Opportunities to look forward to

I am excited about attending the 2010 World Health Executive forum in Montreal in early November, so wanted to share some information with you about it now! I will absolutely share more learnings and information after I return.

The theme of the forum is “Paving the Way toward Healthcare Sustainability,” and will be attended by a select group of international ministers, senators, permanent secretaries and CEOs who will participate in unique roundtable discussions with professional moderators. The intellectual power brought together will allow dialogue and interaction to guarantee a maximum transfer of ideas and experiences!

This forum has been called because some European countries and American states are virtually bankrupt. In the majority of these countries, health care costs are the biggest drivers of the deficit. Even in times of prosperity, costs were extremely hard to contain, with an upward spiral of 3 percent to 6 percent each year for the past decade.

However, we all know it is the end of an era. Many of those attending will be from countries faced with not only health care budget freezes, but also cutbacks ranging from 5 to 20 percent. The way each attendee looks at sustainability will be different, and it is critical for all to understand what works, what doesn’t and what simply doesn’t make sense. The goal of this authoritative meeting is to share strategic intelligence in top priority issues, determining the most efficient way to face the unprecedented changes – contingency plans and difficult choices – to address the present and new risks that are forthcoming. This incredible experience should be of great value to CHRISTUS Health and our advocacy program initiatives.

Eight drivers will be examined and discussed in detail during the intense, three-day forum. These include:
1. Reconciling political and Transformational Agendas
2. Priorities of Contingency Plans
3. Seizing “Out of Control” Costs
4. Next Wave of Regional Delivery
5. Next Wave of Integrated Delivery Systems
6. A Population-Based Model is Not Enough
7. The Role of Information Technology
8. International Collaborative Framework

It is the hope that the learnings from this forum, based on an intense discussion of each of these drivers, should keep key health care decision makers design the best future of our health care systems, and I can’t wait to share the results of these discussions with you!