Center for Studying Health System Change

Providing Insights that Contribute to Better Health Policy

Search:     
 

Insurance Coverage & Costs Access to Care Quality & Care Delivery Health Care Markets Issue Briefs Data Bulletins Research Briefs Policy Analyses Community Reports Journal Articles Other Publications Surveys Site Visits Design and Methods Data Files


Rising Rates of Chronic Conditions: What Can Be Done?

July 31 HSC Conference Will Explore Causes, Costs and Consequences of Chronic Conditions

News Release
July 9, 2008

FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alwyn Cassil (202) 264-3484 or acassil@hschange.org

WASHINGTON, DC—Rising rates of chronic conditions will be the focus of a Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) conference on July 31—the first of four HSC conferences on significant health policy topics sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance and the American College of Preventive Medicine.

The growing prevalence of chronic health conditions has added costs to the U.S. health care system. Prevention and better management of chronic conditions are often cited as ways to improve health outcomes and slow U.S. health care spending growth—or at least generate better value for the $2.1 trillion spent annually on health care in the United States.

The conference, titled "Rising Rates of Chronic Health Conditions: What Can Be Done?" will convene leading experts to discuss the causes, prevalence, costs and consequences of chronic conditions. Panelists also will discuss the potential policy options and roles of various stakeholders—including employers, health plans, patients, Medicare and Medicaid, and physicians and hospitals—in preventing chronic conditions and improving care of people with chronic diseases.

HSC President Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., will moderate the conference, and panelists include Carolyn Clancy, M.D., director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Eric Finkelstein, Ph.D., health economist, RTI International; Melanie Bella, M.B.A., senior vice president for policy and operations, Center for Health Care Strategies Inc.; Ron Goetzel, Ph.D., director, Institute for Health and Productivity Studies; Michele Heisler, M.D., research scientist, University of Michigan; and Kristin Carman, Ph.D., principal research scientist, American Institutes for Research.

The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to noon, with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m., at the Marriott at Metro Center, Washington, D.C. To register online for the conference, please visit http://www.hschange.org/index.cgi?conf=show&what=24

The July 31 conference is the first of four conferences organized and conducted by HSC and sponsored by PhRMA, DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance and the American College of Preventive Medicine. Under the sponsorship arrangement, HSC and the three sponsoring organizations jointly choose the conference topics, while HSC is solely responsible for organizing and conducting the conferences.

"With the country poised to begin a serious discussion about health care reform, we’re delighted that we can hold a series of health policy conferences to help inform the debate about what’s working and not working in the U.S. health care system," said Paul B. Ginsburg, president of HSC, an independent, nonpartisan health policy research organization in Washington, D.C.

"We commend the Center for Studying Health System Change for their leadership in bringing together national experts to discuss one of the critical issues that should be at the forefront of any debate on health care reform—how we can do better at preventing and managing chronic illnesses, like diabetes, that if undetected or uncontrolled generate poor health outcomes that could have been avoided and significant health costs," said Richard I. Smith, senior vice president of policy, research, and strategic planning at PhRMA.

Following the July 31 conference, other conference topics will include innovative approaches to preventing and managing chronic health conditions and value-based health benefit structures.


### ###

The Center for Studying Health System Change is a nonpartisan policy research organization committed to providing objective and timely research on the nation’s changing health system to help inform policy makers and contribute to better health care policy. HSC, based in Washington, D.C., is funded principally by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is affiliated with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

 

Back to Top
 
Site Last Updated: 9/15/2014             Privacy Policy
The Center for Studying Health System Change Ceased operation on Dec. 31, 2013.