Program

The PIAA International Section 2011 Conference Program has been designed to allow attendees to share common experiences relating to medical indemnity and the medical indemnity industry internationally.

Despite working in a variety of environments and business models, there are many issues in that impact on all organisations working in the medical indemnity industry regardless of geographic location. To best exchange information and maximise the value of the Conference to delegates, many sessions will be in a panel format with extensive audience participation and interaction.

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Jon Ahlberg

Jon Ahlberg is a specialist in general surgery since 1976 and associate professor at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm since 1980. Jon has worked as a practicing surgeon in many Stockholm hospitals and was head of the surgical department of S:t Görans hospital 1990-2003. Since then he has held the position as CMO of the Swedish patient injury insurance. His main task is to return the experiences from the insurance to health care providers and to promote patient safety in general. Jon still works as a practicing surgeon a couple of months each year.

Jon has also been chairman of the training committee of the Swedish Surgical Society 1988-1995 and is a member of the editorial board of the Swedish Medical Journal (Läkartidningen) since 1989.

Mandy Anderson

Mandy Anderson
MIGA, CEO and Managing Director

Mandy has an extensive insurance career, having held senior management positions with Sedgwick Ltd and KPMG.

Mandy joined MIGA just prior to the medical indemnity crisis of 2000/2001.

During her time with MIGA Mandy has successfully guided the organisation and its clients through the most difficult and challenging time in its 110 year history. Under Mandy's leadership, MIGA's commitment to providing security, the best insurance cover, innovative risk management and personal service and support has resulted in a loyal and growing client base nationally.

Jakob Ask

Jakob Ask (b. 1977) is a statistician and risk management expert who joined LÖF in 2005 after a short spell in the pharmaceutical industry.

From the start Jakob Ask has been involved in a project to develop and improve quantitative methods to compare Swedish hospitals with respect to performance and to report back data on lacking performance to the health care.

This project was initiated in 2003 by then CEO Kaj Essinger and American professor Andrew Gaffney.

Today Jakob Ask primarily works with questions related to Solvency II. Especially with the fine-tuning of methods to identify, quantify and control operational risks.

That is when he does not dream of (and train for) qualifying for Boston Marathon…

Douglas Bell

Associate Executive Director, CMPA and Managing Director, Risk Management Services

Dr. Bell obtained his MD in 1980 from Queen's University, KingstonOntario. He did his internship and residency training in obstetrics and gynaecology at McGill University. In 1985, he did a further year of training in urogynaecology at McMaster University. He then moved to Ottawa in 1986, where he joined the active staff at the Ottawa General Hospital. In the fall of 1993, Doug started full-time employment as a Medical Officer at the Canadian Medical Protective Association. In 2004 he became Managing Director of CMPA's Physician Services Group where he managed Physician Consulting Services, Membership Services and the Call Centre. In the Fall of 2008, Dr. Bell was appointed to the position of Managing Director, Risk Management Services where his role is to provide leadership, management and strategic direction to the CMPA as well as oversee the Departments of Research and Education. In 2009, Dr. Bell also assumed the position of Associate Executive Director.

Alison Biscoe

Alison Biscoe is the National Director - Avant Law Pty Ltd. She oversees claims in excess of $1M while managing the provision of Avant's legal services nationally through Avant Law.

Alison was appointed Avant's National Head of Legal Services in December 2007 and became the National Director of Avant Law on 1 July 2009. She has a broad legal experience in general commercial and insurance litigation over 30 years including 15 years exclusively in the medical indemnity area. Early in her career, she was a partner in an Adelaide based firm (now Phillips Fox) moved to Sydney in 1985, worked with Blake Dawson (one of Australia's leading law firms) until 2001, in the latter years as Special Counsel in litigation and dispute resolution, joined Avant (then UNITED Medical Protection) in 2001 and has since conducted and managed major claims for Avant in-house. She continues to manage claims in excess of $1M while overseeing the provision of Avant's legal services nationally through Avant Law.

Kathryn Booth

Kathryn Booth heads the national Medical Negligence practice at Maurice Blackburn, one of the leading medical negligence practices in Australia. She is an expert in medical malpractice law and practices exclusively on behalf of patients and their families.

She is a Law Institute accredited specialist in personal injury law and practises in the jurisdictions of the Supreme Court, County Court and Coroner's Court.

