Our Story
Transforming Healthcare Delivery by Improving Quality and Safety
Established in 2014, ATW Health Solutions has earned national recognition for transforming healthcare delivery systems from ordinary to best-in-class. ATW Health Solutions is a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) healthcare advisory and consulting firm based in Chicago, Illinois. With a focus on improving healthcare quality and patient safety, ATW Health Solutions has partnered with public and privately-held organizations and government agencies to transform healthcare delivery systems locally and nationally. Founded by healthcare transformation expert and visionary Dr. Knitasha Washington, ATW Health Solutions is a values organization driven by bold aims and goals to improve healthcare for all.
At ATW Health Solutions, our commitment to revolutionizing healthcare delivery is unwavering. We are dedicated to elevating quality and safety standards in healthcare services, ensuring comprehensive and compassionate care for everyone. Our vision propels us to be at the forefront of introducing innovative strategies that address today’s challenges while foreseeing the healthcare needs of tomorrow and establishing new benchmarks for healthcare excellence.
ATW Health Solutions is a small, minority-owned business led by researchers, healthcare subject-matter experts, and professionals. Our team brings our lived experiences that shape our understanding and recognition that everyone (patients, caregivers, families, and communities) has not been afforded the education and opportunities to participate in, understand, and achieve optimal health care and outcomes. We bring the voices least heard at the community level into clinical research, market research, social science research, and systems transformation work. We believe who and how we engage is vital to improving health equity.
Dr. Knitasha V. Washington, DHA, MHA, FACHE
FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, AND CEO
Dr. Knitasha Washington is a prominent figure in healthcare transformation, serving as a thought leader, advocate, researcher, performance improvement, and healthcare expert. She has led innovation, working with healthcare systems, government agencies, and policymaker groups to ensure patient-centered approaches are at the heart of healthcare redesign, quality, and safety improvement efforts. Dr. Washington founded and currently serves as President and CEO of ATW Health Solutions, a social impact healthcare advisory and research innovations firm based in Chicago, Illinois. She serves as a board member for Grand Prairie Behavioral Health Services and is a fellow of the Institute of Medicine and American College of Healthcare Executive. Shaped by her passion and belief in social justice, Knitasha has earned national recognition for her work in quality improvement, patient and community engagement, and patient safety.
Dr. Washington brings more than 30 years of national thought leadership that drives innovative solutions to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations. Her leadership has graced organizations as a board member for the National Quality Forum, National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE), MedStar System Patient and Family Council for Quality and Safety, and the Franciscan Health Missions and HR Committee. In 2009, she lost her father to a preventable medical error. This event dramatically inspired her urgency for quality improvement with an integrated approach to eliminating harm for vulnerable populations, thus inspiring the start of her health care consulting practice ATW Health Solutions, named in his legacy.
Knitasha is credited for being a key thought leader in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 's large-scale quality improvement efforts with the Partnership for Patients Campaign and Transforming Clinical Practice Initiatives. She served as the Co-Principal Investigator for the Community Engagement of Early Stroke Recognition and Immediate Action in Stroke CEERIAS and Principal Investigator for the 2CEERIAS research on stroke disparities during the height of COVID-19. Dr. Washington continues to advocate for greater diversity and minority inclusion in healthcare leadership through her longstanding commitment to improving quality and safety outcomes for all.
Our Mission
ATW Health Solutions works to improve healthcare systems for all people. We go beyond the framework of typical client engagements and deeply explore the relationship between today’s healthcare challenges, our client needs, and evidence-based solutions. Our healthcare quality and performance improvement approach fully integrates patients' and people's values, expectations, and beliefs into our transformative work.
Our Vision
Continually transform healthcare delivery and policy to improve the lives of all people.
Our Philosophy
Today’s health leaders require expert leaders and practitioners to develop effective plans to transform their organizations into one that exceeds the expectations of their patients and the populations served. From partnering with health systems to offering innovative performance improvement solutions to the government or advocating for increased healthcare access for patients and their families, we prioritize healthcare improvement.
With more than 20 years of collective experience, we are trusted thought leaders and partners to healthcare organizations, medical professionals, healthcare advocacy groups, and patients to bring about the kind of change that improves health outcomes by raising the standard of health care.
