Our OB Safety and Risk Management Team

Dr. Paul A. Gluck is a nationally recognized patient safety expert. His passion in this area is evident from his significant leadership roles and work to advance patient safety nationally. He is a Founding Member of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), whose mission is to improve the safety of care provided to patients through a central voice that includes all stakeholders. He was NPSF's Chairman of the Board of Directors (2005-2008) after serving as a member of its Board of Directors for 13 years. The Board is responsible for operational oversight, organizational efficiency and financial health, and policy and strategic direction of the organization. He was a founding member of the Lucian Leape Institute at NPSF, a think tank of luminaries in the field to significantly advance patient safety. He is currently a member of its Nominating Committee and Board of Governors.

Dr. Gluck is a Fellow of the American College (Congress) of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and has been named the first Chair of ACOG's new Council for Patient Safety in Women's Healthcare. This new council will work with leading industry organizations and advance the efforts of ACOG to enhance patient safety. In addition, Dr. Gluck is a past Assistant Secretary and Member of Executive Board (2008-2009). His involvement in ACOG has spanned more than 30 years and includes additional leadership roles, as well as membership in various committees including:

• Chair of Patient Safety Sub-Committee; Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Committee; Credentials Committtee; President's Task Force on Safety in Resident Education; Professional Liability Committee - Florida Section; and Director of Voluntary Review for Quality of Care.
• Served on District IV Professional Liability Committee; District IV Advisory Council; National Nominating Committee; Presidential Task Force - Patient Safety in the Ambulatory Setting; Making Obstetrical & Maternity Care Safer (MOMS); and the Quality Assurance Committee.

He is is a member of the ACOG Florida Section Advisory Council, the Grievance Committee and the District XII Ad Hoc Advisory Committee.

In addition, Dr. Gluck has been involved in nationally significant patient safety initiatives and organizations, including:

• Current member of National Quality Forum's (NQF) Expert Panel developing a standardized taxonomy for medical error reporting in support of Patient Safety Organizations; Premier National Perinatal Safety Initiative Advisory Committee; and Florida International University, Department of Health Policy and Management Advisory Committee, Stempel School of Public Health
• Past member of Florida Medical Association's Patient Safety Committee
• Past consultant to RAND's Department of Defense Patient Safety Teamwork Advisory Panel; U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant committees to evaluate patient safety implementation simulation research proposals
• Chair of many regional and state organizations, including the Dade County Medical Association; William A. Little Ob-Gyn Society, Florida Section of ACOG; Baptist Health Foundation and Health Council of South Florida.

Dr. Gluck has received many awards for his work in healthcare, including ACOG President's Community Service Award; Humanitarian of the Year Award from the South Florida Prenatal Network; Distinguished Service Award from the Florida Obstetric and Gynecologic Society; Communicator of the Year Award from the Florida Medical Association; and 2008 Best Doctors in America, National Award.

During Dr. Gluck's active clinical career spanning over 30 years, he held many leadership positions in the Baptist Health System. He is currently an honorary board member of the Baptist Health System of South Florida Foundation. He has presented over 200 lectures including invited presentations in China, Australia, France and Saudi Arabia; written five textbook chapters; produced two video education programs; and published numerous articles primarily in the field of patient safety.

Dr. Gluck holds an M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine and a B.S. in Life Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed a rotating internship and residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Patient Safety Fellowship in the Department of Anesthesia at the University Affiliated Hospitals, Jackson Memorial Hospital.

David Acker, M.D. is an obstetrician with over 35 years of valuable clinical and quality assurance experience. He specializes in obstetrics and gynecology, including high-risk maternal-fetal medicine. His clinical interests include high-risk pregnancies, multiple births and previous reproductive loss.

Dr. Acker is the Chief of Obstetrics at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also the Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School in Boston where he has been instrumental in the quality assurance initiatives of the Harvard Risk Foundation.

Dr. Acker is a Reviewer for Obstetrics-Gynecology, The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation. He serves on the Advisory Committee of the Massachusetts Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and on the Advisory Panel for Refugee Physicians of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. He is a member of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, New England Perinatal Society and Massachusetts Department of Public Health (Maternal Mortality Committee). In addition, Dr. Acker has written nearly 50 reports and published numerous books and chapters on obstetrical and gynecological issues.

