Forums

NCHC Forums bring together thought leaders, policymakers and stakeholders for timely public discussions about the future of America’s health system. The views expressed by the speakers are their own and do not reflect the positions of the National Coalition on Health Care or NCHC Action Fund.

All Upcoming 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

EPISODIC BUNDLED PAYMENT: A CRITICAL NEXT STEP IN HEALTH CARE PAYMENT REFORM

10:00 AM–11:30 AM ESTRayburn House Office Building, Room 2456

SPEAKERS

Blair Childs, Senior Vice President, Premier Healthcare Alliance: Premier: Improving Quality While Safely Reducing Costs

Eric Berger, President and CEO, Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare: Improving Clinical Outcomes and Program Efficiency in a Pro-Patient Manner

Topher Spiro, Vice President of Health Policy, Center for American Progress: Medicare’s Acute Care Episode Program

SUMMARY

Health care experts have concluded that every year billions of dollars are wasted and enormous patient harm can occur due to a lack of coordination among providers during and after a hospitalization. Today, Medicare is testing approaches that replace traditional fee-for-service payments with bundled payments that incentivize hospitals and post-acute providers to work together. In fact, we already know from previous Medicare demonstrations that episodic bundling does improve quality and drive down costs.

Is it time to move forward more aggressively with bundled payment in Medicare? The speakers at this event believe it is, and each has proposed dramatic expansions of this innovative approach to payment reform.

A PRESCRIPTION FOR SAVINGS: MEDICATION MANAGEMENT AND IMPROVED ADHERENCE

2:30 PM – 4:00 PMRussell Senate Office Building, Room 485

SPEAKERS

Anita Allemand, Vice President for Product Innovation and Management, CVS Caremark: A Prescription for Savings: Medication Management and Improved Adherence

John O’Brien, Vice President, Public Policy, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield: Focus on Medication Management

John McGlew, Assistant Director, Government Affairs, American College of Clinical Pharmacy: Medication Management and Improved Adherence

SUMMARY

What do five of the top ten most expensive medical conditions have in common? Heart disease and related conditions, depression and other mental disorders, asthma, COPD, diabetes and high blood pressure can all be managed with the right medical care and the help of the right medication. But our health system too often fails to get patients the right medicine at the right time. When that happens, patients suffer and health care costs skyrocket. Our speakers—representing a pharmacy innovation company, a leading regional health plan, and a pharmacy society—have tackled this challenge head-on. And the results have been better patient care at lower cost.

IMPROVING MEDICARE POST-ACUTE CARE TRANSFORMATION (IMPACT) THROUGH STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT DATA

12:00 PM – 1:30 PMDirksen Senate Office Building, Room G-11

SPEAKERS

David Gifford, Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs, American Health Care Association

Judith Tobin, Managing Director, Engelberg Center for Health Reform, Brookings Institution

SUMMARY

Join the National Coalition on Health Care and Long Term Quality Alliance for a briefing on the Improving Medicare’s Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act by Dr. David Gifford, MD, MPH, and Judith Tobin. Dr. Gifford is the Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at the American Health Care Association and Ms. Tobin is the Managing Director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings Institution.

The lack of comparable data across Medicare’s post-acute care settings complicates coordination of care and measurement of quality and outcomes. The IMPACT Act would lay the foundation for comparing quality across settings, improving discharge planning, and modernizing post-acute care payments by requiring post-acute providers to report standardized assessment data and quality measures. Dr. Gifford and Ms. Tobin will discuss ongoing efforts to measure and improve quality and the impact this simple legislation could have on future costs and quality of Medicare post-acute care.

HEALTH CARE QUALITY AND EFFICIENCY: THE ROLE OF CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT AND IMPROVED DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC ACCURACY

10:00 AM – 11:30 AMDirksen Senate Office Building, Room G-11

SPEAKERS

 Lewis Levy, Vice President of Corporate Medical Quality, Best Doctors

Ken Stuart, Administrative Manager, San Diego Electrical Health and Welfare and Pensions Trusts

George McGregor, President & CEO, McGregor & Associates Inc.

SUMMARY

With health care reform, there is an increased focus on the important role of consumer engagement in improving population health outcomes. Purchasers are focused on providing consumers with resources and tools that enhance clinical quality through the consideration of medical appropriateness to mitigate variations. Trends include the addition of services like Expert Remote Second Opinion and Treatment Decision Support. Behavioral economics approaches such as financial incentives tied to health coverage have been introduced to engage individuals in these programs. This forum will highlight some of the most promising approaches in this increasingly important area.