Symposium Offers Physicians Tools, Strategies for Population Health Management in New Care Delivery Models

Physicians, practice group leaders will take away ready-to-go resources for managing patient health and wellness in accountable care models at Care Continuum Alliance San Francisco conference

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As physicians nationwide prepare for new models of accountable care that emphasize whole patient health and wellness, a Care Continuum Alliance symposium in September will demonstrate the intersection of population health management and accountable care and offer tools and resources to support providers as they move toward these new delivery models.

The symposium is part of the Care Continuum Alliance’s learning series, called "Realizing the Potential: Improving Population Health in Accountable Care." The series convenes nationally recognized thought leaders to explore the core activities of population health management—assess and stratify patient populations, deliver health and wellness solutions and measure and report health outcomes. "Realizing the Potential" will culminate in two half-day symposium sessions Sept. 6 and 7 immediately preceding the Care Continuum Alliance annual meeting, The Forum 11, in San Francisco.

The Care Continuum Alliance, a 200-member industry association for wellness, prevention and health management, announced today that Paul Wallace, MD, senior vice president and director of The Lewin Group’s Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research and former health and productivity management programs medical director for Kaiser Permanente’s national Permanente Federation, will chair the symposium. Dr. Wallace, a well-known expert in performance improvement and measurement, population-based care and disease management, also serves on advisory committees for the Institute of Medicine. He has served previously on the National Advisory Committee for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the federal Medical Coverage Advisory Committee and the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Committee on Performance Measurement.

"Dr. Wallace’s keen insight into elements of accountable care and his extensive experience with quality measurement, effectiveness research and population health offer valuable thought leadership to physicians and practice leaders across the nation," said Care Continuum Alliance President and CEO Tracey Moorhead. Other speakers at the conference include Margaret O’Kane, president, National Committee for Quality Assurance; Betsy L. Thompson, MD, DrPH, chief medical officer, CMS Region IX; Ed Murphy, MD, advisor, TowerBrook Capital Partners LP, past CEO, Carilion Clinic and member, NCQA ACO Task Force; Jason Rose, vice president, care management products, MedAssurant, Inc.; and Terry McGeeney, MD, MBA, FAAFP, president and CEO, TransforMED.

"Accountable care models are still in their infancy, but hold the promise of better care for individuals, better health for the patient population served and reduced overall costs," Dr. Wallace said. "The tools and resources to achieve the promise are more familiar to employers and other payers who have focused on population health for decades than they are to most physicians. This symposium will show how population health’s long experience in data analytics, data integration and health management strategies can help physicians succeed under accountable care."

Symposium registration and more information are available at www.carecontinuum.org/theforum11/program_AC_symposium.html. Session topics for the event are:

• Federal Policy Initiatives toward Accountable Care
• Evolving Care Models: Medical Centers as Population Health Managers
• Outlook for Physician-led Care Models
• Assessment Tools—What to Look for; What to Expect
• Risk Management—Programs that Improve Population Health
• Using Data to Improve Patient Health, Population Health
• Collaborative Case Studies

The Symposium follows two webinars to launch the series, including a July 28, 2011, presentation, "Realizing the Potential: Assessment and Stratification Tools for Accountable Care Populations"; and an Aug. 9, 2011, session titled, "Provider Strategies for Population Health in Accountable Care: Implementing Solutions, Measuring & Reporting." Complete speaker and registration information about the webinars is available at www.carecontinuum.org/events_AC_series.asp.

Earlier this year, the Care Continuum Alliance published a toolkit on population health management resources for accountable care organizations—its initial offering in the broader initiative now continuing with the learning series. The toolkit is available as a free download from the Care Continuum Alliance website, www.carecontinuum.org.

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About the Care Continuum Alliance
The Care Continuum Alliance represents more than 200 organizations and individuals and aligns all stakeholders along the continuum of care toward improving the health of populations. Through advocacy, research and education, The Care Continuum Alliance advances population-based strategies to improve care quality and value and to reduce preventable costs and improve quality of life for individuals with and at risk of chronic conditions. Learn more at http://www.carecontinuum.org.