Dr. Acker received an M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine and completed residencies in obstetrics and gynecology at Albert Einstein Affiliated Hospitals in Bronx, New York and Vanderbilt University Affiliated Hospitals in Nashville, Tennessee.

Peter A. Schwartz, M.D. brings over 35 years of valuable clinical and quality assurance experience to Stevens & Lee. He assists the firm’s healthcare medical malpractice defense lawyers with obstetrical clinical case analysis and works with Stevens & Lee risk management professionals in providing risk management services to physicians, hospitals and other healthcare organizations.

Dr. Schwartz served as the Director of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center (TRHMC) for nearly 20 years. Prior to joining TRHMC, he spent 13 years in private practice with teaching appointments at Yale University School of Medicine, the University of Massachusetts, Tufts University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at Drexel University School of Medicine.

Dr. Schwartz is a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' (ACOG) Government Affairs Committee's ad hoc workforce issues team. This team evaluates government regulations regarding issues in residency training, among other areas, and provides recommendations to ACOG. He is the former Chair of the Pennsylvania Section of ACOG) and was also the Assistant Secretary and Vice President of ACOG National.

In addition to serving on many committees at TRHMC, Dr. Schwartz has been President of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia. He has also served as Chair of the ACOG Ethics Committee and on the Ethics Committees of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as on numerous other obstetrical associations. Dr. Schwartz was the elected Representative of Region II on the Council for Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology and served three terms on the Residency Review Committee. He served as an Examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology for 10 years. Recently, he was one of three physicians invited to serve on the Pennsylvania Senate Liability Task Force to seek solutions to the medical liability problem.

Dr. Schwartz has received numerous awards, including the J. Robert Willson Award from the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia. He received a B.A. from Harvard College, an M.D. from Boston University and completed his Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale University.

Lisa Eng, D.O. received her medical degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, completed a one year rotating internship and four year Ob-Gyn residency at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. She is Board Certified in obstetrics and gynecology and founded New Life Ob-Gyn in 1995. She is Vice President of the Association of Chinese American Physicians (President in May 2010); on the Board of Directors of Homecrest Community Services which provides care to Chinese seniors in Gravesend/Bensonhurst; President of Medifit NY; Founder/CEO of Doctors First Association; Chair of Public Health and Secretary of Medical Society of County of Kings and past president of the Brooklyn Gynecological Society. Dr. Eng is presently a member of the Bay Ridge Medical Society, Medical Club of Brooklyn and New York State Osteopathic Medical Society, Asian Women in Business.

Dr. Eng is the interim chair of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center's OB-GYN Department, where 1,000 deliveries are performed each year. The medical center is working on enhancing its patient safety and quality assurance. She was the Educational Coordinator for the Ob-Gyn residency at Lutheran Medical Center for over 10 years and is presently the secretary of the Executive Committee of Lutheran Medical Center. She has received the Community Service Award from NYCOM, ACOG, ACAP and Manhattan Boro President Stringer. She is especially committed to Cultural Competency and Elimination of Health Care Disparities and serves on committees for ACOG, MSSNY and Lutheran Medical Center.

Neil E. Hutcher M.D., F.A.C.S. has over 35 years of valuable clinical, quality assurance and insurance benefits and reimbursement experience. Dr. Hutcher is Chairman of the Board for Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) and its Chief Medical Officer. The SRC is the global leader in designating Centers of Excellence, particularly in bariatric programs and minimally invasive gynecological surgery programs.

Dr. Hutcher is a Fellow of the American College of Surgery, a past president of the ASMBS, serves on the Advisory Council of the American Obesity Association and is a board member of the Obesity Action Coalition.

James W. Saxton, Esq. Chair of the Healthcare Litigation and Risk Management Group and Co-Chair of the Healthcare Department has sustained an active litigation practice for nearly 30 years. He regularly represents hospitals, physicians and other healthcare professionals before state and federal courts in complex litigation matters. He also counsels clients, including obstetrical healthcare professionals, across the nation on safety and quality initiatives and healthcare captive insurance issues.