Kathryn has achieved hundreds of settlements for injured adults and children due to medical negligence. She has a special interest in women's health issues, particularly obstetrics and gynaecology.

Kathryn is a member of the Australian Lawyers Alliance and established the Women's Law Section at Maurice Blackburn. She is also the Chairperson of the Law Institute of Victoria's Medical Negligence and Public Liability Committee, a member of the Law Institute of Victoria's Litigation Lawyers Executive Committee and on the Board of Maurice Blackburn.

Kathryn also lectures to lawyers, doctors and hospital managers on the duty of care owed to patients.

Penny Browne

Penny is a GP and Medical Advisor with Avant. She has worked extensively in the area of General Practice, JMO, GP Registrar and medical student education for the past 20 years. She is a GP Supervisor with GP Synergy and Clinical Lecturer with Sydney University. Penny is a medical advisor and provides medical advice to assist in managing complaints or claims against doctors. She additionally raises awareness of medico-legal issues for members

Penny is the Director of the Hornsby - Brooklyn GP Unit, a department of Hornsby Hospital, The unit has a reputation for excellence in general practice education

Penny first developed her medico-legal interest through membership of the Medical Experts Committee at Avant in 1990. Since then she has completed a Masters in Health Law at Sydney University and has been working part time with Avant as a Medical Advisor since 2008.

Pierre Campbell

Dr Pierre Campbell BSc (Med. Sci.) MB ChB, MRCS

Pierre is a registered and licensed medical practitioner based in London, UK. After completing his Bachelor in Medical Science at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, he proceeded to graduate with medical degree at the University of Manchester, England. Pierre has worked in specialties allied to surgery in both the North West of England and in Sydney, Australia. He became a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 2005.

In 2007, he took up a post working at the world's first medical defence organisation, The Medical Defence Union. In this role, he provides medico-legal advice and assistance to members involved in clinical negligence claims. Pierre has a large and varied portfolio of cases across a number of different jurisdictions. In particular, he specialises in high value claims as well as claims involving litigants in person and defamation.

In his spare time, Pierre enjoys going to the gym and spending time with family and friends. He is currently studying a Masters in Business Administration at Imperial College, London.

Patrick Ceresia

Managing Director, Corporate Services & Privacy Officer, CMPA

Dr. Ceresia is the Managing Director of Corporate Services and the CMPA's Privacy Officer. He is a general practitioner with significant experience in occupational/aviation medicine and a long-standing involvement in medical administration, having served as the Chief of Staff of the Canadian Forces Medical Group prior to joining the CMPA in 1998. Building on previous system re-engineering experience, he has led the CMPA through an enterprise-wide functional reengineering, which included a complete information management renewal and implementation of complex leading-edge supporting technology systems. Dr. Ceresia is a respected advisor and educational resource for the CMPA on e-health issues, including electronic health records, telehealth, and related privacy concerns. His knowledge and advice has been valuable to
Canadian physician community as it embraces information technology in their practices and institutions, and navigates through the challenges associated with these implementations

Kerrie Chambers

Partner

Kerrie Chambers is a partner and group leader of the HWL Ebsworth Health group. Kerrie is an expert in Health Law & Policy, Medical Negligence, and Professional Indemnity. Her experience includes:

Health professionals - assisting in complaints investigations and disciplinary proceedings, including in relation to clinical negligence, sexual misconduct, patient injury or death, criminal convictions, breaches of statutory regulations, inappropriate or illegal drug prescription and dispensing.
Hospitals and health professionals - appearing in coronial inquiries into patient deaths; Hospitals and health professionals - representing various clients in criminal and quasi-criminal prosecutions and investigations, including action by the Health Insurance Commission; DOCS prosecutions breaches of pharmacy legislation relating to dispensing, storing and recording of drugs.
Acting for professional indemnity insurers in claims against health and other professionals.
Advising hospitals, doctors and other health professionals on all aspects of the provision of health care.

Barry Connell

Barry Connell is the managing principal of the Shamrock Advisory Group, LLC, consultants to insurance entities in the broad arena of economics and investment finance.

Prior to forming Shamrock, Barry was a managing director of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., where he worked for over forty years. During that time frame, Barry served as a senior portfolio manager in the firm's New York office, opened and managed the firm's Los Angeles office, founded and headed its Insurance Fund Management Group and assisted in the development of sophisticated asset-allocation and portfolio-management techniques.

