Who Killed Health Care? Regina Herzlinger speaks at ACPE 2013

Today, I am in NYC attending the 2013 American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) conference. The afternoon keynote was delivered by Regina Herzlinger, author of "Who Killed Health Care?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure."

Here is a description of her book:

One of the nation's most respected health care analysts, Regina Herzlinger exposes the motives and methods of those who have crippled America's health care system-figures in the insurance, hospital, employment, governmental, and academic sectors. She proves how our current system, which is organized around payers and providers rather than the needs of its users, is dangerously eroding patient welfare and is pushing costs out of the reach of millions.

Who Killed Health Care? then outlines Herzlinger's bold new plan for a consumer-driven system that will deliver affordable, high-quality care to everyone. By putting insurance money in the hands of patients, removing the middleman in the doctor-patient relationship, and giving employers cost relief, consumers and physicians will be empowered to make the system work the way it should. Herzlinger describes in precise detail how her innovative program will provide

• Smaller, disease-focused medical facilities that provide complete care for patients
• A national system of medical records that provides privacy with confidential access by approved practitioners
• Mandatory performance evaluations of all hospitals and all other medical organizations
• Mandatory health insurance with subsidies for those who cannot afford it

2013 ACPE Leape Ahead Award

Familiar with the ACPE Leape Ahead Award? Dr. Lucian Leape MD is a physician and professor at Harvard School of Public Health, who has been very active in trying to improve the medical system to reduce medical error. In 1994 he had an article, "Error in Medicine," published in JAMA.

ACPE Accepting Applications for 2013 Leape Ahead Award

The American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) is seeking applications from medical schools, teaching hospitals and academic medical centers for the 2013 ACPE Leape Ahead Award.

This annual award reinforces the recommendations in the 2010 Lucian Leape Institute report, Unmet Needs, released by the National Patient Safety Foundation, that medical education institutions should place the highest priority on developing the skills of future health care leaders.

All applications must be received at ACPE no later than Friday, November 30, 2012.

More information about this award can be found here.

ACPE is looking for a chief resident to join their board

The American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) Board of Directors recently approved the addition of an Ex-Officio Chief Resident position to the board. Do you know of any Chief Residents that might be interested in a national leadership opportunity like this?

For more information, review this Call for Nominations (PDF). Please pass it along to anyone who might know of the perfect candidate. It’s a quick turnaround (due September 15).

Speaking of ACPE - I hope to see you at the Fall Institute in Scottsdale Nov 6-10, 2011. I'll be speaking there about my entrepreneurial ventures and non-clinical career opportunities.

American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) is the nation's largest health care organization for physician executives — doctors who hold leadership and management positions.

ACPE (American College of Physician Executives) Fall Institute

I hope to see you at ACPE's (American College of Physician Executives) Fall Institute

2011 Fall Institute, November 6-10, 2011
Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, AZ

It's a retreat designed to enrich your mind, body-and career. Expand your knowledge and improve your career with first-rate CME courses taught by award-winning faculty. Choose from 11 different courses.

Working on your advanced degree or CPE certification? The Fall Institute is packed with prerequisite and elective courses. Get the results of the 2011 Physician Compensation Survey and chat with executive recruiters about job prospects.

Click here for more information or call 800-562-8088.

The Coming Health Care Transformation (by David Cutler)

This is being republished from NonClinicalJobs.com

Today is the first day of the 2010 ACPE (American College of Physician Executives) Annual CME Conference.

This morning's keynote was delivered by professor David Cutler (Harvard economics professor and senior health care advisor to President Barack Obama, Cutler was recently named one of the 30 people who could have a powerful impact on health care by Modern Healthcare magazine.).

His presentation this morning was titled, "The Coming Health Care Transformation." Professor Cutler spoke of reform and focused on how we can improve the value of care. There will be an unrelenting focus on value.  Affordability and accessibility are the keys to coverage and we've seen this in Massachusetts. However, the federal deficit in on a collision course with a vast growth occurring in health care expenses.

