Cherilyn G. Murer, J.D., C.R.A., Founder, President and CEO of the Murer Group, has long been an active voice in the advancement of quality, cost-effective health care. Ms. Murer received a Juris Doctor degree with honors from Northern Illinois University and has coupled her background in law with her previous operational experience as the Director of Rehabilitation Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Murer is a sought after lecturer and educator whose focus is on assisting her clients' navigation through the complex regulatory, strategic and financial issues facing healthcare today.
In May 2005 Ms. Murer received a gubernatorial appointment, with Senate confirmation, to a six-year term on the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees. Ms. Murer has served as Chairman of the Board of this State University with over 26,000 students. In January of 2011, Illinois Governor Quinn reappointed Ms. Murer to the NIU Board of Trustees for another six-year term, and in September 2011 Ms. Murer was once again reelected as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Ms. Murer and her husband, Michael, have provided a philanthropic gift to NIU to establish the Murer Initiative as a forum for scholarly discussion, policy analysis and cross-disciplinary integration of medicine, law, technology and finance. In September 2007, Ms Murer was selected by the University to present the first Annual Executive Speaker Series Presentation, “Conversation with a CEO”, co-sponsored by NIU College of Engineering and College of Business. In 2002 Ms. Murer was appointed to the Northern Illinois University Law School’s prestigious Board of Visitors and was honored with its 2003 College of Law Distinguished Alumni Award. Since 2003, Ms. Murer has held an appointment to the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Law in the Department of Family Medicine.
Coinciding with the firm’s 25th anniversary (February 2010), Ms. Murer was honored by both the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northern Illinois University. In February 2010, she was inducted into the prestigious Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. In April she received the 2010 Northern Illinois University Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award, the highest award given by the NIU Alumni Association to one individual each year who has achieved national, regional or statewide prominence. Then, on September 24, 2011, Ms. Murer was honored by Lewis University with its Distinguished Alumni Award recognizing her professional achievement.
Ms. Murer was pleased to accept an invitation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) to participate in an International Advisory Committee on the development of the first set of International Stroke Rehabilitation Standards. Ms. Murer has presented the keynote address at the Annual Case Management Society of America Convention in Anaheim, California. As a featured speaker, she highlighted the critical role of case management in a reformed health care environment. Ms. Murer has been appointed by CARF to its International Advisory Committee to promote globalization of accreditation standards.
Ms. Murer has co-authored with Lyndean Lenhoff Brick and Michael A. Murer four books published by McGraw-Hill. The Case Management Sourcebook is a 300-page text that serves as a guide to designing and implementing a centralized case management system. A second book, published by McGraw Hill and co-published by HFMA, entitled Post Acute Care Reimbursement Manual-A Financial and Legal Guide, addressed the financial impact to post acute venues pre and post BBA. A third book, Compliance Audits and Plans for Healthcare, was one of the first books to address complex heath care compliance issues. A fourth book, Medical Records Management, is an 800 page complete guide to disclosure, retention and technology. A fifth book was published in April of 2003 by Commerce Clearing House, Inc. (CCH), entitled Understanding Provider-Based Status. A sixth book, The Case Management Workbook: A Road Map to an Effective Integrated Health System, was sent to Murer’s new publisher, CRC Press – a Taylor & Francis Group, and released March 22, 2011.
As commencement speaker at her alma mater, Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, Ms. Murer was awarded the Mother Gerard Phelan Gold Medal; previous recipients have included Nancy Reagan, the Honorable Clare Boothe Luce, Elinor Guggenheimer, and past U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Antonia Novello. Ms. Murer was also honored by American Express; recognized for her leadership and outstanding accomplishments. American Express described Ms. Murer as “a health care pioneer who has been a leader in helping health care providers find cost effective procedures without reducing the quality of care.”
In March of 2005, Ms. Murer was featured on the cover of Modern Healthcare Magazine with a lead story on the need for national standardization of Medicare regulations. Ms. Murer has been a columnist for Rehab Management Magazine since 1993. Her column “Issues and Trends” focuses on timely and sometimes controversial subjects impacting the delivery of health care. In April of 2011, Ms. Murer was invited to present the 18th annual Francis X. Riley Lecture of Professionalism. She joined the ranks of such notable previous lecturers as Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride, and the Honorable Abner J. Mikva. Cherilyn and Michael Murer subsequently funded a lecture series to further integrate a practical approach to professionalism and ethics into the law school curriculum.
Ms. Murer has developed specialized expertise in proton therapy serving as Chair of the Northern Illinois Proton Therapy and Research Center; a project in conjunction with Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory. Her concern for the future direction of health care within our country prompted her to accept an appointment by Vice President George Bush to serve as National Co-Chair, Disability Coalition. She was subsequently appointed as President Bush’s National Co-Chair “Access to Opportunity Committee”.