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Consider the Conversation 2 Film and Panel

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Consider the Conversation 2 Film and Panel

October 16, 2015
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Download the flyer!

Event: Consider the Conversation 2 Film and Panel
When: Tuesday, Nov. 17th
Time: 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Doors open at 5:00pm with an hors d’oeuvres reception
Where: Michigan Theater, 603 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor

This event is free and open to the public.
Registration not required, but encouraged (see below)

The Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI) will bring together a panel of providers and patient advocates who have engaged in advance care planning* (ACP) discussions following a free screening of the 86-minute film, Consider the Conversation 2: Stories about Cure, Relief, and Comfort. Consider the Conversation 2 illustrates the importance of ACP in improving a patient’s comfort and quality of care at the end of life.

Emcees: Norman Herbert and Robert Guenzel, WHI Co-Chairs

Moderator: Oliver Kim, former deputy staff director, Senate Aging Committee

Panelists:

  • Ryan Fox, transition manager, Evangelical Homes of Michigan
  • Sally Jaworowski, community member and ACP advocate
  • Adam Marks, medical director, Arbor Palliative Care and assistant professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan
  • Phil Rodgers, associate professor, Departments of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine, University of Michigan
  • Julie Seitz, ACP leader, St. Joseph Mercy Health System

Attendees will learn about:

  • The current state of ACP in Washtenaw County.
  • Common barriers to ACP and how key ACP participants—providers, patients and loved ones—can improve and increase ACP.
  • Available ACP resources and how to begin ACP conversations with loved ones.

This event is co-sponsored by Arbor Hospice, United Way of Washtenaw County, and the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT).

*Advance care planning is the process of examining your values, engaging in a conversation with your doctor and loved ones, and stating and documenting your wishes for health care for the future.

Register for the event here!

Select Advance Directive Forms

Five Wishes
https://agingwithdignity.org/

St. Joseph Mercy Health System – Advance Directive http://www.stjoesannarbor.org/documents/annarbor/ChoosingAdvocate.pdf

University of Michigan Health System – Advance Directive Booklet
http://uofmhealthsystem.org/documents/adult/AdvanceDirectiveBooklet.pdf

 

 

 

No Matter Where

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No Matter Where - The Healthcare Documentary

No Matter Where

June 2, 2015

No Matter WhereCHRT, in partnership with six co-sponsors, presents a pair of events examining the value of health information exchanges.

On June 29, 2015 at the Michigan Theater, CHRT co-presents a free screening of the documentary, No Matter Where. In the 76-minute documentary, filmmaker Kevin B. Johnson, MD, MS, examines the concept of health information exchange and its importance to effective and safe health care. Following a team of  crusaders—doctors, nurses, widows, parents, and spouses—Johnson provides a glimpse into the quest to use technology to connect all of health care. Click here to read the full synopsis.

On June 30, 2015 at Palmer Commons, CHRT co-presents a follow up panel discussion with:

  • Kevin Johnson, Filmmaker of “No Matter Where”, Chief Informatics Officer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Tim Pletcher, Executive Director, Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services
  • John Ayanian, Director, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan
  • Andrew Rosenberg, Chief Medical Information Officer, University of Michigan Health System
  • Charles Friedman, Chair, Department of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan Medical School (moderator)

The panel and Ann Arbor documentary showing are co-sponsored by seven Michigan organizations

In health care costs, Michigan is doing something right

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In health care costs, Michigan is doing something right

May 29, 2015

Editor’s Note: This column was published in Bridge Magazine.

Variation in health care spending between states has been well documented for decades by many researchers, most notably, those who produce the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. The reasons behind this variation in spending have generally been less understood and much debated.

Our center wanted to understand this variation better, particularly to see how Michigan stacked up. To do that, we compared health care spending (particularly the largest part of health care spending: hospital costs) between states with different health policies. We chose two neighboring states, Indiana and Wisconsin, because they share similarities – as well as some significant structural and policy differences – to Michigan.

What does our study comparing health care spending in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana tell us?

We are doing something right in Michigan. And there is much that Indiana and Wisconsin can learn from Michigan when it comes to health care spending.

Our study’s findings were simple, yet complex. Health care spending overall, and hospital costs in particular, is lowest in Michigan, followed by Indiana and highest in Wisconsin. Hospital costs make up about a third of health care spending and these costs are considerably lower in Michigan than the states we looked at in the study. Wisconsin hospitals’ operating and total hospital margins far exceeded national benchmarks, while Michigan hospital margins were generally below those benchmarks.

The complexity of this comparison lies in trying to answer the question, “What causes these differences?” While cause and effect is difficult to analyze and there are numerous complex environmental differences between the states, certain differences are likely contributors to this variance.

