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ABOUT

A hard working Consulting and Interim Leadership placement firm based in Florida. Established in 2014, Innovative Excellence, LLC, supports the CANDIDATE needs of clients and organizations through business partnerships. The leaders of Innovative Excellence bring years' of experience in Nursing, Transformational Leadership, Recruitment and Clinical Consulting. Our vision is to significantly impact patient care, clinical outcomes and healthcare strategic initiatives by providing exceptional Interim and Consultative Leaders in Nursing, Quality, Case Management, Risk, and Patient Safety positions.
Nita Jean Kasan
President and CEO
Roberta (Robin) Kish
Chief Clinical Officer 

Nita Kasan is currently the President and CEO of Innovative Excellence, LLC, an organization that supports the Consulting and Interim Leadership Candidate needs of multiple organizations and clients.  She is also the Chief Nursing Officer for The College Network.  Nita was previously the Vice President, Interim Leadership and Chief Nursing Officer for NHS Solutions, Inc. as well as the Chief Nursing Officer / VP of Interim Services for CTL Consulting.  Nita is a visionary leader with extensive experience in entrepreneurial leadership, the advanced practice of nursing administration and direct patient care. With a strong executive presence, superb decision making skills, financial acumen, exceptional presentation and communication skills, she is a positive force for healthcare innovation with an ability to effectively interact with medical staff, leadership, management and point of care staff, providing solid leadership in an atmosphere of uncertainty.  Nita is a passionate, energetic individual that brings measurable value to an organization through the additional expertise of service excellence, work redesign / reengineering; successful program and service development; resource and financial management; safe and quality centered patient care and the facilitation of excellence and advancement in nursing practice and professional development.

 

Relevant Experience

 

  • Hospital Board Consultant – Development of a Performance Improvement Information Flow Structure supporting data tracking / trending / analysis and communication from “The Bedside to the Board”.

  • Development and leadership of an Interim Services Division for a leading national health care consulting / recruitment firm.

  • Studer Group coach supporting 16 facilities in the areas of service excellence, leadership development, and implementation of proven principles, resulting in significantly elevated levels of patient, staff and physician satisfaction.

  • Facilitation of organization specific cultural transition efforts via extensive customer service initiatives resulting in overall patient satisfaction levels above the 90th percentile.

  • Provision of innovative solutions to improve care model efficiencies through optimal patient placement.  Coordinated a “systems thinking” census stabilization initiative resulting in a $1 M annual salary expense reduction, a $4.5 M annual reimbursement increase and a significantly improved patient placement process.

  • Implementation of organizational unit reconfiguration changes resulting in a $2 M annual salary reduction.

  • Recruitment, retention and reallocation efforts resulting in significant reductions in RN turnover and vacancy rates, resulting in a $2 M annual traveler expense reduction.

  • Key leader and coordinator of the Magnet application process for multiple organizations.

 

Prior Experience

 

Nita’s most recent prior experience includes the role of a hospital Chief Operating Officer / Chief Nursing Officer following many years as a Chief Nursing Officer, Associate CNO and an independent healthcare consultant. 

 

Education

 

Masters of Science Health Services Administration, Cardinal Stritch College

Bachelor of Science-Health Arts, College of St. Francis           

Cardiovascular Nurse Clinician Program, Stanford University Hospital

RN Diploma Graduate, Ohio Valley General Hospital

 

Professional / Personal Activities

 

Nita has represented Region II on the Board of Directors for the Florida Organization of Nurse Executives, is an ongoing member with the Center for Nursing Leadership and has also served as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserves.  Her extensive community involvement (combined with her professional achievements) has led to multiple award recognitions for excellence in both organizational and community leadership, as well as “Best Role Model”.  Nita’s visionary approach and ability to lead, facilitate and shape organizational change, has greatly impacted the operations of multiple organizations, while championing the creation of innovative patient/family care focused environments.  The facilitation of both internal and external recognition efforts has also resulted in the creation of centers of excellence for innovative nursing practice and professional development.  Nita enjoys scuba diving, dancing, music, reading and family time.  She is an avid athlete having competed in events ranging from triathlons to competitive body building.

