CADENZA HEALTH - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER
• Member of the Leadership Team

Dr. Shirah serves as Chief Medical Officer of Cadenza Health and has been providing Utilization Review for over eight years. Following his graduation from the University of South Alabama School of Medicine, Dr. Shirah completed his internship and residency with Baptist Health Systems. While initially focusing on acute care as a hospitalist, he developed an interest in post-acute care, utilization management and hospice medicine. In addition to his work providing utilization review to payers and healthcare providers at Cadenza Health, Dr. Shirah has also served as an attending physician at multiple hospitals and medical director for several skilled nursing facilities in the Birmingham area, and he continues to provide utilization management services for local and national healthcare providers. He provides leadership and expertise in hospice care, currently serving as the Corporate Medical Director for Encompass Home Health and Hospice. He has also served on Professional Advisory Councils and Medical Executive Committees in his local healthcare community. Aside from his busy professional life, Dr. Shirah is married to his amazing wife, Nicole, with whom he has four wonderful children. Together they enjoy creating a little piece of agrarian bliss on their Laughing Stock Farm.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• SENIOR MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Dr. Phillips is Senior Medical Director for Cadenza Health and has been providing Utilization Review for over ten years. After completing his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Phillips graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. After completing his residency with Baptist Health Systems, Dr. Phillips founded Birmingham Hospitalists, P.C. with Dr. Caldwell, providing quality inpatient care and consulting services. In his work at Cadenza Health, Dr. Phillips provided the oversight for the company's URAC accreditation.In addition to his work as a hospitalist and peer reviewer, Dr. Phillips currently serves on the faculty for an Internal Medicine Residency program, providing instruction and oversight for inpatient rounds, and as the Medical Director for a local hospice organization. Dr. Phillips also has extensive experience caring for patients in long term acute care, inpatient rehab, and skilled nursing facilities. He has been honored for his commitment to outstanding patient care with the 2016 VITAS Best Award for Patient Care and the A.H. Russakoff, MD, Memorial Award. Dr. Phillips is a lifelong resident of Birmingham where he lives with his wife and two sons. He and his family are active in a local church. He enjoys hunting and fishing in his spare time.

Job Titles:

• CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
• Leader
• Member of the Leadership Team

Dr. Ayers is CEO of Cadenza Health and has been providing Utilization Review for over eight years. A Georgia native, Dr. Ayers graduated from Mercer University School of Medicine where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. Following his residency at Baptist Health Systems, he served as Chief Resident and Instructor in Internal Medicine as well as a member of the teaching faculty for the residency program. He has developed and implemented successful programs for inpatient palliative consult services at both Princeton Baptist Medical Center and Brookwood Baptist Medical Center and is the Director of Palliative Medicine at both institutions. Dr. Ayers is an accomplished leader in the state and local medical community. Having completed a 5-year term on the Jefferson County Board of Health with one year as its Chairman, he now serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Alabama State Committee of Public Health. Elected by his peers, he also serves as a board member of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners and the Medical Association Board of Censors. Dr. Ayers speaks frequently at local, regional, and national conferences on the topics of controlled substances and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. In his spare time, Dr. Ayers enjoys outdoor activities and working on his farm in his hometown of Bowdon, Georgia. He resides in Vestavia Hills with his wife, Jeanie, and their four wonderful children.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• Member of the Board of Directors for the Jefferson County Medical Society
• SENIOR MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Dr. Rickert is a Board Certified Senior Medical Director for Cadenza Health and has been providing utilization review for over eight years. After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Rickert graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency with Baptist Health Systems. Inspiration to become a physician was drawn from his grandfather, who was an Army doctor in World War II before establishing a general practice clinic in Birmingham. While working as a hospitalist, Dr. Rickert worked as part of a team to design an electronic medical record with a third-party affiliate. Dr. Rickert has extensive experience as an internist at several long-term acute care and rehabilitation facilities and currently serves as Medical Director for a local hospice organization. In addition to his work in utilization management, Dr. Rickert has also developed an interest in hyperbaric medicine, providing care as a hyperbaric medicine physician and as Medical Director for a hyperbaric oxygen department. Dr. Rickert is a member of the Board of Directors for the Jefferson County Medical Society and is currently serving as its president. Elected by his peers, he is also in his second term as a member of the Council on Medical Service for the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. Dr. Rickert has been happily married for nearly 20 years to his spectacular wife, and he has three wonderful children. He is a member of the Vestavia United Methodist Church. In his free time, Dr. Rickert enjoys traveling the Southeast to his kids' sporting events, watching Alabama football, and occasionally fly fishing.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• SENIOR MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Dr. Caldwell serves as Senior Medical Director for Cadenza Health. He graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine after completing his undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. After finishing residency in Internal Medicine, he helped start and manage Birmingham Hospitalists, a hospital medicine program which has been utilized by several hospitals in Alabama. In addition to Hospitalist medicine, his training and experience include Hyperbaric medicine, as well as Hospice & palliative care. He is certified as a Hospice Medical Director and serves locally as a Medical Director for one of the nation's largest hospice providers. He also has years of experience caring for patients in numerous aspects of post-acute care, including skilled nursing facilities, acute inpatient rehab, and long-term acute care facilities. In every aspect of medicine that Dr. Caldwell has participated, the goal has not only been to provide excellent medical care but also to help manage and improve the utilization of resources and care. For many years, he has worked with both providers and health plans to make improvements in their utilization management. He is fortunate to work with four exceptional business partners, all physicians with similar training and experience. Together, they have created and manage Cadenza Health, a URAC certified company designed to meet the needs of each service line that composes the utilization management world. Dr. Caldwell moved to Alabama in 1989. His Texas roots run deep and he hopes one day to return to this state where much of his family still resides. His daughter Lila is the heart of his life and her quick wit keeps him on his toes. He enjoys playing guitar, hunting, fishing, college football, and family trips to the beach.