First, Wisconsin is the most fragmented health insurance market in the country, with 10 health plans having at least 5 percent of the market. In contrast, both Indiana and Michigan have one dominant health plan. As found in other studies, having a dominant health plan is probably an important part of what keeps health care costs lower in Indiana and Michigan compared to Wisconsin. When a health plan has large market share, they have more leverage than small health plans in price negotiations and likely more impact from innovative cost strategies.

Second, Michigan is one of 36 states with Certificate of Need laws. Wisconsin and Indiana are not. Over the past several years, Michigan policy makers have debated the value and impact of these laws, which regulate a hospital’s (and sometimes, other providers’) ability to build new facilities and/or to purchase expensive new equipment.

The question is whether or not these laws are beneficial in terms of health care spending. Some argue that they give certain providers monopoly power and as such, could increase health care spending. Others believe that these laws are important tools to control overuse of services since health care doesn’t operate like most markets.

The research on Certificate of Need is not conclusive. Some research has shown that there is no effect on health care costs from these policies. But, there are also studies that show that these laws have a favorable effect on health care costs, particularly hospital costs.

There is continuing debate on the value of state Certificate of Need laws, but it is hard to believe that repealing or weakening these laws in Michigan would have a beneficial impact on health care spending. Fundamentally, our mix of market structures and state policies appear to be favorable when compared to Indiana and Wisconsin.

Michigan’s approach to health care financing along with regulation of costs is something to build on, not abandon.

Covering the Uninsured: Who has the will and who has the way?

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Covering the Uninsured: Who has the will and who has the way?

May 28, 2015

Panel Discussion on the Uninsured

Sponsored by the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation

On Friday, May 2, 2008, Marianne Udow-Phillips, director of the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation, will convene a panel of experts to explore the problem of America’s 47 million uninsured.

Panelists Catherine McLaughlin, Professor of Health Management & Policy and director of the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured, U-M School of Public Health; Kevin Seitz, executive vice president of Health Care Value Enhancement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; and Ellen Rabinowitz, executive director of the Washtenaw Health Plan will share their views and join Udow-Phillips to respond to audience questions. Tracy Davis of the Ann Arbor News will moderate.

The panel discussion will take place from Noon – 2 p.m. on Friday, May 2, in the Danto Auditorium at the U-M Cardiovascular Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Admission is free, but seating is limited.

For information about other events happening in Michigan during Cover the Uninsured week (April 27 – May 3, 2008), visit www.covertheuninsured.org and click on “Michigan.”

Presentation Slides

Questions and Answers

The panel responded to audience questions at the event, and in writing to other questions submitted by the audience. Some audience questions were edited and/or combined to avoid duplication.

Read the questions and answers »

Videos

Please note: the Adobe Flash Player is required to play the videos. Most web browsers come with a Flash plug-in pre-installed. A few people may need to download and install the software.

  • Panel discussion – part 1
  • Panel discussion – part 2
  • Panel discussion – part 3
  • Panel discussion – part 4
  • Panel discussion – part 5

Resources

Atul Gawande

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Atul Gawande

May 28, 2015

Free Public Lecture

Sponsored by U-M Clinical Affairs and Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation

Harvard surgeon Atul Gawande, M.D., is nationally known for his writing in the New Yorker, New York Times and Slate.com and his books on health care quality, patient safety, and the culture of medicine. His most recent book, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance, is a New York Times bestseller and one of Amazon.com’s ten best books of 2007.

While in Ann Arbor giving this year’s commencement address to graduating U-M Medical School students, Gawande will give a free lecture at U-M on Friday, May 9. Titled “Leading the Leaders and Best to do ‘Better’ “, the talk will also serve as this year’s annual meeting for the U-M medical staff.

The lecture will begin at 11 a.m. in the auditorium of the Biomedical Science Research Building, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, and overflow seating will be available. A brief reception will follow. The lecture will also be available as a webcast that can be seen on any U-M computer either live at 11 a.m. or after the talk concludes. The webcast is in Windows Media format. To play the video on operating systems other than Windows, you can download and install the free VLC media player.

View the webcast (Windows Media video stream) »

Collaborative Quality Initiatives (CQI): A Strategy That Works For Improving Health Care Quality & Cost

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Collaborative Quality Initiatives (CQI): A Strategy That Works For Improving Health Care Quality & Cost

May 28, 2015

Health Care Quality Symposium

12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m.
University of Michigan’s Palmer Commons, Forum Hall

Can quality improvement and cost savings go hand in hand? Michigan physicians and hospitals, working together in Collaborative Quality Initiatives sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network (BCBSM/BCN), are achieving outstanding results in both. For example:

  • Hospital deaths following PCI (angioplasty) declined 32 percent over five years for six hospitals who joined the BCBSM Cardiovascular Consortium in 2002.
  • Participants in the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative achieved a 29 percent reduction in ventilator-associated pneumonia-a total of over $13 million in savings- in just one year.

