Detail

Forgot your Password? Create Account Membership Application Renew Membership

Integrative Health: A Local Conversation about HealthCare Reform

A LifeScience Alley Featured Program

9/22/2009

Time

Registration: 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm
Program 1-5pm, Reception 5-6pm

Event Description

The American healthcare system is widely viewed as inefficient, terribly costly and - as currently structured - relatively incapable of delivering the desirable outcomes which many other countries now take for granted. High infant mortality, an unchecked increase in the prevalence of obesity, diabetes mellitus, asthma and coronary heart disease are but a few examples of the poor health status of millions of Americans. And then there is the high cost and the rapidly rising number of Americans - especially children - who are either underinsured or uninsured and unable to pay for even the most basic primary care services. The consequences: hospital emergency departments have now become primary care clinics and trauma centers, and the elderly sick must choose between heat, rent, food or the medication that is required to keep their chronic conditions manageable. We spend more money on health care than any other industrialized nation, yet our health care outcomes are near the bottom and 47 million Americans do not have insurance, thus limiting their access to care.

Against the backdrop of the national debate, Minnesota's healthcare reform initiative - set in motion by legislation passed in 2008 - is well underway and includes several innovative elements such as Healthcare Home, Baskets of Care and the Statewide Health Improvement Program. Each offers solutions aimed at improving quality and outcomes while lowering costs. Both nationally and locally, there is wider appreciation for the importance of health promotion and disease prevention combined with the need for fundamental changes in the way care is delivered and providers are reimbursed.

At a recent Institutes of Medicine Summit held in February, 2009 in Washington, DC, over 600 healthcare professionals discussed the very real prospect that a focus on integrative health would also lead to higher quality care, improved outcomes and lower costs. Integrative health focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing. With the need for change more pressing than ever, patient engagement and leveraging the value of all appropriate therapeutic approaches are two healthcare reform solutions that will be the topic of this Local Conversation.

Agenda:
1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Program (4 CE hours for chiropractors and AOM practitioners)
5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Networking reception
View detailed agenda.

This program is co-sponsored by Northwestern Health Sciences University, the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing, the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing, and LifeScience Alley.

Speakers

Mark Zeigler, President, Northwestern Health Sciences University; Larry A. Kuusisto, PhD, Vice President of Education, LifeScience Alley; Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, RN, FAAN, Director, Center for Spirituality & Healing, University of Minnesota - School of Nursing; Charles E. Sawyer, DC, Senior Vice President, Northwestern Health Sciences University; Jim Abeler, District 48B, Minnesota House of Representatives; Linda Berglin, District 61, Minnesota Senate; John Marty, District 54, Minnesota Senate; Paul Thissen, District 63A, Minnesota House of Representatives; William Austin, Founder & CEO, Starkey Laboratories Inc.; David Moen, MD, Medical Director Care Model Innovation, Fairview Health Services; Patrick Geraghty, President & CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota; Carolyn Pare, CEO, Buyers' Health Care Action Group; Frank B. Cerra, MD, Senior Vice President for Health Services, University of Minnesota

Mark Zeigler - Bio coming soon.

Larry A. Kuusisto, PhD is Vice President of Education for LifeScience Alley and Executive Director of Alley Institute, its research and workforce-development affiliate. LifeScience Alley conducts (more)

Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, RN, FAAN - Bio coming soon.

Charles E. Sawyer, DC - Bio coming soon.

Jim Abeler - Bio coming soon.

Linda Berglin - Bio coming soon.

John Marty - Bio coming soon.

Paul Thissen - Bio coming soon.

William Austin - Bio coming soon.

David Moen, MD - Bio coming soon.

Patrick Geraghty - Bio coming soon.

Carolyn Pare - Bio coming soon.

Frank B. Cerra, MD , senior vice president for health sciences at the University of Minnesota, leads one of the largest and most comprehensive academic health centers in the United States. (more)