Coordinated medical care, with fewer hand-offs, more efficiency and lower costs, is a goal for many organizations. Consumers/patients seem to want it, and health care payers – including Medicare under the auspices of the Accountable Care Organization policies of health care reform – are increasingly changing their payment methodologies to favor those who can produce it. The demand for more coordinated care continues to push medical care providers toward greater “integration.”
But what exactly does coordinated care look like? And how do physicians, hospitals and other components of the health care delivery system get there?
These are among the questions you can explore with leaders from Des Moines University, Iowa Health, Mercy Des Moines and other organizations at an executive roundtable this Thursday, Feb. 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m., in conference rooms 6-7 in Mercy Medical Center’s East Tower, 1111 Sixth Avenue, downtown Des Moines.
Free and open to all, the roundtable will be a great opportunity to gain insights, ask questions and network with health care professionals in a stimulating discussion of this timely and important topic. Featured speakers include:
- Sue Thompson, president and CEO, Trinity Health Systems, Fort Dodge, Iowa
- Kelly Taylor, director of quality, Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines
- Laura Jackson, executive vice president, health care strategy and policy, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield
RSVP for the event by e-mailing Amy Russell, academic assistant in DMU’s master of health care administration program, at amy.russell.@dmu.edu. Parking for the event will be available in the visitor lot at Mercy. The driveway extends off Sixth Avenue northbound, just south of the University Avenue intersection. Enter the hospital’s main entrance, proceed straight down the corridor leading away from the reception desk, turn left at the chapel and walk past Starbucks to the elevator on the left. Take the elevator down one level to “A,” turn right and follow the signage hanging above to a corridor on the left labeled conference rooms 6 and 7 (which will be on the right in that corridor).
Enjoy the discussion!