Our Strategic Approach to Transforming Healthcare
Our collaborative engagements with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on seminal initiatives like the Partnership for Patients (PfP) and the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI) have underscored our dedication to improving healthcare outcomes and leading large-scale improvement efforts. These initiatives have been crucial in refining patient safety, enhancing the quality of care across the board, and strategically integrating patient voices and programs that eliminate disparities at the helm of transformation.
Our role as subcontractors with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Action Networks has enabled us to partake in vital quality and safety improvement efforts that have advanced patient engagement and patient activation within the health system’s delivery. This collaboration has facilitated significant progress in identifying and implementing best practices and evidence-based interventions, advancing patient safety and care quality.
Our technical support work assisting multiple Quality Improvement Network-Quality Improvement Organizations (QIN-QIOs) underscores our commitment to bridging health disparities. Our approach to working with QIN-QIOs highlights our belief in equal healthcare access and quality for all Americans, regardless of economic or geographic status.
Over 30 Public Sector and Commercial Projects
ATW Health Solutions has partnered nationally and locally to improve healthcare. Our select body of recent work contributions include:
Large-Scale Quality Improvement Program Design and Implementation
2011 - 2019 CMC Partnership for Patients Hospital Improvement and Innovations Network (HIIN) 2015 - 2019 CMS Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI)
Patient and Family Engagement Program Development and Implementation
2019 - Present MIDS Person and Family Engagement (PFE)
Strategic Planning and Technical Assistance
Strategic Planning and Technical Assistance 2017 - 2018 University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
Research, Study Design and Evaluations
2018 - Patient First Study (Vizient)
2015 - 2018 CEERIAS REsearch (Northwestern)
Staffing and Workforce Development
2019 - Department of Defense Non-Clinical Case Management
Data Analytics, Data Reporting and Information Technology
2019 - Diagnostic Error (Iowa Healthcare Collaborative)
2019 - Patients First Benchmarking Study (Vizient)
Meet the ATW Health Solutions Team
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DR. KNITASHA WASHINGTON
Founder, President, and CEO
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DR. JENNIE-WARD ROBINSON
Vice President of Strategy, Health, and Science
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JOSEPH GASPERO
Executive in Residence and Vice President of Strategic Partnerships
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ANTONEA OWENS
Comptroller
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KELLIE GOODSON
Chief Experience and Engagement Officer
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DR. TANYA LORD
Chief Innovations Officer
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DR. BRITTNY BRATCHER-RASMUS
Program Manager
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DR. GERARD CASTRO
Managing Director of Research, Policy, & Quality Improvement
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DR. JACQUELINE BARON-LEE
Senior Research Strategist
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LESLIE CASTANEDA
Senior Research Strategist
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DR. PUNEET SAHNI
Chief Scientific Officer
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DESIREE COLLINS-BRADLEY
Patient Engagement Network Lead
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SHELIA BUCHANAN
Associate VP of Operations
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BHAVANA SURAPANENI
Clinical Informatics Specialist
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DR. INEZ WHITE-BROWN
Health Systems Transformation Strategist
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KNADYA WASHINGTON
Director of Operations
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STEPHEN HALE
Research & Equity Strategist
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ELLEN SCHULTZ
Health Policy Consultant
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ETHAN BRADLEY
Research Consultant
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SHARI WARD
Project Manager
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CARA PANNELL
Research Analyst
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HELENA HABTEMARIUM
Research Assistant
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DeIVORY HOWARD
Program Manager
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HANNA ZIENSTRA
Research Assistant
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TASHMIN ZAMAN
Research Assistant
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MANUEL CORTEZ
Healthcare Data Analyst
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ANDREW SLAVIN
Administrative Assistant
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TIFFANEE NEIGHBORS
Consultant
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HOWARD ROBINSON
Consultant
At ATW Health Solutions, we believe improvements in healthcare quality and patient safety are unattainable without patient engagement.
Interested in Joining the ATW Team?
At ATW Health Solutions, we're more than just a company - we're a community of dedicated professionals united by a shared mission: to transform healthcare through innovation, compassion, and excellence. If you're passionate about making a real difference in people's lives and shaping the future of healthcare with a focus on patient safety, quality improvement, and increased access for all Americans we invite you to join us on our journey.