Global Business Forum on health care at University of Miami

The University of Miami will bring together some of the most influential leaders in business and government, along with hundreds of professionals from across industries, Jan. 12 - 14, 2011 for a Global Business Forum entitled "The Business of Health Care: Defining the Future." Keynote speakers include Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. secretary of health and human services; Jeffrey R. Immelt, the chairman and CEO of General Electric; Thomas M. Ryan, the chairman and CEO of CVS Caremark; Margaret Hamburg, MD, the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Arthur Agatston, MD, the author of The South Beach Diet; James D. Forbes, the head of global principal investments for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Donna E. Shalala, the president of the University of Miami and a former U.S. secretary of health and human services, among others. The Forum will feature nearly 30 panel discussions organized in six distinct tracks, including:

• Economics & Health Care: Cost, Accessibility, Reform, and Implementation;
• The Aging Population: Economic and Ethical Issues Surrounding the Shift in Demographics;
• Age of Innovation: Disruptive Medical Technologies, Biotechnology, and Telemedicine;
• Wellness & Prevention: The Obesity Epidemic, Nutrition, Innovative Therapies, and Education;
• Global Health Issues: Emerging Markets, Access, and the Environment; and
• Health Care Delivery 2030: Hospital Design, Technology, and Delivery Systems of the Future

Panelists also include top executives from some of the nation's leading health care organizations such as Cecil B. Wilson, MD, the president of the American Medical Association, Richard J. Umbdenstock, the president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, Richard L. Clarke, the president and CEO of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, and Karen Ignagni, the president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, among others. The Forum is expected to draw global health care CEOs and other senior executives, physicians, health industry analysts, consultants and attorneys, benefit managers and human resource directors, architects, planners and developers, medical equipment manufacturers and engineers and many others representing business and government. The conference will come two years after the University's first Global Business Forum, which brought together nearly 700 professionals for deep discussion on the economic crisis and other issues surrounding increased global connectivity.

"Like our first Global Business Forum, which was held in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the 2011 conference will provide an unparalleled opportunity for deep discussion on some of the most critical issues of our time - areas where business and health care intersect," said Barbara E. Kahn, dean of the University's School of Business Administration, which is organizing the Forum. "With the participation of schools across campus, this will once again be a truly interdisciplinary program that cuts across industry sectors, much like the business of health care does."

The Forum's key sponsors include Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. More information and online registration is available at www.umglobalforum.com.

The University's Center for International Business Education and Research (UM CIBER) will host an International Health Care Services Academic Conference on Jan. 12, 2011 in conjunction with the Global Business Forum. Scholars from all around the world will share findings, concepts and frameworks emerging from ongoing research and studies pertaining to key trends, opportunities and challenges affecting international health care services. For more information, visit www.umciber.com.