Stephanie Brown - Senior Consultant. Stephanie brings extensive industry and related experience to her clients’ projects. She spent 12 years in product marketing roles with three pharmaceutical companies. Her pharmaceutical experience spanned multiple therapeutic areas, and she has managed commercial activities for small molecules and biologics, development compounds in Phases 1-3, and launch preparations on both a domestic and a global scale. Stephanie also spent three years with a market leading, major metropolitan managed care plan where she managed several group insurance product lines and commercial aspects of the relationship with one of the nation’s most prominent pharmacy benefit management companies (PBM). Stephanie has influenced and participated in numerous qualitative and quantitative studies from the client perspective to characterize markets and commercial opportunity, guide Target Product Profile development and valuation, and shape positioning and creative strategies.

Dawn Hunter - Senior Consultant. Prior to joining the HSM team, Dawn spent a number of years in physician practice management and served as an account executive for an ancillary benefit plan where she was involved in marketing activities, strategy development, and physician contracting. As a lead focus group moderator for HSM, Dawn facilitates discussions among industry thought leaders. Dawn is also sought out as an international researcher, leading projects and conducting numerous in-depth interviews and focus groups with professionals and consumers in European countries. Qualitative and quantitative studies she has managed include investigations on nursing staff shortages; product development and launch studies; satisfaction and loyalty studies; and others involving health plan members, trade association members, medical and drug information database customers, employers, consumers, brokers, hospital executives, physicians, nurses, audiologists, and pharmacy executives.

Allison Small, MBA - Senior Consultant. Allison held various positions with CVS/Caremark, one of the nation’s leading PBMs. Through managing client reporting tools, creating executive summaries, interacting with plan directors and pharmacy directors, and performing economic modeling and analyses, Allison crafted innovative solutions to help clients optimize plan performance and implement cost saving strategies. She also draws on market research and sales experiences at Merck where she interacted with sales, marketing and managed care teams, primary care providers, cardiovascular specialists, and respiratory specialists.

Wanda B. Vermeer, RN, MBA - Senior Consultant. Wanda’s clinical expertise and intimate knowledge of the provider/physician market segment is integral to helping managed care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device companies meet marketing challenges. In her 20 years of management and consulting with health systems and provider organizations, she has achieved an enviable track record for new product and new business development. She has particular expertise in women’s health areas. Wanda frequently advises both physician practice groups and health plans, and has a wealth of experience conducting operational and customer retention assessments, as well as developing key strategies and tactics.

Joan Barry, RN - Senior Consultant. Joan brings a unique array of experiences to the health care consulting practice. She co-owned Facilities Development, Inc., the nation’s leading medical equipment planning and management firm. Through Facilities Development, Joan conducted focus groups with clients, including all levels of health care personnel, to define the medical equipment requirements for major health care construction projects throughout North America. Prior to that, Joan was employed by Samaritan Health Services in Phoenix, Ariz. She progressed from a staff nurse to a head nurse in a critical care unit and then was promoted to a nursing administration position and ultimately became the corporate director of the company’s facilities development department.

Cheryl Palay, MBA - Consultant. Cheryl has over 10 years of experience in health care market research. She specializes in quantitative research with expertise in questionnaire design and implementation, Web survey programming, data collection management, in-depth interviewing, data analysis, and project management. Cheryl excels at managing large-scale, complex research studies and has experience in various methods of data collection, including telephone, Internet, IVR, mail, and e-mail.

Jim Cassandro, PhD - Senior Data Analyst. Jim has a background in both academia and professional sports management. He received a PhD from the University of California, Davis, with an emphasis on the advanced quantitative analysis of creative behavior in the historical record. Prior to joining HSM in 2007, Jim was an Assistant Professor at the International Center for Studies in Creativity, a lecturer at the University of Arizona, and the Director of Baseball Operations and Marketing Research for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jim’s expertise lies in his advanced research and data analytic approaches to questionnaire, marketing, archival, as well as competitive and strategic data sources. Jim has published many professional journal articles and has extensive public speaking experience.

Natasha Elsner, MS – Research Project Manager. Natasha has expertise in planning, design, and implementation of all aspects of research projects. She has a strong academic background in research methods and quantitative analysis. Natasha received an MS degree in Survey Research and Methodology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to joining HSM, Natasha worked at the health care division of J.D. Power and Associates where she was recognized for her contributions to customer satisfaction studies at business-to-consumer and business-to-business levels for a number of health care clients.

June McClung - Senior Project Manager. June has extensive experience in managed care and specializes in the development and implementation of administrative processes, operational systems, and project management. She also has expertise in converting complicated findings into meaningful reports.

Renny Bagchi, MBA - Project Manager. Renny is a project manager and interviewer with The HSM Group. Renny is skilled in the areas of report writing, secondary research, and project management. She has several years of experience as a research analyst working with foundations, corporations, and government grant providers. Her experience also includes writing grant proposals and presentations. Renny received her MBA from the University of Miami and her Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.

A Dynamic Team - HSM relies on an outstanding staff of experienced professionals to support the work of accomplishing your goals and objectives. Their expertise and commitment are an integral part of HSM's success. Project teams may include: Cathy Civiello; Judy Friefield; Maria Briseno; Chantal Carlson; April McCormick; Diana Pechman; Diane Schaller; and Lori Neisen.

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