General Sessions
Scott Armstrong, President and CEO, Group Health Cooperative
The Role of Health Plans in Creating a 21st Century Health Care System: A Vision for the Future
Thursday, June 21
8:30 am – 9:30 am
Scott Armstrong is president and CEO of Group Health Cooperative, one of the nations’ largest consumer governed health care systems. He has been with Group Health since 1986 in positions ranging from assistant hospital administrator to chief operating officer. He became president and CEO in January 2005.
Armstrong has more than 25 years of experience in health care and was the assistant vice president for hospital operations at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, before joining Group Health. He received his bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College in New York and a master’s degree in business with a concentration in hospital administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Armstrong is a commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, board chair of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, and a board member of America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Pacific Science Center. He is also a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and was named one of the "100 Most Influential People in Healthcare" in 2010 and 2011 by Modern Healthcare magazine.
Paul Begala, Political Analyst, CNN
Politics, Public Perception, and Health Reform: Implications for the 2012 Elections
Thursday, June 21
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Begala is a political analyst for CNN, where he is part of the political team that won an Emmy for its coverage of the 2006 elections and a Peabody Award for its coverage of the 2008 Presidential election. Begala served as counselor to President Clinton in the White House, where he helped define and defend the Administration's agenda, from the State of the Union Address to the economic, domestic and international issues the White House faces each day.
With his partner James Carville, he was a senior strategist for the Clinton-Gore Presidential Campaign in 1992, and he has helped direct the political strategy of numerous other campaigns across the country and around the world, including advising politicians in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.
He helped his friend John F. Kennedy, Jr. launch the political magazine George and wrote the “Capitol Hillbilly” column. He is the author of several New York Times best-selling books, including Is Our Children Learning? The Case Against George W. Bush and Buck Up, Suck Up, and Come Back When You Foul Up. He is also a columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast.
Begala is an affiliated professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University and in 2007 was named the prestigious Carl Sanders Distinguished Scholar in Political Leadership at the University of Georgia School of Law. Begala received his bachelor’s degree in government and his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was also the student body president.
Louis Burns, Chief Executive Officer, Intel-GE Care Innovations™
Brave New World of Health Care: At the Intersection of Science, Technology, and Delivery System Transformation
Thursday, June 21
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Louis Burns, Chief Executive Officer, Intel-GE Care Innovations™Louis Burns is the Chief Executive Officer of Intel-GE Care Innovations™, a new company from GE and Intel Corporation dedicated to creating technology-based solutions that give people confidence to live independently, wherever they are. A passionate global thought leader in the health care and technology spaces, Mr. Burns is committed to creating a company that creates solutions to help millions of people live healthy, connected lives. He takes the unique approach of starting with the people, not the technology itself, when developing new solutions for the marketplace. Since the formation of Care Innovations™ in January 2011, Mr. Burns has overseen the launch of two new solutions for the health care and independent living markets and achieved a novel FDA clearance for a software-based virtual care coordination platform. In addition, he has spoken around the world about the need for a healthy, competitive marketplace for integrated innovations that address health, wellness, and education.
Mr. Burns’ role at Care Innovations builds upon his most recent position as Vice President and General Manager of the Intel® Digital Health Group, where he led the group from its inception in 2005 to transform global health care by connecting people and information. Under his leadership, the Digital Health Group released the Mobile Clinical Assistant reference design; designed, developed and launched the Intel® Health Guide; designed, developed, and launched the Intel® Reader; and formed both the Continua Health Alliance and Dossia.
Prior to his move into health care, Mr. Burns was General Manager of a variety of Intel business groups where he led the design, engineering and market development of processors, chipsets, motherboards, software and services. He served as Chief Information Officer for four years and led a variety of sales and marketing teams over a 12-year period. Mr. Burns was appointed an Intel Vice President in 1996 and an elected Corporate Vice President in 1997.
