The C3O Advisory Board lends expert insight to the C3O executive and physician leadership teams maximizing success and sophistication throughout all aspects of C3O’s service offering, ultimately benefiting its client health facilities and their patients’ care. The Advisory Board includes:

Paul M. Vespa, MD, FCCM – Director of Neurocritical Care, UCLA

Dr. Vespa is a Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California (UCLA), Los Angeles. He is a world leader in telemedicine and neurocritical care. He is a major contributor to critical care literature with over 120 publications. He sits on the editorial board of three critical care journals and is the recipient of multiple research grants. As a telemedicine physician and leader, Dr. Vespa provides critical insight towards C3O’s commitment to continual improvement and innovation. Dr. Vespa is a founding father of the neurocritical care specialty and has helped design leading edge neurocritical care telemedicine programs on behalf of UCLA and C3O.

Donald Chalfin, MD, MS, FCCM, FCCP – Healthcare Economist and Outcomes Researcher

Dr. Chalfin is the founder of Applied Decision Concepts, LLC. and the Director of Healthcare Outcomes and Research at Abbott Point of Care. Dr. Chalfini is the author of numerous articles, abstracts, and book chapters on topics such as Critical Care practice, cost-effectiveness analysis and the application of economic models to clinical practice, decision analysis, neural networks, and predictive models. He is Associate Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and has lectured extensively throughout the world and serves as a reviewer for several scientific journals. Dr. Chalfin strengthens the unique clinical and physician focus of C3O through his help with C3O research and analytic economic models demonstrating the positive impact of telemedicine programs.

Christina Thielst, FACHE – Hospital Administrator, Telemedicine Leader

Ms. Thielst is a hospital administrator, author and most recently provided leadership at the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center. Her experiences also include service as Chief Operating Officer at Ventura County Health Care Agency, Santa Paula Hospital and on the National Rural Health Resource Center, Health Information Technology/Telehealth Key Informant Group. Ms. Thielst provides an important facility-administrative perspective to the board, which allows C3O to continually build value for its clients.

Karen Kendrick, PhD – CEO, Sapphire Advisors, LLC

Dr. Kendrick is CEO of a leading leadership and organizational consulting company. She has served as executive V.P. and Chief Learning Officer for Allianz Global Investment of America and has held leadership positions at Disney and Taco Bell.  Dr. Kendrick provides support for C3O and its exceptional client service program as an advisor to optimize the relationships between onsite patients, families, and staff with remote care.

Andrew Barbash, MD – CEO and Founder, NowDox

Dr. Barbash is the Director of the Neuroscience and Virtual Medicine program at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. As CEO and founder of the Apractics Solutions of NowDox, he is an innovator and leader in the field of virtual medicine with an impressive understanding of workflow processes. Trained in Neurology at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Barbash understands the intricacies of providing care in the virtual world of telemedicine and lends valuable guidance to the C3O telemedicine programs in areas such as workflow and utilization of communication technologies to improve physician availability.