Barry graduated with honors from The Colorado College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned an MBA degree from the University of Chicago while majoring in international economics and investment finance. He has also holds an ISS certification in corporate governance which serves to underpin his work with corporate Boards of Directors.

Barry has long been involved in number of civic and eleemosynary activities, serving as the founding Chairman and member of the Board of Regents/Trustees of Loyola High School of Los Angeles, Director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, President and member of the Board of Councilors of the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni in Southern California.

Kaj Essinger

Kaj Essinger has been the CEO for the Swedish Medical Injury Insurance (LOF) from 2000 to 2009 when he retired. But he is still working for LOF 20% of his time with patient safety projects, mainly how to reduce the problem with look-alike -drugs in Sweden.

As CEO fro LOF he has participated in PIAA, Europa Medica, WHO/Joint Commission International Steering Committee for Patient Safety Solutions, the European Union Working Party for Patient Safety and the Council of Europe working parties for Patient Safety and for Medical Liability. He has made presentations on the Swedish model and patient safety in many international conferencies.

1998-2000 Kaj Essinger was the head of the health policy department in the Swedish Hospital Federation.

1995 -2000 he worked with international health affairs mainly with the European Hospital Federation (HOPE) and the new Swedish membership in the European Union.

1991-1995 Kaj Essinger was the CEO for the total health care organisation for the Stockholm region.

Alison Choy Flannigan

Partner, Holman Webb Lawyers
Alison Choy Flannigan is a partner in the Health, Aged Care and Life science team at Holman Webb, Lawyers.
Alison has over 20 years experience in advising health industry clients in many areas of corporate and commercial law.
Alison's clients include Government Health Departments and agencies, public and private hospital operators and health care providers, private health insurers, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical technology and aged care/retirement living clients.
She has held a number of industry positions including General Counsel, Corporate and Commercial of Ramsay Health Care Limited (Australia's largest private hospital operator), Company Secretary of Research Australia and has been a member of a number of public hospital advisory committees. Alison was formerly a partner of a major Australian National law firm.
Alison specialises in e-health and privacy and has advised a number of public and private sector clients on privacy issues, including undertaking privacy risk assessments and drafting privacy manuals, privacy consent forms and privacy policies. She has advised a number of clients, including the Australian National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA), on privacy issues for the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Project (PECHR) in Australia.
In 2008-2011 Alison was nominated by her peers in Best Lawyers International: Australia and in the Australian Financial Review as one of Australia's "best lawyers" in the area of health and aged care.

Herman Falste

Managing director - Manager A.M.M.A. a.a.m.
Association Mutuelle Médicale des Assurances (since 01 July 1988, last publication Belgian Official State Gazette 03.07.2008) Insurance mutual approved by the CBFA (Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission) under code number 0126 - Company register 0409.003.270

Founder and Managing director AMMA SERVICE c.v.b.a. (since 01 March 1989, last publication Belgian Official State Gazette 24.08.2005) insurance broker approved by the CBFA under code number 022.643, Company register 0436.921.751

Responsible for the distribution AMMA a.a.m. & AMMA SERVICE c.v.b.a.

Founder and Director ARTS 39 LEASEHOLD S.A. (Since 15.12.2009, last publication Belgian Official Gazette 29.12.2009) Real estate, company number 0821.525.365

Founder and Director ARTS 39 FREEHOLD S.A. (Since 15.12.2009, last publication Belgian Official Gazette 29.12.2009) Real estate, company number 0821.526.058

Vice-president of the Board of Directors of PROTECT n.v. (since 30 December 1997, last publication Belgian Official State Gazette 21.08.2003) Insurance company approved by the CBFA under code number 1009, Brussels trade register 533.003, Company register 0440.719.894

Director V.V.O.V. v.z.w. - U.A.A.M. a.s.b.l. Union des Associations d'Assurance Mutuelle Association of Mutual Insurance Organisations, not-for-profit organisation (since 1996, last publication Belgian Official State Gazette 29.10.2008), Company register 0408.255.578

Secretary-General of EUROPA MEDICA E.E.I.G. (since 02 October 2001, last publication Belgian Official State Gazette 07.09.2005), Company register 0475.934.953

Member of P.I.A.A. Physician Insurers Association of America
Member of A.I.S.A.M. Association Internationale des Sociétés d'Assurance Mutuelle International Association of Mutual Insurance Companies

Martin Fletcher

Martin Fletcher commenced with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) in December 2009 as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer. With over 10 years experience in patient safety in Australia, the United Kingdom and internationally, he brings strong expertise in public protection and quality improvement to the work of establishing and leading AHPRA in the new National Registration and Accreditation Scheme.

