Members On The Move.

Donald Fischer, MD, MBA, is medical director at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield in Pittsburgh, Pa. Fischer previously served as medical director at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Malcolm Henoch, MD, MBA, is senior vice president and chief medical officer at Oakwood Healthcare System in Dearborn, Mich. Henoch provides leadership in several areas, including medical staff affairs, clinical quality initiatives, care management, risk management, medical education, health information and health system accreditation. Previously, Henoch was with the University Mednet of Cleveland, Ohio, a $55 million multi-specialty physician group that's part of University Hospitals Health Systems.

Richard Hodach, MD, PhD, is the vice president of medical affairs at Accordant Health Services in Greensboro, N.C. The promotion came after Hodach served as the organization's medical director for Internet services. Hodach is a board-certified neurologist with extensive experience in the application of information technology to the health care delivery system. Accordant focuses on assisting patients who have complex chronic diseases using a system that integrates Internet and call-center technologies to enable flexible, intelligent and customized information shared among patients, providers and health plans.

Mark Jacobson, DO, is the vice president of medical affairs at The Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, Pa. Jacobson oversees the family practice residency, the medical affairs of the health system's own primary care offices, and the hospital's medical affairs, including credentialing and the medical library. He previously served as medical director at a health system-owned primary care group that was part of Holy Spirit Health System in Camp Hill, Pa. Jacobson writes that ACPE and its education programs enhanced his knowledge of the skills and tools needed to for his medical management positions. "I do not feel that I would have had the aspirations that I have without being exposed to what a physician executive really is through ACPE. In fact, I found the classified ad for the position I now hold in the career section of the ACPE Web site."

Anthony Joseph. MD, Ms, FACEP, and his company, ACC Registry, Inc., received a U.S. patent for a novel data processing system and method for evaluating medical treatment of chest pain patients. "The ruling in or out of chest pain patients as to whether they are actually having a heart attack...is critical to survival and quality of life," Joseph says. AMC's process is specifically focused on monitoring, measuring and comparing to accepted guidelines for the emergency evaluation and treatment of chest pain patients.

Donald C. Thomas III, MD, is a principal of Wellspring Partners, LTD, a leading provider of performance improvement services for hospitals. He will direct all care management and medical staff management consulting for the Chicago-based company. Thomas previously served as associate director and chief medical officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. At Wellspring, Thomas will manage a broad array of services to restructure and refine patient care delivery with respect to quality of care, cost effectiveness, risk management and market share enhancement. His work with medical staff management consulting will include supporting and enhancing medical staff relationships from perspectives such as governance, structure and administrative effectiveness.

William L. Thomas, MD, is president of the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers. Thomas is executive vice president of medical affairs for MedStar Health in Columbia, Md. The Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers is an organization of 54 large, independent teaching hospitals and health care systems whose ownership, governance, and academic leadership are distinct from those of their affiliated medical schools.

Mark Whitaker, MD, MMM, is a medical director of Lovelace Health Plan in Albuquerque, N.M. He will oversee Lovelace Health Plan administration of member benefits and be involved in network issues. Previously, Whitaker served as medical director for Community Physicians Network, an independent physicians' association in Sauk City, Wis. Whitaker is a board-certified pediatrician and received his medical degree from the University of Kansas Medical School. He holds a master's degree in medical management from Tulane University in New Orleans, La.

Charles Wickliffe, MD, was appointed to the Piedmont Medical Center board of directors. In addition, Wickliffe was appointed to the Piedmont Hospital board of trustees. Wickliff is a cardiologist who's been with Piedmont in Atlanta, Ga., for 25 years. He chairs the strategic planning committee at the hospital and serves as vice chair of the Fuqua Heart Center in Atlanta. He's a graduate of Emory University School of Medicine where he also serves as clinical assistant professor of medicine in cardiology.