Certificate Program: Project Management and Strategic Planning

Ava Cannon, PMP
Project Manager, MGMA 

Ava Cannon is a seasoned healthcare Project Manager who loves problem-solving, improving team workflows, and unsticking complex cross-functional projects. Ava began her career supporting hospital EMR systems and clinical administration for addiction services, where she discovered her passion for helping others and supporting clinical implementation from “nose to tail.” Since joining MGMA, Ava has been excited to support local and national practices to reach their full potential. She is a certified Lean Facilitator and Provider Coach, Mental Health First Aid practitioner, and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. 

Owen Dahl, MBA, LFACHE, CHBC, LSSMBB 
Consultant, Owen Dahl Consulting, MGMA

Owen Dahl is a nationally recognized medical practice management consultant with more than 48 years’ experience in consulting and managing medical practices. His expertise includes revenue cycle management, strategic planning, organizational behavior and information systems implementation. Dahl is a recognized national speaker on topics such as Lean, revenue cycle, scenario planning, practice operations, change and disaster preparedness. He is the author of such titles as Think Business – Medical Practice Quality, Efficiency, and Profits and The Medical Practice Disaster Guide Book, and coauthored Lean Six Sigma for the Medical Practice. In addition, he writes and contributes articles that appear in MGMA Connection, Medical Economics, Physicians Practice and several other publications. Dahl received his Bachelor’s degree in hospital administration from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and his MBA from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. He has completed doctoral work at NOVA Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 

Ron Holder, MHA, FACMPE, FACHE, CAE 
Chief Operating Officer, MGMA 

Ron Holder, chief operating officer of Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), brings decades of experience to his role at MGMA as a seasoned healthcare and medical practice executive. His background includes driving financial growth, leadership development, operational process improvement, increased employee engagement, and elevating patient satisfaction scores at healthcare organizations large and small. As chief operating officer, he is responsible for overseeing all of the operational and financial functions that directly impact the strategic direction of MGMA. Ron is also focused on ways in which MGMA can grow and foster innovation to meet the ever-fluctuating needs of medical practices. In September 2021, Ron was recognized by the Denver Business Journal as one of the top C-Suite executives in the Denver metro area during their annual C-Suite awards. 

Holder was most recently a Vice President of Operations at Baylor Scott & White Healthcare, the largest non-profit healthcare system in Texas and one of the largest in the nation. In this role, Holder had strategic, operational and financial executive responsibility for the practices of 235 physicians and 85 advanced practice professionals, as well as related hospital functions across 47 sites. Holder was also the service line administrator for cardiovascular services and played a large role within the oncology service line. In these roles, Ron drove significant financial improvement by focusing on organizational efficiency and effectiveness, while also improving patient and employee satisfaction.  

Previous roles for Holder include administrator for the department of surgery at Scott & White Healthcare, executive director for the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and the University Anesthesiology Associates, PSC, at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and serving in progressive administrative roles at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine in the Department of Surgery.

Will Latham, MBA 
President, Latham Consulting Group 

For more than 30 years, Will Latham has worked with medical groups to help them make decisions, resolve conflict and move forward. 

During this time he has: Facilitated over 950 meetings or retreats for medical groups; helped hundreds of medical groups develop strategic plans to guide their growth and development; assisted over 250 medical groups improve their governance systems and change their compensation plans; and advised and facilitated the mergers of over 200 medical practices representing over 2,300 physicians. 

Will has an MBA from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and is a frequent speaker at local, state and national, and specialty-specific healthcare conferences. He has written award-winning articles on medical group governance for various healthcare publications.