Skilled Nursing Facilities / Long Term Care Consultants

Dr. Jeffrey Stone, DO, MPH, FCCWS specializes in Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care Medicine. He received his medical degree from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific and received a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University. Dr. Stone completed a residency in aerospace medicine at Brooks Air Force Base and a fellowship in hyperbaric medicine and wound care at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Dr. Stone is one of the first 60 physicians in the U.S.A. to receive his certification in Wound Care. He  served as Medical Director for the Hyperbaric Medicine Unit at the Institute for Exercise & Environmental Medicine from 1992-2016.

Dr. Stone offers Hyperbaric Consultanting Services to the health insurance industry, the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, the Poison Control Center of North Dallas, and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of General: Office of Evaluation and Inspections. From 1993 to 2011, Dr. stone served as a Senior Medical Examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Dr. Stone has been widely published in many medical journals regarding his expertise in wound care and hyperbaric medicine. He has published articles on Hyperbaric Oxygenation, Decompression Sickness, the Diabetic Foot and other wound issues.

Consulting Services Include:

• Diabetic Wound Care
• Prevention Care
• Hyperbaric Medicical Issues
• Nursing Home Nutrition
• Nursing Home Wound Analysis
• Long Term Acute Care Facilities (LTAC)
• Skilled Nursing Facility Wound Care

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Paul M. Adler, DO, FACEP, MBA, Medical Director for the Ventura County, California, Department of Corrections, has worked in Correctional / Jail/ Prison Medicine since 1995. He has overseen the care of inmates in Jails in California and New York, as well as Prison inmates who have been transferred to county facilities to serve their terms for years in county jails in California. He has also overseen Correctional health car in locked units in Hospitals .

Dr. Adler is the President-Elect of The American Correctional Health Services Association of California / Nevada, which represents all clinicians and administrators in Jails/Prisons in California and Nevada. He previously oversaw a County Hospital, County Nursing Home and ran a County Health Department and oversaw Correctional healthcare for the Westchester, New York Jail.

Litigation Support - Dr. Adler has defended Jails and Prisons in Southern California, Idaho, Texas, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, etc. He has been involved in Plaintiff litigation in many states including against Rikers Island, NY and Cook County Jail.

Dr. Adler still works as a full-time practicing physician and has helped attorneys and insurance companies in Emergency Medicine, Nursing Home Medicine, Public Health and Hospital Administration since 1985. Dr. Adler is available to review and consult on clinical Correctional/Jail/Prison cases for attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense.

Services:

• Screen Cases for Merit
• Review, Analyze and interpret Medical Records
• Provide Basic or Comprehensive Written Reports
• Interpret Standards of Care, Deviation and Adherences as they Relate to Correctional Health Care
• Develop Chronological Time Lines
• Policy and Procedure Development

Michael Blumenkrantz, MD, FACP, FACN, CNSP, has over 40 years of experience specializing in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. During the 1970s and 1980s, Dr. Blumenkrantz spent extensive research primarily in the fields of Dialysis and Clinical Nutrition. He is currently an internationally recognized expert in:

Internal Medicine Critical Care Dialysis

Kidney Disease Total Parenteral Nutrition Nutrition

Dr. Blumenkrantz has presented and defended innumerable papers at both national and international conferences, published extensively (80+ papers), and was invited as a visiting professor to a number of institutions in the United States and abroad, including Germany, Mexico, Prague, Italy, Argentina, and South Africa. He has served as a reviewer on the editorial boards of many journals such as the American Journal of Nephrology, the American Journal of Kidney Disease, Annals of Internal Medicine, and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition to name a few.

Education: AB, Columbia College, NYC; MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYC; Internship & Residency, Hospital of University of PA; Fellowship, Wadsworth VA/UCLA.

View Michael Blumenkrantz's Expert Witness Profile.

