Cliff Goodman, PhD

Moderator

Clifford Goodman, PhD, has 35 years of experience in such areas as health technology assessment, evidence-based health care, comparative effectiveness research, clinical practice guidelines, health economics, and studies pertaining to health care innovation, regulation, and payment.  He directs studies and projects for an international range of government agencies; pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies; health care provider institutions; and professional, industry, and patient advocacy groups.  His recent work has involved such areas as chronic disease, infectious disease, cancer, rare diseases, diagnostic testing, gene therapy, pharmacogenomics, personalized medicine, biosimilars, value frameworks, value-based contracting, social determinants of health, and applications of real-world data and real-world evidence.  Dr. Goodman is an internationally recognized health policy issues moderator and facilitator of expert panels, advisory boards, workshops, and focus groups. 

Dr. Goodman served as Chair of the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC, 2009-12) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  He served as President of the professional society, Health Technology Assessment international (HTAi, 2011-13), and is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.  In 2022, he received the David Banta Distinguished Career Award in Health Technology Assessment from HTAi.  He earned a PhD from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Science from The Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. 

After 27 years at The Lewin Group, including as Senior Vice President, Dr. Goodman recently retired and is an independent consultant, including on behalf of Lewin for selected projects. 

Donna Greco, MSW

Government Relations Director

Donna Greco serves as the Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) in Pennsylvania. She is excited to have joined the team in March 2023 and looks forward to advancing ACS CAN’s organizational mission, advocating for evidence-based public policies to reduce the cancer burden for everyone in Pennsylvania. Donna will be joined by volunteers, additional ACS CAN staff, legislators and partners in advancing legislation related to Pennsylvanians’ access to care, tobacco control, health equity and more. Donna has worked in advocacy for over 20 years, most recently as a public policy advocate in the movement to end sexual violence. Before moving to Pennsylvania, Donna earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work with a concentration in public policy and community organizing from the University of Connecticut. As a macro social worker, Donna is passionate about systems-change and has witnessed the powerful impacts coalitions of advocates can have when unified by shared values and goals. She looks forward to representing ACS CAN in coalitions to ensure every person has the opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive all forms of cancer.

Ricky Newton, CPA

Chief Financial and Operating Officer

Ricky Newton has over 33 years of experience in the healthcare industry. He has been on the board of Community Oncology Alliance (COA) since its inception December 2002 and currently serves as their chief financial and operating officer. He also created and manages the Community Oncology Pharmacy Association (COPA) and the COAnalyzer benchmarking and cost accounting software for COA. Since 1997, he continues to serve as the director for Cancer Specialists of Tidewater, Ltd.

Currently, Ricky also serves as treasurer of the COA, National Cancer Treatment Alliance, Virginia Association of Hematologists and Oncologist (VAHO) and National Oncology Society Network (NOSN).

Ted Okon, MBA

Executive Director

Ted Okon is a nationally recognized expert on the policy and politics of cancer care. He is quoted extensively in the press, including guest appearances on TV and radio news shows. Ted has testified before Congress on cancer issues and is frequently on Capitol Hill discussing the nation’s cancer care delivery system. Ted’s target areas of expertise include the cost of cancer treatment, health care reform, Medicare reimbursement, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), drug shortages, and the changing landscape of cancer care delivery in the United States.

Ted has dedicated his career to healthcare business and policy. He has worked for several pharmaceutical companies including Merck and Warner-Lambert, now part of Pfizer, and IMS Health. He co-founded and took public the health care information business Medical Marketing Group. He also founded two oncology companies (an oncology clinical research network and an information network) and has traveled extensively to China, India, Singapore, the U.K., and the Middle East, analyzing and discussing cancer care delivery.

As executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), Ted oversees the strategic direction of this non-profit organization dedicated to patients and providers in the community cancer care setting, under the direction of a dedicated board of oncologists and practice administrators. Ted also travels the country speaking to state oncology societies, professional organizations, and companies about the challenges facing the nation’s cancer care delivery system. He has authored numerous articles and studies relating to cancer care policy and politics, reimbursement, and clinical issues.

Ted holds a BS degree from Fairfield University and an MBA from the Carnegie-Mellon University Tepper School of Business. His wife Susan practiced as a certified oncology nurse.

Michelle Weiss, CHONC

President

Michelle Weiss has more than 25 years of experience in management and consulting
for private practice clinics. outpatient hospital facilities, and pharmaceutical clients.
Ms. Weiss is accomplished at analyzing operations and growth opportunities
introducing strategic and tactical solutions to addressing barriers to quality cancer
care.

In addition to her consulting company, Ms. Weiss has worked with many state
oncology societies addressing growth, support, and educational needs as well as
reimbursement barriers to care, acting as a liaison between the providers and the
payers to resolve issues.

For 14 years Michelle was the Administrator of a large oncology practice in Royal
Oak, Michigan. She has another decade of medical management experience in
internal medicine and surgery.

Michelle is currently the editor of the POHMS monthly newsletter.