Private Practice Finance, Technology & Innovation Conference

Dr Nick Yim
Vice President AMA Queensland and conference host 

Dr Nick Yim is a General Practitioner in Hervey Bay and AMA Queensland’s Vice President and Council Chair. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners since 2017. Dr Yim has been a member of the AMA Queensland Council since 2016 and the AMA Queensland Board since 2020. He plays an active role in medical education for GP registrars and The University of Queensland Rural Clinical School. Locally, he is the immediate Past President of the Fraser Coast Local Medical Association. 

Dr Maria Boulton
AMA Queensland President

Dr Maria Boulton is an industry leader, GP specialist, business owner, media commentator and public speaker. With two decades’ experience in private practice and hospitals across Queensland, she drives state and national medical policy as President of AMA Queensland. Dr Boulton’s experiences growing up in El Salvador underpin her reputation as a compassionate advocate for doctors and patients. Immigrating to Australia in 1990, Dr Boulton completed her medical degree at The University of Queensland in 2002.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Dr Eleanor Chew OAM
AMA Queensland Board Chair 

Dr Eleanor Chew is a specialist general practitioner with extensive experience representing the role of primary care in the health services profession. A graduate of the University of Queensland, Dr Chew has over 35 years’ experience as a GP, working in a variety of practice settings across Australia. 

Prof Marek Kowalkiewicz
Chair in Digital Economy, Centre for Future Enterprise, QUT 

Professor Marek Kowalkiewicz is an academic and industry leader with extensive experience in conducting research, co-innovating with industry and university partners, and delivering innovative products to the market. He joined QUT from Silicon Valley, where he led innovation teams of one of the largest enterprise software vendors in the world. Marek manages a contemporary research portfolio and converts industry-driven opportunities into research outcomes of global relevance. Marek works with stakeholders in developing innovative ideas, ground-breaking business applications and high-impact new technologies. 

Fraser Wilson
Cloud Solution Architect with Microsoft 

Fraser Wilson is a passionate technologist with extensive experience across industries within public and private sector. He engages with customers at all levels within a diverse spectrum of organisations. For the last 5 years he has worked at Microsoft in security and compliance using his analytical and technical skill to develop and implement enabling solutions for his customers. Fraser recommends upgrading your Microsoft licence to Business Premium to access enterprise-grade security software Microsoft Defender to help protect your practice or small business. He also recommends you read up on the government’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Essential Eight mitigation strategies. 

Chris Smeed
CEO and Founder of Cubiko 

Chris Smeed is the co-founder and CEO of Brisbane-based software startup Cubiko, an innovative platform dedicated to helping general practices gain insights into their business. For the last seven years, Chris has seen first hand the opportunities that can be realised through harnessing the power of practice data, having worked previously as Director of Finance and Business Development at Inala Primary Care. Chris is a surveyor for AGPAL and a Director for a number of companies across both the not-for-profit and commercial start-up space. He’s renowned for his enthusiasm, high energy, commitment and proactive approach to making practice life healthier. 

Nicole Brown
Partner at Cutcher & Neale

Nicole is passionate about working with clients to assist in wealth creation and wealth accumulation strategies. Nicole takes the time to understand their goals and motivations to provide them with tailored advice. Working closely with clients to better understand their needs, she draws on years of experience to help clients achieve their goals. Nicole joined the firm in 2004, advising small to medium enterprises as well as specialising in advice for medical professionals. Nicole focuses on a holistic approach, which allows her to manage compliance needs for clients as well as personal risk, wealth management, superannuation and finance needs.  

Sav Angi
Partner at Cutcher & Neale

Working closely with his clients to get insight into their unique personal and financial circumstances, Sav Angi’s ultimate aim is to help his clients reach their goals. Sav enjoys working in partnership with clients to explain and implement wealth creation strategies such as effective tax structuring and debt reduction whilst not losing sight of the important objective of asset protection. Drawing on over 30 years of experience, Sav takes a holistic approach with his clients, considering the many aspects of clients’ finances including their family, practice/business arrangements, investment strategies and retirement planning (including superannuation). This experience has allowed him to gain a deep understanding of all matters relating to tax, superannuation and finance matters which enables him to be a trusted financial adviser for his clients.   

Joshua Holt
Credit Advisor with Cutcher & Neale

Josh Holt is a Credit Advisor within Cutcher & Neale’s Finance division and has over a decade of experience in banking, particularly lending, financial crime and software implementation. Josh holds a Certificate IV in Finance and Mortgage Broking and is currently undertaking a Diploma of Finance and Mortgage Broking Management. He has experience delivering specialised finance solutions to medical professionals through Cutcher & Neale Finance and its panel of lenders.  

