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Cris V. Mandry, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.E.P. Medical Director

Dr. Mandry founded C & M Medical services in 1988 after he completed residency training in both emergency medicine and internal medicine. In 1992 Dr. Mandry founded the LSU Emergency Medicine Residency Training Program at Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, LA. His professional life has been devoted to the science and art of emergency medicine as a teacher, researcher and practicing emergency physician. He has served two terms as president of La-ACEP (Louisiana chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians), and he currently serves on ACEP's National Government Affairs Committee. He also served as a member of ACEP's National State Legislative/Regulatory Committee from 1993 to 1995 and was its committee chairman from 1995 to 1997.

He is a leading advocate at both the state and national levels for public safety and emergency medical issues involving patients, physicians and hospitals. Dr. Mandry was instrumental in the passage of the 1997 Louisiana Act 815 (Access to Emergency Care/Prudent Layperson) that protects patients' rights to access emergency medical services without fear of retrospective denial or prior authorization. Dr. Mandry also was active in passing the state's 1995 seat belt legislation mandating their use as a primary motor vehicle law. For this work, he received awards from the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission and the Louisiana Safety Belt Use Coalition.

Stan Wright, C.F.P. Chief Operating Officer

Since the inception of C & M, Mr. Wright has been the team leader of the organization. His more than twenty-seven years of medical risk management experience help guide C & M and keep the firm at the cutting edge of this increasingly significant medico-legal arena. As COO, Mr. Wright's wide-ranging responsibilities include coordination, support and management of all aspects of the company's operations. Departments directed by Mr. Wright include scheduling, accounting, recruiting, credentialing, and the day-to-day functions of the firm's support services. Maintaining and nurturing a pool of qualified, experienced physicians is a priority, and Mr. Wright directly oversees all recruitment and scheduling activities. Mr. Wright is also a Certified Financial Planner and provides in-house support to our senior management and physician staff.

Expectations and Reality in the Emergency Department

Joey Branton, Director of Clinical Support Services

Mr. Branton brings an extensive health care background to his role as Clinical Support Services Director. He has been active for 20 years in emergency medicine through emergency medical services, directing hospital based continuing medical education for physicians, nursing and support personnel and direct support of emergency department personnel and facilities. He is actively involved in emergency medicine risk management, JCAHO preparation, continuous quality improvement and governmental regulatory issues that affect emergency departments. Mr. Branton is also involved in C & M Medical Services' implementation of healthcare information technology, data collection/management, emergency department process evaluation and improvement. As the director of C & M Medical Services' Clinical Support Services Division he serves as the direct liaison with the front line medical, administrative and nursing staffs of our client hospitals.

Tina Sonnier, Director of Billing

Ms. Sonnier directs C & M's eighteen-member billing office. With more than twenty-two years in physician/hospital reimbursement, she is a seasoned veteran of Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement issues, HCFA rules and regulations, managed care, electronic billing and the latest documentation requirements and guidelines. A member of the Healthcare Finance Management Association, Ms. Sonnier also consults with client hospitals on pricing and reimbursement issues vis-à-vis chargemaster and charting audits.

Lisa Hollis, Business Development and Governmental Affairs Coordinator

Ms. Hollis directs C & M's efforts to promote emergency medicine in the state of Louisiana. These goals are accomplished through a number of publications which target client hospitals and potential client institutions, networking at trade shows and other events, and monitoring and supporting state and national legislation which pertains to emergency medicine as well as regular public service announcements and media exposure of important topics in emergency medicine and injury prevention. Prior to joining C & M, Ms. Hollis was a freelance writer of medical marketing materials and health journalism pieces as well as a grant writer for medical and social service programs.

Edwin D. Boudreaux, Ph.D., Research Director

Dr. Boudreaux is a clinical psychologist and researcher whose work in emergency medicine appears in numerous publications. His research includes investigations into patient satisfaction, stress, clinical management and outcome-based medicine. He currently is director of the emergency medicine residency training program research department and serves on the faculty of the Emergency Medicine Residency Training Program, Earl K. Long Medical Center, LSU School of Medicine.

 Lisa Jackson, Medical Staff Coordinator

Ms. Jackson is the coordinator of C & M's medical staff team. She serves as our liaison for each client hospital's medical staff office. The team's exacting attention to detail ensures that client hospitals have complete and current credentialing information on all our physicians. Ms. Jackson and her team also maintain current files on all physicians, including licensing information. She coordinates the initial credentialing and reappointment processes with our client hospitals' medical staff coordinators.

Donna Laurent, RN, BSN, CLNC

As a Registered Nurse with over 12 years of experience in Emergency Medicine, Donna Laurent brings strong clinical skills and management experience to C&M Medical Services. She has served numerous roles in the Emergency Department from staff nurse to Director of a large urban ED with over 60,000 visits per year. Our clients utilize her expertise to assist with all aspects of emergency services including operations management, nursing management, JCAHO compliance, EMTALA/COBRA compliance and Risk Management issues.

Stephanie Roussel, Physician Recruiter

Ms. Roussel serves as physician recruiter, a role which is critical to C & M's efforts to maintain a cadre of experienced and qualified physicians. A long-time C & M employee, she brings to the position extensive organizational skills and an in-depth understanding of credentialing, operations, scheduling and physician compensation. Her responsibilities include identifying and recruiting the best-qualified physicians, both in Louisiana and nationally, to meet the needs of each client hospital.

Christina Bean
and
Lori Hadley

Senior Scheduling Coordinators

Seasoned C & M team members Christina Bean and Lori Hadley manage the activities of the scheduling department. Additionally, each member of the scheduling team is assigned twelve physicians they are responsible for contacting to obtain monthly physician availability. The physicians' available dates are then submitted to our scheduling coordinators, who match the physicians' availability to the hospitals' needs.

Scheduling activities are supported by C & M's proprietary software program that tracks the availability and schedule for each physician. Confirmation of scheduled dates is made with scheduled calendars which are mailed to physicians by the 21st of the preceding month. If dates of availability change, physicians are asked to notify the scheduling coordinators immediately, preferably 72 hours in advance.

Ms. Bean and Ms. Hadley's skills in time management, communications and organization are applied in the production of monthly schedules for over two hundred physicians and fifteen hospital facilities. During their tenure as senior scheduling coordinators, Ms. Bean and Ms. Hadley have participated in the design, implementation, management and refinement of our processes and systems used to produce our monthly physician and hospital schedules.