Brilliant ideas go further
with a guide who knows
the terrain.
You have a vision for the next breakthrough in healthcare IT. I see where it fits — and where it won’t — in clinical workflows, health system procurement processes, and the broader healthcare ecosystem. Together, we can shape the future of care delivery.
Strategic consulting at the intersection of legacy EHRs, clinical workflows, and the technologies reshaping care delivery — for visionaries who can’t afford to take the wrong path.
I've been on
both sides of
the table.
Twenty-one years in Healthcare IT. Leading teams, driving clinically-impactful results.
I started as a client, at a large western U.S. health system — mapping out new clinical workflows and teaching clinicians how to leverage tech solutions for improved patient care. I led big-bang hospital implementations, ran a PMO, and managed application implementation and support teams.
Then I became the vendor, first at Cerner and later Oracle Health, managing embedded client teams, championing the establishment of an international managed services team to Follow the Sun, and recently, building one of the organization’s largest internal AI communities.
The perspective I’ve gained through varied, practical, boots-on-the-ground experience is hard to manufacture. When you bring me an idea, I can tell you whether the clinical workflow actually supports it, whether the legacy system can accommodate it, and whether the health system procurement cycle will kill it before it gets started.
I started consulting because there are revolutionary ideas that aren’t seeing the light of day. They deserve guidance that can orient them to the environment, foresee unintended consequences, and set them up for success. Healthcare is complex. Let’s lean into that complexity together.
View full resume →Tailored Service Offerings
Strategic Advisory
You're clear on the niche where your idea fits, but there are pieces of context that feel shaky, or there's the looming you-don't-know-what-you-don't-know. Pull me in to provide context-rich perspective, to fill in the gaps, and to pressure test your plan. Particularly helpful for pre-seed to early-stage startups. May be ad hoc or ongoing.
Clinical Workflow and/or Market Analysis
Before you build, before you pitch, before you sell — understand the terrain. I map where your solution fits, who the real stakeholders are, and what is likely to block adoption — whether it's AI or data governance, workflow fit for tools like clinical decision support, unintended consequences, or other sources of friction.
Behind-the-Scenes Expertise
You have an important meeting coming up, or perhaps a new venture — a pitch, a new client or vendor relationship, clinical stakeholder sessions, or new scope/a new venue. You want to flesh out the hazy bits so that you’re ready for questions, in-depth discussions, and answering concerns. I do the preparation work with you — framing the narrative, anticipating objections, and surfacing the questions you should ask and that you’ll be asked. When you walk in the room or join the call, you’ll be ready.
Fractional Leadership
Enterprise-level Healthcare IT expertise without the full-time overhead. Ideal for startups that need seasoned guidance while they scale their own team.
Lean into the complexity of healthcare. Simple solutions don't come easy.
The Virtue of a “Boring” Go-Live
Implementations with big command centers, bustling with calls and problems being solved, are certainly exciting, but they shouldn’t be our accepted norm.
Every issue on a go-live issues list is a small miss. Every workaround is a cognitive burden placed on someone whose focus should be on the patient. In life-and-death environments, workflow friction isn’t a minor inconvenience — it’s a patient safety risk, even when the system is technically functioning as designed.
The goal is a quiet go-live. That means doing the unglamorous pre-work: mapping every edge case, pressure-testing every workflow, and closing the gaps before they have a chance to affect care. The real work happens before day one — so that the impact is seen in the metrics, not in venues of care.
Let’s make your go-lives nearly imperceptible to clinicians, and gloriously dull to support.
Be an architect, not a firefighter. Boring saves lives.
Recommendations
Donica has often been the voice of reason and clarity to ensure critical and challenging issues are addressed effectively to successful outcomes. One of her key strengths is her ability to see beyond the current need in order to strategically navigate and lead for future goals.
From day one, Donica stood out as a dynamic, culturally aware leader who truly understands how to bring people together. Her ability to drive inclusivity, clarity, and collaboration across diverse teams is simply outstanding — and her grasp of EMR workflows is exceptional.
What stands out about Donica is her calm demeanor, which no doubt comes from the confidence of knowing as much as she does about healthcare, EHR solutions and workflows, project/program methodology, and adoption and change management. She understands all three components of people, process and technology equally well, which allows her to be a trusted voice helping the client through change, as well as managing and supporting her team. It has been a privilege working with Donica, and I highly recommend her.
Professional Ethics & Mutual Protection
Maintaining an active role in the industry ensures my advisory services are always informed by current, real-world field experience. To guarantee this active engagement remains ethical and compliant, I adhere to a strict conflict of interest review process:
- Evaluation: Before taking on any new client or project, a thorough review is conducted to ensure no conflict of interest exists.
- Recusal: If an intersection of interests poses a potential or actual conflict, I will decline or step down from the advisory role to protect both my employer and the client.
- Strict Ethical Boundaries: Absolute data segregation is maintained at all times. No proprietary information is ever shared between my employer and independent clients.
Ready to explore
the possibilities?
Whether you're a startup trying to find your footing in the clinical landscape, a health system navigating governance for new technologies, or a team that needs an experienced voice in the room — I'd like to hear what you're working on.