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Julie leads performance management programs and national networks for Vizient.&nbsp;In this role, she oversees quality, safety and clinical leadership programs, technical sales and solution delivery, and data science and member insights.
Having begun her career in nursing, Cerese has focused the majority of her professional work on clinical quality and performance improvement. She has conducted extensive studies on the factors that differentiate top performers and works with clinicians and health system executives to achieve their objectives regarding organizational performance and patient experience. In addition, she is the author of many journal articles on quality, performance improvement and clinical topics.
Cerese previously led the University HealthSystem Consortium&rsquo;s extensive performance improvement products and services. She oversaw its Intelligence&trade; suite of performance improvement platforms, including informatics, analytics, quality programs and research, and nursing and physician leadership activities. Cerese also provided direction for the Quality and Accountability Study, which was the basis for the nationally recognized Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Award, presented by Vizient to the top-performing academic medical centers each year. 
 
Cerese&rsquo;s substantial knowledge of clinical quality improvement was supplemented by her role as director of quality and infection control at Chicago&rsquo;s Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she leveraged her clinical quality improvement experience. Prior to that, she served as senior director of University HealthSystem Consortium&rsquo;s clinical process improvement area.
Cerese holds a doctorate from Loyola University with a focus on interprofessional education and collaboration. She also holds a master&rsquo;s degree and bachelor&rsquo;s degree in nursing, both from the Loyola University Chicago Niehoff School of Nursing.

Group Senior Vice President, Performance Management and National Networks

Julie Cerese, PhD, RN, MSN

Brian provides direction and support for advisory work related to ambulatory and 340B pharmacy. He helps health care organizations identify opportunities for implementing or expanding outpatient retail ambulatory, central fill and/or home delivery and specialty pharmacy operations. With over 25 years of experience in the health care industry, Brian's expertise spans multiple retail and ambulatory pharmacy market segments.
Prior to joining Vizient, Brian was with Intermountain Healthcare, where he created the vision and strategy for their central fill, home delivery and specialty pharmacy fulfillment initiatives. He is a member of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and the National Community Pharmacists Association.
Brian earned a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in pharmacy from the Saint Louis College of Pharmacy and a master&rsquo;s degree in business administration and healthcare administration from Regis University.

Associate Vice President, Pharmacy Consulting

Brian Hardy, RPh, MBA

Blending clinical leadership and informatics experience, David is responsible for driving numerous key initiatives for Vizient, including growing the Center for Advanced Analytics, leading the development of risk-adjustment methodologies and increasing the engagement of physicians and other clinicians. The Center brings together analytics from multiple clinical and operational offerings to provide insights to members across the continuum of care.
David joined the company in 2010 after serving as medical director of the emergency department at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago. He also served as a physician leader for information technology upgrades, including expansion of computerized physician order entry and documentation improvements. His background includes consulting for emergency departments and physician groups to optimize informatics, quality and compliance.
David earned a doctor of medicine degree from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Michigan. He is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Rush Medical School in Chicago and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

David Levine, MD, FACEP

With a health care career spanning more than 25 years, Jim has extensive experience in health care advisory services with hospitals, health systems and physician practices nationwide. The nature of his health care consulting includes hospital/physician alignment, value-based care initiatives, bundled payments, strategic planning, new service development and implementation services.
Prior to joining Vizient, Jim was a founder of TRG Health Care Solutions, a hospital/physician alignment company he led for 14 years. Previous to TRG, Reilly led the health care consulting division for GE Medical Systems. He has led more than 350 projects during his consulting career with a proven track record in physician relations, project management, communications, team building and financial analysis.
Jim is a national speaker and often presents to organizations such as American College of Cardiovascular Administrators (ACCA), American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), American Medical Group Association (AMGA), Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).Jim received a bachelor of science degree in finance from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

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