Michael E. Chernew, PhD, Professor of Health Care Policy in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School
Thinking Forward: Doorways to Health System Change
Friday, June 22
9:35 am – 10:35 am
Michael Chernew is a professor of health care policy in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chernew’s research examines several areas related to controlling health care spending growth while maintaining or improving the quality of care. His work on consumer incentives focuses on Value Based Insurance Design (VBID), which aligns patient cost sharing with clinical value. Several large companies have adopted these approaches and Dr. Chernew’s ongoing work includes evaluations and design of such programs. His work on payment reform involves evaluation of bundled payment initiatives, including global payment models that include pay-for-performance components. Related research examines the effects of changes in Medicare Advantage payment rates. Additional research explores the causes and consequences of rising health care spending and geographic variation in spending, spending growth, and quality.
Dr. Chernew received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and his PhD in economics from Stanford University, where his training focused on areas of applied microeconomics and econometrics. He is the Co-Editor of the American Journal of Managed Care and Senior Associate Editor of Health ServicesResearch. Dr. Chernew has served on the Editorial Boards of Health Affairs and Medical Care Research and Review. Dr. Chernew is also a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Dr. Chernew is a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which is an independent agency established to advise the U.S. Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. He is also a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisors, the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Determination of Essential Health Benefits, and The Commonwealth Foundation’s Commission on a High Performance Health Care System. In 2010, Dr. Chernew was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences.
Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, New York Times Bestselling Author, Founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing
Senior Scientist, The Gallup Organization
Advancing the National Conversation Around Health and Well-being
Friday, June 22
12:45 pm – 2:00 pm
As a global leader and pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, Dr. Chopra transforms the way the world views physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social wellness. Known as a prolific author of over sixty-four books with nineteen New York Times best sellers in both the fiction and non-fiction categories, his books have been published in more than eighty-five languages. His latest New York Times bestsellers, War of the Worldviews, (co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow), has as been quoted by Larry King “as one of the more important books to read of the decade.” War of the Worldviews successfully attempts to elevate the conversation around science and religion in a way that is thoughtful and constructive rather than polarizing and divisive. His New York Times bestsellers, Peace Is the Way received the Religion and Spirituality Quill Award in 2005, and The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life was awarded the 2005 Nautilus Grand Prize. FINS - Wall Street Journal, mentioned his book, The Soul of Leadership, as one of five best business books to read for your career. The next upcoming book, Spiritual Solutions, will be released in April 2012.
He is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and Washington Post On Faith and contributes regularly to Oprah.com, Intent.com, and The Huffington Post and, hosts his daily show on BlogTalk Radio called “Deepak Chopra Radio” which focuses on the areas - success, love, sexuality and relationships, well-being, and spirituality.
Deepak Chopra's popularity as an international presenter and keynote speaker is exemplified in an impressive list of awards. Chopra is the recipient of the 2010 GOI Peace Award, 2010, Starlite Humanitarian Award, 2010 Art for Life Honoree, 2009 Oceana Partners Award, 2006 Ellis Island Medal of Honor presented by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundation, and 2006 Trailblazer Award by the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, 2002 Einstein Humanitarian Award through Albert Einstein College of Medicine in collaboration with the American Journal of Psychotherapy. He participates annually as a lecturer at the Update in Internal Medicine event sponsored by Harvard Medical School, Department of Continuing Education and the Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since 1997.
Chopra is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Adjunct Professor of Executive Programs at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Distinguished Scholar, Executive Program at Columbia University, and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization.
Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs; On-Air Health Analyst, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Moderator
Susan Dentzer is the editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, the nation’s leading journal of health policy, and is an on-air analyst on health issues with the PBS NewsHour. She previously led the NewsHour’s health unit, reporting extensively on-air about health care reform debates. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations, and chairs the Board of Directors of the Global Health Council. She is also on the board of Research!America. Dentzer graduated from Dartmouth, is a trustee emerita of the college, and chaired the Dartmouth Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2004. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Overseers of Dartmouth Medical School and is an Overseer of the International Rescue Committee, a leading humanitarian organization.
