HCCI Practice Advisory Group

The HCCI Practice Advisory Group members include providers, practice managers and professionals representing the spectrum of House Call Programs (e.g., large and small, urban and rural, high-and-low income). Members contribute to advancement in the field of Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) by sharing insights based on first-hand experiences; reviewing and providing feedback on a wide range of educational materials and resources, and offering guidance to inform recommended practice and operational standards for HBPC.

Tammy Browning, PA-C

President – Grace At Home

Director, New Market Launch, Strategy & Acquisitions | Village Medical at Home

Tammy has been a practicing Physician Assistant since 1999 when she graduated Cum Laude from the University of Kentucky. In 2009, she founded Grace at Home, a home-based medical practice serving home-limited, home-bound and assisted living residents. Her devotion to patient advocacy has driven the growth and longevity of her practice, which now services all of central Indiana. She brings a wealth of knowledge, skills and compassion to patients and their families.

Paul Chiang, MD
Medical Director, Northwestern Medicine, HomeCare Physicians
Senior Medical and Practice Advisor, Home Centered Care Institute

At the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI), Dr. Chiang focuses his time on developing curriculum, teaching current and future providers and presenting locally and nationally on the value of home-based primary care.

In addition to his role at HCCI, Dr. Chiang is Medical Director for Northwestern Medicine HomeCare Physicians (HCP), a suburban Chicago practice focused on delivering care to medically complex patients in their homes. The HCP house call program has made more than 116,000 house calls to home-limited patients since its founding in 1997.

Personally, Dr. Chiang has made over 33,000 house calls to more than 3,000 patients over his 19-year career. Dr. Chiang attended medical school at the University of Illinois in Chicago and completed his residency program at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He holds a Master of Arts in Bioethics. His practice and work have been featured on ABC News Chicago and in northeast Illinois’ Daily Herald. In 2014, Central DuPage Hospital named him as one of 50 Unsung Heroes. In October 2019, Dr. Chiang received the “House Call Physician of the Year” award from the American Academy of Home Care Medicine.

Christopher Morrissette, MBA
Chief Operating Officer – Serious Illness, Teleios Collaborative Network

Christopher has extensive operational experience within palliative care, hospice, homecare and senior living. His career began over 20 years ago working as a nursing assistant/personal caregiver in a behavioral group home serving adults with developmental disabilities. He attests that this experience was foundational in understanding the needs of complex populations.

Christopher’s hospice career began in the Midwest where he served as part of the executive team that expanded the continuum of care from a single location into a 3-state area throughout the Region. Christopher built strategic partnerships within the regional market and led the growth in census from 30 to 350 patients within two years, laying the foundation for the organization’s current average daily census of over 1,000 patients.

Christopher joined Teleios Collaborative Network as Chief Operating Officer of Palliative Care in 2017. Christopher works in tandem with the CMO of Palliative Care in implementing operational and clinical Palliative Care Models where they partner to serve over 3,000 palliative care patients through excellence and innovative care delivery throughout the TCN Network. Christopher has worked to expand the role and standard of community-based palliative care, demonstrating the transformative role of palliative care in the care continuum.

Christopher holds an MBA in Healthcare Administration and an undergraduate degree in Ministry. He is passionate about healthcare and believes that hospice and palliative care is his true calling.

Jeremy Phillips
Chief Executive Officer, Geriatric Specialty Care of Nevada

Jeremy received his degree in Business from the University of Nevada, Reno with an emphasis in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He has worked within the field of healthcare for over 20 years, starting in medical records. He remains involved at a local and state level with an interest in enhancement of transitional care models, chronic care management, quality improvement and population-based approaches.

Geriatric Specialty Care (GSC) is an “Office Without Walls,” serving the frail and home-bound elderly residing in private residences, group care homes, assisted living facilities and nursing facilities, that stretch from Gardnerville to Elko − covering over 335 miles of Northern Nevada. He sits on the Technical Advisory Board for the Nevada HIE, HealtHIE NV, offering real world applications for the HIE to help develop. In addition, he is a co-founder of The FEMR Group, which offers technological healthcare solutions.

Steven L. Phillips, MD
CEO/President, Geriatric Specialty Care of Nevada

Dr. Phillips has worked in the field of primary and long-term care medicine for frail and vulnerable elderly for the past 30 years as a clinician, researcher and administrator. He remains involved at a local, state and national level with an interest in enhancement of transitional care models, chronic care management, policy development, quality improvement and population-based approaches.

