Valerie O’Brien is the Director of Business Development at RelateCare, where she is responsible for driving new customer acquisition, growth, optimising partnerships, and ensuring partner satisfaction. RelateCare is an Irish-American healthcare communications consultancy and smartsourcing organisation that provides patient access, revenue cycle, and patient engagement solutions to leading healthcare organisations. 

Valerie joined the organisation in 2015 and has played a key role in the company’s expansion across the US and Republic of Ireland markets. Her efforts have supported strategic initiatives related to patient access transformation and smartsourcing, all aimed at enhancing the patient experience and their journey. 

Valerie holds a first-class honours bachelor’s degree in International Business from Waterford Institute of Technology (now South East Technological University), where she was named School of Business Student of the Year. She also earned an MBA (Global) with distinction in Entrepreneurship and Global Consultancy Practice from the University of Aberdeen, with her research focusing on the evolving perceptions and motivations behind smartsourcing administrative services in the healthcare industry. 

In recent years, Valerie has furthered her expertise through study with the National Association of Healthcare Access Management and has contributed to their strategic project committee board. 

Outside of her academic and professional work, Valerie is an alumna of the Washington Ireland Programme, a leadership and skills-development platform aimed at supporting and developing leaders who are committed to building a future of peace and prosperity for Northern Ireland and Ireland. 

Valerie also has a background in sports, having been a member of the Waterford Senior Camogie panel, contributing to the team’s All-Ireland Intermediate Championship and League wins in 2015, helping gain promotion to the senior ranks. She also received a Waterford Institute of Technology Sports Scholarship and continues to volunteer and coach with her local club.