Carolyn Merriman

Carolyn Merriman is president of Corporate Health Group (CIG), providing consultation on customer-focused health care strategies for physicians, employers and consumers. She facilitates strategic development, program assessments and implementation and provides training in sales, customer service, leadership and teleservices. Ms. Merriman is the co-author of a new book Physician Relations Today, Sales and Marketing for Occupational Health, contributes to journals and is a frequent national speaker. She holds a bachelors degree in Fine Arts and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. She has served on the board of directors of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) and the New England Society of Healthcare Communicators, (NESHCo).

Tess Neihaus

Tess Neihaus is Vice President of Marketing and Communications at St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St. Louis. She formerly served as Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Physician Services for Christian Hospital, a member of BJC HealthCare. Ms. Niehaus has 30 years of experience in health care marketing and sales, including working in the health care division of Procter and Gamble, Inc. and Pfizer Laboratories.

At St. Anthony’s, Ms. Neihaus oversees marketing and communications strategy for the hospital and its physician organization and related business lines. In her roles at BJC, she has overseen a corporate call center, market research, customer relationship marketing, and patient satisfaction measurement for 13 hospitals. She is a current member of the SHSMD Board of Directors and is chair of the task force overseeing development of The 2.0 Series: Raising the Bar in Health Care Marketing Performance.