Prior to joining AHPRA, Martin was Chief Executive of the National Patient Safety Agency, the leading National Health Service body for patient safety in England and Wales. In this role, he managed a diverse portfolio including responsibility for a national safety reporting system across the NHS.

Among his previous positions, from 2004 to 2007 Martin worked with the World Health Organisation in Geneva to establish a global programme of work on patient safety. From 2003 -2004, he helped to set up the National Patient Safety Agency, with a particular focus on developing its programme of work in the north of England. From 2000 to 2002, he worked with the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health care to establish the first national program of work on patient safety in Australia. Prior to this, Martin held various positions in healthcare policy and management including managing primary health care services in Australia.

Martin holds a Master of Management degree in public sector management, an Honours degree in behavioural sciences and an undergraduate degree in social studies.

Peter Forbes

Chief Executive Officer - MDA National and Managing Director - MDA National Insurance
Peter is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (FCA). He commenced with MDA National in a part-time capacity in 1981 while practising as a Chartered Accountant in public practice.

In 1995, Peter was appointed Chief Executive of UK-based The Medical Defence Union (MDU) Australasia, with responsibility for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia. He was responsible for the formation of MDUAIL in 1997 - a wholly-owned capital insurer for The MDU in Australia - and was also a foundation Director. During this period, Peter successfully maintained his CEO role with the MDA National Group.

Peter was a founding non-executive Director of Law Cover Insurance Pty Ltd; the compulsory indemnity insurer for NSW solicitors for a six year period concluding in March 2010 in accordance with that Board's rotational planning process.

He was the recipient of the 2008 AMA WA President's Award for services to medical indemnity in Western Australia.

A founding Director of MDA National Insurance Pty Ltd in 1992, Peter has responsibility for all Group operations as CEO of the MDA National Group, which comprises MDA National and MDA National Insurance.

Joanne Flynn

Dr Joanna (Jo) Flynn AM MBBS, MPH, FRACGP, DRANZCOG
Chair, Medical Board of Australia
Joanna is a general practitioner in West Brunswick, an inner suburb of Melbourne where she has worked for over twenty years. In August 2009 she was appointed the Inaugural Chair of the Medical Board of Australia. From 2000 to 2008 she was President of the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria and was President of the Australian Medical Council from 2003 to 2008. Joanna was first appointed to the Victorian Medical Board in 1989.
She was the Director of the RACGP General Practice Training Program in Victoria from 1989 to 1997.
In June 2009 she was appointed Chair of the Board of Eastern Health, one of Melbourne's largest metropolitan public health services.

Pierre-Yves Gallard

Dr. Pierre-Yves Gallard urologist and visceral surgeon has worked during his entire career in the Parisian region. After having done his doctorate in 1973 on " legal and medical aspects of visceral surgery concerning complications, accidents and incidents" he became a member of medical council then an administrator of the Sou Medical. The Sou Medical is a medical mutual insurance company who is also a leader in France in the legal protection and professional liability for physicians. For the last five years he has been President of the association called"la Prévention Médicale ". This association is working for the prevention of medical injuries. He is also the President of the French mutual insurance group health cooperation.

Nicolas Gombault

Nicolas Gombault got a PhD in Law (Paris, 1991). He is currently the CEO of Le Sou Medical, a subcompany of MACSF Insurance Group (2006), a member of the Paris's Regional Court for no fault compensation of medical victims (2003-continue), a member of the National bureau of insurance in charge of arbitrating the premiums for healthcare professionals (a bureau also in charge of the national's healthcare risk monitoring watchdog). Nicolas Gombault teaches medical law and manages various risk-related courses at Medicine and Law Universities.

Mukesh Haikerwall

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal is a General Medical Practitioner in Melbourne's Western Suburbs where he has practised since 1991.

In January 2011 Dr Haikerwal was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to medical administration, to the promotion of public health through leadership roles with professional organisations, particularly the Australian Medical Association (AMA), the reform of the Australian health system through the optimisation of information technology, and as a general practitioner.
He was the 19^th Federal President of the Australian Medical Association, its Federal Vice President and, prior to that AMA Victorian State President. A key agenda during that time was to successfully prosecute a change to the law of Tort and establish a secure medico-legal framework for the Doctors of Australia.

