NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mar. 18, 2019) – RISE announced today that Mark Dambro, M.D., senior vice president of health informatics for Signify Health, was awarded the Martin L. Block Award for Clinical Excellence and Innovation at the 13th Annual RISE Nashville Summit.
The Dr. Martin L. Block Award is a prestigious accolade presented annually at RISE Nashville that acknowledges an individual’s effort to enhance the lives of America’s seniors through clinical leadership, policy vision, and by superior example.
Chosen out of four finalists, Dr. Dambro was selected largely in part for his career spent enriching the lives of his patients, fellow physicians, and colleagues through his unwavering dedication to improving patient experience and care by utilizing data and technology.
“We are extremely pleased to present Dr. Mark Dambro with our Martin L. Block Award,” said Kevin Mowll, executive director of the RISE Association. “Dr. Dambro has a long and distinguished career that included many years of private practice where he directly provided for patients and expressed his deep commitment and dedication to the well-being of those under his care. That sensibility expressed itself continuously throughout his career and is readily apparent in any presentation he makes to conference audiences.”
A graduate of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Dr. Dambro began his career as senior vice president for a large hospital corporation in 1987. Several years later, he decided to pursue his dream of opening a private family medicine practice where he saw thousands of patients–many of whom were Medicare patients–and ran a paperless office well ahead of his time.
In the 1990s, Dr. Dambro authored, and coedited with Dr. Winter Griffith, the 5-Minute Clinical Consult, fulfilling his longtime dream of bringing a handheld clinical reference to the practicing physician.
Dr. Dambro was then recruited to a consulting position to help build a Medicare risk adjustment company known as Censeo Health. He joined as chief medical officer (CMO) and in his role, he continued to teach the art of bedside diagnosis while helping the company develop 1,000+ clinical and practice-related questions for in-home health assessments. Dr. Dambro helped health plans and medical groups align risk adjustment with care management, interfacing with CMS, the health plan, Censeo Health, and the practicing clinician.
In his current role at Signify Health (formerly Censeo Health), Dr. Dambro uses his clinical and technology background to transform the quality and delivery of care via the organization’s intelligent technology platform to create a better care experience through Signify’s national network of clinicians.
Nathan Goldstein, chief product officer, Signify Health and conference chair of RISE Nashville, presented the award to Dr. Dambro, whom he described as a close friend, colleague and partner in Signify’s mission to improve quality of life by providing comprehensive care where and when it’s needed most.
Dr. Dambro said that it was an honor to receive the award but described his work as a team effort that began when he was in private practice with a nurse and front office staff who helped him deliver good medicine to his patients that has continued today with his team at Signify Health.
“I am so humbled,” Dr, Dambro said, equating the moment of receiving the award to one of the most memorable of his life, including his marriage, graduation, and birth of his first child. “It is particularly poignant to be honored by my peers and standing here to accept this award.”
About the Martin L. Block Award for Clinical Excellence and Innovation
The Dr. Martin Block award is given annually to an individual who has made a significant impact in the lives of America’s seniors through clinical leadership, policy vision or through superior example of RISE’s mission to promote continuous improvement in the health care system. The main criteria for this award, in memory of Dr. Martin L. Block of Arizona. Includes the following:
- Nominee may work within the clinical field as an MD, NP, RN, PA, DO or otherwise clinically credentialed.
- Nominee can work for a health plan, accountable care organization or vendor/supplier to the health care marketplace.
- Nominee must have fulfilled one of the following criteria:
- Contributed to significant process improvement in the care of seniors
- Dedicated more than 10 years to exemplary work in this industry
For more information and details please visit: http://risehealth.org/martin-l-block-award
About RISE
RISE is the premier community for health care professionals who aspire to meet the extraordinary challenges posed by the emerging landscape of accountable care and government healthcare reform. Recognized industry-wide as the number one source for information on risk adjustment and quality improvement within health care, RISE strives to serve the community on four fronts: networking, education, industry intelligence and career development. Click here to learn more about RISE.