Monthly Newsletter

July 2009

CHT Hosts Members in Washington, Meeting Draws Highest Turnout to Date

On June 24, WorldDoc, Inc. sponsored a rooftop reception for all CHT members and staff. CHT Founder Newt Gingrich gave welcoming remarks and set an agenda for the following day’s activities. The two-hour reception was a great opportunity for all CHT members and staff to convene and network before the June meeting.


Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and  CHT Founder Newt Gingrich

On June 25, CHT held its largest member meeting to date,“Health Reform and Health IT: Politics, Policy and Progress” featuring CHT Founder Newt Gingrich, Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, HHS National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal, CCHIT Chairman Mike Leavitt and several other government and industry leaders who presented perspectives on health reform.

The day kicked off at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC with a welcome by CHT CEO Nancy Desmond, who congratulated the 26 CHT members nominated for Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Powerful list, presented highlights of the State Project expansion into four new states, and announced the launch of the Employer Solutions Lab.

The highlight of the morning was an open discussion between Daschle and Gingrich followed by Q&A from participants. The two leaders agreed that 2009 holds great promise for comprehensive health reform but stressed the need to move past ideological differences to focus on the larger picture. “The news media is handicapped by a lack of time and a lack space,” said Gingrich. For these reasons, Americans hear more about the public plan option than they do about other important issues such as payment reform, modernizing our system, chronic disease management and Alzheimer’s research. Daschle also noted that Americans cannot depend on the healthcare system to solve all health problems. He called on communities and schools to get involved to create better nutritional literacy and to put a higher emphasis on physical education and nutrition.

When questions arose on how to pay for health reform, Daschle admitted, like anything else, new cuts or changes would be “painful.” However, he suggested looking for cost savings through preventative medicine and modernizations to our outdated health system, while noting that cuts to Medicare and Medicaid may be necessary.

Both men also called for greater transparency and more thoughtful projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which often fails to score cost savings from preventative medicine or health information technology. Daschle noted that this must change as “the issues at hand are too profound [not to].”

Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (HIT), provided the keynote luncheon address and discussed HIT implications in the economic stimulus plan. Under the stimulus package, hospitals and physicians who demonstrate “meaningful use” of HIT tools such as electronic health records, qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments. During his speech, Blumenthal discussed an array of topics including the July 16 deadline his working group has established for the definition of meaningful use; privacy and security concerns surrounding HIT; HIT workforce issues; and, the need to implement 21st century tools like EHRs as soon as possible. 

CHT, in collaboration with our members, submitted comments on the definition of "meaningful use" to HHS. To view those comments click here.

To learn more about this event and view summaries, photos and videos of our panel discussions, please visit our website.

21st Century Intelligent Pharmacy Workgroup

On June 26 Project Director Wayne Oliver met with participants of the 21st Century Intelligent Pharmacy Project. The group continued discussions on ways to improve patient care through positive and efficient interactions with pharmacists and physicians. The group has released an initial concept paper, and these innovations and solutions will be compiled into a book sometime next year.

Stop Paying the Crooks
Gingrich and Frogue to Release Book on Healthcare Fraud 

  

With the current climate of government spending and rampant fraud within our healthcare system, CHT is proud to announce the upcoming publication of its in-depth book on healthcare fraud. Given that healthcare costs account for nearly one-seventh of our economy, it is imperative to ensure that funding goes to appropriate people and organizations within our health system. We at the Center for Health Transformation hope to begin a serious national discussion about healthcare fraud, the perverse incentives that allow such fraud to flourish, and key strategies to bring these schemes to an end.

Stop Paying the Crooks, with a foreword by Newt Gingrich and edited by Jim Frogue, will be available for download on CHT’s website and on Kindle on July 20. Hard copies of the book will be available August of 2009. For more information about this book, including chapter authors and CHT’s solutions to end the fraud that threatens our healthcare system, please visit our website.

CHT in the News

• June 1, 2009 - John Glaser, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Partners HealthCare and senior advisor to Dr. David Blumenthal; 
• June 8, 2009 Dan Boston of Health Policy Source
• June 15, 2009 Carrie Budoff Brown, health reporter for POLITICO;
• June 22, 2009 Frank Luntz, political pollster and author of Words that Work;
• June 29, 2009 James Gelfand, Senior Manager, Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Justine Handelman, Executive Director, Legislative and Regulatory Policy, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association; Brent James, Executive Director, Institute for Health Care Delivery Research and Vice President, Medical Research and Continuing Medical Education, Intermountain Healthcare; George Roman, Senior Director for Health Policy, American Medical Group Association.  

Our July calls will continue every Monday at 2:00 PM ET. For a schedule of upcoming calls and to listen to past calls click here. 

Congratulations to Linn and Frogue 

Congratulations to CHT staff members Laura Linn and Jim Frogue on their recent promotions, announced by CEO Nancy Desmond last week.

 Laura Linn began with CHT in 2003 as Director of the Georgia Project and Co-Director of the 21st Century Hospital Project. Since that time, she has managed the state transformation project in Georgia, which includes the Healthy Georgia Diabetes & Obesity Initiative. This month, Ms. Linn was named Vice President and Director of Clinical and Community Networks. Through her new role, she will serve as a resource to all CHT members with regard to community and clinical networks.

 Jim Frogue began with CHT in 2005 as the Center’s project director and chief liaison to state policy projects. His primary areas of focus are Medicaid, consumerism and fraud. Last month, Mr. Frogue was named Vice President and Director of State Policy where he will continue to be a resource to all members with regard to state policies. He will also continue to lead expansion projects into new states.