Ken Accardi, MBA, CEO
Ken was born with a leg issue and couldn't walk until he was 14. The medical attention and surgeries from his childhood led to a passion for healthcare. Ken was a Chief Information Officer at GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) and VP at Tele Atlas (sold to TomTom (AMS:TOM2)). Ken has also served as CTO for iGetBetter, MedNest, iHope Network and IkaSystems (sold to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan). Ken has been a keynote speaker at numerous national conferences (Medtrade, DecisionHealth, Connected Health), and a lecturer at Harvard, MIT, Bentely, Babson College and UMass. Ken also serves as a mentor for the MassChallenge accelerator. Ken has an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College, an MS in Computer Science from Virginia Tech, and a BS in Engineering from Bucknell.
Joel Merle-Smith, VP of Sales
Joel is a healthcare futurist with 20+ years of IT expertise and a strong home care pedigree. He was the leading sales person for CareAnyware, which was sold to Brightree (and subsequently sold to Resmed). Prior to that, Joel and Ken worked together at ViryaNet (sold to Verisae and subsequently to Accruent). Joel focuses on building strong personal relationships with individuals and also with markets. Specifically he makes it a point to be present in the geographies served by Ankota so that community needs (often driven by state Medicaid and Managed Care programs) are anticipated and met.
Kirstin Speaks, Director of Customer Support
Kirstin is the Director of Support and has been with Ankota since 2020. She brings 7+ years of Home Care Experience of operations, scheduling and caregiving. Kirstin also manages Customer Success and our Ankota Cares customers. She enjoys learning and talking to new upcoming Administrators about their business.
Sharon Dodge, Director of Implementation
With her past experience in scheduling, billing, and project management, Sharon has brought a broad-based perspective to Ankota's implementation processes. Sharon has been with Ankota since 2018. She has a keen eye for detail and loves documentation. She will never turn down chocolate.
Vijay Pandey, Director of Marketing
Vijay has 15 years of experience in Marketing and Sales and is an expert in the home care market, and specifically in the sale of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) solutions (a requirement from the 21st Century Cures Act for the prevention of fraud).
Since completing studies and achieving valedictorian rankings throughout his primary education, and advanced studies in marketing and computer science, Vijay has grown quickly in his career with positions of increasing responsibility in healthcare, health insurance, nutraceuticals, digital marketing, and of course home care.