He is the founder and CEO/President of Geriatric Specialty Care (GSC) in Northern Nevada. GSC is an “Office Without Walls,” serving the frail and home-bound elderly residing in private residences, group care homes, assisted living facilities and nursing facilities. This home-based primary care medical practice has recently partnered with Renown Health System to provide pre- and post-acute transitional care services.

Dr. Phillips serves as a Consultant for the Sanford Center for Aging Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine Since 2001, Dr. Phillips has also served on the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Geriatric Measurement Advisory Panel (GMAP). The GMAP provides recommendations and guidance to NCQA around existing and future quality measures that are developed for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Gretchen Schumacher, PhD, GNP, FNP, FAANP
Owner/CEO, Elder Care of West Michigan

Dr. Schumacher’s practice, Elder Care of West Michigan, provides comprehensive primary care to Medicare patients in their homes and in assisted living facilities. As the practice owner and Chief Executive Officer, and certified in both family and geriatric populations, Dr. Schumacher has more than 20 years of experience providing care across the life span in a wide range of care settings, including emergency, long-term care, home-based, international, and primary care. Over those years, she also served in faculty positions in Pennsylvania and Michigan where she challenged both students and peers to increase advocacy in APRN professional practice policy.

She has served as a chapter president for Sigma Theta Tau, chapter president for the Michigan Council for Nurse Practitioners (MICNP), MICNP Political Action Committee Chair, American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) Region 5 Director and is the current Recording Secretary for AANP. She is also a Fellow in the AANP and was awarded the 2016 AANP Michigan State Award for Excellence for her legislative advocacy efforts in Michigan.

Dr. Schumacher’s extensive 20-year practice history spans multiple care settings including family practice, long term care, home-based care, and assisted living. She provides high-quality, patient-centered, comprehensive medical, and advanced practice nursing care to older adults. She is a known champion for gerontology advocacy and promoting high quality of life and strategies for aging in place of older adults.

Amanda Tufano, MHA, CMPE
Chief Executive Officer, Genevive

In her role as Chief Executive Officer at Genevive, Amanda leads a team of over 115 people including Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, and Social Workers deployed throughout Minneapolis-St. Paul and greater Minnesota. In addition to delivering transitional care and primary care services in long-term care facilities, Genevive offers a unique home visit program to qualified enrollees.

Amanda holds a Master of Healthcare Administration degree from the University of Minnesota, is a Certified Medical Practice Executive, and holds additional certifications in Lean, Six Sigma, and project management. She received her Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

Amanda sits on the Boards of the Minnesota American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and Minnesota Association of Geriatric Inspired Clinicians (MAGIC). In addition, she sits on the National ACHE CEO Committee and LGBTQ Forum Committee.

Jeff Wacksman
President, Mobile Physician Services, Inc.

Jeff graduated Magna Cum Laude from Stetson University in Florida, with a major in business management and minor in business law. Jeff joined Mobile Physician Services in 2008, where he currently serves as President.

Mobile Physician Services is a medical house call practice comprised of doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who make house calls to homebound patients. The practice was established in 2006 to fill an unmet need for medical care among patients who were unable to leave their homes or who had difficulty getting to a physician’s office. Often these patients have complex chronic conditions that required ongoing medical care. Without proper care, their condition would worsen, and the patients eventually would require emergency care or admission to a hospital – at a high cost to both patients and payers.

Mobile Physician Services provides the patient with quality medical care within their own home, whether it be a private home, assisted living or independent living community. Patients are seen in 25+ counties within Florida, as well as six counties in the Dayton-Springfield area of Ohio. Along with quality Primary Care, Mobile Physician Services has on-staff specialists that include podiatry, wound care, optometry, pain management, palliative care, psychiatry, and a clinical pharmacist who is a resource for all care teams regarding any medication management issues.

Carlos Weiss, MD, MHS
Physician and Medical Director, Spectrum Health

Dr. Weiss is a board-certified physician specializing in geriatric medicine. Dr. Weiss earned his medical degree from University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. He completed his internal medicine practice residency at University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, his geriatric medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and his epidemiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. His clinical interests include caring for older adults, population health management for frail older adults and house calls.

Charlene Winters
Patient Family Representative, Wheaton, Illinois

A Chicago native, Charlene says her most rewarding role has been as a full-time caregiver to her son, a home-based primary care patient for more than 15 years. And while each patient and family caregiver experience is unique, Charlene brings a valued and essential perspective to the work of the HCCI Practice Advisory Group – ensuring that each of the group’s initiatives is firmly grounded in the needs of patients and their families.