AAOE Board of Directors - American Academy of Ophthalmology

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AAOE Board of Directors

Meet the AAOE Board

2022 Board of Directors

Ravi D. Goel, MD

Senior Secretary for Ophthalmic Practice — American Academy of Ophthalmology
Clinical Instructor, Wills Eye Hospital — Comprehensive Ophthalmologist, Cherry Hill, N.J.
Dr. Ravi D. Goel is a clinical instructor at Wills Eye Hospital and a comprehensive ophthalmologist in Cherry Hill, N.J. He served on the Academy's Young Ophthalmologist Committee and EyeNet editorial advisory board. A graduate of the Academy's Leadership Development program, he currently serves on the Academy's Communications Secretariat and AMA Ophthalmology Section Council.

Dr. Goel is a past chair of the AMA's Young Physician Section, past president of the New Jersey Academy of Ophthalmology and recipient of top doc awards from South Jersey Magazine and SJ Magazine.

Stephanie Collins Mangham, MBA, COA, OCSR

AAOE Board Chair and Content Committee Member
Chief Executive Officer — Austin Retina Associates
Stephanie Collins is the chief executive officer for Austin Retina Associates in Austin, Texas. She recently celebrated her 21st year with the practice, where her tenure with Austin Retina has provided her the opportunity to work in almost every job within the organization, and also allows her a real insight into the needs of the patients and employees she encounters every day. Her stated focus for the group is innovation, increased efficiency, and to provide unparalleled patient and employee satisfaction.

Joanne Mansour, OCSR

Past AAOE Board Chair
Practice Administrator — The Virginia Retina Center
Joanne Mansour began her career in ophthalmology in 1988 in Toronto, Canada. She is the executive director of a small non-profit. Ms. Mansour has managed the Virginia Retina Center, since 2004. Under her management, the Virginia Retina Center has grown to three locations and four physicians.

Pamela A. Hagen, COA

Practice Manager — Tower Clock Eye Center
Pam Hagen has been active in ophthalmology for over 35 years and has extensive experience in many managerial and administrative roles since she began her career as an ophthalmic assistant in 1984. In her 8+ years at Tower Clock Eye Center, she has guided the clinic to become an established mainstay in eye care throughout Northeast Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Ms. Hagen has been integral in the growth of a private, independent ophthalmology clinic that began with a single surgeon and has expanded to include four ophthalmologists and three optometrists. She was vital to the development and building of an ASC and has steered the focus of the practice to provide patients the latest proven technology while providing unsurpassed patient care.

Anthony P. Johnson, MD, FACS, OCS, OCSR

Ex-Officio AAOE Board Member and Content Committee Member
Past President and Past Managing Partner — Jervey Eye Group PA
Dr. Anthony P. Johnson is a lifetime Academy member and in practice as a pediatric ophthalmologist since June 1986. He practiced in Greenville, SC for 34 years and transitioned to an underserved area for pediatric ophthalmology in South Georgia in the fall of 2020.

Dr. Johnson has been an AAOE board member since 2017 and has been very active in practice management and coding issues, participating in training sessions for both. He feels that it “is an honor to be able to give back and share my experience with colleagues in our great specialty.”

Alan E. Kimura, MD, MPH

President — Colorado Retina
Dr. Alan E. Kimura brings a diverse portfolio of experiences to bear as president and managing partner of Colorado Retina Associates in Denver, Colorado.

Formerly a tenured faculty at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Vitreoretinal Fellowship, Dr. Kimura began the second phase of his career in private practice in Denver in 1996. Starting as a three-physician vitreoretinal practice, through a friendly-merger of like-minded retina doctors, the practice grew organically to 13 physicians practicing vitreoretinal diseases and surgery, later adding physicians with subspecialty fellowship-training in uveitis, oncology and inherited retinal disease.

While practicing full-time, Dr. Kimura earned his master’s degree in public health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, focusing upon health care policy. With subsequent roles in the Academy’s OPHTHPAC, earning the Secretariat Award, as well as serving on multiple healthcare committees in the Colorado Medical Society and Denver Medical Society, he understands the need to transition to value-based care. Colorado Retina learned how to create their practice’s unique “value-proposition” and earn higher reimbursements from payers, through their selection to join the CMMI’s Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative — the only ophthalmology practice in this four-year, $700 million project.

Over the past four years, he has taken Colorado Retina through a successful Lean culture and process transformation, while developing a cadre of high-performing Lean practitioners throughout his management team. Dr. Kimura states that “it is an honor to join the AAOE board in 2022 and learn from the best administrators in ophthalmology.”

Julia Lee, JD

Practice Administrator — Lee Vision Associates, LLC
Principal Consultant — NorthStar Vision Partners, LLC
Julia Lee is the practice administrator for Lee Vision Associates, LLC, a solo practice she launched for her husband, Dr. Stephen Y. Lee, in 2021. She is also the Principal Consultant of her own firm, NorthStar Vision Partners, LLC, which supports health care clients in multiple settings. During her prior 15 years in health care administration, Ms. Lee managed large, multi-subspecialty ophthalmology groups exclusively along with a high-volume ASC doing approximately 8,000 cases annually. Most recently, she was instrumental in consolidating 16 private practices in the Metro Philadelphia region into a single, physician-owned group called Vantage EyeCare, LLC, where she served as CEO until the end of 2020.

