Conversations About Healthcare Reform
Sponsored by Intermountain Healthcare, the Healthy Dialogues lecture series brings together national health policy experts and Utah leaders to discuss local solutions for the challenges facing America's medical system. Attendance is by invitation only.
Watch for upcoming announcements about the next featured speaker for Intermountain's Healthy Dialogues event scheduled for this summer. There is no cost to attend, but seating is limited and by invitation only.
Healthy Dialogues is a free lunchtime lecture series featuring national experts who provide insights and perspectives about current healthcare issues. For more information, call 801-442-2895.
Past Healthy Dialogues Speakers
Past speakers have included Newt Gingrich, Dr. Elliott Fisher, Dr. Mark Chassin, Dr. Ken Kizer, Dr. Bradley Perkins, Dr. Donald Berwick, and Michael Leavitt.
Philip Bredesen
November 10, 2011
Philip Bredesen, a Democrat, served as Tennessee's governor from 2003 until 2011. He is the author of Fresh Medicine: How to Fix Reform and Build a Sustainable Health Care System (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2010). Known for his bipartisan approach to problem-solving and careful fiscal management, Bredesen's political style proved successful and popular. Among senior elected officials, Gov. Bredesen has unusually deep experience in the field of healthcare. As a private-sector entrepreneur, he started a managed care business from his home in 1980 and grew it to an NYSE-listed company with 6,000 employees before the end of the decade. As governor, he reformed Tennessee's troubled Medicaid program-called TennCare-and developed several innovative approaches to assisting the uninsured.
David Merritt
June 6, 2011
David Merritt is executive vice president of the Center for Health Transformation and the Gingrich Group. The Center, headed by former Speaker Newt Gingrich, is a collaboration of leaders dedicated to transforming health and healthcare in America. Prior to joining the Center, he was with America's Health Insurance Plans. As an expert on national health reform and health information technology, Mr. Merritt advises former Speaker Gingrich and directs the Center's policy and communications efforts. Previously, he was a health policy adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain.
Former U.S. Senator Bob Bennett
March 17, 2011
Bob Bennett is a former United States senator from Utah. While in office from January 1993 to January 2011, he held chairmanships and senior positions on a number of key Senate committees, including the Banking, Housing and Urban Affiars Committee, Appropriations Cimmittee, Rules and administration Committee, Energey and Natural Resources Committee, and Joint Economic Committee. Sen. Bennett was at the forefront of healthcare reform. He co-sponsored the Healthy Americans Act, the first major bipartisan healthcare legislation in more than a decade.
Watch Mr. Bennett's presentation in its entirety:
Vishal Wanchoo
November 17, 2010
Vishal Wanchoo is president and CEO of GE Healthcare Information Technology, a $1.4 billion segment of GE Healthcare. Mr. Wanchoo spoke before Utah community and healthcare leaders, and discussed national and global developments in healthcare and information technology in conjunction with current reform efforts. He joined GE in 1997 as the vice president and general manager of the Imaging and Information Systems organization. In 2005, Mr. Wanchoo was promoted to his current position and became a corporate officer. Intermountain launched a collaborative venture with GE Healthcare in 2006 to jointly create the next generation of medical information systems for hospitals.
Watch Mr. Wanchoo's presentation in its entirety:
Review highlights of Dr. Wanchoo's discussion through his presentation slideshow:
Richard de Filippi
May 24, 2010
Richard de Filippi is chairman of the American Hospital Association. In addition to his service at the AHA, Mr. de Filippi is a trustee and former chairman of the board of the Cambridge Health Alliance, a major safety-net healthcare system and one of the largest in Massachusetts. He is also managing partner of the Ariano Partnership, a consulting group working largely with emerging technology-based companies.
Highlights of Mr. de Filippi's presentation:
Hear Mr. de Filippi's presentation in its entirety:
NOTE: The file is large and could take several minutes to download.
Michael O. Leavitt
June 25, 2009
Former Secretary Michael O. Leavitt was elected three times as governor of Utah (1993-2003). In 2003, he was appointed a member of President George W. Bush's cabinet, serving as the 10th head of the Environmental Protection Agency (2003-2005) and the 20th secretary of Health and Human Services (2005-2009). As governor, Leavitt was elected chairman of the National Governors Association, and the Republican Governors and the Western Governors associations. During his eleven years as governor, independent public policy analysts named Utah six times as America's best-managed state.
Hear former Sec. Leavitt's presentation in its entirety by downloading this mp3 file:
NOTE: The file is large (30.2 MB) and could take several minutes to download.
Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP
February 4, 2009
Dr. Berwick is president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to innovative change in healthcare worldwide. He continues to serve as a clinical professor of pediatrics and Health Care Policy in the Department of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and he is professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. In addition, Dr. Berwick is adjunct staff in the Department of Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston, and a consultant in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Hear Dr. Berwick's presentation in its entirety by downloading this mp3 file:
NOTE: The file is large (41.5 MB) and could take several minutes to download.
Review highlights of Dr. Berwick's discussion through his presentation slideshow:
Newt Gingrich
October 29, 2008
Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, discussed national health reform efforts and praised Intermountain during his keynote presentation to Utah leaders, calling Intermountain one of the country's "centers of brilliance."
Gingrich is founder of the nonpartisan Center for Health Transformation, a high-impact collaboration of private and public sector leaders committed to creating a 21st-century health system. During his visit to Salt Lake City, Gingrich detailed his plan for healthcare reform, some of which was modeled on Intermountain's successes in implementing evidence-based clinical protocols and the development of electronic medical records.
Highlights of Gingrich's presentation:
Hear his presentation in its entirety by downloading this mp3 file:
NOTE: The file is large (16.6 MB) and could take several minutes to download.
Bradley A. Perkins, MD, MBA
April 29, 2008
Dr. Perkins is the chief strategy and innovation officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is considered "a catalyst for CDC efforts to influence health system transformation in ways that emphasize health protection and health equity through policy interventions and multi-sector and public engagement."
Ken Kizer, MD, MPH
January 24, 2008
Dr. Kizer led a dramatic transformation of the Veterans Administration hospital system—one of the world's largest health organizations with an annual budget of more than $20 billion, approximately 200,000 employees, and more than 1,300 facilities. As Under Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs, he used information technology and best practice guidelines to significantly cut costs while improving medical quality and outcomes.
Mark Chassin, MD, MPP, MPH
October 24, 2007
Dr. Chassin is president of The Joint Commission (as of January 1, 2008). During his presentation he said America already spends enough money on healthcare to provide effective care for all, including those who are currently uninsured. What our country needs is a "quality-driven health strategy" that addresses issues of medical overuse (doing more than is medically necessary/appropriate), under-use (the failure to provide a service when it would have helped), and misuse (medical mistakes).
Elliott Fisher, MD, MPH
July 19, 2007
Dr. Elliott Fisher is professor of Medicine and Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. He has served as director of the Institute for Health Care Research and Reform in Dartmouth's Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences. Dr. Fisher has been a leader in the university's Atlas of Health Care research project. He also serves as co-chair of the National Quality Forum committee, developing a framework for measuring and improving healthcare efficiency.
Citing a study of Medicare patients that focused on effectiveness of care, Dr. Fisher noted that the average expenditure per patient at LDS Hospital was less than half the expenditures at leading hospitals in California, New York, and Baltimore—with equal or superior quality.