Ari Fleischer, Political Analyst, CNN
Politics, Public Perception, and Health Reform: Implications for the 2012 Elections
Thursday, June 21
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
As former White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer was the primary spokesperson for President Bush and delivered the daily White House briefings from 2001 to 2003. He previously served as the senior communications advisor and spokesman for the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign. In his almost four years working for George W. Bush, he served as spokesman during the historic presidential recount, September 11, two wars and the anthrax attack. His bestselling book, Taking Heat, details his years in the White House and reached #7 on The New York Times bestseller list. He is a political analyst for CNN.
Prior to joining Governor Bush’s campaign, Fleischer was the national spokesman and communications director for Elizabeth Dole’s presidential campaign. In November 1994, Fleischer was hired as communications director by the House Committee on Ways and Means after Republicans took control of the Congress. He also served as press secretary to New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici from 1989 to 1994. From 1983 to 1989, Fleischer served as press secretary to two members of Congress from New York, and worked on several political campaigns.
Fleischer is a native of Pound Ridge, New York and a 1982 graduate of Vermont’s Middlebury College. Now president of his own firm, Ari Fleischer Communications Inc., he offers advice to clients in the corporate and sports world on how to handle the press.
Fleischer has provided counsel to clients such as Major League Baseball, the Women’s Tennis Association, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and has conducted media training with seven National Football League teams, all the National Football League head coaches, as well as media training to NASCAR. He has also done media training for several individual athletes.
Atul Gawande, MD, MPH*, Professor, Harvard Medical School; Author of The Checklist Manifesto, Better and Complications; Staff Writer on Medicine and Science, The New Yorker magazine
Cowboys Versus Pit Crews: How to Build a Sustainable Health Care Delivery System
Friday, June 22
8:10 am – 9:30 am
*It is understood that Dr. Gawande is not receiving any personal reward for speaking at this event.
As a practicing surgeon and an accomplished writer, teacher and speaker, Dr. Atul Gawande offers audiences a unique perspective on the practice of medicine, the reform of healthcare, and the human struggle to do better, to improve performance.
Chosen for the The 2010 TIME 100, Gawande is number five in the thinkers category. He received the MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the “genius prize,” for his writing and his efforts to improve surgical practice. Dr. Gawande is one of the most influential voices on healthcare reform in America today. With the sensible and pragmatic approach of a surgeon, he encourages incremental reforms that build on the strengths and limitations of our current system. He also speaks on how to improve care and lower costs.
Dr. Gawande is the author of three brilliant bestselling books on medicine, culture and human experience. In his book, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance, Dr. Gawande uses the high stakes challenges he faces as a surgeon to explore the universal struggle to perform well—what it takes to excel in any area of human endeavor. His first book, Complications, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2002 and is published in more than a hundred countries. His current book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right is a New York Times bestseller. In this book, Dr. Gawande explores the importance of using the lowly checklist and how it has revolutionized medical practice and saved lives.
Dr. Gawande holds distinguished positions in all of his professional roles. He is the Research Director for the BWH Center for Surgery and Public Health, a practicing surgeon, and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. He leads the World Health Organization’s global campaign to reduce avoidable deaths and complica¬tions in surgery and to reduce deaths at child delivery.
Jay M. Gellert, President and Chief Executive Officer, Health Net, Inc.
The Role of Health Plans in Creating a 21st Century Health Care System: A Vision for the Future
Thursday, June 21
8:30 am – 9:30 am
Jay Gellert is president and chief executive officer of Health Net, Inc.
Mr. Gellert joined the company in 1996 as president and chief operating officer of one of Health Net’s predecessor companies, Health Systems International, Inc. (HSI). He also served on the HSI Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Board for HSI’s principal operating subsidiaries, Health Net and QualMed.
Prior to joining Health Net, Mr. Gellert directed Shattuck Hammond Partners Inc.’s strategic advisory engagements in the area of integrated delivery systems development, managed care network formation and physician groups practice integration. From 1988 to 1991, Mr. Gellert was president and chief executive officer of Bay Pacific Health Corporation, a Northern California health maintenance organization (HMO). From 1985 to 1988, Mr. Gellert was senior vice president and chief operating officer for California Healthcare System.
