URAC

1:45 pm – 3:00 pm

Opening Keynote Address

Play Video

Empowering the Health Care Consumer: A Patient’s Experience
Linda Ellerbee, Award-Winning Journalist/Television Producer

Linda kicks-off this inaugural Best Practices Conference by sharing personal accounts of her experiences with breast cancer – from doing research, asking questions and taking part in making decisions about her own health care as an empowered consumer, to the determination and spirit that make her a survivor for over 15-years.

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm

General Session Panel Discussion

Play Video

Care Coordination, Patient Safety and Consumer Decision Support: Pillars for Consumer Empowerment and Protection

William R. Braithwaite, MD, PhD, Health Information Policy Consultant

Judith A. Cahill, Executive Director, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy

Connie Commander, RN, BS, President, Commander's Premier Consulting Corporation and Immediate Past President, Case Management Society of America

Laurel Pickering, Executive Director, New York Business Group on Health

Joshua Seidman, PhD, President, Center for Information Therapy

Moderator: Katherine Herring Capps, President, Health2 Resources and URAC's Media Relations

Play Video

9:00 am - 10:15 am

Keynote Address

Play Video

Michael F. Roizen, MD, Bestselling Author/Co-Founder & Chairman, RealAge, Inc.

Based on his recent handbook, You: The Smart Patient which shows consumers how to navigate through the health care system and become smart patients by taking control of their own health care, Dr. Roizen addresses considerations for health care providers in meeting the needs of empowered health care consumers.

10:45 am – 12:00 pm

General Session Panel Presentation

Play Video

Reduction in Regional Variation of X-ray Utilization, American Specialty Health

Jaynie Bjornaraa, MPH, MS, PT - Associate Director
R. Douglas Metz, DC - Chief Health Services Officer
Craig Nelson, MS, DC - Director, Health Services

A set of enterprise-wide initiatives were initiated to address the problem of over-utilization of spinal radiographs. These initiatives have been successful in reducing the overall rate of utilization, in reducing regional variation in utilization, and have not resulted in any diminution of patient satisfaction.

INSPIRIS CarePlus Nurse Practitioner-Led Care, INSPIRIS and Mercy Care Plan of Arizona

J Marvin McBride, MD, MBA -Chief Medical Officer

The need for coordinated, quality care for the frail elderly is growing as hospitalization and readmission rates are high. CarePlus provides members with nurse practitioner-led care and care management, bundling acute, long-term care, case management, and behavioral health. The goals are to reduce the incidence and severity of acute care problems and to actively manage chronic illness, resulting in fewer hospitalizations and lower costs.