Leadership

Julie Sacks

Julie Sacks

Julie Sacks is the president and chief operating officer (COO) of the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI), a national nonprofit organization focused on scaling home-based primary care and bringing it into the healthcare mainstream. In the role, Sacks is responsible for evaluating strategic opportunities and partnerships, developing relationships with donors and foundations, and serving as spokesperson for the organization, in addition to serving as the primary liaison to the HCCI board of directors.

Since joining HCCI in 2015 as vice president of operations and advancement, Sacks has orchestrated the development and implementation of the organization’s annual plan and strategic roadmap, while managing HCCI’s executive team and the organization’s daily operations.

Prior to joining HCCI, Sacks was senior director of programs and services and director of the National Young Onset Center for the American Parkinson Disease Association. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, and then earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington.

During Sacks’ tenure at HCCI, the organization has made significant strides toward creating universal access to house call programs and advocating on behalf of home-based primary care (HBPC). With Sacks’ support, the organization participated in a campaign that resulted in the continuation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Independence at Home Medicare Demonstration and development of new payment models for home-based care.


Leadership Q&A with Julie Sacks

What is your vision for HCCI?

When I think of our vision, I think of what we often say at HCCI, which is that the future of healthcare is in the home. We are working to realize that vision through four key strategies: education, consulting, research, and advocacy. We have already done significant awareness-building around the importance of home-based primary care, but there is much still to do. With HCCI’s dedicated staff, consultants, and faculty, we can make great strides in increasing the availability of home-based care.

Our research shows that the demand for home-based primary care far outweighs the supply. Patients want and need this care, but not enough providers deliver it. We are looking at how we can add to that supply through workforce development and by encouraging practices, investors, and payers to get behind it. My overarching goal is to improve equity by improving access to high-quality care delivered in the home.

What is the biggest opportunity and challenge for home-based primary care?

One of the biggest opportunities is the shift from a fee-for-service model to value-based care. Home-based primary care providers can ultimately improve patient outcomes and save money by engaging in value-based payment arrangements. Read More


Thomas Cornwell, MDDr. Thomas Cornwell

Thomas Cornwell, M.D., is Founder and Executive Chairman of the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI). HCCI is a national nonprofit focused on creating universal access to best practice house call programs to ensure that medically complex, homebound patients have access to high-quality care in their homes. Dr. Cornwell is also the National Medical Director for Village Medical at Home of VillageMD. Prior to joining VillageMD, Dr. Cornwell founded and led Northwestern Medicine HomeCare Physicians.

With over 30 years of experience in the home-based care field, Dr. Cornwell has made over 34,000 house calls to more than 4,000 homebound patients and has mentored hundreds of medical students, residents, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

His innovative care has received numerous awards, including the inaugural House Call Doctor of the Year award from the American Academy of Home Care Medicine in 1998 and the Pride in the Profession award in 2002 from the American Medical Association. In 2006, he received the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians’ Distinguished Service award. In 2015, he received the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine award from the American Geriatrics Society. Then, in 2018, Representative Peter Roskam honored Dr. Cornwell in the House of Representatives for his service to his community and country.

Dr. Cornwell has received extensive national and local media attention including features in ABC News, CNN, Forbes, the New York Times, TIME magazine and PBS TV. Fast Company named him a 2017 top 100 “Most Creative People in Business” for “bringing health care into the home.” He has also published articles for a variety of outlets, including Health Affairs and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. He is also a past president of the American Academy of Home Care Medicine.


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