2011 National Client Conference Highlights
Keynote Speakers Share Perspectives on the
Challenges Facing Health Care
The Press Ganey National Client Conference, held Nov. 14-15 in Dallas, was attended by more than 2,000 health care professionals who shared best practices, networked and attended more than 50 presentations by industry experts and
Press Ganey faculty.
Attendees heard the personal story of actor and Parkinson's activist Michael J. Fox who challenged them to respect each patient as an individual. They also heard from former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle who called for far greater collaboration among providers, particularly through accountable care organizations (ACOs), which he said "can be a central factor of efforts to improve quality of care and patient satisfaction.”
During the conference, attendees had the opportunity to respond to Press Ganey’s Health Care Quick Poll, which asked about health reform. Filmed responses to the poll can be found at
youtube.com/pressganeyassoc. In addition, photos from conference presentations and events are available at
flickr.com/pressganey.
2011 Breakout session highlights
Breakout sessions featured detailed up-to-the-minute analyses of regulatory issues such as value-based purchasing (VBP) and ACOs, which drew overflow crowds. Representatives of hospitals, medical practices, home care and academic medical centers came to Dallas to learn about those and many other issues in clinical care, patient satisfaction, strategy and leadership, and technology and training.
One of the central themes that emerged from the conference was the need for executive leadership in quality improvement, both nationally and internationally. Another not-too-surprising focus was on the importance of gaining physician buy-in to clinical quality and patient experience improvement campaigns. The final theme focused on the transparency of provider-level data.
2011 Press Ganey Award Winners
Press Ganey also announced its elite class of
2011 award-winning health organizations, recognizing more than 160 clients for their outstanding achievements over the past year, including recipients of the first-ever Summit
® and Top Improver
® awards for clinical achievement and the new Patient Voice Award™ for Academic Medical Centers.
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, the actor, writer, Parkinson's patient and leader of a foundation dedicated to research on the disease, recounted an early acting lesson to conference attendees, which translates to, "Don't let the audience know what is about to happen in a scene through your body language." In life, that means "don't act like you have to know what is coming next – live in the moment," he said. "Fate is not locked. Sure, the fact that I have Parkinson's is, but after that, all bets are off. Life changes and you go with it."
For health care providers, that same lesson translates to not locking patients into a preconceived set of expectations for how they will fare with a disease. "Every patient is different. Don't slot them into a place that every patient who has that condition is going to have the same result. Every one of them has his own fears, hopes and desires. Treat each patient as an individual."
He said the key mistake the health care system makes is not involving patients in every aspect of what it does. "In Parkinson's research, for example, there is academia, pharma, doctors and patients, but we often forget the patient part of the puzzle."
Tom Daschle
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle told attendees that current efforts by a congressional "super committee" to reduce federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid should focus on true reform, not just cutting payment rates.
"We have to do a better job as a nation of distinguishing between cost-shifting and cost savings," he said. "Medicare and Medicaid budget cuts shift costs to hospitals. Raising the Medicare eligibility age shifts costs to beneficiaries. Real cost control involves the redesign and improvement of the health care system."
Daschle said his hope is that in the next decade the focus will shift to wellness and prevention, in the process creating a high-value, high-functioning health system. He called for far greater collaboration through new forms of provider organizations, particularly accountable care organizations, which he said "can be a central factor of efforts to improve quality of care and patient satisfaction."
He praised the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for dramatically revising the rules governing ACOs and Medicare Shared Savings Program, creating greater financial incentives, reduced barriers for entry into the program and fewer administrative burdens.
Now is the time for innovators to step forward in health care, Daschle said. "At this moment in history, there is great uncertainty and great opportunity. Can we unleash the innovative spirit in health care to find creative ways to deliver care more effectively and efficiently? That will take leaders who are willing to take risk, who engage. We need them more than ever."