Yolanda Anderson, RN, BSN, CEN, CLNC is a Registered Nurse and has been working in the Emergency Department for more than 25 years. She began work in the Emergency Department of Los Angeles County, USC Medical Center, a level I Trauma Center. She then worked in the Emergency Department at Saint Anthony Hospital Central in Denver, Colorado, a level I Trauma Center where she helped initiate the Hyperbaric Medicine program. For 15 years, she was employed as a staff RN, Charge RN and Assistant Nurse Manager in the Emergency Department at Littleton Adventist Hospital - Littleton, Colorado, a level II Trauma Center. There, she helped with the expansion and reconstruction of the current Emergency Department facility.

A Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, Ms. Anderson is knowledgeable about all aspects of Hospital Care and Standards of Care for Physicians, Nurses and Ancillary Personnel. Her consulting services include:

• Hospitals, Clinics, and Offices - Consult and organize for the development and expansion of a new facilities or offices and related care patterns
• Personal - Consult with family members to organize health care history, needs, and medications and to help understand healthcare information and interpretation
• Teaching - Emergency Nurse Pediatric Course Instructor, Triage Class instructor, Charge Nurse class instructor

View Yolanda Anderson's Expert Witness Profile.

Constance J. Paine CCRN, LNC, is a Legal Nurse Consultant with over 40 years of nursing experience. Currently the Principal at CP LegalMed Consulting and a Staff Nurse in ICE at UC San Diego Health System, Ms. Paine specializes in Critical Care, Interventional Radiology, Medical Surgical, and Discharge Planning.

In addition to her comprehensive services to the legal community, Ms Paine serves as an educator, mentoring new graduates and educating staff on special procedures. She also serves in hospital settings evaluating staff and reviewing and revising hospital policy and procedure. Ms. Paine's fields of expertise include:

Acute and Critical Care in Hospital Setting:

• Pre-operative Teaching
• Post-operative Care and Instruction
• Discharge Planning for Home or Extended Care
• Infection Control for In-patients
• Wound Care and Instruction
• Intravenous Therapy
• Coordination of Individualized Care Plans

Interventional Radiology:

• Pre-Procedure Instruction
• Management of Conscious Sedation
• Discharge Teaching

Neonatal Intensive Care:

• Care of Level 1 Neonates
• Parental Teaching and Support

View Constance Paine's Expert Witness Profile.

David Friedler, LMHC, MPH Is an expert in the regulatory standard of care in Nursing Facilities, Psychiatric, Alcohol/Substance Use Rehabilitation Facilities as well as Group Homes for the disabled. He has worked in clinical and administrative roles in these environments over four decades. He has extensive experience with survey compliance, Federal and State regulation, JCAHO and CARF accreditation, OSHA compliance and policy and procedure development.

Areas of Expertise:

Long Term Care

Nursing Homes

Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Behavioral Health / Psychiatric Care in Drug Treatment Facilities

Psychiatric care in Nursing Homes, Group Homes

Dawn Cook Consulting is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada but provides services nation wide. Services include life care plans, life care plan rebuttals, past medical bill reviews and future medical cost projections for plaintiff and defense attorneys. Life care plans are developed for individuals with injuries or chronic conditions requiring complex long-term healthcare intervention and management. The report provides an organized, concise plan that estimates the reasonable and necessary current and future healthcare needs with the associated costs.

Dawn Cook is licensed Registered Nurse (RN) who has worked with serious and catastrophic illness and injury for over 30 years including clinical settings and home care. Dawn is an experienced life care planner who holds the certified life care planner (CLCP) and certified nurse life care planner (CNLCP) designations.

Dawn has completed over 600 medical damage reports in 28 states in life care planning and has testified as an expert witness at deposition or trial over 75 times since 2012. Dawn has testified at Federal Court in Illinois and New Mexico and at State Court in California, Nevada and New Mexico as an expert in life care planning. Dawn has also testified in Nevada State Court as an expert in past medical bill reviews.

Dawn enjoys working both plaintiff and defense cases; from complex birth or brain injuries to trucking and motor vehicle accidents, each case requires attention to detail and consistent methodology.

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John H. Fullerton, MD, MRO, CMD, CFP, FACP, AGSF, FAAHPM, FASAM specializes and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Addiction Medicine, and Hospice & Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Fullerton holds national certificates of added qualifications as a Certified Medical Director (CMD), a Certified Hospice Medical Director (AAHPM)and as a Home Care Physician (AAHCP). Dr. Fullerton is a Licensed Medical Review Officer (MRO) by the MROCC and is also Certified in Advanced Deep Wound Debridement.

