SOYRING CONSULTING - Key Persons


Adam Higman

Adam has management and consulting experience working with more than 50 healthcare organizations throughout the United States ranging from critical access hospitals to large academic facilities. His expertise includes system analysis and planning, assessments and implementation related to operational communications and work structure, and intradepartmental relations. He has analyzed staffing functions, redesigned space and staff utilization, and coordinated implementation efforts with medical, clinical, and support staff members. Adam has developed and implemented both labor and materials cost-reduction strategies from departmental to system-wide initiatives. He has also worked with health systems for a variety of growth-focused projects including volume projection analysis, short-/long-term strategic planning, and new service/facility planning and operationalization. His planning experience includes capital and equipment review, analysis of utilization, project management for new service/facility operationalization, and budgeting for new and expanding services/facilities. Adam also has experience working with a variety of multi-national medical device and pharmaceutical companies on marketing and pricing strategies.

Charles Hagood

Job Titles:
  • Partner / Practice Leader
Charles Hagood has overseen the introduction and implementation of Lean Healthcare systems, process improvement initiatives, and system design activities in numerous healthcare organizations including some of the largest non-profit hospitals, national systems, small critical access hospitals, clinics, physician practices, and large for-profit systems. Additionally, Charles has led organizations and teams in the design and implementation of new and efficient service lines in various hospital, outpatient, and healthcare organizations. Charles is a co-author of the Shingo Prize winning book for Research and Publication, Lean-Led Hospital Design: Creating the Efficient Hospital of the Future. He has overseen the application of Lean methodologies into the planning, design, and construction phases of a wide range of clinical and hospital renovation and construction projects. Charles was the founder and former CEO of Healthcare Performance Partners (HPP), which is one of the largest healthcare focused process design and Lean consulting firms in the U.S. Charles is nearing completion of his Doctorate in Health Services and Administration degree at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He received his MBA from Belmont University's Massey School of Business and completed the University of Tennessee's Maintenance and Reliability engineering Graduate program to supplement his degrees in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering Technology. He earned his DSc in Administrative Health Services at the University of Alabama Birmingham. Charles is the founding faculty member of the Belmont University Lean Healthcare Certificate Program in Nashville and founding editor of the LeanHealthcareExchange.com newsletter.

Dorairaju Thavaseelan

Dr. Thavaseelan has more than 25 years of medical experience in both Great Britain and the United States, having provided consulting assistance to healthcare clients in the area of Medical Staff affairs at dozens of clients for Soyring Consulting, Higman Healthcare, and Cardinal Health. He served as a Health System Vice President and a VP of Medical Affairs for a large NE based Healthcare System, as well as serving as a member of OR, ED, and Critical Care Committees, Executive Committees, and Strategic Planning and Long-Range Planning Committees for several hospitals. He specializes in Medical Staff assessments, staffing models, and financial analysis of Medical Services, as well as in the creation, establishment, and redesign of Departments and programs and the remodeling of operating services. His experience includes determining appropriate organizational/leadership structures, workloads, and medical staffing levels, reviewing market compensation factors, and contracts and service costs. Dr. Thavaseelan has also served as an Instructor at Harvard Medical School.

Dragana Gough

Job Titles:
  • Director
Dragana has consulted with more than 75 healthcare facilities. She has extensive experience in the adoption and application of throughput management models aimed at generating innovative and meaningful advances in workflow and process productivity through people, processes, and technology. As a Soyring Vice President, she has led process improvement initiatives and facilitated change management in a wide variety of inpatient and outpatient environments. Dragana has developed interactive workflow process maps to demonstrate resource utilization in Emergency, Surgical Services, and Inpatient Departments among others. In addition, she has conducted data modeling based on observations and interaction with hospital clinical staff and leadership for all areas of the hospital. Dragana has extensive experience in data analytics and information technology. She has a Master's degree in Computer Engineering and greater than 15 years' experience in the information technology field. Dragana also holds expertise and certification in Lean Six Sigma.

Jerzy Kaczor

Job Titles:
  • Senior Manager
Jerzy's areas of expertise include data and financial analysis, marketing, materials flow, and information systems. His consulting experiences in Central Services include a variety of process improvement projects including returned items, missing instruments, case carts, management reports and staff scheduling. Jerzy has also analyzed department reprocessing throughput capacity. He has assisted in multiple projects conducting data analysis, observations, and interviews for assessments and implementation of productivity, operational, and management services in most areas of the healthcare organization. He holds a Bachelor's Degree of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and a Master's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare.

Lucas Higman - VP

Job Titles:
  • Partner
  • Vice President
Lucas is a Vice President for Soyring Consulting and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a Master's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare. Lucas earned his DSc in Administrative Health Services at the University of Alabama Birmingham. He has worked at over 60 healthcare facilities ranging from large academic centers to small rural hospitals in all regions nationally. He has assisted with Assessments and Implementation Assistance in most areas of a healthcare facility. His consulting experience includes operational analysis, strategy development, short-term and long-term planning, equipment capacity analysis, volume analytics and projections, patient throughput analysis, data analysis and staff work flow studies in Perioperative Services, Sterile Processing, Emergency Departments, Rehabilitative Services, Revenue Cycle and Business Office, Clinics and Women's and Children's Services among others. He has also assisted with projects at the department level, hospital level, and system level. Lucas has overseen assessments, implementation, and interim management engagements with successful outcomes. His expertise is in operations, strategic development, financial and data analysis, patient flow, and information systems.

Shelly Turner

Shelly has over 25 years of healthcare experience, providing consulting and leadership expertise. She has worked in senior leadership as a Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Associate Vice President, as well as Director-level roles in ICU, Perioperative Services, Respiratory, and Obstetrics. Her expertise is in budgeting, process improvement, data management, and regulatory issues. Her experience covers various areas including Surgical Services, Emergency Room, Pharmacy, survey preparedness, human resources, risk management, patient safety, employee health, worker's compensation, education, and public relations. She has drawn from her years of management experience to provide results-oriented project management, consulting, and interim management at healthcare organizations throughout the United States. Shelly has a broad and diverse skill set derived from multiple healthcare settings including hospitals, critical access hospitals, and independent diagnostic testing facilities (IDTFs). Shelly has a strong track record of successes including significant improvement of patient satisfaction scores, navigating surveys, new product line implementation, revised staffing model development and implementation, and turnaround of financial as well as efficiency metrics.