Gretchen M. Dahlen

Gretchen Dahlen is the creator of Consumer Health Ratings, your guide to online healthcare ratings TM nationwide, and president of The Dahlen Company, LLC management consulting and seminars since 1993. A former hospital Chief Executive Officer and health system executive, Ms. Dahlen's work is dedicated to excellent healthcare that meets consumer expectations, while addressing economic realities. Ms. Dahlen emphasizes the revenue and growth side of the financial equation by helping leaders understand consumers' cost concerns and identify untapped market segments. She also challenges organizations to incorporate surprising findings—in words straight from the consumer—about what families want or expect by way of quality and patient safety. She has extensive experience with quality improvement concepts and techniques, and helps organizations position themselves for the future with meaningful strategic planning.

Launched in 2006, Consumer Health Ratings.com highlights the wide range of online quality comparisons publicly reported in the United States about health insurance plans and all types of healthcare providers. Consumer Health Ratings also tracks and facilitates price comparisons within the healthcare field, to help consumers interested in knowing average costs for healthcare services. In her presentations, Ms. Dahlen offers custom research from Consumer Health Ratings' database specific to any city, community and/or selected service lines, revealing prevalent consumer concerns in your areas of interest.

Ms. Dahlen brings more than 25 years of experience in health care administration spanning a variety of settings from acute care community and teaching hospitals, to ambulatory care, managed care, long-term care and home health, to the creation of a variety of new ventures such as Ginger AilTM (sick child day care) and HomeStretchTM your hospital-to-home connection. Prior to establishing The Dahlen Company, she served as President of a new ventures arm and Vice President for Marketing and Planning at a leading tertiary hospital system in Madison, WI and served as CEO for a suburban community hospital and long-term care system in Minnesota. She led clinics at a managed care system through Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and has served as Executive Director for a federally qualified health center in northern Wisconsin.

Ms. Dahlen is a recertified Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. She has been a multi-year Examiner for the Wisconsin Forward Award (state-level Baldrige program), state president of Wisconsin Women Entrepreneurs and served more than ten years on the WI Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Advisory Council. Ms. Dahlen received her master's degree in health services administration (MHSA) from The University of Michigan, and her bachelor's degree, cum laude, from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

Since 1993, The Dahlen Company has assisted service sector organizations improve their performance through strategic planning, quality and six sigma process improvement, and Board/Leadership retreats.