Leaders
Denny Brennan, Executive Director, Massachusetts Health Data Consortium
Denny Brennan is the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium (MHDC). MHDC is a not-for-profit convener of the state's health providers, health plans, government agencies, industry associations, and health technology and service providers. MHDC's mission is to maximize the value of collaboration in the application of health information and technology to achieve and sustain improvements in health quality, cost, and effectiveness across the Commonwealth.
Mr. Brennan brings over two decades of experience as a consultant and entrepreneur working with the country's leading academic medical centers and medical schools, integrated delivery networks, hospitals, life sciences companies, industry services providers, and industry associations on strategy, organizational effectiveness, and information management and technology challenges. He brings specialized expertise in assisting organizations in aligning healthcare information and business strategies for success under increased market competition and health reform. His areas of emphasis include strategic and financial planning, organization structure and development, formation and management of Accountable Care Organizations, payment and reimbursement reform, and information technology strategy, including health information governance, security, and exchange.
Mr. Brennan has a masters in business administration from the Yale School of Management and a masters in human development and Psychology from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
Lois Dehls Cornell, Executive Vice President, Massachusetts Medical Society
Lois Dehls Cornell was appointed Executive Vice President of the Massachusetts Medical Society effective June 1, 2016 and is directly responsible for the operation and management of the Society and its operating divisions and provides oversight for its several subsidiaries. In addition to its membership activities, the Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and NEJM Journal Watch alerts and publications covering 13 specialties.
Prior to joining the Medical Society, Ms. Cornell spent 24 years at Tufts Health Plan, headquartered in Massachusetts and serving members in the Commonwealth, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Ms. Cornell joined Tufts Health Plan in 1991 as Assistant Vice President and Associate General Counsel after five years as an Associate at the Boston law firm of Goodwin, Procter.
She was appointed Vice President and General Counsel in 2005 and was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel in 2013, recognizing her responsibility for the management of a number of departments, including legal, government relations, public policy, governance, human resources, fraud and compliance, corporate citizenship, strategic diversification, and corporate communications. Ms. Cornell received her B.A. cum laude from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and earned her J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law. She has also completed the Executive Leadership Program of America's Health Insurance Plans and the Advanced Management Program of Harvard Business School.
Active in professional associations, Ms. Cornell is currently the President of the American Health Lawyers Association, a board member of the Pan Massachusetts Challenge, and a member of the Massachusetts Women's Forum. She has been honored by YWCA Boston with its Academy of Women Achievers Award; by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, with its In-House Leaders-in-the-Law Award; and by Women's Business Boston, as one of the Top 10 Women Corporate Lawyers in Boston.
Steven Walsh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association
Steven Walsh, joined the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA) as president and CEO in November 2017.
A member of the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE), Walsh previously served as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals (MCCH), an organization he led since 2014. During his tenure, Walsh worked with executives from Massachusetts healthcare institutions to promote and drive innovative change in healthcare delivery, policy and regulation.
Prior to MCCH, Walsh served six terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was appointed chairman of the House Committee on Health Care Financing in 2011. He oversaw the drafting and passage of the Commonwealth’s 2012 landmark healthcare payment reform law, Chapter 224. This legislation incentivized utilization of alternative payment methodologies and investment in community health, while encouraging patient empowerment and primary care. He was also a conferee of Chapter 288 of the Acts of 2010, the Commonwealth's small business health care legislation.
Walsh is a graduate of Wesleyan University, the New England School of Law, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.