PBGH - Annual Symposium

Annual Symposium

2007 Symposium Recap

More than 300 people attended Shaping the Future: Innovative Solutions for Today’s Health Care Challenges on September 6, 2007. Attendees at PBGH’s 8th annual health care symposium learned about innovations in health benefits and in health care delivery that could have substantial long-term impact on the way benefits are provided and how and where employees receive their care.

A. Mark Fendrick, MD, from the Center for Insurance Design, University of Michigan, presented Value-Based Insurance, encouraging employers to provide benefit structures that incent people whose health outcomes can be significantly impacted, to be compliant with medical treatment protocols. Additional costs that may be incurred by the employer upfront are offset by improved patient health and could also result in lower overall costs in the future.
Richard Gilfillan, MD, of Geisinger Health Plan provided an overview of Geisinger’s ProvenCare program, a patient-centric, outcome-focused approach to quality health care, complying with evidence-based guidelines. Within ProvenCare, Geisinger accepts global payments for all related services – including follow-up care – for a specific episode of care with the intent to impact patient safety and reduce costs by eliminating medical errors.
Jack Bruner of CVS/Caremark built a strong case for the use of retail clinics as an affordable option for easily accessible, quality health care. MinuteClinic health care personnel follow medical treatment protocols to assure appropriateness of care for the scope of services provided.

In total, symposium attendees learned about the future of health care from 11 national and regional thought-leaders. In addition to our speakers, 24 symposium sponsors and exhibitors provided additional information and resources for attendees. 99% of the meeting evaluation forms indicated that the symposium met the respondents’ learning objectives, and all stated they would recommend the conference to others.

Speakers and Topics
Sponsors and Exhibitors
Symposium Brochure

Symposium Photos
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Chris Young, UPMC Health Plans; Dan O'Malley, Highmark; Donna Frisch, H.J. Heinz	Jason Snyder, WordWrite Communications; Cliff Shannon, former President of SMC Business Councils; Paul Furiga, WordWrite Communications	Scott Kovaloski, Alcoa; Anne Sherwin, Candice Mill, and Joe Marlowe, Aon Consulting
Front: Marcy Ashley, PBGH; Donna Frisch, H.J. Heinz; Back: Chris Whipple, PBGH; Jack Bruner, Caremark; Jeff Miller, Towers Perrin; Dan O'Malley, Highmark	Chris Whipple, PBGH Executive Director	Diane Holder, President, UPMC Insurance Services Division
John Kozar, Director - Benefits, University of Pittsburgh	Mark Fendrick, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine and Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, and Co-director, Center for Value-Based Insurance Design, University of Michigan	An attentive audience