Dr. Fullerton holds active medical licenses in both California and Florida. His private practice Hampton Health, Ltd.™ is located with offices in both San Francisco and Marin County. We assist our patients in all stages of life at all levels of care including acute, rehabilitative, assisted and independent living facility care, home care, as well as palliative and hospice.

Teaching and Lecture Experience: Dr. Fullerton has many years of clinical and teaching experience in internal medicine and geriatrics. He is credited with inventing the hospitalist business (and clinical) methods of care, submitting the first method patent for hospitalist care-"The Sub-Acute Solution: A Method for Hospital-Based Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Medical Care and Training."

Dr. Fullerton served as the Education Director of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco from 2009-2016 and is on the clinical faculty of UCSF, USC and Yale University Medical School(s)in their respective Department(s) of Medicine.

Dr. Fullerton is a Fellow and Key National Lecturer for the AAHPM (American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine) and was a 2013 Faculty member for the SEAK 22nd Annual National Expert Witness Conference held April 27-28 in Chicago where he presented How to Market and Grow Your Expert Witness Practice.

Selected Honors & Awards:

• “Dr. John Fullerton Day in San Francisco”: 12/14/94 - Awarded for his body of urban, under-served and hospital-based work in SF, including distinguished service in the areas of general internal medicine, geriatrics, HIV/AIDS, Rehabilitation/Addiction Medicine, Hospice, end-of-life (EOL) care, and transplant medicine
• San Francisco Medical Society (SFMS) March 2013 Featured Member of the Month
• Honorary Chairman, California Medicare Council 2003
• International Organizational Heroes Award from the Berkeley School of Public Health
• Congressional Award (NRCC)-"2003 California Physician of the Year"

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Elliott M. Stein, MD is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry (October, 1979), and in Geriatric Psychiatry (April, 1991; Re-Certified, December, 2001, and in April, 2011). Caring for the elderly for over 40 years, Dr. Stein has received numerous honors and awards for his contribution to his field.

For 33 years, Dr. Stein was in the Private Practice of Geriatric Psychiatry in Miami and Miami Beach, Florida. His experience includes working with the elderly in various settings, including having been Medical Director for the Community Mental Health Center of Miami Beach, Medical Director of an Inpatient Geriatric Psychiatry program, and Medical Director of an Inpatient Mood Disorder program, as well as consulting at Nursing Homes, Assisted Living and other facilities.

Dr. Stein is currently the Director of Psychiatry at the Jewish Home of San Francisco. The Medical Director of their Geriatric Psychiatry Hospital, he treats older individuals from all over the San Francisco Bay area, typically people who have complex combination of psychiatric and medical problems.

Dr. Stein is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. He is also the author/co-author of teaching and professional materials, including books and book chapters, and articles in the professional literature.

Consulting Specialties:

• Contested Wills and Trusts
• Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Insane Delusions
• Geriatric Competence
• Dementia and Delirium, Alzheimer’s Disease
• Geriatric Psychiatry Evaluation and Treatment, Psychiatric Medication, Psychotherapeutic Issues
• Depression and Anxiety Disorders
• Relationship Problems between the Elderly and their Adult Children
• Aging and Mental Disorders
• Geriatric Psychiatry issues concerning Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Independent and Assisted Living Facilities
• Medicare Psychiatric Services Coding and Documentation

View Dr. Stein's Expert Witness Profile.

Kohler Healthcare Consulting, Inc., is an effective, cutting-edge Healthcare Consulting firm employing credentialed nurses, accountants, and coders since 1980. With clients across the United States and Virgin Islands, Kohler Healthcare Consulting has extensive relationships with healthcare organizations including academic medical centers, large and small hospitals, critical access hospitals, physician / medical practices, long term acute medical facilities skilled nursing facilities, and other healthcare providers.

