Chrisey Smith, MBA

Multidisciplinary healthcare professional with experience driving innovation, program growth, and provider education across academic medical centers and public health institutions. Leader of statewide healthcare access initiatives, expanding telehealth capabilities, and managing the full lifecycle of provider education and clinical support programs.

Program & Grant Operations Coordinator III: Louisiana Department of Health at Well-Ahead Louisiana / University of New Orleans (2023-07 – Present)

• Lead and supervise healthcare innovation team supporting access to care across rural and underserved communities in Louisiana through innovation and provider education.
• Provide operational guidance to program managers, coordinators, and administrative specialists.
• Deliver technical assistance and training related to healthcare providers and administrators related to technology implementation and clinical workflows.
• Develop and maintain partnerships with healthcare providers, academic institutions, government agencies, and community organizations to advance strategic healthcare initiatives.
• Develop and sustain cooperative working relationships with healthcare providers, licensed professionals, and healthcare organizations statewide.
• Maintain current knowledge of evolving telehealth state legislation, regulations, and Medicare and Medicaid billing practices to ensure program compliance and long-term sustainability for providers in rural communities.
• Share telehealth resources related to EHR implementation, training, application improvement.
• Streamline program workflows and improve workflow efficiency using Lean Six Sigma methods.
• Design online learning materials and webinar-based educational programs for healthcare professionals.
• Coordinated grant-funded programs by managing timelines, deliverables, reporting requirements, stakeholder communications, and compliance documentation.
• Design and execute evaluation strategies to develop project timelines, define requirements, document workflows, and evaluate system functions to improve integration and reduce redundancies using both qualitative and quantitative metrics to measure impact and identify areas for improvement.
• Write and manage contracts, MOUs, SOPs, and work plans to align initiatives with CDC, HRSA, and NRHA best practices and Well-Ahead Louisiana's organizational objectives and strategies.
• Participate in community outreach such as health fairs, conferences, summits, virtual introductions and collaborative events.
• Create and design surveys and need assessments, collect pre and post data to measure outcomes of programs, and develop program goals following evaluation and data collection.
• Create data visualization in partnership with evaluation experts of professional shortage areas, disease prevalence, access gaps for leadership using tools such as excel spreadsheets, Smartsheet reporting dashboards, Metopio mapping, briefing slides, KPIs, and analysis reports to support organizational leadership and external partners.
• Led provider education initiatives through Project ECHO by designing curricula, facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration, and implementing continuous quality improvement strategies.
• Participate in education and advocacy events to promote healthcare access underserved populations.
• Assist in facilitation of multi-stakeholder meetings, collaborative sessions, and statewide healthcare conferences, exercising independent judgment to drive complex projects to successful completion.
• Oversee provider education, Telehealth, and Teledentistry initiatives from strategy to execution, with a focus on provider education, service scalability, and healthcare access geared to improve healthcare outcomes in FQHCs, RHCs, CAHs, and other delivered care in rural and high burdened areas statewide.
• Expand provider education programs in multiple chronic disease categories (diabetes, dementia, oral health, hepatitis C), requiring proficiency with public health terminology and infectious disease concepts.
• Serve as Site Coordinator for the TexLa Telehealth Resource Center, delivering technical assistance and guidance to providers implementing, improving, or expanding telehealth services in Louisiana and its bordering state, Texas.

Project ECHO Program Coordinator at Ochsner Health (2013-09 – 2023-05)

Multi-Organ Transplant Institute

• Spearheaded the launch and scale-up of numerous ECHO programs, locally and internationally, supporting clinical education in liver disease, rheumatology, diabetes, oncology, and more.
• Facilitated live virtual sessions and trained physicians to lead ECHO hubs, building capacity and improving outcomes in underserved populations.
• Created all educational content, managed outreach campaigns, and provided end-to-end technical support to enhance learner engagement and program fidelity.
• Analyzed learner outcomes and published program impact data in partnership with research teams, contributing to national and institutional knowledge bases.
• Managed and coordinated over 12 instances of state, national, and international Project ECHO educational cohorts for more than 1,500 healthcare professionals.

Transplant Patient Assistance Coordinator at Ochsner Health (2006-06 – 2023-05)

Multi-Organ Transplant Institute

• Assisted transplant patients with patient assistance application to obtain life-saving medications to prevent infection and organ rejection.
• Designed and implemented standardized operational workflows, templates, and documentation processes that improved efficiency, consistency, and program execution across multiple initiatives within cross-functional transplant team.
• Partnered with multidisciplinary teams and pharmaceutical representatives to align strategies for medication access, coverage, and compliance with evolving healthcare policies.
• Supported over 1,100 transplant patients by addressing insurance gaps and financial barriers, ensuring continuity of care and improved outcomes through systematic process improvements.

Patient Services at Ochsner Health (2001 – 2006)

• Food and Nutrition Services
• Patient Support Services

Master of Business Administration – Louisiana State University of Shreveport (2017-05)

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – University of New Orleans (2012-12)

Associate of Science in Business Administration – Delgado Community College (2010-12)

Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Technology – Delgado Community College (2004-05)