Mr. Gellert serves on several boards, including America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Ventas, Inc. He served as chairman of AHIP from June 2008 through June 2010. In addition, Mr. Gellert is a member of the board of directors of the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH), serves on the CAQH Executive Committee and is chairman of its Administrative Simplification Committee.
Malcolm Gladwell, Author of What the Dog Saw, Outliers, Blink and The Tipping Point; Staff Writer, The New Yorker magazine
Cowboys Versus Pit Crews: How to Build a Sustainable Health Care Delivery System
Friday, June 22
8:10 am – 9:30 am
Malcolm Gladwell has an incomparable gift for interpreting new ideas in the social sciences and making them understandable, practical and valuable to business and general audiences alike. He’s become so successful at this that, in 2005, Time Magazine named Malcolm one of its 100 Most Influential People.
Gladwell’s book Outliers: The Story of Success is having an even greater impact than his first two books. In Outliers, Gladwell suggests an exciting new approach to helping people succeed by using the factors that really foster success. Outliers debuted as a #1 bestseller for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, Barnes & Noble, and Publisher’s Weekly.
He is the author of two other New York Times #1 bestsellers, The Tipping Point and Blink. With his first book Malcolm embedded the concept of The Tipping Point in our everyday vocabulary and gave organizations new tools for understanding how trends work. In Blink he analyzed first impressions—the snap judgments that we all make unconsciously and instinctively—and he explores how we can master this important aspect of successful decision-making.
Gladwell is a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. His editor describes his work as a new genre of story, an idea-driven narrative that’s focused on the everyday and combines research with material that’s more personal, social and historical. He now has another bestseller, What the Dog Saw, a compilation of essays from his writings in The New Yorker magazine. He was previously a reporter for the Washington Post.
Scott E. Harrington, PhD, Alan B. Miller Professor; Professor of Health Care Management and Insurance and Risk Management, University of Pennsylvania
Thinking Forward: Doorways to Health System Change
Friday, June 22
9:35 am – 10:35 am
Scott E. Harrington, PhD, is the Alan B. Miller Professor in the Health Care Management and Insurance and Risk Management departments at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, an adjunct scholar for health policy at the American Enterprise Institute, and an academic advisor to the Health Management Academy. A former President of both the American Risk and Insurance Association and the Risk Theory Society, he is a Co-Editor of the Journal of Risk and Insurance and has published widely on the economics and regulation of insurance. A frequent speaker on health insurance reform, insurance markets, regulation, and public policy, he has conducted research, consulted, or served as an expert for many organizations. He has testified before the U.S. House and Senate on insurance regulation and before numerous U.S. state legislative and administrative committees, and he recently was appointed to the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance. His recent policy research has focused on healthcare reform and on the causes and implications of the financial crisis for insurance regulation.
Jeffrey O. Henley, Chairman, Oracle Corporation
Brave New World of Health Care: At the Intersection of Science, Technology, and Delivery System Transformation
Thursday, June 21
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Jeffrey O. Henley is Chairman of Oracle Corporation. He has held this position since January 2004.
Henley was Oracle's Chief Financial Officer and an Executive Vice President from March 1991 to July 2004, and he has been a member of Oracle's Board of Directors since June 1995. He also serves on Oracle's Executive Management Committee.
Prior to joining Oracle in 1991, Henley served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Pacific Holding Company, a privately held company with diversified interests in manufacturing and real estate, and as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Saga Corporation, a multibillion-dollar food service company. He also served as Director of Finance at Memorex Corporation in its large storage division, and as Controller of International Operations at Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation.
Henley is a member of the Board of Governors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and serves on both the Chancellor's Advisory Council and the International Advisory Council of the Engineering College for the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Digital Consumer Solutions Inc., which operates a digital-out-of home signage network for retail advertisers, and serves on the Advisory Board of InTouch Technologies, a provider of remote presence solutions for healthcare providers.
Daniel Kessler, PhD, Professor at Stanford’s Business and Law Schools and a Professor (by courtesy) at Stanford Medical School
Thinking Forward: Doorways to Health System Change
Friday, June 22
9:35 am – 10:35 am
Daniel Kessler is a professor at Stanford's Business and Law Schools and a professor (by courtesy) at Stanford Medical School. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. He holds a PhD in economics from M.I.T. and a law degree from Stanford. He has taught courses in health economics, law, and public policy at Stanford, Harvard Law School, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has written numerous articles and books about health economics and health policy. His current research interests include how tax policy affects medical spending and how vertical integration and other shared ownership structures in markets for health services affect the cost and quality of care.
