Mr. Koziol works as a consultant for SM, specializing in Medicare & Medicaid issues, as well as other areas of health care compliance. Mr. Koziol has over 30 years of supervisory management experience with the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; with the Public Health Service / National Institutes of Health; and most recently with the Medicare Peer Review Organization (QIO) for Oregon. Mr. Koziol served as Deputy Regional Administrator for the Health Care Financing Administration's Seattle Regional Office, which is responsible for administering the Medicare and Medicaid programs in the Pacific Northwest totaling $15 billion annually. In this capacity, through a staff of 110 professionals, he assured that the region's Medicare and Medicaid providers fully complied with all of the federal regulations and contractual requirements that governed their activities. His staff included physicians, accountants, health care professionals, and policy analysts. Mr. Koziol worked most closely with the region's Medicare contractors, Medicaid state agencies, and Medicare managed care organizations, and the state's Survey and Certification agencies, and as such he has a good working knowledge of these organizations. Mr. Koziol also managed HCFA/CMS's regional Office of Program Integrity for several years, and supervised 22 auditors who were responsible for assuring that Medicare and Medicaid providers complied with federal regulations and requirements governing the control of fraud, abuse and waste in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In doing so, he worked closely with the HHS Office of the Inspector General, and with other investigative agencies, as appropriate. Prior to his work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mr. Koziol served as Grants and Contracts manager for the U.S. Public Health Service's (PHS) Seattle Region. In this capacity, he was responsible for awarding all grants and subsequently assuring that they complied with all Federal requirements. As such, he has an understanding and working knowledge of PHS and NIH grants and contracts requirements. Most recently, Mr. Koziol served as Vice President of Operations for the Oregon Medicare Professional Review Organization (OMPRO), whose principal purpose is to substantially improve the medical care provided by Oregon's hospitals to their Medicare patients. In this capacity, he managed the organization's federal and state contracts from design/bid through to completion and reporting, and was ultimately responsible for their adherence to all applicable federal and state regulations and requirements. Specifically, he worked with the senior management of Oregon's hospitals and managed care organizations and in close partnership with the Oregon Medical Association, the Oregon Hospital Association, and the Oregon Medicaid agency. Together, they achieved substantial improvements in the quality of hospital care provided to Oregon's Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.