National Speakers

Ms Fifine Cahill is the Assistant Secretary, National Health Reform Branch. Responsibilities in this role include managing the National Health Reform Agreement, which is the key mechanism for the transparency, governance and financing of Australia’s public hospital system, setting out how the Australian Government contributes funds to the states and territories for public hospital services and also all Australian Governments’ commitment to a shared long-term vision for health reform. The branch is also responsible for the National Partnership on COVID-19 Response, through which the Australian Government is providing financial assistance to the states and territories for the additional health costs incurred in responding to COVID-19. The Australian Government’s Private Hospital Viability Guarantee is implemented through this Partnership. Ms Cahill joined the Department in 2006 and has worked in a variety of roles, including in Medical Benefits Division and Health Grants and Network Division. Prior to this, she worked at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Her formal qualifications include Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales and Executive Masters of Public Administration from the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.

David is a successful leader with the capacity to run complex businesses within highly regulated and competitive markets. He is passionate about both setting up new and transforming existing businesses to be customer-led, simple, and to be fit to deliver growth. David is the co-founder of The Bridge International and brings over 20 years of experience running operations across a variety of key GM-level strategic and leadership roles. David has delivered key business transformation consulting assignments with many well-known Australian organisations and is also leading a start-up business in the United States. David believes strongly in the “partner rather than build” philosophy in today's business landscape. When managed effectively this gives organisations access to the “best of breed” partners and superior skills diversity including sourcing of elite talent.  David also has a wealth of experience in running customer-led organisations with a focus on simplification and delivering on the “moments that matter” in a customer journey.  David’s philosophy is built around co-design with the organisations he works with and he applies a strong focus on the execution and embedment of change.

With over 20 years’ experience in the Healthcare sector and 10 Years as an executive manager, Fiona strives to develop new healthcare initiatives that provide patients with the best possible healthcare outcomes. Fiona is passionate about educating healthcare professionals in the areas of system based solutions and changing healthcare strategies.

Tess is the Senior Vice President of Accreditation Services at the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), located in Skokie, Illinois. She has previously served as a Regional Quality Coordinator with the Northside Group, Ramsay Health Care, Sydney Australia and has worked in quality and risk management since 2005. In 2012, Tess moved to the USA to work as a Standards Interpretation Nurse for an accreditation organization. It was during this time that Tess was immersed in hospital and ambulatory surgical center patient safety regulations. By 2017, Tess pivoted completely toward the ambulatory healthcare space. Since then, Tess lends her clinical and operational expertise to overseeing routine accreditation processes, investigation of patient safety issues and assurance of state and federal compliance.  Tess received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Avondale College in Sydney, Australia, and an MSN from Western Sydney University’s Graduate School of Nursing.

Caitlin Ziegler is a director of GRIST and has worked in multidisciplinary design fields, including learning strategy and instructional design. She has taught at Swinburne University, and has been an active member of the design community, sitting on the Design Victoria advisory panel, as Co-president of the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) in Victoria and as a preliminary judge for the Premier’s Design Awards. At GRIST, she has applied a human-centred design approach to learning strategies; from tactical leadership programs and conversation frameworks in some of Australia’s largest financial institutions to translating values to tactical behaviours in health. With a passion for data, Caitlin brings both an analytic and people-focused approach to change.

Noel brings a lifetime of success as a “builder” of new strategies, execution plans, and organizational reshaping efforts that have accelerated growth and allowed organizations to be successful. She has focused most of her 35-year career on driving programs and leading organizations whose mission is to improve quality compliance and patient access to quality care. For 21 years, Noel was immersed in expanding the College of American Pathologists (CAP), an organization whose growth has been strongly tied to success in the accreditation business. Most recently at CAP, she led international strategy development and execution with full P&L responsibility doubling CAP’s market presence in priority emerging markets through appropriate resource allocation and strategic alliances, effective sales and marketing strategies, and solid relationships with key stakeholders and influencers. Recognizing that the real health frontier is ambulatory care she joined the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) as President/CEO. For past three years,  Noel has led the transformation of this organization by building a more sustainable platform for growth including reshaping its governance model, redesigning its core IT systems, and strengthening its headquarters staff while driving an internal and external cultural shift to 1095 STRONG / quality every day. This is not just a tagline, but a philosophical platform that infuses a dedication to ongoing learning and staying quality-strong throughout the 1,095-days between onsite surveys that is key to building best practices and improving long-term results—for patients, for practices, and for the AAAHC.  Noel received her undergraduate degree in mathematics and economics from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and an MBA from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Bill Prentice is the chief executive officer of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) and the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association Foundation (ASCAF). ASCA is the national organization representing the interests of approximately 5,700 ambulatory surgery centers in the US, and provides advocacy, education, benchmarking and staff training for its many members.  Under his tenure, ASCA has achieved record membership numbers, significantly increased revenue while reducing expenses, developed a number of new membership programs and services and dramatically strengthened its advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and with relevant federal agencies.   Before joining ASCA, Mr. Prentice was a senior executive at other national and state associations, a lobbyist at both the federal and state levels and vice president of a contract lobbying and public affairs firm in New Jersey. He started his career on Capitol Hill, where he worked for both a member of Congress and on the staff of a House committee.   Bill holds an undergraduate degree in political science from The George Washington University, a master’s degree in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

Credited with saving the lives of more than 460 passengers on an extensively-damaged aircraft earned the Qantas A380 captain worldwide commendation and an avenue to the corporate speaking circuit.