Douglas A. Hastings / Epstein, Becker and Green PC
Douglas A. Hastings serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. He is a member of the Firm's Health Care and Life Sciences Practice in the Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Hastings provides a wide range of health care organizations with strategic and transactional legal guidance in responding to the legal challenges and opportunities of the rapidly changing U.S. health care system. He has become nationally recognized as one of the nation's leading resources on accountable care, value-based payment and health care delivery system reform.

Mr. Hastings serves on the Board on Health Care Services of the Institute of Medicine, which has responsibility to oversee the IOM's research and publications on health care system payment and delivery. He is a member of the National Advisory Board of Accountable Care News, and a member of the Advisory Board of the BNA's Health Law Reporter, for which he has written a widely-read series of articles on health care payment and delivery reform and accountable care organizations. He is a Past President and Fellow of the American Health Lawyers Association.

Steven T. Hester, M.D., MBA, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer / Norton Healthcare
Dr. Hester was promoted to senior vice president & chief medical officer in September 2008 after serving as vice president, Medical Affairs, since December 2006. He joined Norton Healthcare in January 2005 as chief medical information officer. Prior to that Dr. Hester practiced Emergency Medicine full time, serving as regional medical director for Kentuckiana Emergency Physicians, with more than 110,000 patient visits per year. During his tenure there he worked to improve quality and volume with significant success, while redefining multiple processes within the organization. He has served Norton Healthcare in multiple medical staff positions, including president of the medical staff for a Norton Healthcare facility and representative on the System Medical Executive Committee.

Dr. Hester earned bachelor and medical degree from the University of Louisville and is board certified by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Bellarmine University. Dr. Hester serves on the board of directors of the Christian Academy of Louisville School System and Kentucky Harvest. He also serves on the Regional Policy Board for the American Hospital Association and Medical Advisory Board for the West Wireless Health Institute. Dr. Hester has been the leader for the Norton Healthcare – Humana, Brookings – Dartmouth pilot for Accountable Care Organizations.

Brad R. Benton / KPMG Healthcare
Brad R. Benton is a partner with KPMG Healthcare, currently located in the firm’s Atlanta office. He was admitted to the partnership in June 1993, and has been with the firm more than 28 years, having started his KPMG career in the Jackson, Mississippi office upon graduation from Millsaps College in 1982. He relocated to Atlanta in 1998, and has served (among other roles) as the healthcare practice partner-in charge for the Southeast and as the regional audit partner-in-charge for KPMG’s overall audit practice in the MidSouth. Currently, Mr. Benton serves as the partner-in-charge of national account development for KPMG Healthcare, and in that role is also a part of the national leadership team for the practice.

Mr. Benton’s experience is principally in the healthcare industry, and over the years he has provided leadership of audit and other services for a broad range of healthcare industry stakeholders throughout the United States. He currently serves as the lead audit engagement partner or concurring review partner on a number of notable healthcare organizations, including Emory Healthcare, Duke University Health System, Methodist (Memphis) Health System, and Kaiser Permanente-Georgia. In his role as a KPMG Audit practice leader, Mr. Benton also has served as account executive for a number of Atlanta-area public companies. He also served as a member of the Audit practice steering committee for the firm’s 2006 national strategy effort, including leadership of the human capital strategy work stream. Most recently, Mr. Benton has served as the overall project leadership sponsor for both KPMG Healthcare’s multi-phased healthcare transformation campaign and the national practice’s ICD-10 service development work stream.