Lisa Dandrea Lenell has had an eclectic career as a physician assistant. In addition to being a clinician, she is a nationally recognized broadcaster, executive, educator, consultant, volunteer and PA advocate. She has served on the editorial board of Clinician Reviews and is a fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) and the Illinois Academy of Physician Assistants (IAPA). In 2007, Lenell launched a pioneering series of broadcasts with ReachMD that focused exclusively on PAs. During the next five years she hosted over 150 broadcasts covering a broad range of PA related topics. With the addition of Dr. Mimi Secor, a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner, the show broadened its reach in 2010 to include NPs and became retitled “Partners in Practice.” She relinquished her broadcasting role in 2013. The show is still broadcast on iHeart Radio
Lenell holds a bachelor’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Midwestern University located in Downers Grove, IL (2001), a master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE (2007) and a master’s degree in Business from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, Lake Forest, IL (2012), and a certification in profession coding from the American Academy of Professional coders (AAPC). Taking advantage of opportunities accessible to her, Lenell has done everything from providing HIV education in Ghana to lobbying on Capitol Hill for PA issues, from delivering medical care in the mountainous regions of Honduras to hosting her own radio show. She loves the challenge of learning and doing new things.
Academically, Lenell has published in the prestigious peer-reviewed medical journal, Dermatologic Surgery and has written featured articles for Clinical Reviews and Advance of Physician Assistants. Her broadcasting career has been profiled in a number of professional trade magazines. She was an Adjunct Professor and Clinical Preceptor for the Midwestern University PA Program (2006 – 2011) and a guest lecturer at Northwestern University and Clinical Preceptor for the University of St. Francis PA Program (2010–2011). In 2011, she was the guest speaker for the South College PA Program’s white coat and graduation ceremonies.
Administratively, Lenell took the lead as PA and Program Director of a federal grant from The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) to oversee the medical care of 50 patients with HIV/AIDS and opiate addiction. She continued her dual role as PA and Operations Director at MetropolitanMD, Chicago, IL (2003 – 2005), managing a busy ENT, dermatology practice and surgical center, and at Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, Libertyville, IL (2005 – 2012), an internal medical practice. In 2011, she was recruited to join the staff of athenahealth, , a cloud based electronic health record (EHR) company in Watertown, MA. In 2015, Lenell founded her own boutique consulting firm, Milestonehealth, LLC, that specializes in innovative healthcare delivery models, change management, EHR implementation, optimization and operational restructuring. In 2019 Lenell was selected by the Mitre Corporation, Mclean, VA, a not-for-profit company that operates multiple federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), to work directly with the Veterans Affairs (VA) Assistant Secretary from the Office of Enterprise Integration to develop the enterprise integration framework for the VA EHR implementation. Lenell continues to consulting with clients through her company Milestonehealth, LLC.
Lenell served a as a volunteer medical provider for Global Medical Brigades Honduras, Central America (May 2009). She has spoken at several International Seminars held at the Kintampo Rural Health Training School, Ghana, Africa (2010) and at the College of Health and Wellness, Ghana, Africa (2013 and 2014).
Acknowledgments: This biography was prepared by Reginald Carter with the assistance of Ms. Lisa Dandrea Lenell and submitted to the Society in May 2021. The photographs are courtesy of Ms. Lenell. Information for this biography was extracted from online biographical information and Ms. Lenell’s Curriculum Vitae. A list of Ms. Lenell’s broadcasts can be accessed by clicking here.
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