Robin Kish is the Chief Clinical Officer with Innovative Excellence, LLC.  She is also a Clinical Solutions Consultant working with Oliver Wyman (a global management consulting firm) bringing over 20 years of progressive consulting experience to clients.  Robin has held management and executive level positions within a broad array of healthcare settings. She has the ability to lead research, develop intellectual capital, and execute mitigation strategies across multiple projects and healthcare settings. She is an accomplished writer and trainer on various healthcare topics, including quality and patient safety. Robin’s consulting practice is focused on assessment, analysis and operationalizing improvement strategies to facilitate the delivery of safe, effective and efficient healthcare services while meeting the challenges of healthcare reform, value based care and regulatory requirements. Her areas of specialization include quality management, patient safety/clinical risk management, error reduction and mitigation strategies, infection prevention and control, data analytics, regulatory compliance, care transformation and resource management, customer satisfaction and hospital operations, both domestic and internationally.

 

Relevant Experience

 

  • Provide assessments and redesign of quality improvement and assessment processes including customer satisfaction survey processes, focused studies, development and implementation of quality improvement programs, and patient safety program and initiatives including creation and facilitation of a Culture of Safety.

  • Collaboration with senior management, medical staff leaders and board to redesign committee structures and information/reporting flows to facilitate greater transparency and accountability at all leadership levels.

  • Medical staff credentialing, privileging and peer review processes including medical staff quality, Ongoing Practitioner Performance Evaluation (OPPE) and Focused Practitioner Performance Evaluation (FPPE) policies, process and design.

  • Design and implement valid and reliable data collection tools and perform analysis of various types of data, including financial, operational, performance, patient/worker safety and quality for use in improvement opportunities, project management and evaluation of facility operations.

  • Provide comprehensive risk assessments and gap analyses for clinical and non-clinical departments that include documentation, human resources, operations, safety and security, and compliance with state and federal regulations, accreditation standards and evidence-based best practices.

  • Accomplished author of hospital-wide and medical staff policies and procedures, organization plans, quality improvement tools and executive reporting templates, and numerous educational modules, including on-line nursing modules that provide participants with CEs upon completion.

  • Serve as subject matter expert for Value-Based Purchasing, Value-Based Care and quality reporting requirements set forth by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).

  • Expertise in research and development of educational presentations, courses, and journal articles on a variety of subjects including patient safety, quality improvement, case/resource management, and infection prevention and control. Accomplished speaker and presenter to a wide variety of audiences of all sizes and disciplines.

  • Proficient knowledge of CMS regulatory requirements, Joint Commission and American Osteopathic Association accreditation standards and [various] state regulations for hospital licensure, certification and accreditation. Have performed intensive mock surveys and due diligence reviews for a variety of healthcare settings for over 20 years, including development of deficiency responses to the agency and implementation of corrective action plans.

  • Proficient in the use of continuous quality improvement tools and techniques, forms design, data analysis using statistical process and outcomes measurement.

 

Prior Experience

 

Previously, Robin was a Regional Director and Mock Surveyor with Community Health Systems, a for- profit health system with over 130 hospitals across the country.

 

Education

 

Robin is a Registered nurse and holds a Master’s Degree in Business/Information Management from Robert Morris University.

 

Professional Activities

 

Robin is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality and a Certified Specialist in Healthcare Accreditation. She maintains membership in the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) and the American Organization for Nurse Executives (AONE) as well as state and national quality and risk management professional organizations.  Her keen passion for patient safety and positive patient outcomes, as well as her extensive healthcare experiences both domestically and abroad, have enabled Robin to successfully design and implement key strategies and organizational programs for a variety of healthcare providers.  She was a regular columnist for the Florida Association for Healthcare Quality on patient safety and regulatory compliance topics.  She is also a frequent blogger on current healthcare events on LinkedIn.  Robin enjoys the beach, travel, reading, dancing and spending time with her family. 

 

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