Ms. Lee earned her BA from Brown University and JD from Northeastern University School of Law. She has previously served on AAOE’s EHR Subcommittee and Content Committee. She is a recipient of the Secretariat Award and the Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology for her contributions to practice management.

Heather Modjesky, COE

Chief Administrative and Financial Officer — Conestoga Eye
Heather Modjesky began her career as an administrator in ophthalmology in 2015, leading and growing a practice that specializes in oculoplastic and pediatric ophthalmology and comprehensive optometry. Under her management, the practice has grown from a small, one doctor practice to a medium-sized, multi-location, multi-specialty practice with 6 doctors and 30 employees. She has been an active member of AAOE since 2015, and was part of the AAOE's first Ophthalmic Practice Administrators Leadership Program (OPAL) class in 2019 and currently sits on the AAOE's Annual Meeting Committee.

In addition to practice management, Ms. Medjesky has extensive background in marketing and digital communications, as well as national and regional media relations experience.

Lisa M. Nijm, MD, JD

Founder — Warrenville EyeCare & LASIK
Assistant Clinical Professor — UIC Eye and Ear Infirmary
Dr. Lisa Nijm is a board certified, corneal, cataract and refractive surgeon at Warrenville EyeCare & LASIK, a licensed attorney, and an assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. She also advises leading medical device and pharmaceutical companies on new innovations and serves as CEO of Women in Ophthalmology, where she has led the organization to exponential growth.

Dr. Nijm is an invited international lecturer, a published, peer-reviewed author, and has received numerous awards, including the Academy Secretariat Award, Academy Senior Achievement Award and has been named one of the most influential ophthalmologists in the world on The Ophthalmologist’s Power List.

Dr. Nijm has created two highly acclaimed educational resources for physicians, MD Negotiation and Real World Ophthalmology. Believing negotiation skills are paramount to success, she launched MDNegotiation.com to provide specialized negotiation coaching and has conducted over 40 training workshops across the country.

During the pandemic, she recognized a need to help navigate the changing landscape of ophthalmology and took the initiative to create a free, peer to peer, educational resource to help young ophthalmologists learn everything they need to know to succeed in early practice, RealWorldOphthalmology.com. The inaugural meeting, “Top Ten Things I Wish I Knew Sooner,” drew over 1,200 participants and received wide acclaim for its knowledgeable faculty, engaging format and timely topics. Dr. Nijm is thrilled to usher in the next phase of Real World Ophthalmology with an upcoming podcast and virtual meetings in spring and fall 2022.

Arvind Saini, MD, MBA

Managing Partner — Integrity Eye
Dr. Arvind Saini feels privileged to be an ophthalmologist and cornea specialist. After working in multiple private practice settings, he founded Integrity Eye, which is a private practice in Southern California. Dr. Saini is an assistant professor at Loma Linda University and has authored articles in ophthalmology.

In addition to clinical medicine, he has a natural interest in management and organizational development. He is a graduate of the MD/MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania. He was an ophthalmology medical director for a regional IPA and was the president of a multispecialty medical group. He was selected to the Leadership Development Program of the Academy and has served on its technology committee.

Dr. Saini currently serves on the Academy’s Young Ophthalmologist (YO) committee, Product Advisory committee, and is an OMIC committee member. He also is on the board of directors of the San Diego Eye Bank, is in the leadership development program of the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA), and he is on the board of the California Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis, golf, gardening and spending time with his family.

Jessica Schroeder, MPH, CPC

Practice Administrator — Cape Fear Retinal Associates
Jessica Schroeder began working in ophthalmology in 2010 at The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins. After eight years at Wilmer Eye, she and her family moved to the coast of North Carolina. Cape Fear Retinal Associates is growing to four doctors and adding a second full-time location in 2022, in addition to establishing their clinical trial program in 2021.

In the four years Ms. Schroeder has been with the practice, she has been diligent in creating culture, integrating new technology and building a team who prioritizes patient care and satisfaction.

Brittney W. Wachter, CPC, COE, MBA, OCS

Chief Executive Officer — Excel Eye Center
Located in Utah, Excel Eye Center has 14 ophthalmologists and three optometrists, seven locations in Utah County and seven satellite sites in rural Utah.

Brittney Wachter oversees all aspects of the business including: practice management, EHR, strategic planning, marketing, finance, human resources, acquisitions and construction, as well as process improvements. She provides direction on procedures including development and implementation of compliance, including best practices.

Ms. Wachter has been with Excel Eye Center for 15 years during which time she has implemented the practice management and EHR systems, as well as revenue cycle management and coding compliance. She has served on the previous AAOE EHR committee, volunteered at the annual meeting to provide MIPS education and taught courses.

Meet the AAOE Board