Karen Timmons

Chief Executive Officer

Global Healthcare Accreditation

Karen Timmons, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Healthcare Accreditation® (GHA) Program, leads an innovative and inaugural healthcare accreditation program designed specifically for healthcare organizations seeking to elevate the quality, patient experience, and excellence of care provided to medical travel, medical tourism and/or international patients. The program focuses specifically on an organization’s Medical Travel Cycle, encompassing the entire pathway of medical travel, as well as setting high expectations for transparency and cultural sensitivity.

Timmons is an internationally known expert in accreditation, healthcare quality and safety processes, having previously served as President and CEO of Joint Commission International (JCI), Chief Operating Officer of The Joint Commission, and Global Patient Safety Officer for Det Norske Veritas (DNV). Timmons has served as chairperson in the following areas for the World Health Organization (WHO): Chair for the WHO Collaborating Centre on Patient Safety Solutions, Chair for the WHO High 5 Steering Committee, and Chair of the WHO HIV Quality of Care Working Group on HIV-AIDS. She has also served on the Global Health Advisory Council for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and is a past board member and treasurer for the International Society of Quality Assurance (ISQua) as well as a past board member of Planetree, an organization focused on patient-centered care. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the High Reliability Organization Council, a not-for profit enabling healthcare providers to become more reliable.

Timmons has special expertise in leadership development and mentoring, especially regarding quality and safety programs, international accreditation, and patient safety solutions.

Timmons received her Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, her MA from Fairfield University, Fairfield, Ct, and her BS from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.

Speaker Questionnaire

What are your top priorities for employee health and well-being in 2022?

What are the most innovative programs that you will focus on in 2022 and 2023?

Looking at our three moonshots surrounding costs, culture, and care, which do you align with the most? What are you doing in this area?

If you could automatically receive a 25% reduction in costs in three areas/programs, what would your dream list be?

Is there an area where you were able to either create savings or stop costs from rising?

Are you doing anything to reimagine corporate culture and wellbeing?

If there were two physical solutions that could be turned into virtual or remote care instead, what would those be?

If you look at our 3 Moonshots - Costs, Culture, and Care; In one sentence, tell us what would be something positive for us to take from 2020 and bring into this new year?

Sessions Speaking

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1 Conference. 3 Moonshots.

Remember the mission to reach the moon? In 1962, President JFK set forth a vision. He initiated a movement that outlived him! Even in his death, the mission was accomplished seven years after his famous speech. Now we’re on a five-year mission, and it's not about us. This is a mission for you – the individual, the stakeholder, the employer healthcare and benefits professional. Join the mission to reduce costs, reimagine culture, and reinvent care.