In May 2011, he was elected unopposed as the Chair of Council of the World Medical Association following 3 years as the Chair of the Finance and planning committee.

He is currently working with the National e-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) as its National Clinical Lead and Head of the Clinical Leadership & Engagement Unit. His role is in apprising the public, government the media and in particular the Clinical Health Professional community of the benefits of the vital role of IT in health care an enabler of reform and sustainability.

He is a Professor in the School of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia and was appointed to the NH&MRC Health Care Committee.

Dr Haikerwal is also Chair of the beyondblue National Doctors' Mental Health Program and the General Practice Data Governance committee.

Between February 2008 and June 2009 he was appointed a Commissioner to the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission by the Prime Minister and Minister for Health.

He was awarded Honorary Fellowships by both the Australian Medical Association (2005) and the Royal Australian College of General Practice (2007) as well as being presented with the Australian Medical Association President's Award in May 2009. In October 2009 he was made an Honorary Life Member of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Ron Heinrich

Ron Heinrich has over 35 years experience in Corporate and Commercial Law. He is highly regarded for his expertise in assisting clients in corporations law, trade practices law, revenue law, insurance law and administrative law. Ron advises on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and probity, commercial litigation, defence of professional indemnity insurance claims, the drafting of insurance policy wordings, reinsurance agreements, developing due diligence systems for compliance purposes and trusts and estate planning.

Ron has contributed extensively to the legal profession, both in Australia and internationally. He is a past President of both the Law Society of New South Wales and the Law Council of Australia and also past President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. He is also a past Chairman of LawCover Pty Limited.

He is a past Chairman of the Law Society's Professional Conduct Committee and a past Chairman of the Law Society's Medico-Legal Liaison and Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees.

Harry Henschen

Harry Henschen (1953) studied private law at the University of Groningen and Amsterdam, where he graduated in 1976.

After his graduation he joined the army for two years.

In 1978 he started his industrious life at ARAG Legal Aid Insurance company. In 1981 he joined VvAA, the largest financial service provider for healthcare workers in the Netherlands where he was involved in setting up a new legal aid department

After 4 years he switched to the liability department of VvAA.

In 1992 he became one of the co-founders of MediRisk, which is at this moment the largest medical liability company for hospitals and medical specialists in the Netherlands (70% market share).

At this moment he is involved in the insurance business of VVAA and MediRisk, where he serves as a deputy manager.

Harry is married and has two children, who are studying law and medicine.

Gerald Hickson

Dr. Hickson, from Nashville, Tennessee USA, is Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, Joseph Ross Chair of Medical Administration, Professor of Pediatrics, and Director of Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy. He has more than 100 peer reviewed publications and book chapters on why families sue, identifying high-risk physicians, reducing litigation risk, and promoting professional accountability.
Dr. Hickson's numerous teaching, research and service awards and honors come from such diverse groups as the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy, Doctor's Company Foundation, Vanderbilt Medical School, plus many invited professorships worldwide. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the U.S. National Patient Safety Foundation Board of Directors.
Dr. Hickson earned his BS from the University of Georgia and MD from Tulane University School of Medicine. His pediatric residency and fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics were completed at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

Jeremy Kirk

Jeremy Kirk is a barrister practising in Sydney. He was one of the counsel briefed to appear for the defendant doctor in Tabet v Gett. He graduated with an Arts degree and Law degree from the Australian National University in Canberra. He then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, graduating with the BCL (a law masters degree - of which he came top) and a doctorate in constitutional law. Jeremy has a broad practice both at the trial and appellate level, including in the areas of constitutional, administrative, commercial and tort law. He has appeared in over 25 cases in Australia's High Court.

Mike Lawrence

President, Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA)

Dr. Lawrence is in general practice in Vancouver, British Columbia and has been a member of the Canadian Medical Protective Association's governing Council since 1988. He has a long-standing interest in effecting tort reform in Canada and chaired the tort reform working group of Council for ten years. He has been a member of the Association's Executive Committee since 1996. Having previously served as the Association's Second and then First Vice-President, he was elected as the CMPA President effective August 2010.

