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Nicola Truppin

Nicola B. Truppin, JD

Email:  info@themediationgroup.org
Health care

Nicola B. Truppin joined The Mediation Group as Coordinator of Health Care Projects in 2005. In addition to her work at TMG, Nicola is the founder and principal of Health Navigator Partners, LLC, based in Boston, a practice dedicated to helping patients navigate the complex health care system. Nicola trained in Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the Harvard School of Public Health and was the administrator for Harvard Medical School clinical courses at Massachusetts General Hospital for three years and for the Clinical Investigator Training Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for four years.  Until May 2005, she served as Manager of Member/Provider Appeals & Grievances at Tufts Health Plan, where she and her staff handled member and provider coverage disputes and complaints.  She taught the appeals resolution process to medical residents at Tufts Health Care Institute’s annual managed care seminar. 

As a health care attorney, Nicola's practice was devoted exclusively to negotiating with clinical care teams about medication treatment plans for legally incompetent patients.  Her current work involves collaborative health care problem solving with patients, providers and employers.

Nicola has been a consultant on various projects at the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, an organization dedicated to strengthening the relationship between patients and caregivers. Most recently, she coordinated a unique series of Schwartz Center Rounds, for caregivers of those injured in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Nicola has also been a consultant at the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety, a Massachusetts state agency that supports providers, patients and policymakers working together to advance the safety and quality of health care.

 Nicola is co-author of the following:

  1. Chapter: “Using the Law to Strengthen the Patient’s Voice” in Patient Advocacy for Health Care Quality: Strategies for Achieving Patient-Centered Care. Eds. Earp, French, Gilkey. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett, 2008.

  2. Executive Report: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine Expert Panel on immediate implant-based breast reconstruction following mastectomy for cancer: executive summary, June 2011. Lee BT, Duggan MM, Keenan MT, Kamatkar S, Quinlan RM, Hergrueter CA, Hertl MC, Shin JH, Truppin NB, Chun YS; Massachusetts BORIM Expert Panel on Immediate Implant-Based Breast Reconstruction following Mastectomy for Cancer. J Am Coll Surg. 2011 Dec;213(6):800-5. Epub 2011 Sep 29.

  3. Article: Patient Voices in Clinical Practice Guideline Development. David E. Matz, Allen Zerkin, Amy Rebecca Gay, Nicola Truppin. Dispute Resolution Magazine, Vol. 20. No. 4. Summer 2014

  4. Betsy Lehman Center Expert Panel Report on Advancing Patient Safety in Cataract Surgery, May 2016.

Nicola was a 5-year member and a 2-year President of the Consumer Health Quality Council of Health Care for All, a Massachusetts health advocacy group and is currently part of the volunteer leadership team for HCFA that convenes the annual statewide conference for Patient Family Advisor Committee (PFAC) members from Massachusetts hospitals.  She was the patient representative for 3 years on the Quality and Patient Safety Committee of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.  At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, she was a 7-year member and a 4-year Co-Chair of the Ethics Advisory Committee and a 4-year member of the Medication Safety Committee, the Drug Shortage Task Force and the hospital-wide Patient Family Advisory Committee. Currently at the BIDMC, she serves on the Medication Safety Committee, the Drug Shortage Task Force and conducts Patient Experience Rounds on inpatient floors.

Nicola received an A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.