The challenges we now face include:

• Insurance reform
• Coverage expansion
• Improving the value of care

How do we improve value? When we think of value, we must think of the clinical dimension along with the service dimension. The clinical dimension involves the cost-effectiveness of the care provided. Service quality still needs improvement. Patients are not satisfied with the service aspects due to: long wait times, inaccessibility to providers, etc.

Attending ACPE 2010 this weekend

This weekend, I'm in Washington D.C. attending the 2010 ACPE Annual CME Conference and I'm providing coverage on my site NonClinicalJobs.com. Each day, I'll be publishing several blog posts from different sessions, so make sure to follow along.

This coverage of ACPE is sponsored by Practice Fusion EMR. Practice Fusion’s Electronic Medical Record system includes charting, scheduling, e-prescribing, secure messaging and lab connections – all at no cost. Join the fastest growing EMR community today!

Preparing to adopt and implement an EHR in your practice

Since I'm getting ready to attend the 2010 ACPE (American College of Physician Executives) Annual Meeting this weekend, I thought I would share an article from the Physician Executive Journal. (by the way, I'll be attending ACPE and I plan to publish highlights from the meeting on NonClinicalJobs.com, so I hope you'll follow those blog posts)

The article is titled, "Preparing Your Practice for the Adoption and Implementation of Electronic Health Records." The authors are John Kralewski, PhD, Bryan E. Dowd, PhD, Therese Zink, MD, MPH and David N. Gans, MSHA, FACMPE. Learn how medical group practices can reduce the human and economic costs associated with electronic health records.

So many physicians and medical groups are getting ready to adopt and implement electronic health records. Do they know how to modify their clinical workflow to maximize efficiency? How about the selection of an EHR? Which EHR is the "best" one for your practice? There are so many unanswered questions regarding the economics behind EHRs, e-prescribing, billing,  practice management, etc.  I'd encourage you to read this article and leverage resources that are out there to help you make an informed decision about EHRs for your practice.

Click here (PDF) to read the article in the Physician Executive Journal.

Don't forget to register for the ACPE annual meeting

Just a reminder:

2010 ACPE Annual CME Conference in Washington D.C.

You won't want to miss the annual ACPE (American College of Physician Executives) meeting. The keynote will be presented by an MIT and Harvard alum, professor David Cutler. Harvard economics professor and senior health care advisor to President Barack Obama, Cutler was recently named one of the 30 people who could have a powerful impact on health care by Modern Healthcare magazine. 

The Leadership Summit runs Fri and Sat. Here are some details:

No matter what happens with policy reform over the coming months, it’s going to be an exciting time to be in our nation’s capital. Those who attend this very special two-day workshop will get an insider’s perspective on the hot topics in health care and learn how to use this information to make a difference.

I will be there blogging and covering some of the highlights from the annual meeting, so I look forward to seeing you there!

For more information, visit: http://www.acpe.org/annual

Don't miss ACPE 2010

On NonClinicalJobs.com, I've been writing about the upcoming ACPE (American College of Physician Executives) annual meeting that will be in Washington D.C. April 30 - May 4. Will you be attending?

http://www.acpe.org/annual

Make sure to follow NonClinicalJobs.com for my blog posts from ACPE.

Don't miss the 2010 ACPE Annual CME Conference in Washington D.C.

This is being republished from NonClinicalJobs.com

The American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) is having its Annual CME Conference in Washington D.C. April 30 - May 4, 2010. They have a great agenda scheduled for this powerful weekend and I'm sure there will be many physician executives traveling from all over the country to attend this meeting. Make sure to leverage the group discount if you're attending with several other physicians from your organization.

