Dr. Marian Ryan joined the Institute for Healthcare Advancement as their Chief Policy and Research Officer in March 2020 following an accomplished, 30-year healthcare career that has spanned nearly every healthcare setting, every patient population, and many payers. She has developed, implemented, and evaluated many successful, culturally and linguistically tailored community and health system programs for consumers and patients that have demonstrated cost savings and exceptional patient care experience ratings. Dr. Ryan has led quality initiatives with both payers and providers to improve clinical performance (quality outcomes and patient/family satisfaction). Having launched her career as a neonatal-pediatric respiratory therapist Dr. Ryan has a unique ability to draw upon her clinical expertise, broad healthcare knowledge, and research and analytical skills to facilitate health system transformation.
Just prior to accepting the position with IHA, Dr. Ryan served as Executive Director of Clinical Outcomes and Effectiveness for Prospect Medical Systems and established a population health strategy for the culturally diverse populations managed under Medicare, Medicaid, and ACO contracts. She completed several evaluations of clinical programs and led the implementation plan for the transition of CCS-eligible children to the Whole Child Model and established a dedicated, specialized care management team.
Dr. Ryan has done consulting work with CalOptima, CareMore, Humana, Agilon, Molina Healthcare of California, SCAN, Memorial Medical Center, Applied Research Works, Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics, Southland Health Center, and Family Matters Health Center. Her consulting work has covered broad topics including innovative program design and implementation, regulatory compliance with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), health literacy and cultural competency, effectiveness evaluation, and transformation to person-centered care.
Most of her work has been with organizations serving people at risk for poor health outcomes. Dr. Ryan has authored three successful New Access Point grant submissions to HRSA for establishing new Federally Qualified Health Centers in Orange County, CA. She has conducted numerous training workshops for physicians and other medical providers, and staff (clinical skills labs, health literacy, cultural competency, person-center care, and data-driven cultures). Throughout her career, Dr. Ryan has formally mentored numerous healthcare students and working professionals and is sought out for consultations and references years after their engagements.
As Chief Policy and Research Officer over the past two years, Dr. Ryan served as the principal investigator of a study assessing the feasibility and efficacy of a low-touch intervention for seniors during the pandemic. She launched IHA's small research program and is monitoring our first two awardee grants. Although her research interests are many Dr. Ryan wants to pursue translational research aimed at improving the accessibility, efficiency, and effectiveness of integrated primary care models with embedded health literacy best practices.