Andrew Harrison
Director and Insurance Advisor with iMed Insurance

With two decades’ experience in general insurance, Andrew joined Cutcher & Neale in 2021, to form Cutcher & Neale General Insurance Pty Ltd.  Andrew specialises in insurance for medical practitioners and medical practices. He’s spent 12 years working with the medical defence organisations and within the medical business landscape.  Andrew regularly presents at various medical industry events across Australia to ensure the current and future doctors of Australia understand their personal and business insurances and the varying ways in which they protect their livelihood.  

Craig Hong
Director at Hillhouse Legal Partners 

Craig Hong leads Hillhouse’s specialist health and medical team, having already built a reputation for his pragmatic approach to commercial law, particularly in contract drafting and legal business advisory work. Craig and his team offer extensive industry specific knowledge and expertise to the entire medical profession. This includes supporting practitioners throughout all stages of their career lifecycle. We take a flexible approach to servicing our busy medical clients enabling them to focus on their core business of practising medicine and treating patients.

Dr Fiona Raciti
Founder and Director at Family Doctors Plus

Dr Fiona Raciti is passionate about delivering patient-centred, holistic medical care and she’s an avid advocate of owner- operated General Practice as the best way to achieve it. Helping the next generation of GPs to become independent, quality practitioners is particularly important to Fiona. She teaches GP registrars, engaging them fully in the day-to-day life of her practice and supporting them as they tackle the numerous issues and volatility currently facing the profession. Fiona is a General Practice Representative on the AMA Queensland Council. She also sits on the AMAQ Council of General Practice.  

Liana Peenze
Director of Bay Medical Specialists

Liana Peenze is a director of numerous companies and has over 15 years of experience working in the medical industry. She is the owner of Bay Medical Specialists. Liana started her career at the front desk before moving to practice management and starting her own medical services company. Her practical experience provides her with valuable insight and the ability to advise medical professionals on how to establish or improve their private practice. She works with medical professionals across Australia to develop systems and processes to streamline and increase practice efficiency. Liana’s current focus is on expanding her virtual practice management services to aid with current labour market challenges and improving financial services to specialists. Her talk today will focus on strategies to improve the financial performance of your practice and options to alleviate some of the challenges rural specialists face.  

Chris Haigh
Chief Information Security Officer at Mercury IT 

Chris Haigh is a cybersecurity expert and leader with over 20 years of experience in helping businesses manage their cybersecurity risk across Australia, Europe, the USA and South Africa. Chris is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and has held a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert in enterprise systems for 18 years. Chris has been training security professionals internationally since 1998. He is driven to help educate businesses of all sizes (including ASX companies) and individuals in practical ways to improve their cybersecurity posture. 

Martin O'Riordan
General Manager and Head of Cyber Security at Mercury IT

Martin O’Riordan’s interest in cybersecurity spans more than 25 years, with a focus on improving the cybersecurity posture for businesses and the broader community. He has a Master of Information Systems, qualifications in business and training and over 20 years’ experience in Executive roles, all of which have either included a significant information technology component or have been dual leadership/technology roles. Martin has also held senior positions on corporate and not-for-profit boards. Along with his expertise in information systems, technology and management, he has extensive experience across risk management, governance, corporations and industrial relations law, privacy and security.  

Elaine Shek
Specialist Pain Medicine Physician

Dr Elaine Shek has more than 25 years of experience in medicine, dedicating her career to managing patients with chronic pain. Her special interest areas are chronic pelvic pain, headaches, spinal pain, chronic shoulder, hip and knee pain. After graduating from The University of Queensland, Elaine obtained her Fellowship of General Practice in 2003 and Fellowship in Pain Medicine in 2022, training extensively at the Princess Alexandra Pain Clinic, QPain, and in a focused private headache clinic in Brisbane. Elaine approaches chronic pain in a holistic manner, using behavioural interventions, pharmacotherapies and procedural interventions such as radiofrequency neurotomies and neuromodulation. She works collaboratively with primary practitioners and allied health clinicians to maximise outcomes for patients. 

Julianne Manzie
AMA Queensland Workplace Relations Manager

Julianne Manzie is committed to supporting private practices with their commitment to patient experience through providing general and comprehensive advice on human resources and workplace-related matters. Prior to becoming AMA Queensland’s Workplace Relations Lead, Julianne has advised and partnered with organisations across a broad range of industries such as information technology, engineering, childcare and finance. She’s experienced in data analytics, people advisory, strategic and operations consulting, remuneration and reward, business strategy and transformation solution. 

Angela Lentakis
AMA Queensland Workplace Relations Advisor

Angela joined AMA Queensland in 2021 after graduating with a Bachelor of Business majoring in Human Resource Management. Prior to AMA Queensland she worked closely with small businesses, helping them create and implement HR processes into their workplace. She is currently working as part of the Workplace Relations team as a WR Advisor.