DIA

Meet Sandra Khalil, President Crosslink Medical Resources

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH

Talk about walking the talk…

‘One stop patient advocacy is my dream..’


Not since psychiatrist Gerald G. Jampolsky MD wrote his period piece ‘Love Is Letting Go of Fear’ (walking away from a lucrative psychotherapy practice) have I seen someone so willing to step out on faith and model the courage to be in service to her ‘fellows in need’ – you know, you, me our kids, parents and friends who may have fallen into the many gaps of an expensive, disconnected and often disinterested ‘healthcare borg’.
Meet Sandra Khalil, MBA, P.E., i.e., ‘professional engineer’. As with many ‘life re-imagined’ situations – whether invited or not, these career re-pathing transitions are often triggered by ‘misfortune’ that may (many months, or years) later morph into a deep ‘blessing’ if not re-invigorated life purpose. Following a layoff from pharma Sandra had to process her version of a life transition giving deep consideration to as what it means to be human and in service to others. She threw income security to the wind, and decided to stake a claim in patient advocacy and let the chips fall where they may.

[Editor’s Note: For more information on this mission driven woman and her trust walk into a new life see: ‘How one woman’s unfunded health-care charity saves lives’ by Robert Calandra, for The Inquirer.]

Untrained in the ways of healthcare, other than a silo-ed seat in pharma manufacturing, she nonetheless saw the often devastating and mostly unplanned consequences of our porous healthcare system’s impact on the lives of many of us and decided to make a difference.
Listen to her story and tell me you’re not touched by her passion and courage to follow her heart and let the results speak for themselves.
Learn more about Sandra’s work at CrossLink Medical Resources and consider supporting her 5.01(c)3 vision.
Thanks to DIA for their ‘Patient Advocate Fellows Program‘ which enabled Sandra to spend some time in San Diego. And thanks to Regina Holliday for the ‘Gregg you need to interview Sandra’ encouragement.

Tags: advocacy, care management, crosslink medical resources, DIA 2014, drug information association, health, healthcare, patient advocate, patient engagement,pharma, sandra khalil

Catching Up with Regina Holliday

By Gregg A. Masters


This week I had the good fortune to catch up with and be part of The Walking Gallery ‘cast call’ at the Drug Information Association 2014 (DIA) Annual Meeting in San Diego, California. This is an organization I was not familiar with and the irony is they were celebrating their 50 Anniversary, so they’ve been around for a while.

I was not alone as there were several other ‘walkers’ including the internationally renowned but local superstar author of ‘The Creative Destruction of Medicine’ Eric Topol who posed with Regina in his jacket aptly named The Creative Destruction of Medicine.
While sporting a jacket in Regina Holliday’s ‘The Walking Gallery’ these two ‘disruptors’ of the status quo had not met in person. Watching that reunion and the mutual respect each holds towards one another was an inspiring moment.

I will detail the other walkers as well, but in the meantime do enjoy this brief update from Regina. She explains DIA, their ‘patient advocates’ fellows program and her plans for a June 2015 Maryland back country domiciled ‘burning man’ like healthcare conference with acrobats, fire dancers, and more.

Tags: DIA, DIA 2014, DIA Fellowship program, empowerment, Eric Topol MD, health innovation, patient advocates, patient engagement, Regina Holliday

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