8th Annual Forum for Improving Children’s Healthcare

Quality Improvements and Fiscal Reform, March 10, 2009, 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  This keynote address will expound on the concept that true sustainable healthcare reform can only be achieved through quality improvements linked to fundamental reform in health care financing. Affordable healthcare is unmistakably linked to streamlined processes focused on the efficient delivery of safe, quality healthcare services.

Lucian Leape MD, a pediatric surgeon, is Adjunct Professor of Health Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is internationally recognized as a leader in patient safety, starting with the 1994 publication in JAMA of his seminal article, Error in Medicine, which formed the basis for the 1999 Institute of Medicine report, “To Err is Human,” which he co-authored.  He has been an outspoken advocate of the non-punitive systems approach to preventing medical errors; his research has focused on redesigning systems to prevent errors.  In 2004, he received the John Eisenberg Patient Safety Award from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and National Quality Forum.

Charles J. Homer MD, MPH, President and CEO, NICHQ (Bio)

State of Children's Healthcare Quality, March 11, 2009, 8:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m.

Charlie will welcome attendees and discuss the most promising work being done in children's healthcare quality today, progress being made towards achieving a vision of better care and how today's healthcare professionals can leverage their roles to improve future outcomes.

Charles J. Homer is a Founder and the CEO and President of the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ).  Dr. Homer is a pediatrician with advanced training in epidemiology.  He is an Associate Professor of the Department of Society, Human Development and Health at the Harvard University School of Public Health and an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.  He was a member of the third US Preventive Services Task Force from 2000 – 2002 and served as chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Steering Committee on Quality Improvement and Management from 2001 – 2004.  Prior to his position at NICHQ, he was director of the Clinical Effectiveness Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, and served as program director of the first federally supported fellowship training programs in pediatric primary care and health services research.  Dr. Homer is a frequent speaker on quality measurement and quality improvement for children’s healthcare.

Blair L. Sadler, Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (Bio)

Thriving Through Efficient and Effective Evidence-Based Environmental Design,
March 11, 2009, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

This mini-keynote presentation will discuss specific low cost evidence-based design steps that virtually any health care organization can take in their existing facility, as well as those innovations that are best used in building a new one -- that will measurably help them achieve their safety/quality goals.

Blair L Sadler is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and a member of the faculty at the UCSD Schools of Medicine and Management. He served as President and CEO of Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego from July 1980 until July 2006. Under his leadership, Rady Children’s was the first pediatric hospital in the United States to win the Ernest A. Codman Award for its work in developing clinical pathways. He gave the Commencement Address at the 2005 UCSD Medical School graduation on the health care quality revolution and the implications for hospitals and academic medical education. He speaks widely to healthcare Boards of Trustees about their new role in patient safety and quality.

J. Hoxi Jones, Strategic Partnership Specialist, State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission (Bio)

Quality Care Begins at Home: The Case for a Medical Home, March 11, 2009, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

This keynote address will focus on the importance of cultural competency education for healthcare providers within a medical home context.   Ms. Jones will highlight the challenges faced by Sickle Cell Disease patients as an example of the necessity that all pediatric patients, especially those with chronic conditions, receive care in a culturally competent medical home.
J. Hoxi Jones is a Strategic Partnership Specialist at Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) in Houston, Texas. Jones is actively involved in her community, and is affiliated with numerous associations including: Houston Association of Volunteer Administrators (HAVA); Sickle Cell Association of the Texas Gulf Coast (SCATGC) Communications Committee; and the Council of Regional Networks’ Sickle Cell, Thalassemia & Other Hemoglobionpathies Subcommittee.  She has also chaired and held presidencies in various other organizations.

Edward O’Neil PhD, MPA, FAAN (*D), Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (Bio)

Leadership Strategies for Successful Partnerships, March 12, 2009, 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

The birthplace of a successful launch of healthcare partnerships is in the boardroom.  Successful healthcare partnerships not only include, but welcome, stakeholders at the decision-making table along with providers.  This keynote address will illustrate what healthcare leadership components are required to pave the road to collaboration.

Edward O'Neil is a Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine, Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences and Social and Behavioral Sciences (School of Nursing) at the University of California, San Francisco. He also serves as the Director of the Center for the Health Professions, a research, advocacy and training institute which he created to assist health care professionals, health professions schools, care delivery organizations and public policy makers understand the challenges and opportunities of educating and managing a health care workforce capable of improving the health and well being of people and their communities.

(*D) Owner of O'Neil and Associates

In addition to our keynotes, with a three day conference pass,  you will have unlimited access to all of our workshops.  Learn more!