Klaus Thaler Chief Medical Officer

HOUSTON METHODIST HEALTHCARE CORPORATE PROFILE: A $5B non-for-profit healthcare system in Houston with 22,000 employees in all areas of healthcare services for 8 hospitals. SAN JACINTO HOSPITAL DIVISION PROFILE: A 300-bed regional medical center within the Houston Methodist Healthcare System. RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: Responsible for managing 500 staff with 10 direct reports. Responsible for medical staff supervision, quality and case management, leading strategic planning, physician recruitment, and growth of clinical services. ACHIEVED IN THIS ROLE • EMR Implementation: Tasked by the CEO to build an implementation strategy, and lead execution of a new EMR system to the medical staff after existing EMR system exceeded capacity. Aligned, trained, and certified 300 physicians within 120 days, delivering the first paperless system without patient assessment delays. • Root Cause Analysis / Quality: Charged by the CEO with structuring quality department in a 300-bed community hospital. Created the strategy with processes for QI and QC (using lean principles), confirmed regulatory adherence, and recruited leadership within 120 days. Optimized Root Cause Analysis and significantly reduced severe safety events the first year. This project piloted the process for Severe Safety Event Analysis system-wide. • Quality/Safety Program Development: New guidelines from the NQF (National Quality Forum) for antibiotic usage required implementation across all hospitals within 6 months. The first 180 days, conceived the development and implementation of a system-wide Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and won system approval. This ensured decrease in variation in clinical practice use of antibiotics.

ACHIEVEMENTS CONTINUED • Business Development / Revenue Growth: Tasked by the CEO to develop a plan to build new clinical services projected to increase of ROI from elective patient services in a community hospital with a busy ED. Three service lines were implemented in the first year, a cancer center, a lung center and a weight-loss center. Within four months, the hospital could schedule its first patients for weight-loss procedures and the new Lung Center realized a 25% increase in patient volume. • Clinical Integration: A Regional Medical Center wanted to grow specialized medical services to meet market demand. Charged by the CEO to lead the strategy and execution for physician recruitment, integration, and retention. Accomplished the alignment/recruitment of new specialists/sub-specialists and new medical directors within12 months. Started a best practice Critical Care Program and a new Hospitalist Program within a year. • Efficiency / Cost Reduction: Asked by the CEO to collaborate with CFO on CMI (Case Mix Index) optimization. Provided thought leadership to create a new process for the Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) team to communicate and educate physicians on best evidence clinical documentation. This effort increased query response completion from 65 to 95% (90th percentile) and improved CMI 35%.

CORPORATE PROFILE: A $2.5B non-for-profit acute care health system. RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: Managed 200 staff with 10 direct reports. Responsible for leading the Department of Surgery, and supervising the surgical, perioperative and cancer service lines with a revenue budget of 100M. Led the patient experience committee and all related activities. ACHIEVED IN THIS ROLE • Standardization: Challenged by the System CMO with standardizing best practices across 3 recently merged hospitals to decrease variation in outcomes. Built the strategy and formed a Clinical Practice Committee with provider representation to develop practice guidelines in respective disciplines and led the introduction of the committee. Within 9 months, this committee created 10 new clinical practice guidelines. • Clinical Integration: The system decided to go into a care initiative for joint replacement. Tasked by the system leadership to become the local physician champion. Achieved 30% increase in patients discharged to home after joint replacement procedures in the first year. • Outcomes Improvement: Charged by the CEO and CMO to ensure excellence in surgical outcomes. The first 120 days, led strategic planning, sourcing and implemented of a new quality program. Managed development of quality assessment and improvement programs (for Surgery & Cancer departments). Within 180 days, these efforts reduced postoperative mortality 25%, morbidity and surgical site infection 20% while yielding $500k in annual cost savings. • Cost Efficiency: To reduce direct costs for physician preferred products, developed a strategy, collaborated with key physician and supply leaders, and led execution. This maximized workflow and standardized instrument and reduced instrument carts for surgeons by 90% within 90 days, and significantly reduced supplies and implant vendors. This strategy and execution was expanded the following year.

ACHIEVEMENTS CONTINUED • Outcomes / Patient Satisfaction: Tasked to optimize inpatient satisfaction scores (HCAHPS). Created a Hospital Committee for Patient Experience, serving as Chairperson. Developed multi-disciplinary work groups with specific tasks assignments. Achieved a 6-point increase in overall inpatient satisfaction (HCAHPS) within the year. These processes sustained and increased satisfaction scores year-over-year, creating a system-wide benchmark. • New Revenue Streams: Tasked by the CEO with increasing services volume to improve ROI. Created and led a strategy to develop of 4 new service centers (Joint Replacement, MIS/Robotic, Lung Cancer, and Colorectal Cancer). The first year, length of stay was reduced from 3-4 to less than 3 days (Joint Replacement) and overall patient revenue increased 5%. Within 2 years, these services became Centers of Excellence by the Joint Commission. This strategy was expanded the following year.

RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: Danbury, New Milford and Norwalk Hospitals ACHIEVED IN THIS ROLE • Healthcare Service Offering Expansion: The healthcare system had merged 3 hospitals the prior year and was to start a cancer system service line. Commissioned by the CEO and System CMO to complete the project within 1 year. Created new system structure within 90 days, integrated medical oncology, and recruited a permanent MD Director. This resulted in significant incremental increase in ROI 1 year after implementation. • Research & Development / Profit Expansion: Existing cancer research program needed to be integrated and standardized systemwide. Asked by system leadership to create a system wide clinical research program. Led planning and development and hired a new director. Achieved a 20% increase in clinical drug studies within the first year with a positive ROI from clinical research studies for the first time. This strategy was used in all system hospitals due to its success.

CORPORATE PROFILE: A fully accredited general, voluntary, not-for-profit 128-bed Hospital with 450 physicians and 1,300 employees. RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: Responsible for the Surgical Service Line, quality control and operations, overseeing a staff of 50 surgeons, responsible for planning and development of new services. ACHIEVED IN THIS ROLE • Development and Growth: Tasked by the CEO to quickly build strategic important outpatient services. Served as Medical Lead in successful planning and development of new inpatient and outpatient services including Cancer Center, Center for Digestive Health, Minimal Invasive Surgery Center. Recruited new breast surgeons and plastic surgeons and successfully started the process of integrating the private gastroenterology group into the center. Time line from plan to successful kick-off was one year.

CORPORATE PROFILE: A $2.2B University with enrollment of ~33,000 students, 13,000 full-time employees and 305,000 alumni. RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE: Responsible for the Section of Gastrointestinal Surgery with 5 faculty, the translational research program for Minimally Invasive Surgery, and the animal laboratory for surgical research. ACHIEVED IN THIS ROLE • Translational Research: Tasked to create a structured program for translational research for medical devices in minimal invasive technology. Led SWOT and worked through funding issues to completed the first funded animal study within 9 months, despite an increasingly challenging, highly regulated (FDA) marketplace. This program generated $1.4M in industry funding. The laboratory was recognized nationally as a leader in the field of natural orifice surgery research. • Education Programs: Determined to introduce a teaching program, created and implemented a Research Fellowship to support national and international recognition and training and yielded student-designed devices for minimal invasive surgery through collaborative opportunities with other schools, researchers and clinicians. This generated design ideas and prototypes for surgical devices. Within 5 years, 50 articles were published in peer-reviewed journals, and the programs improved the image of the department nationally and internationally.