Company Leaders
Barry Couch, CIC, ARM
CEO, President and Founder
Barry Couch is a leader in the development of strategic risk management processes for healthcare providers. His work with hospitals and physician group leaders over the past decade has been honored through numerous special appointments and awards. He has received the Texas Healthcare Trustees "Founders Award," the highest honor bestowed for hospital trustee leadership in Texas. Couch has written numerous articles on healthcare risk management concepts, and frequently presents to healthcare organizations.
Couch served on the Board of Directors of King's Daughters Hospital in Temple, Texas for 22 years. He is also a past board member of Texas Hospital Association and HOSPAC. Couch served as a Trustee Delegate on the American Hospital Association’s Regional Policy Board, a member of the AHA Liability Reform Task Force and the AHA Insurance Simplification Task Force, and is past president of the association of Texas Healthcare Trustees. He has achieved the professional designations of Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Associate Risk Management (ARM), and is a licensed risk manager. Barry Couch is a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin.
Anna Taylor, MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Anna Taylor manages the finance, accounting and agency operations of HealthSure. She has over 12 years of experience in corporate accounting and operations management. After graduating from the University of Texas, she worked as an accountant for Mobil Oil Corporation and taught accounting courses at Central Texas College. Prior to joining HealthSure, she supervised and coordinated the American Red Cross disaster relief operations for western Louisiana. Anna graduated from Webster University with a Master of Business Administration. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently pursuing the designation of Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC).
Brant Couch, CPA
Vice President
Brant Couch is experienced in coordinating large projects and multiple consulting services for high-level executives across many industries. He currently serves the role of business developer and account executive to HealthSure's prospective and current clients. Prior to joining HealthSure he spent eight years serving in various roles with Ernst & Young. Most recently, Couch was the Gulf Coast Region Emerging & Growth Markets Sales Leader. In this role, he led sales and marketing efforts across Texas and Louisiana for high–growth clients in the health sciences, technology, consumer products and venture capital industries.
Couch spent the first half of his career at Ernst & Young in the Assurance & Advisory Business Services practice serving healthcare and other types of clients. He has experience in supervising and executing financial statement audits, performing risk and controls assessments, and due diligence procedures. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Couch worked in various positions in accounting and procurement with Central Texas Medical Center. Brant holds a BBA in Accounting from Texas State University, is a CPA, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Tanya Cannon, CIC, ACSR, CISR
Account Manager
Tanya Cannon is an account manager for HealthSure. Tanya has more than 17 years experience in insurance customer service. Tanya obtained her Accredited Customer Service Representative Designation in 1996, became a Certified Insurance Counselor in 1998 and obtained her Certified Insurance Service Representative Designation in 1999.
Michelle Lee, CIC
Account Manager
Michelle Lee is an account manager for HealthSure. She has more than 12 years experience in insurance customer service. Before joining HealthSure, Michelle worked at Arthur J. Gallagher in the Healthcare division, specializing in Medical Malpractice. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Management Information Systems and a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC).
Patti Johnston, CIC, CISR
Account Manager
Patti Johnston is an account manager for HealthSure. She has more than 22 years of experience in commercial lines insurance and customer service. Prior to joining HealthSure, Patti spent 7 years at Extraco Insurance Services Corporation servicing school districts, governmental entities and many large commercial accounts. Patti has attained professional designations as a Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR) and a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC). In addition, she is a member of the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research.
Suzanne Daniell
Director of Client Services, Life & Health
Suzanne Daniell heads up the employee benefits division of HealthSure. She has over 20 years experience in business development, customer service and account management in the health insurance, supplemental benefits and life insurance industries. Prior to joining HealthSure, she worked as an account manager for Wilsonart International, Aflac, and Scott & White Health Plan. Suzanne graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising and is a licensed health and life agent.
Brenda Short
Employee Benefits
Brenda Short has worked with HealthSure for over 15 years in the area of employee benefits programs. With more than 20 years of experience, Brenda offers expertise in all aspects of employee benefits, including fully-insured, partially self-insured, self-insured and all voluntary products. She brings her vast expertise, unique personality, integrity, flexibility and personalized service to every client. Brenda is a Texas Tech graduate and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Family Finance.
Ann Heape, RN, MSN
Consultant, Clinical Risk and Accreditation Reviews
Ann has served as a Clinical Educator for the Joint Commission, VP of Quality & Risk for a large academic health system, and is a frequent speaker on quality, patient safety and related topics for local, state and national professional organizations. Heape authors and conducts seminars on healthcare regulations and manages mock surveys for The Joint Commission preparation.
Heape also provides hospital patient safety assessment and consultation, directs risk assessments for physician practices, and serves as a legal nurse consultant. Ann Heape is a graduate from Scott and White School of Professional Nursing and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Masters of Science from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Eric Lister, M.D.
Consultant
Eric complements the HealthSure team by bringing a physician's perspective, as well as nationally recognized expertise in several areas:
- Hospital governance (including audits of Board functioning)
- Board / CEO relations and succession planning
- Board's role in quality and safety
- Clinical aspects of risk management and process improvement
- Hospital / Physician relations
His work involves building clarity of purpose inside boardrooms, efficient and sustainable structures and decision-making processes within executive teams, and crucial leadership skills in the ranks of physician executives. Dr. Lister facilitates frank and straightforward dialogue designed to help physicians and their organizations work together and meet the challenges of their environment.
Dr. Lister is effective in using the urgent challenges of the day -- concerns about quality and service, the distress experienced by many providers, the need for collaborative approaches to strategy development, and strategy fulfillment -- as laboratories for developing leadership infrastructures essential to success. His work combines organizational assessment, retreat facilitation, providing ongoing counsel to top management, ongoing coaching of task groups, and extensive coaching of physician leaders.
Dr. Lister has published a wide variety of articles addressing healthcare governance, the consultation process, and the development of organizational cohesion. He has served as a faculty member for the Levinson Institute, the American College of Physician Executives, the American Hospital Association, the Governance Institute, the Greeley Company, the Group Practice Improvement Network, and the American Medical Group Association. Dr. Lister lectures widely on topics related to governance, quality and leadership.
From 2002 – 2005, he served as Co-Director of the Healthcare Trustee Institute, a regional resource for Trustee education created by the Massachusetts Hospital Association.
He was one of the co-conveners of the National Quality Forum group that promulgated the Call to Responsibility for Hospital Boards, and was selected by the Leapfrog Group to serve as one of two Course Directors for their 2008 conference: The Future of Hospital Governance: Quality at the Leading Edge.
Initially trained as a psychiatrist at Duke University and Harvard, Dr. Lister taught at Harvard and Tufts Medical Schools, served as the Medical Director of a 65-bed psychiatric hospital. Dr. Lister was also a founding partner of a large group mental health practice now in its thirtieth year of operation.