Learn how these groundbreaking initiatives are saving health care dollars and improving health care quality for the entire state. Leaders from BCBSM and the University of Michigan Health System share results and describe the model behind these powerful collaborations.

Speakers/Panelists

  • Marianne Udow-Phillips, MHSA, Director, Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation
  • Tom Simmer, M.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, BCBSM
  • David Share, M.D., MPH, Senior Associate Medical Director, Health Care Quality, CQI clinical lead, BCBSM
  • John D. Birkmeyer, M.D., Professor of Surgery, UMHS, representing the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
  • Hitinder Singh Gurm, M.D., Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, UMHS, representing the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium (BMC2)
  • Darrell “Skip” Campbell, Jr., M.D., Chief of Clinical Affairs, UMHS, representing the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative

Participant Survey

If you joined us on June 4, 2009 either at Palmer Commons or via our live webcast, we’d like to know your thoughts about the symposium. Please take a few moments to complete our online survey. Your feedback will help shape our future events.

Resources

Link to the CQI section at the Value Partnerships website:
http://www.valuepartnerships.com/programs/home.shtml

This program is sponsored by the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation, a non-profit partnership of the University of Michigan and and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to promote evidence-based care delivery, improve population health, and expand access to care.

Adapting to Change: Health Care Safety Net Services and Health Care Reform

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Adapting to Change: Health Care Safety Net Services and Health Care Reform

May 28, 2015

Health Care Symposium

1:30–4:30 PM
Danto Auditorium
(in the Cardiovascular Center on the University of Michigan campus)

11/01/2010
Related blog post by Marianne Udow-Phillips:
The Safety Net and Health Care Reform

The health care safety net will continue to be a vital component of the overall health care system as the environment changes under health reform. This symposium, Adapting to Change – Health Care Safety Net Services and Health Care Reform, shares research on the viability of the safety net and highlights opportunities and challenges for safety net providers under health care reform.

Safety net providers and support organizations learn about successful delivery models and tools that can help them optimize resources and adapt to a changing environment. Researchers, policy makers, and others attending the symposium in person or online can identify more opportunities — through policy options, research, or funding, for example — to ensure access to care for vulnerable populations who may be newly insured or remain uninsured under health care reform.

Speakers:

  • Marianne Udow-Phillips, MHSA
  • Peter Jacobson, J.D., MPH (from the University of Michigan School of Public Health)
  • Sara Rosenbaum, J.D. (from George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services)
  • Brent C. Williams, MD, MPH, University of Michigan, Department of Internal Medicine
  • Reactor Panel: David Share, MD, MPH, BCBSM; Vernice Davis Anthony, MPH, Greater Detroit Area Health Council; Kim Sibilsky, Michigan Primary Care Association; and Deborah Riddick, JD, RN, School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan

Patient Centered Medical Home: Obstacles and Opportunities

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Patient Centered Medical Home: Obstacles and Opportunities

May 28, 2015

Health Care Symposium

1:30–5:00 pm
Forum Hall, University of Michigan Palmer Commons

Patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a model of care delivery that includes an ongoing relationship between provider team and patient, using a comprehensive approach to coordination of care. Today, numerous medical organizations have adopted the principles of PCMH, and purchasers of health care services are interested in the potential of PCMH to improve value. At this symposium, a panel of experts discusses national and state efforts to adopt the PCMH model – including the recently announced CMS multi-payer demonstration project in Michigan, the role of PCMH in health reform, the experience of the nation’s largest PCMH implementation (led by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan), and new research into PCMH barriers and accelerators that can be applied by practitioners and policy makers alike.

Featured Speakers:

  • Diane Rittenhouse, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco – National overview and role of PCMH in health reform 
  • David Share, MD, MPH, Senior Associate Medical Director, Health Care Quality, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan – Profile of BCBSM PCMH implementation
  • Jean Malouin, MD, MPH, Associate Chair for Clinical Programs, Family Medicine, University of Michigan – Building a Multi-Payer PCMH Model in Michigan
  • Christopher G. Wise, PhD, MHA, Director, Lean for PCMH Collaborative Quality Initiative – Components of change toward PCMH
  • Jeffrey A. Alexander, PhD, Professor, University of Michigan School of Public Health – What we have learned – putting it all together
  • Marianne Udow-Phillips, MHSA, Director, Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation – Setting the stage/What’s next

Time is also set aside for Q&A.

Who should attend?

  • Health care providers who are rethinking practice design and considering the benefits of adopting the PCMH model.
  • Provider organizations that support the adoption of the PCMH model.
  • Health plans designing the infrastructure that facilitates the effective delivery of care within the PCMH model.
  • Policy makers in all sectors who set the agenda for state and national reform.
  • Organizations that advocate for the adoption of the PCMH model.
  • Health care researchers interested in establishing or continuing PCMH-related research.
  • Those who will be involved or have an interest in Michigan’s CMS Multipayer Advance Primary Care Initiative.