Robert Margolis, MD, Managing Partner and CEO, HealthCare Partners
Brave New World of Health Care: At the Intersection of Science, Technology, and Delivery System Transformation
Thursday, June 21
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Robert Margolis, MD, has been the managing partner and CEO of HealthCare Partners since the formation of the company in 1992. Dr. Margolis was a founding partner and the managing partner of HealthCare Partners' predecessor, California Primary Physicians Medical Group. Under Dr. Margolis' leadership, HealthCare Partners has become a highly respected and innovative physician-owned and operated medical group, independent physician association, and management services organization.
Dr. Margolis has been on the leading edge of the managed care industry for more than 30 years. He is a much sought-after spokesperson because of his vast experience in integrated delivery systems and physician practice management.
Dr. Margolis serves on the Board of several prestigious healthcare organizations. He is one of seven board members appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and UC Regents to the Board of Directors of the new Martin Luther King, Jr., Hospital. Dr. Margolis serves as a member of the HealthCare Policy Advisory Council for Harvard Medical School and the Advisory Board of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California.
He is a Board member and immediate past Chairman of the Board of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a Board member and past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG), a Board member and immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of California Hospital Medical Center, Los Angeles and a founding Board member of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP). He is a member of the Executive Management School Advisory Committee of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a past member of the Catholic HealthCare West Southern California Board of Directors and its Strategic Planning Committee. Dr. Margolis is past chairman of the American Medical Group Association and a two-time past chairman of the Unified Medical Group Association.
Dr. Margolis is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. While practicing medicine, he was an active member of the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a graduate of Rutgers University (high honors - Henry Rutgers Scholar), and the Duke University Medical School (AOA) and served a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute.
Samuel R. Nussbaum, MD, Executive Vice President, Clinical Health Policy, and Chief Medical Officer, WellPoint, Inc.
The Role of Health Plans in Creating a 21st Century Health Care System: A Vision for the Future
Thursday, June 21
8:30 am – 9:30 am
Dr. Samuel Nussbaum is Executive Vice President, Clinical Health Policy, and Chief Medical Officer for WellPoint, Inc. He is the key spokesperson and policy advocate for WellPoint. He oversees corporate medical and pharmacy policy to ensure the provision of clinically proven effective care. Dr. Nussbaum collaborates with industry leaders, physicians, hospitals and national policy and health care organizations to shape an agenda for quality, safety and clinical outcomes and to improve patient care for WellPoint’s 34 million medical members nationwide. In addition, Dr. Nussbaum works closely with WellPoint business units to advance international and innovative health care services strategy and development.
In the decade that Dr. Nussbaum has served as Chief Medical Officer at WellPoint, he has led business units focused on care and disease management and health improvement, clinical pharmacy programs, and provider networks and contracting with accountability for over $100B in health care expenditures. He has been the architect of models that improve quality, safety and affordability, and was instrumental in developing an innovative contracting approach linking hospital reimbursement to quality, safety and clinical performance. In addition, he guided an extensive set of public and private sector partnerships which have improved community health. Under his leadership, WellPoint’s HealthCore subsidiary has built partnerships with Federal agencies, including CDC and FDA, and with academic institutions to advance drug safety, comparative effectiveness and outcomes research.
Dr. Nussbaum currently serves on the Boards of the National Quality Forum (NQF), the OASIS Institute, and BioCrossroads, an Indiana-based public-private collaboration that advances and invests in the life sciences. Dr. Nussbaum is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and serves as adjunct professor at the Olin School of Business, Washington University.
He earned his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine at Stanford University Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital and in endocrinology and metabolism at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he directed the Endocrine Clinical Group. As a professor at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Nussbaum’s research led to new therapies to treat skeletal disorders and new technologies to measure hormones in blood.