Dr. Lawrence has been president of the medical staff and a member of the board of trustees of the Vancouver General Hospital. He has also been active on the boards of directors of the British Columbia Medical Association and the Society of General Practitioners. He chaired the Canadian Medical Association's General Practice Forum from 2000-2003. He was awarded the Dr David Bachop Gold Medal for distinguished medical service at the BCMA annual meeting in 2004. In 2011 and in recognition of his outstanding service to the medical profession, he was granted the prestigious Senior Membership status by the Canadian Medical Association.

Matthew Lee

Dr Matthew T LEE BM, MBA, FRCP, MRCPCH, FFFLM
Professional Services Director at the Medical Defence Union

Matthew has worked at the MDU since 2000, initially as a medico-legal adviser assisting members facing complaints, disciplinary procedures and criminal investigations. He was appointed to the MDU Board in 2009 as Professional Services Director with responsibility for claims handling, underwriting, legal services and the medical and dental advisory services provided to MDU members (over 200,000 doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals working in the UK and Ireland).

He joined the MDU from a background of working as a clinical fellow in paediatric intensive care in Southampton, having trained in both anaesthetics and paediatric medicine.
Matthew is a founding member of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine and chairs the faculty sub-committee responsible for continuing professional development.

John Miller

John Miller is the principal of the largest ACC law firm in New Zealand and is a former Senior Lecturer in Law at Victoria University, Wellington.
He is the joint author of Personal Injury in New Zealand ,the leading practitioner loose-leaf book on the subject and has been counsel in many significant ACC cases including Campbell v ACC in 1996 which resulted in the ACC having to backpay $228 million dollars to families who had provided unpaid care to their seriously injured children.
In 2000 he was awarded the Millennium Human Rights award by the Human Rights Commission and in 2002 was voted Wellingtonian of the year for his work in this area. In 2006 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland for his work in occupational medicine in New Zealand.

Suzie Miller

Dr Miller is a fetal physiologist and team leader in the Neurodevelopment and Neuroprotection research theme of the Ritchie Centre at Monash Institute of Medical Research, Monash University. Her work utilises animal models of acute and chronic fetoplacental hypoxia, or infection - to induce perinatal brain injury and better understand the cellular mechanisms of injury. The long-term goal is to develop candidate therapeutic interventions to reduce perinatal brain injury thereby reducing the incidence or severity of cerebral palsy.

David Nathan

David Nathan started his legal career in 1983 in Melbourne at Madden Butler Elder & Graham (now part of Norton Rose) defending motor vehicle personal injury claims before acting for professional indemnity insurers and then developing a mixed practice in product liability litigation for pharmaceutical companies and commercial dispute work.

David became the firm's Managing Partner in 1995 and remained in this role for the following six years. In 2000 he moved to Sydney to become National Managing Partner of Baker & McKenzie for the next six years. In 2006 David joined the medical indemnity industry as CEO of United Medical Protection that merged in 2007 with the Medical Defence Association of Victoria to become Avant.

He is a member of the Law Society of New South Wales, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and currently serves as a Director of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (Victorian division) and as President of the Emanuel School Board.

David is a graduate in Law and Science (Pharmacology) from Monash University.

Mark O'Brien

Dr Mark O'Brien MBBS, DRACOG, FRACGP, FACRRM, AFCHSM
International Programme Director

Dr Mark O'Brien is the International Programme Director of MPS Educational Services and Founder and Medical Director of the Cognitive Institute, now part of the MPS Group.

Dr O'Brien is a regular national and international speaker on risk management, managing adverse outcomes, the relationship between litigation and interpersonal skills and leading clinical teams.

He is a dynamic and entertaining presenter with extensive experience as a trainer, delivering train the trainer programmes across the world.

He is a published author who has a long history of involvement in Healthcare Education. He has consulted to healthcare organisations across the world on change management, clinical leadership and enhancing patient satisfaction.

Niels Ortved

W. Niels Ortved, McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Phone: (416) 601-7701 o Fax: (416) 868-0673
E-mail: nortved@mccarthy.ca

Broad experience in wide range of litigation matters, including commercial, intellectual property, medical negligence, criminal defence and professional discipline. Appears as counsel at all levels of courts and in many administrative tribunals and public inquiries. Has lectured and written extensively in the areas of advocacy, civil litigation and criminal law. Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (former Ontario Chair), member of The Advocates' Society, the Medico-Legal Society, the International Bar Association, and the Criminal Lawyers' Association. From 1997 to 2002, served as the firm's Managing Partner. Elected Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada (1996-2003).

