2026 AKAMSP Annual Educational Conference Registration & Speakers
Brian Wilson
Deputy Chief of Operations APD
Keynote Speaker
David Horowitz
National Practitioner Data Bank
Valerie Kamara
National Practitioner Data Bank
Debbie Kesslering, CPCS, CPMSM
Debbie Kesselring, CPCS, CPMSM is the Director of Medical Staff Services at SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium in SouthEast Alaska. In her role, she oversees credentialing/privileging, ensures compliance with bylaws, accreditation standards, regulatory entities, and legal requirements pertaining, and is the executive associate to the Chief of Staff. She has served as a President of the Alaska Association of Medical Staff Professionals, NAMSS Director at Large (DAL), Chair for the NAMSS Leadership Development Work Group, and is currently a member of the Subject Matter Expert Committee.
Erin L. Muellenberg, JD, CPCS, CPMSM
Erin Muellenberg brings a strong skillset to her exclusive practice of medical staff law. As a former director of medical staff services in a large community-based hospital, she is intimately familiar with the daily operations of the medical staff organization and its governance process. Erin’s practice focuses on advising hospitals, health systems, critical access hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and medical groups on the regulatory, compliance, and practical requirements of credentialing, peer review, disciplinary matters and for interfacing the medical staff and allied health professional staff with hospital operations.
Melissa Walters, MHA, FMSP, CPMSM, CPCS
Melissa has over thirty years experience in the healthcare field as it relates to credentialing, privileging, physician contracting, compliance, and the self-governed Medical Staff. Melissa’s expertise is in establishing centralized credentialing departments for large academic and community health systems while meeting various accreditation standards (i.e. TJC, HFAP and NCQA) and facility specific Bylaws, Rules and Regulations. Melissa is accomplished in helping hospitals, healthcare systems, and internal Centralized Credentialing Offices cope with an ever changing industry and regulatory environment as an advocate for patient safety. Her projects often involve changes in operations necessary to meet accreditation and licensing standards, as well as to improve productivity and operational efficiency.
Melissa has served in various leadership positions on State and National Associations and was the President of the National Association Medical Staff Services (NAMSS) in 2013. She recently served as NAMSS as the Chair, Leadership Development Workgroup (2018 – March 2020) and is now serving NAMSS in a faculty position. Melissa often lends her expertise to state and national educational providers and professional organizations by speaking at meetings and serving on a variety of advisory boards.
Melissa holds a Master’s in Health Administration, Bachelor’s in Justice Studies and certification in Medical Services Management (CPMSM) and Provider Credentialing Specialist (CPCS). Melissa was inducted as a NAMSS Fellow in September 2018.
Monica Martin, MA, CPCS
NAMSS Director at Large (California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska)
Monica Martin is currently the Administrator of Central Nephrology Clinic, PLLC. She has over twenty-five years of experience in the Medical Services Profession. Originally from Texas, she has resided in the Jackson, MS Metropolitan area since 2017. She earned her B.S. in Speech Communication from the University of Texas at Austin and a M.A. in Organizational Management form the University of Phoenix. She received her CPCS Certification in 2009.
Ms. Martin is currently Director At Large for NAMSS and a former Board member with the Mississippi Association of Medical Staff Services and Texas Society of Medical Services Specialists. In addition, she served as an officer with the Greater Houston Society of Medical Services Specialists. In 2019, she received the NAMSS Joan Covell Carpenter Award for her published article “Taking the Leap” and has written subsequent articles “Experiencing the 2021 NAMSS State Leadership Conference” and “Still Taking the Leap: Growing as an MSP Leader”. She has presented at NAMSS, MAMSS and GHMSS. Ms. Martin is a member of True Vine Missionary Baptist Church in Brandon, MS, where she volunteers on the Intake Team and is leader of the Hospitality Ministry. She has been married to Fulton for 31 years and they are the parents of Callie who resides in Houston, TX.
Pauline Tise, CPCS, CPMSM
Pauline Tise is the Director of Credentialing and Privileging at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), where she leads the Medical Staff Office team. In this role, she oversees the credentialing process, and the development of policies and procedures related to Medical Staff to ensure compliance with accreditation standards set by the Joint Commission, NCQA, CMS, and AAAHC. Pauline also supports Medical Staff leadership at ANMC, YKHC, Maniilaq Hospitals, and several other regional clinics across Alaska. Pauline has served on the Conference Committee at NAMSS for the past two years.
MD-Staff Alaska Training Speakers
Terrani Giesbret, PMP
VP, Customer Success with MD-Staff
I'm a software professional with a passion for turning complex project visions into real, measurable results. With deep experience across Waterfall, Scrum, and Agile methodologies, I specialize in bridging the gap between strategy and execution - ensuring that client goals aren’t just met, but exceeded. I thrive in dynamic environments where Customer Success, thoughtful Implementation, and continuous improvement go hand-in-hand.
Whitney Votaw
VP, Customer Support with MD-Staff
Systems-focused operations leader with 13 years of experience building and scaling Customer Support organizations. As VP of Customer Support at ASM, I designed the structures and workflows that enabled 6–10x customer growth while maintaining 97%+ CSAT with modest team expansion. I specialize in translating complexity into durable systems that empower people and support long-term organizational resilience.