Healthcare Policy and Research: Can We Speak the Same Language?

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Healthcare Policy and Research: Can We Speak the Same Language?

May 28, 2015

Health Policy Symposium

8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. (with optional informal session 2 – 4 p.m.)
University of Michigan North Campus Research Complex (NCRC)
Ann Arbor, Michigan

How can researchers, policy-makers, and practice leaders work together more effectively to effect real world change? This one-day symposium brought together prominent state and national policy-makers, health services researchers, and funders to explore and share ideas for bridging the gap between healthcare research and healthcare policy.

The symposium included panel discussions from the policy, funder, and research perspectives; a closing keynote address by Karen Davis of The Commonweath Fund; and a facilitated dialog over lunch.

This event was co-sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation at the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor VA Center for Clinical Management Research.

Policy Panel

  • David R. Gifford, MD, MPH, senior vice president, Quality and Regulatory Affairs, American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living
  • Fran Parker, executive director, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust
  • Tom Simmer, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer, Health Care Value, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
  • Gretchen Whitmer, senate minority leader, Michigan State Senate

Moderator: Marianne Udow-Phillips, MHSA, director, Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation

Funder Panel

  • David Atkins, MD, MPH, director, Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) Program, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
  • Karen Davis, PhD, president, The Commonwealth Fund (keynote speaker)
  • David D. Fukuzawa, MDiv, MSA, program director, Health, The Kresge Foundation

Moderator: Eve A. Kerr, MD, MPH, professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan; director, Center for Clinical Management Research, a VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System;and research director of the VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative for Diabetes Mellitus

Research Reactor Panel

  • Fred C. Blow, PhD, professor and director, Mental Health Services Outcomes & Translation Section, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan; director, National Serious Mental Illness Treatment Research & Evaluation Center, Dept. of Veterans Affairs
  • Darrell “Skip” Campbell, MD, Henry King Ransom Professor of Surgery, chief medical officer, University of Michigan Health System; program director, Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative
  • Mark Fendrick, MD, professor, departments of Internal Medicine and Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan; co-director, University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design
  • Gary L. Freed, MD, MPH, professor, Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan; director, Division of General Pediatrics; director, Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit
  • John Piette, PhD, MSc, professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan; director, University of Michigan Center for Quality Improvement for Complex Chronic Conditions; and senior research career scientist, Center for Clinical Management Research, a VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System

Moderator: David Share, MD, MPH, vice president, Value Partnerships, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Target Audience:

  • Health service researchers
  • Policy and practice leaders: payers, providers, purchasers, funders, and community groups
  • State and federal legislative and administrative policy makers

Massachusetts Comes to Michigan: Lessons about Health Care Reform from Business Leaders

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Massachusetts Comes to Michigan: Lessons about Health Care Reform from Business Leaders

May 28, 2015

Lessons about Health Care Reform from Business Leaders

2013 Health Care Symposium

February 11, 2013
4:00–5:30 p.m.
Walter and Leonore Annenberg Auditorium
1120 Weill Hall at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
735 South State Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan

No registration necessary. Free and open to the public. Reception to follow.

The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation will bring together key Massachusetts and Michigan business leaders along with University of Michigan experts to explore lessons from Massachusetts’ experience with health reform and what may be ahead as the Affordable Care Act is implemented in Michigan.

Join us as we:

  • Explore how Chapter 58, Massachusetts’ health reform legislation of 2006, was enacted and implemented with strong support and engagement from the business community.
  • Hear how business leaders were engaged in Massachusetts and the impact their involvement had on the overall law and implementation.
  • Learn the impact the Massachusetts law had on the overall business and state economic climate and how aspects of this experience might be relevant for Michigan.
  • Study why it may prove beneficial for the Michigan business community to be similarly engaged as the state moves forward with plans to comply with the Affordable Care Act.

Presenting in an interactive format, the panelists will address these issues, take questions from the live audience as well as through a Twitter feed for webcast participants. Our panelists are:

  • Moderator: Thomas Buchmueller, Waldo O. Hildebrand Professor of Risk Management and Insurance, Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan
  • Rob Fowler, President and CEO of Small Business Association of Michigan
  • Helen Levy, Research Associate Professor, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan
  • Rick Lord, President and CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts
  • Michael Widmer, President of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation

Speaker Biographies

Directions and parking information

For more information, contact Babette Levy at CHRT, brlevy@umich.edu or

Co-Sponsors

This symposium is generously co-sponsored by:

In addition to our co-sponsors this symposium is made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and staff support from Community Catalyst.