DIRECT DIFFERENCE TEAM

Margaret Ann Thibodeaux RN

Clinical Data Specialist &
Account Manager

Margaret Ann Thibodeaux is a seasoned healthcare quality and clinical data leader with more than 30 years of experience advancing regulatory compliance, clinical reporting integrity, and quality performance across complex healthcare environments. She brings deep expertise in hospital quality operations, CMS Core Measures, clinical data abstraction, case management, and healthcare informatics, with a practical focus on aligning accurate data with measurable improvement.

During more than 20 years with Ben Taub General Hospital, a Level I trauma center within Harris Health System, Margaret progressed from Surgical/Trauma ICU nursing leadership into quality management and Core Measures oversight. As a Core Measure Outcome Specialist, she led activities supporting CMS and Joint Commission requirements, including data validation, performance analysis, reporting, staff education, survey readiness, and quality improvement initiatives. Her work also included patient safety reviews, performance outlier analysis, and support for root-cause analysis and FMEA activities.

Margaret’s academic and professional credentials reinforce her cross-functional perspective on quality, data, and clinical operations. She holds a Master of Science in Health Informatics from Walden University, a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from Bellevue University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She also holds the Certified Case Manager (CCM) credential and Six Sigma Lean and Design for Six Sigma training.

At Direct Difference, Margaret serves as a Clinical Data Specialist and Account Manager, partnering with healthcare organizations to strengthen abstraction quality, promote reliable reporting, and support performance improvement across clinical quality programs. Her leadership perspective bridges clinical practice, quality measurement, technology, and data integrity, enabling partners to meet compliance expectations while improving the consistency and usefulness of their quality data.