

• President, Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy (APTA Geriatrics)
• Past President, Delaware Physical Therapy Association (APTA Delaware)
• American Physical Therapy Association
• APTA Geriatrics
• APTA Delaware 

Awards and Accolades

• Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association
• Marilyn Moffat Leadership Award (APTA)
• Joe Lucca Service Award (APTA Delaware)
• Lucy Blair Service Award (APTA)
• Joan Mills Award (APTA Geriatrics)
• Clinical Educators Award (APTA Geriatrics)

View Dr. Cathy Ciolek's Expert Witness Profile.

Tim Keane is recognized nationally and internationally as a Leading Expert on methods to Control, Mitigate and Assess the Risk for Legionella in building and industrial water systems. He has published articles and books on the subject and has co-written regulatory documents including the 2018 and the 2015 ASHRAE Standard titled: Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems,  ASHRAE Guideline 12 titled: Managing the Risk of Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems, 2005 Guidelines for Ornamental Fountains and the 2000 ASHE Advisory. Mr Keane has over 25 years experience in water system consulting and over 10 years experience in facility design, construction and operation. Legionella Risk Management, Inc. provides consulting services for Effective Engineering Solutions to Engineering System Pathogens including; outbreak investigation, root cause analysis, control and remediation of legionella from water systems in commercial buildings, healthcare and industrial facilities.   We provide Litigation Support in this area.

KBS Consulting and Expert Witness (KBS) is a privately owned Healthcare Compliance consulting firm serving the healthcare industry since 1996. Principal of KBS, Kimberly A. Baldwin-Stried-Reich, MBA, MJ, PBCI, CPHIMS, RHIA, CEDS, CPHQ, FAHIMA, is a Health Care Compliance consultant with over 30 year of experience in various healthcare settings. 

KBS Consulting services focus on:

Ms. Reich holds a Master’s of Business (MBA) from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, a Master’s of Jurisprudence (MJ) in Health Law and Policy from the Loyola School of Law - Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy in Chicago, IL and a Post Baccalaureate in Clinical Informatics (PBCI) from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Clinical Informatics Certificate Program. 

Ms. Reich is the first Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) to complete the Johns Hopkins Division of Health Sciences Informatics Certificate Program and certification in EDiscovery. She is the lead author of the 2012 AHIMA publication "E-Discovery and Electronic Records" a first of its kind healthcare e-discovery resources. 

Ms. Reich is a national speaker and author on the topics of health information operations, e-discovery, information governance, and healthcare compliance. She is also the lead author on the first of its kind e-discovery healthcare resource guide, E-Discovery and Electronic Records, by AHIMA Press (May, 2012).

Background Experience:

• Assistance in development of policies and procedures for healthcare regulatory compliance programs
• Assistance in client preparation for Department of Insurance review and investigation
• Management of a large health information management work redesigns engagement for a 900-bed facility
• Information management planning and facilitation for executive management
• ICD-9-CM and CPT4 coding compliance and medical record documentation reviews, on both inpatient and outpatient medical records
• Medical records and quality management operations integration for a 350-bed Midwestern medical center

View Kimberly A. Reich's Expert Witness Profile.