Phytel Annual Client Conference kicks off

The Phytel Annual Client Conference (PACC) kicked off today with an invitation-only Executive Forum at the luxurious Omni Fort Worth Hotel, hosting twice as many healthcare leaders as the 2013 event. The premier industry event enables healthcare industry leaders to share best practices for population health management and optimizing investment in America's newly redesigned healthcare system.

"This year at PACC, we're providing physician leaders, executives, and care managers with the tools to do more with less – scaling their population health management efforts that engage more patients and measurably improve outcomes," said Phytel CEO Steve Schelhammer. "PACC gives our clients the opportunity to network, learn from client-conducted education sessions, and hear first-hand about the successes of many of the most innovative healthcare organizations in the nation. Together, we're leveraging technology to improve the health of entire populations of patients."

Schelhammer will open the main conference on Tuesday with a keynote focused on "Provider-Led Population Health Management," which is also the title of a groundbreaking new book by Phytel Chief Medical Officer Richard Hodach, M.D. Schelhammer will suggest that the trend toward value-based reimbursement can only work if clinicians become proactively engaged in managing the health of their patient populations, and patients become active participants in their own care.

Leaders of PCPCC, AMGA and AAFP provide keynotes
With more of the nation's leading healthcare organizations seeking clarity on true population health management, a diverse slate of PACC 2014 speakers is lined up to deliver the answers. Among the 46 distinguished panelists and speakers, a common theme is examining how physician practices can re-structure and adopt new care models to meet the demands of value-based care.

Paul Grundy, M.D., M.P.H., the founding president of the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative and IBM's Director of Healthcare Transformation, will address one such model in his Tuesday keynote – "Outcomes in the Patient-Centered Medical Home," in which the central hub for a patient's comprehensive care is the primary physician practice.

Jerry Penso, M.D., Chief Medical and Quality Officer of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), will moderate a panel on Tuesday to discuss AMGA's much-lauded national program for reducing hypertension, Measure Up Pressure Down®.

Another distinguished speaker, Bruce Bagley, M.D., CEO of TransforMED, a nonprofit subsidiary of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), will look toward the future of medicine in his conference-closing keynote on Wednesday, "The Future of Primary Care: 2020." A 30-year practitioner of family medicine, Dr. Bagley successfully steered his own clinic through numerous changes in the primary care model, such as managed care, quality measurement, and electronic health records.

The event included a pre-conference Executive Forum that provided healthcare organization leaders with "Financial Strategies to Success in Value-Based Care." In addition, a sold out pre-conference session on Lean was a highlight of the conference, providing care teams with actionable strategies to improve efficiency and reduce waste, moderated by Jerry Green, Ph.D., Vice President of Quality.

Additional upcoming PACC 2014 speakers and topics

• Robert Anthony, Deputy Director, Health IT Initiatives Group, Office of eHealth Standards & Services (CMS): "CMS Quality Strategy"
• Jay Feinstein, MBA, Senior National Director, Physician Development, Tenet Healthcare: "A National Perspective: How Tenet Effectively Launched Outreach and is Set to Tackle Complexities of Population Health"
• Jeff Rydburg, Vice President of Operations, HCA Physician Services: "Optimizing Outreach Services to Improve Quality and Revenue"
• Keith Veselik, M.D., Medical Director, Primary Care, Loyola University Health: "Getting Buy-In From Physicians for Automated PHM Tools"
• Christopher A. Jordan, Chief Applications Officer, Orlando Health (with Marina Pascali, Ph.D. and Kristy Sanders, MBA): "P4P: A Conversation About Lessons Learned"
• Renee Rountree, Patient Experience Officer, Riverside Health System, "Reducing Avoidable Readmissions & ER Visits with Proactive PCP Follow Up"

Additional speakers will share their experiences with population health management and automated care management at Baltimore Medical Center, Bon Secours Virginia Medical Group, Hillcrest Health System, Prevea Health, The Polyclinic, Via Christi Clinic, and more.