Position Spotlight: Clinical Director of Care Management

Annie grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and moved to Nashville in 2014. She first worked as a nurse at Vanderbilt while attending graduate school at Belmont University. Following that, she worked as a hospitalist nurse practitioner prior to joining Contessa in June of 2020, where she serves as the Clinical Director of Care Management.  

She is married to her husband Jordan, who is a songwriter, and has a 1.5-year-old daughter and 2 dogs. She and her husband love traveling, music and anything outdoors.  

What does a clinical director of care management do at Contessa? I assist with overall clinical strategy across our various models of care. This includes things like clinical procedures, workflow development, development of standards of care, and more. 

I also work closely with various departments within our company, including quality, market and VCU leadership, medical directors, palliative care, implementations, central operations and learning & development. 

Why did you choose a career in care management? Specifically, this career? I fell into this role because of my experience and understanding of various parts of our business since I started at Contessa. I knew that I wanted to see patients receive better care in their communities and focus on keeping people out of the hospital when it is not necessary to be there. I am truly honored to be able to do this work every day.  

How does the work you do at Contessa differ from other jobs? At Contessa, we are making a difference in healthcare. It feels like we are finally breaking the cycle that I saw in the hospitals every day by bringing a high standard of care into patient homes across the continuum of their care, allowing for less utilization of acute care facilities and higher patient satisfaction. 

What is the best part of your job? Seeing our ideas and visions of care delivery come to life. The impact we have on our patients will never get old. 

What’s the most challenging part of your job? I wish that I could do more and spend more time understanding the needs of our patients as individuals. 

What inspires you to come to work every day? My coworkers! Keeping each other motivated and uplifted is truly the key to our company’s success.