FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2008
GOT HEALTH CARE QUALITY? OBAMA SEEKS IT; REINHART'S SYMPOSIUM FOR HEALTH CARE HAS IT.
MILWAUKEE – According to President-elect Barack Obama, a key component of his health care plan will be to go beyond short-term fixes and to address the main cost drivers in health care to stabilize unsustainable rising costs. The Obama plan includes investing in health system changes to improve quality and efficiency.
Health care quality will be the theme of the day at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren's upcoming "2008 Health System Symposium: The Strategy of Quality" on Wednesday, November 19.
With leadership from firm Shareholders Tracey L. Klein and Heather L. Fields, Reinhart recruited national experts and a distinguished group of panelists to participate in this full-day event for health system board members, executives and medical staff leaders at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Dr. Nick Turkal, president and CEO of Aurora Health Care, a not-for-profit Wisconsin health care provider and a national leader in efforts to improve the quality of health care, will be a speaker at the Nov. 19 Symposium. Dr. Turkal will share his insights on pay-for-performance (P4P) and patient safety based on Aurora Health Care's participation in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Premier healthcare alliance Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (HQID) P4P project. Aurora was the top performing healthcare system based on the number of awards attained in third year of the HQID project.
“Through the HQID project, Aurora has been able to further improve our processes to enable us to continue offering the communities we serve the highest quality care possible,” Dr. Turkal said. “We are committed to achieving top performance in all our quality measures and through this project have made great strides that has helped Aurora to be the top performing health system in the nation.”
Premier Senior VP of Public Affairs Blair Childs will also discuss lessons learned from the HQID project. "We have shown through the HQID project that collaboration and transparency, combined with financial incentives, accelerates quality improvements in healthcare,” Mr. Childs said. “It’s a win-win-win for patients, hospitals and our health care system.”
Serving more than 2,000 hospitals and 53,000 other health care sites nationwide, Premier is the largest health care alliance in the United States dedicated to improving patient outcomes while safely reducing the cost of care.
Ms. Klein, who will be speaking with Ms. Fields on "Quality and a Director's Fiduciary Duties: The Legal Obligation to Oversee Quality," notes the importance of bringing leading health care executives together to share industry insights and learn about quality. "The Symposium will focus on cutting-edge quality initiatives used by leading regional health care systems to ensure that care is delivered consistently, safely and cost effectively." She continues, "The quality of a health care organization's patient care, and the safety of its patients, has a broad impact on the organization's profitability and business success. We organized this Symposium because the information that will be presented will be extremely valuable to the future vitality of our clients, the community, and others in the ever evolving health care industry."
Ms. Fields concurs, "A health care organization's financial health depends heavily on the quality of care it provides and the concern it shows to patient safety. Much of that depends on the organization's Board of Directors. Presenters at Reinhart's Symposium will further explore the Board's role in overseeing quality."
Featured speakers include:
Blair Childs, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs – Premier Inc., Washington, D.C.; Nick Turkal, MD, President/CEO - Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee, WI; Lee Sacks, MD, Executive VP/CMO - Advocate Health Care, Oakbrook, IL; Jeffrey Thompson, MD, CEO - Gundersen Lutheran Health System, La Crosse, WI; Christopher Queram, President/CEO - Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality, Madison, WI; Grace-Marie Turner, President - GALEN Institute, Alexandria, VA; Kathryn Correia, Senior VP - ThedaCare, Appleton, WI; Kathi Siefert, Trustee - ThedaCare, Appleton, WI; Kirk Stapleton, Senior VP Network Planning, UnitedHealthcare, Minneapolis, MN; Pat Merryweather-Arges, Senior VP - Illinois Hospital Association, Naperville, IL; Dana Richardson, VP Quality Initiatives Wisconsin Hospital Association, Madison, WI; Tracey Klein and Heather Fields, Shareholders - Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.
Featured panelists include:
Mark Frey, Executive VP, Alexian Brothers Health System, Arlington Heights, IL; Michael Laird, President, St. Joseph's Hospital, West Bend, WI; Mark Lodes, MD, CMO, Clinical Ventures Group, Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI; Kevin Poorten, President/CEO, KishHealth System, DeKalb, IL; Theodore Praxel, MD, Medical Director, QI and Care Management, Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, WI; Geoffrey Priest, MD, CMO, Meriter Hospital, Madison, WI
For a complete agenda, please visit: http://www.reinhartlaw.com/WebAdmin/events/580.html
Registration Information
Those wishing to register for this event, or having questions, should contact Theresa Brazale, Events Specialist, directly at 414-298-8652 or toll-free at 800-553-6215. Please register by Wednesday, November 12, 2008.
Corporate Tables for eight people are $1,000 and include recognition and logo placement in the event program and corporate name signage for the table. Individual Registration is $75. Registration for both the corporate tables and the individuals include course materials, all meals as part of the program, and a networking reception.
Event Sponsors:
BSA LifeStructures
www.bsalifestructures.com
Irgens Health Care Facilities Group
www.irgensllc.com
Milliman
www.milliman.com
Pickering & Associates, LLC
RSM McGladrey
www.rsmmcgladrey.com
About Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c.
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. is a full-service, business-oriented law firm with offices in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Madison, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois. With more than 200 lawyers, the firm serves clients throughout the U.S. and internationally with a combination of legal intelligence, industry understanding and superior client service. Our health care and other attorneys focus on developing strategic partnerships with clients. This allows us to arrive at more tailored and value-added solutions and to help identify new business opportunities for our clients.
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Kirk Kusick Robyn Radomski
Marketing Manager Chief Marketing Officer
1000 North Water 1000 North Water
Milwaukee, WI 53202 Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: 414-298-8437 Phone: 414-298-8774
kkusick@reinhartlaw.com rradomski@reinhartlaw.com