Boston, MA - One in three US hospitals is losing money. Insurers forecast double-digit premium increases. With recent headlines like these, it's no secret that health care is in turmoil. The industry continues to witness plenty of change; but where is the improvement promised by health care reform? How can professional education help organizations to improve their performance in the evolving world of managed care? Health care leaders from around the nation will explore these and other questions at Tufts Health Care Institute's (THCI) fourth annual conference: Improving Health Care System Performance: Physician-Driven Solutions on October 19 and 20 at the SwissÔtel, Boston.

After more than a decade of health care reform and changes in managed health care delivery, health care executives and physician leaders are still seeking ways to optimize performance and improve systems so that quality and cost-effectiveness can comfortably coexist. While few continue to hope for a "Magic Bullet," many physicians and administrators agree that close collaboration among individuals and entities within the nation's complex system of care delivery-enabled by the focused application of education, managed care training, and understanding-is essential to the evolution of medical practice. At the THCI annual conference, delivery system leaders and educators will come together to explore new approaches and identify resources and tools that will bolster the behavior changes necessary for enhanced alignment of the concerns of physicians and other clinicians with the realities of managed health care delivery. According to David B. Nash, MD, MBA, Director of the Office of Health Policy and Clinical Outcomes at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and conference co-moderator, "To really make improvements to the health care system, you have to recognize that medical education is a complex system. We're attempting to tie the work of quality improvement to the education process of medicine."

"There is a disconnect between current medical education and training and the need for physicians to lead health care improvement," says Philip R. Boulter, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Tufts Health Plan, and conference co-moderator. "This conference is about the value of getting health care delivery systems to help physicians lead the improvement."

Over two days, participants will explore topics such as the role of physicians in creating system-wide change; key elements required to transform health systems into "learning organizations;" how continuing medical education can change provider behavior; and the transformative potential of information technology to improve health care.

Presenters and faculty include such field-leaders as Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, President and CEO of the Institute for health care Improvement, and George D. Lundberg, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Medscape. Workshops will provide hands-on access to the latest online tools and curricula in clinical and care management education, and help participants to match their organizations' performance goals with the proper quality and improvement tools to achieve those goals. An intensive post-conference workshop will help participants enhance their negotiation abilities in the context of creating and managing change.

Conference collaborators include the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, Medscape, The Institute for Health Care Improvement, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services. The conference is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP.

Tufts Health Care Institute is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization established in 1995 as a collaborative venture of Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Health Plan. The Institute's mission is to help physicians and other health care professionals-at all stages of their training and development-to practice comfortably and effectively in a high quality, cost-effective, managed health care system. The Institute provides managed care education through the development, implementation, and dissemination of tools, resources, and curricula.

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