Using his extensive experience as a litigator, Mr. Saxton:

• Advises obstetricians and other healthcare providers both nationally and internationally on safety, quality and professional liability issues, along with a team of Ph.D.s, physicians and risk managers
• Functions as lead trial counsel and supervises trial counsel in professional liability lawsuits nationally
• Creates innovative obstetrical risk reduction tools, including quality dashboards specifically for obstetrics
• Helps create entire loss control programs for captive insurers, many national in scope
• Provided the vision of an OB safety insurance company and executed on its creation, along with the creation of an OB-specific safety and risk management consulting business (OB Protect™ and OB Consult)

A prolific writer on the subject of reducing medical liability risks, Mr. Saxton has published more than 200 articles, seven textbooks and several handbooks. His recent published works include:

• Sorry Works! Disclosure, Apology and Relationships Prevent Medical Malpractice Claims
• The Satisfied Patient, Second Edition: A Guide to Preventing Malpractice Claims by Providing Excellent Customer Service
• Five-Star Customer Service: A Step-by-Step Guide for Physician Practices
• Fifteen Policies and Procedures to Reduce Liability for Physician Practices
• “Healthcare Reform, Mid-Level Providers, and Liability Risk” (co-author)
• “Expectation Management - Versus Event Management: Parts One, Two & Three” (co-author)
• “Maximum Success in Safety, Quality and Liability Exposure” (co-author)

Mr. Saxton presents frequently to nationally prominent healthcare organizations on industry issues such as liability reduction and risk management and has been presenting risk management programs to obstetrical healthcare providers for more than 20 years. He recently presented “Taking Obstetrical Patient Safety to the Next Level” at the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management.

Mr. Saxton is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, reserved for less than one-half of 1% of the lawyers in the country, and a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest professional medical organization in the country. He is also a board of directors member for Surgical Excellence, LLC. He is the past chair of the American Health Lawyers Association’s Healthcare Liability and Litigation Practice Group and a member of numerous other professional associations.

Mr. Saxton received a J.D. from Duquesne University and a B.A. from Shippensburg State University.

Maggie M. Finkelstein, Esq. concentrates her practice in health law with a focus on loss control and event management for physicians, hospitals and staff. She has developed risk reduction opportunities in the healthcare industry and has evaluated various specialty-specific liability risk issues including the risks associated with obstetrics, gastroenterology and bariatric surgery.

Ms. Finkelstein is the co-author of a study that analyzed 50 obstetrical claims. She creates OB-specific risk reduction tools, including quality dashboards specifically designed for obstetrics. In addition, she provides support to an OB-specific safety and risk management consulting business.

In addition to her loss control and event management work, Ms. Finkelstein works with captive professional liability insurers in controlling risk. She also has been involved in the creation of new insurance vehicles and companies geared to liability risk reduction. Within those insurance vehicles, Ms. Finkelstein works closely with RRG boards and their committees to provide advice and management of their vision, including physician relationships with the RRGs/captives. She provides claims oversight of a national and regional defense panel in collaboration with James W. Saxton, Esq., Chair of Stevens & Lee’s Healthcare Litigation Group and Co-Chair of the Healthcare Department. She also provides support to the captive reserving philosophies and practices and evaluation of set reserves. Additional work with those captives also includes oversight and implementation of loss control programs and education. She is a member of the Litigation Group, litigating in both federal and state courts, defending physicians, hospitals and long-term care communities.

Ms. Finkelstein is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and regularly publishes on loss control and risk management topics, including disclosure after an adverse event, liability risk reduction, patient accountability and patient satisfaction. Publications have included articles, books, handbooks and book chapters.

Prior to joining Stevens & Lee, Ms. Finkelstein was a law clerk for the Honorable William W. Caldwell, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and worked as a chemistry technician and microbiologist at Johnston Laboratories. She is also a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Ms. Finkelstein graduated summa cum laude from Widener University School of Law and received a B.S. in Biology from The Pennsylvania State University.

Stephanie C. Sher has 20 years of multi-faceted legal experience in the healthcare industry, including five years as Corporate Counsel and Vice President for Legal Affairs for the American College of Physicians and seven years as Senior Counsel of a major Pennsylvania academic health system, where she directed the professional and general liability captive insurance program and risk reduction activities.

Ms. Sher also led a successful effort to obtain U.S. certification as a Patient Safety Organization for the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, the nation’s only non-profit organization devoted to medication error prevention and safe medication use. She focuses her current legal practice on advising hospitals, doctors and other healthcare practitioners on patient safety and risk management, bioethics, corporate governance and medical staff issues.