Listed as a leading litigation counsel in the annual Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory, in Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers as a leading practitioner in the field of dispute resolution and in The Best Lawyers in Canada.

Estelle Pearson

Estelle is an Actuary and the Managing Director of Finity Consulting an independent Australian actuarial consulting firm with 80+ staff. She has worked in the general insurance industry for more than 20 years and during that time has specialised in personal injury insurance classes including medical malpractice. Estelle has worked closely with Medical Defence Organisations and their insurance subsidiaries on pricing, reserving and capital management. She assisted more than one organisation with the transition from claims occurring to claims made cover and worked with organisations on their funding and solvency strategies during the transition from discretionary to insurance policy cover. Estelle worked with Federal and State Governments in 2002 on the Australian "Liability Crisis" which resulted in significant tort reform for personal injury compensation around Australia.

Julian Rait

Julian Rait is currently an Associate Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne and the President of MDA National. MDA National is a leading medical indemnity insurer representing 25,000 Australian doctors and dentists. Julian also served as a federal councillor of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists between 1995 and 2003. In 2004 he was elected to the Council of MDA National and became a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2008. A/Prof Rait has also been involved with the underwriting, clinical risk management and nomination committees of MDA National, and for the past two years has served as the Medical Indemnity Insurance Association representative on the competence and performance working party of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. In addition to his other responsibilities, Julian serves on several Boards concerned with indigenous and overseas aid. Julian is a Board member of the RANZCO Eye Foundation and the ASPECT Foundation, and has been an affiliated physician with the Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) and the Nepal Glaucoma Eye Clinics Association (NGEC), having spent much of his surgical career working on blindness prevention in developing countries.

Margaret Ross

PARTNER, GOWLING LAFLEUR HENDERSON LLP, OTTAWA
Mrs. Ross has practised in all areas of civil litigation. In her role as General Counsel for the Canadian Medical Protective Association, her focus is on the areas of medical litigation, professional discipline matters and professional negligence.

Mrs. Ross is a member of numerous associations and has served in a variety of executive positions, including the Advocates' Society (president 1996-1997), the Ontario Law Reform Commission (commissioner 1986-1992), the County of Carleton Law Association (president 1987), and the Medical-Legal Society of Ottawa-Carleton (president 1988). In 1992 she received the Law Society Medal; in 1997 she received the University of Ottawa Meritas-Tabaret Award; in 1999 she received the Women's Law Association Award; she is a member of the University of Ottawa Honour Society; and, in 2007, she received the CCLA Carleton Medal. Recognized by The Best Lawyers in Canada® and as a leading practitioner by Lexpert®, Martindale-Hubbell and as a top 35 leading lawyer by LawDay. Additionally, she was awarded the Zenith Award by Lexpert® and was most recently awarded the 2011 Canadian General Counsel Award for Litigation Management.

Torbjorn Schultz

Torbjorn Schultz, B.A. is project administrator of the Swedish patient injury insurance since 2007. His main task is to support the professional organizations in two nationwide projects, one aimed to reduce the number of brain damaged babies the other to reduce the infection rate related to knee and hip replacement. Torbjorn has a long experience working with improvements in the healthcare sector, mainly as quality director of Stockholm County Council.

Priya Singh

Dr Priya Singh LLB(Hons) MBChB MRCGP FFFLM
Medical Director, MPS

Dr Priya Singh took on the role of medical director in 2005, and is responsible for services to MPS's 270,000 members around the world.

Dr Priya Singh trained in general practice, gaining experience of practice in South Africa and Gibraltar before joining MPS as a medicolegal adviser in 1994.

Initially specialising in advising and assisting MPS members internationally, in particular in South East Asia, Israel and South Africa, she has been involved in training and educating healthcare professionals for over a decade.

She completed an LLB in 1998, is a CEDR trained mediator, and a Foundation Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine.

Luke Slawomirski

Luke Slawomirski is Senior Project Officer at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. He is currently coordinating the review of the national Open Disclosure Standard. Previously he was Senior Policy Officer at the West Australian Department of Health, where he held a range of safety and quality portfolios, as well as playing a role in WA's transition to Activity Based Funding. He has a clinical background in physiotherapy and holds a Master of Health Economics degree.