Consulting Services:

Revenue Cycle Fiscal and Clinical Operational Improvement Financial Operations

Regulatory and Compliance Consulting Education and Training Due Diligence

Charlotte L. Kohler, [RN], CPA, CVA, CRCE-I , CPC, CHBC, President of Kohler HealthCare Consulting, Inc., specializes in litigation, investigation, accounting, auditing, and consulting. She has over 30 years of healthcare experience starting with the clinical side of nursing to the finance and compliance side of healthcare.

During her years at Kohler HealthCare Consulting, Ms. Kohler and her firm provided regulatory compliance services to over 60% of all hospitals in Maryland as well as hospitals and other health related organizations outside of Maryland. She continues to provide reimbursement regulatory support to attorneys regarding billing, coding, and documentation in the areas of home care, radiology, hospital billing, DME, Therapy, ASC, anesthesia, and physician practices. She also provides services as an independent review organization for providers under Integrity Agreements.

Lynn M. Shaffer, RN, CLNC®, is Registered Nurse with certification in Legal Nurse Consulting and the founder and managing member of Legal Nurse Consultants of CNY, LLC. Ms. Shaffer's 20 years of nursing experience includes clinical practice in hospitals, outpatient clinics and physician offices, and supervisory roles. She has specialized in Long Term Care / Rehabilitation for most of her nursing career.

Litigation Support - Ms. Shaffer provides consulting and expert witness services for attorneys’ cases including criminal, disability, personal liability, toxic tort, and medical malpractice (specializing in long term care). As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, she assists insurance companies and attorneys with screening cases for merit, locating medical and nursing experts, and analyzing and interpreting medical records for both plaintiff and defense.

Ms. Shaffer's CLNC® services also include: development of reports, timelines and chronologies to highlight the significant medical events, identify adherences to and deviations from applicable standards of care, and assess injuries and identify causation issues and pre-existing contributing factors. She also attends and reports on Independent Medical Exams in the Central New York areas.

Areas of Expertise:

Geriatrics Independent Medical Examinations Long Term Care / Rehabilitation Managed Care Medical Malpractice Medical Records Review Nursing Home Malpractice Nursing Home Medical Malpractice Nursing Home Safety

Nursing Home Staffing / Training Nursing Homes Standards of Care Nursing Malpractice Nursing Policy & Procedures Personal Injury Disability Wrongful Death

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.

Daybreak Retirement Villas is a healthcare professional owned and operated Residential Care Facility whose goal is to provide quality care for residents in a comfortable setting. Daybreak Retirement Villas offers premier and Luxurious Senior Living Alternatives within elegant surroundings.

Licensed for ambulatory, non-ambulatory, and bedridden residents, the professionals at Daybreak have extensive experience with Hospice Care, Incontinence, Stroke, Parkinson’s, and Dementia.

Principal, Cynthia (Cyndy) Minnery RN, BSN has over 30 years of experience caring for the elderly within Acute Care, Skilled Nursing, and Assisted Living Facilities. Ms. Minnery has worked as a Director of Quality Compliance in Skilled Nursing and Home Health Care. She now owns Residential Care Facilities and is familiar with the Standards of Care expected of caregivers in these settings.

Ms. Minnery has years of experience and training in care of the elderly and common disorders like Alzheimer’s Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, and other Geriatric Syndromes. She currently serves on the San Diego Dementia Consortium board of directors and Clinical advisory committee.

View Cyndy Minnery's Expert Witness Profile.

Timothy P. Luckett, BS, RN, CNOR, CRNFA, CIC, LNC a Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC) gives expert opinions and testimony in all types of medical malpractice cases for both Plaintiff and Defense. Mr. Luckett is a Registered Nurse Expert in Surgery, ICU, Nursing Home Neglect, Outpatient Surgery Center Matters, and Hospital Surgical Matters.

Mr. Luckett has served as a circulating nurse, RR nurse, and as a registry nurse in General Surgery, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Gynecology, Vascular and Urology Surgeries. He has given numerous laser safety lectures and is a clinical assistant for the University of California at Los Angeles, Registered Nurse First Assist (RNFA) program. Mr. Luckett has also served as a case consultant and reviews nurse malpractice cases for the California Board of Registered Nursing.