Ms. Sher is also an active educator, developing and teaching programs on topics such as liability reduction and risk avoidance strategies, disclosure of medical errors and effective communication skills to national audiences of healthcare administrators, board members and providers at all levels of training.

Elizabeth J. Pearsall, RN is a Risk Management Advisor with more than 30 years of clinical, management and risk management experience. She has directed the education of nursing staff, completed risk assessments and provided technical and documentation support in litigious situations.

Ms. Pearsall conducts OB-specific risk assessments of national hospitals and physician practices and provides on-going support to them. She has performed over 150 practice assessments. Ms. Pearsall handles OB-specific event management issues and was a leader in the creation of a collaborative OB-specific event management program. In addition, she creates OB-specific safety and risk management tools and strategies.

Ms. Pearsall’s risk management experience also includes the coordination of risk management education, risk assessments and case review for litigations for a system-wide risk management program in a large tertiary care organization. In that position, she also designed and implemented a falls risk program and was the project leader for the implementation of a bar-coding medication administration system that is currently in use both in inpatient and outpatient units.

Prior to joining Stevens & Lee, Ms. Pearsall served as the Obstetrical Nursing Director of a healthcare facility that handled 5,000 deliveries per year. In addition to her work in acute care, she also served as Director of Nursing at a long term care facility, where she directed several successful Department of Health inspections, and as Vice President of Nursing at a community hospital.

Ms. Pearsall has studied Health Care Management and is a trained AU Meds Medication Observer. She holds a Diploma of Nursing from Philadelphia General Hospital. 

Margaret “Peggy” M. DeZinno, BSN, RN provides Ob-Gyn-specific risk management services. She has over 35 years of experience in the healthcare industry, specifically as a coordinator and instructor of women’s health and education programs. She started her career as a labor and delivery nurse at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT.

Ms. DeZinno has authored numerous articles about childbirth and teaches classes at the Academy of Certified Birth Educators. She is a member of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), Lamaze International and the Women and Family Life Center’s annual Women’s Health Conference in Connecticut.

Ms. DeZinno graduated cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a B.S. in Nursing.

Judi Olnick, CPHQ, has more than 27 years of experience working in healthcare quality, patient safety and risk management. A Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Ms. Olnick supports and educates clients on matters including risk assessments and recommendations, safety programs, quality plans and related performance improvement measures. She has extensive experience assisting clients with risk evaluation and mitigation. Ms. Olnick is a former Director of Risk & Quality Management and Patient Safety Officer of a hospital, where she developed and maintained the hospital’s risk management, performance improvement and patient safety programs.

C. Lynn Swisher, Ph.D., MBA, RN, NHA, CHCQM, FAIHQ has more than 25 years of experience in managed care and healthcare consulting. She consults with clients on healthcare risk and outcome measurement systems and assists clients in implementing performance improvement programs. Ms. Swisher also provides management communication and leadership excellence coaching. Through her comprehensive coaching, providers focus on conflict resolution, understanding the emotional influence on patient safety, respectful crisis management, teamwork and leadership strategies that facilitate increased staff productivity. Ms. Swisher’s proven techniques have consistently resulted in increased satisfaction scores for providers.

Ms. Swisher has presented programs on performance improvement, risk management and organizational management at national and regional conferences.

She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, the Pennsylvania Nurse’s Association and the American Nurse’s Association.

Amanda Budak, RN, MSN, CBN has more than 17 years of healthcare experience. Ms. Budak has worked in a management capacity in a variety of healthcare settings, including a bariatric surgery program, a digestive disease center, surgical trauma intensive care units, clinical research programs and a cancer program. She has experience in clinical and operational consulting in the healthcare design industry and has successfully delivered process reengineering services that lead to improved operational and financial efficiencies. She provides risk management services to physicians, hospitals and other healthcare organizations. Ms. Budak is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Branyan A. Booth, M.D., MBA assists in the development of data-driven quality and safety tools, services and products. She formerly served as an internal consultant at a large hospital where she analyzed workflows and helped reduce physician billing coding, which greatly reduced billing turnaround time for the hospital.

Dr. Booth received an MBA from The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business, an M.D. from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and a B.A. from the University of Colorado. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Administration from The Pennsylvania State University.