Physicians are discussing this meeting on the ACPE LinkedIn Group and it seems like the Leadership Summit and the Vanguard Program will be very popular this year. You can also view a video of

View an introductory video on the Annual Meeting by Barry Silbaugh, MD (CEO, ACPE)

April 30 - May 4, 2010.
Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center
201 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD

Received Vol 35 of the PEJ

What's the PEJ? It's the Physician Executive Journal of Medical Management and it's published by the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE). I hope to read this over the weekend (and I'll be sharing my opinions on this site or on my other site: http://www.nonclinicaljobs.com

ACPE Survey Reports a Dramatic Increase in Health IT Utilization

The title says it all. According to a recent survey conducted among ACPE members, the use of health IT has doubled compared to five years ago. About 1,000 members participated and roughly 65% report using an electronic health record (EHR). So, is this reflective of other physicians? Or, do physician executives have a stronger affinity for technology and do they better appreciate the value of EHRs? If you have an interest in becoming a physician executive, then I would suggest that you strengthen your technology and computer skills. I think that future executives will be expected to have strong technology backgrounds so they can understand the full implications of leveraging health IT to improve public health.

Improving Leadership Skills

We probably don't do enough to improve our personal leadership. The American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) has some great courses on physician leadership, but only a small percentage of US physicians are members of ACPE. Even a smaller percentage are pursing a master's degree in either medical management (MMM) or business administration (MBA). So, if you can't enroll in a degree program, then you may want to try either Dale Carnegie Training or Fred Pryor Seminars & CareerTrack. Participation in these courses can strengthen your career and also help you refine important leadership skills.

Master's in Medical Management

What do these 4 universities have in common?

• Carnegie Mellon University
• University of Southern California
• Tulane University
• University of Massachusetts Amherst

They offer either a master's in medical management (MMM) or a master's in business administration (MBA). Plus, they are the four schools that are ACPE partners.

The ACPE (American College of Physician Executives) is an organization that fosters the growth and development of physician leaders. You don't need to have a master's degree to be an excellent physician executive. However, there are many benefits of formal education in professional leadership, management, and business.

Non-ABSM Board Certification for Medical Doctors

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABSM) has a list of general and subspecialty medical board certifications. Many consumers don't realize that there is no board certification as a "general practitioner." Family physicians and general internists may refer to themselves using that term since people are familiar with the phrase "GP."

Even healthcare professionals do not realize that "doctors" can get board certified in other fields that are not listed by the ABSM. For instance, the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) offers board certification education. You can become board certified in medical management by the Certifying Commision in Medical Management (CCMM) and become a certified physician executive (CPE). You're probably a physician involved in serious management responsibilities if you're pursuing that board certification. Some doctors interested in non-clinical opportunities have also received this certification. You can also get board certified in medical quality by the American College of Medical Quality (ACMQ).

The American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine (ABIHM) offers board certification in holistic medicine. Some people have very strong opinions about alternative medicine, so I won't get into that somewhat controversial topic right now. You can also become board certified by the American Board of Medical Accupuncture (ABMA).

Have you heard of the American Board of Environmental Medicine (ABEM)? They offer board certification. How about the American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP)?

You can become a fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). I do not believe they offer board certification at this time. However, I think that's likely to change in the future.

Well, that's enough for now. I'm sure there are others out there, so I welcome comments from those who know of other non-ABSM board certifications that are available to US physicians.

ACPE

Since I'm a physician executive working in a medical, nursing, and pharmacy education company, in my world, ACPE means two very different things:

ACPE = American College of Physician Executives
http://www.acpe.org/

ACPE = Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education
http://www.acpe-accredit.org/

The pharmacy CE (continuing education) programs we develop are certified for ACPE credit. The ACPE is the pharmacy equivalent of the ACCME (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education) for CME (continuing medical education) programs.

Networking with Physician Executives

If you wish to network with other physician executives, I suggest signing up for the ACPE online discussion board. Better yet, join the ACPE and network with others who may have similar backgrounds or interests. Meet medical directors, chiefs, chairs, department heads, CMOs, VPs, and other executives who work in various clinical and non-clinical settings.