Ballard nurse selected as advisor to help improve healthcare

Ballard resident Tina Schwien, MN, MPH, has been selected for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Innovation Advisors Program. She is one of 73 to be chosen out of more than 900 applicants and one of two health care professionals in Washington State to be selected.

“After an initial orientation phase, Innovation Advisors will work with the CMS Innovation Center to test new models of care delivery in their own organizations and communities. They will also create partnerships to find new ideas that work and share them regionally and across the United States,” states the press release sent out by Qualis Health, a company based here in Seattle.

“We are delighted that CMS has recognized Tina’s past accomplishments and her great potential to make substantial contributions to improving healthcare,” said Jonathan Sugarman, MD, MPH, President and CEO of Qualis Health. “Our organization is committed to supporting her efforts to engage patients and providers in order to achieve our goals for better care, better health and lower costs.”

Schwien has served as a bedside nurse, an analyst and a consultant with a number of private and public sector entities. She has served as a quality improvement consultant at Qualis Health since 2010. She is a graduate of Whitman College, the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington.