ECRI Institute's 19th Annual Conference to Explore "Systemness" within Healthcare Delivery

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Sept. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. healthcare industry has undergone significant organizational changes in the last decade. The nation is rapidly aggregating into larger and more complex health systems that are vertically and horizontally integrated. The trend is being driven by both business conditions and new government policies. The current climate results in collaborations among entities that historically have not worked together. Some of these partnerships will likely face extraordinary challenges.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110112/DC29081LOGO)

ECRI Institute's 19th Annual Conference on the Use of Evidence in Policy and Practice, Creating "Systemness" within Healthcare Delivery: Can Success be Proven and Shared?, brings together 40 nationally recognized experts to discuss how to determine which elements of more mature healthcare systems result in the best clinical outcomes, and whether those successes can be transferred to smaller, newer, or less integrated systems. The free public service conference will be held November 28-29, 2012, in Washington, DC, at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Conference Center at L'Enfant Plaza; advance registration is required as space is limited.

"Linking management systems and clinical outcomes has not been previously addressed in a single conference that is designed for multiple stakeholders," says ECRI Institute President and CEO Jeffrey C. Lerner, PhD. "This conference will be an important step towards encouraging healthcare systems to evaluate what is working for them and what is working for others by examining the evidence."

Nearly 40 distinguished speakers are confirmed, including Alide Chase, Senior VP, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan; John Colmers, VP, Health Care Transformation and Strategic Planning, Johns Hopkins Health System; Patrick Conway,  MD, MSc, CMO, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief, Health Affairs; George C. Halvorson, Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Permanente; Joel Kupersmith, MD, Chief Research and Development Officer, Veterans Health Administration; Sarah Krevans, MBA, MPH, COO, Sutter Health; Warren Lockette, MD, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Clinical and Program Policy; Chief Medical Officer, TRICARE Management Activity, U.S. Department of Defense; Ralph Muller, CEO, University of Pennsylvania Health System; Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, President, Clinical and Physician Services Group and Chief Medical Officer, HCA, Inc.; Robert A. Petzel, MD, Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs; Joe V. Selby, MD, MPH, Executive Director, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute; Paul C. Tang, MD, MS, Vice President, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer, Palo Alto Medical Foundation; Margaret VanAmringe, MHS, VP for Public Policy and Government Relations, The Joint Commission; and Gail Wilensky, PhD, John M. Olin Senior Fellow, Project Hope.

The agenda includes eleven sessions that move progressively from theme to theme providing participants with a coherent understanding of many of the most crucial elements in the movement toward systemness. Session topics span a range of related issues, including financial incentives, transformation centers, electronic health records, the changing locus of care, federal and state incentives, evidence-based business management, regulatory and legal issues affecting systems, and more.  Numerous question-and-answer sessions give attendees ample opportunity to participate in the deliberations.  

Senior leaders from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, Health Affairs, the Milbank Memorial Fund, and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania played key roles in planning the program intended for multiple healthcare constituencies, including payers and providers, policymakers, researchers, industry, government regulators, and consumer groups.

ECRI Institute is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.  Details on awarded credits, including nursing and legal credits, will be posted to the conference site.

There is no fee to attend this program, but space is limited to 350 attendees and early registration is strongly recommended. ECRI Institute will offer live updates from the event on Twitter at #EIConf12. Press credentials are available for those wishing to cover the conference or interview presenters. For conference details and to register, visit www.ecri.org/2012conf.

For additional information, contact ECRI Institute by e-mail at [email protected], call Laurie Menyo, Director of Public Relations at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5310, or write to 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for nearly 45 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated as an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO is listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

SOURCE ECRI Institute