Her Story
About Janna
Janna Mullaney, COE, FASOA, is the Chief Operating Officer of EyeCare Services Partners (ESP), a leading organization focused on consolidating and supporting ophthalmology and optometry practices and ambulatory surgery centers across the United States. Based in the Washington DC–Baltimore area, she brings more than four decades of experience in healthcare operations, beginning her career as an ophthalmic technician and steadily advancing into senior leadership roles. Over the course of her tenure at ESP and its affiliated organizations, she has held progressively senior positions, including Executive Director of Operations, Regional Vice President of Operations, Senior Vice President of Operations, and ultimately Chief Operating Officer.
In her current role, Mullaney oversees clinical operations, talent recruitment, payer contracting, credentialing, and revenue cycle collaboration. She is widely recognized for her expertise in building strong operational systems that align clinical performance with financial and patient care outcomes. Her leadership approach emphasizes developing internal talent, strengthening communication across teams, and fostering organizational cultures that prioritize accountability, empathy, and continuous learning. She is also an advocate for translating strategy into actionable execution across complex healthcare environments.
Beyond her executive responsibilities, Mullaney is a Certified Ophthalmic Executive and Fellow of the American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators (FASOA), where she also previously served as President. She earned a Women in Leadership certificate from Cornell University in 2022 and has been recognized for her long-standing contributions to ophthalmic administration and healthcare leadership. She is also involved in professional education and industry initiatives, including supporting nonprofit efforts such as Operation Sight, which helps provide access to cataract surgery for patients in need.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Janna
01What do you attribute your success to?
Instilled in me at a very young age to work for the job you want and have always looked forward to a new opportunity something that could help continue to develop me and allow me to learn and try new things
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Dont ever let something thats going to last 15 minutes stop you from doing something thats going to change the rest of your life. You can get through a day, you can get through an hour, you can get through 15 minutes, and dont let that scare you
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Every one of these subspecialties in healthcare has a next step, a new place to be and the world of healthcare has turned into a business, so I always tell people to understand that in our world on the administrative side, numbers tell your story, but you have to make sure that your story still relates back to patient care. And I always tell women that, send the elevator back down. Like, if you've done well in your career, bring other women along with you that were still kind of a minority at the table, and its… we've got to make sure that we negotiate better for ourselves and that we are doing it for each other, and that we help each other and dont climb on each others backs to get there.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge has always been my lack of degree and helping people learn that I am… I can rise above that and that I have achieved what I need to achieve without it and Im at the pinnacle of where I have always wanted to be. That's always been a kind of a tough role for me. I made the decision at a very young age to just get into work had an opportunity and a great mentor, so I never had the opportunity to go back to school. So getting people to see beyond that to the person that I am and the talents that I bring, and my personal value proposition
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Always sort of looking around you to develop the people that are around you to make sure that your surrounded by people that are better than you, so that even those that work for you are teaching you something, and that your never above them, that you're always working alongside them and genuine
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