David Studdert

David Studdert is a Federation Fellow and Professor at the University of Melbourne. He holds a joint appointment at the Melbourne School of Population Health, where he is Deputy Head, and the Melbourne Law School. Professor Studdert's research focuses on legal and regulatory issues in the health care sector. He has authored more than 130 articles and book chapters, and his work appears frequently in leading international journals. Before coming to the University of Melbourne in January, 2007, Studdert was Associate Professor of Law and Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he taught courses in health law and medical ethics. He has also held positions as a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation in Los Angeles, an advisor to the Victorian Minister for Health, and a practicing lawyer.

James Sproule

Managing Director, Physician Services, CMPA

Dr. Sproule joined the CMPA in 1995 as assistant secretary treasurer. In 2003 he became Director of Physician Consulting Services. Currently, he is Managing Director of Physician Services. After graduating from McGill medical school, he completed a combined residency in family medicine and emergency medicine, as well as a fellowship in sport medicine at The University of Western Ontario. He practised emergency medicine and sport medicine in Ottawa before becoming director of primary care sport medicine at UWO where he taught in the faculties of medicine and kinesiology. Among his many accomplishments, he served as chief medical officer for the Canadian Olympic Team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He has also earned an MBA degree from Queen's University school of business.

John Tiernan

John P Tiernan BA B Dent Sc DGDP(UK)
Director of Educational Services

John was appointed Director of Educational Services for MPS in 2007. Within MPS John is responsible for delivering an integrated strategy for the provision of education to members worldwide.

John qualified as a dentist from Trinity College, Dublin in 1980 and worked in general practice before joining MPS in 1994 as a Dentolegal Adviser. Within Dental Protection (DPL) John held the positions of Head of Practitioner Services and subsequently Assistant Dental Director.

John was a member of the General Dental Council between 1991 and 2001 and chaired the specialisation working group which introduced specialist lists into the UK.

In addition he has co-authored Risk Management in General Dental Practice and has written and lectured extensively on the subject of communication and risk management both in the UK and internationally.

Jeff Varnell

Jeffrey Varnell, M.D., Risk Manager

Jeffrey Varnell MD, FACS, has been a physician risk manager at COPIC Insurance Company since 2002 with a particular interest in occurrence reporting and safety analysis of unexpected outcomes. He is also medical director of the 3R's program at COPIC, an early intervention program to help patients and their physicians get through unexpected medical outcomes. Prior to that he was in the private practice of general surgery for 20 years, having obtained his BS from Stanford University in 1972, his medical degree from University of Colorado in 1976 and completed his residency training at the University of Missiori- Kansas City in 1981. He has been married for 33 years and has 3 sons. He is on the boards of Missions Ministries and the 9 Health Fair.

James Weidner

James L. Weidner is chief executive officer of the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP), an organization that provides physicians with superior protection to meet their medical professional liability needs, along with the tools to address the business challenges of running a medical practice. Since Mr. Weidner's joining CAP in 1995, the membership of the organization has tripled to over 11,000 California doctors and has received an A+ Superior A.M. Best Company rating for the past six years in a row. In May of 2010, Mr. Weidner was elected chair of the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA) Board of Directors. PIAA is a leading trade association representing domestic and international medical professional liability companies that provide coverage to physicians, hospitals, dentists and other health care providers. He was re-elected chair in 2011 and sits on Boards of the Ketchum YMCA, National Insurance Council for City of Hope and First Nonprofit Insurance Company.

Anthony Wright

Mr Anthony R WRIGHT BA, DPhil, FIA
Company Actuary at the Medical Defence Union

Anthony advises the MDU on all matters of an actuarial nature, including claims reserving subscription setting, insurance and reinsurance negotiations, long term business planning, and investment strategy. He assists the MDU in maintaining its financial security, supporting the provision of advice and indemnity to members at the lowest cost consistent with financial prudence.

Anthony joined the MDU in 2009 from QBE, where he qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, initially working on the worldwide Casualty account written from London, and later specialising in Professional Indemnity. He previously worked at St Paul at Lloyd's, the actuarial consultants Watson Wyatt, and the Physiology Department of the University of Oxford, where he was a Junior Research Fellow in cardiac cellular electrophysiology.

Sharing Intelligence & InnovationPIAA International Section Conference 2011

6–8 October 2011

Sofitel on Collins, Melbourne, Australia