Value Institute Spring Symposium 2017 Keynote Speaker Brent James, M.D., MStat

As health care organizations across the country search for ways adapt to evolving reimbursement policies, many groups are challenged in their attempts to improve the quality and efficiency of health care delivery. Finding and eliminating sources of waste in health care – a huge opportunity for health organizations – was the theme of the Value Institute Spring Symposium keynote address on June 12 at the John H. Ammon Medical Education Center. (Slides available here)

The keynote speaker was Brent C. James, M.D., MStat, Chief Quality Officer and Executive Director of the Institute for Health Care Delivery Research at Intermountain Health. For more than 20 years, Dr. James has championed the standardization of clinical care through data collection and analysis on a wide variety of treatment protocols and complex care processes. Dr. James has devoted himself to using quality improvement tools to better understand the cause and effect relationship between various practice and environmental factors.

After a warm introduction from Janice E. Nevin, M.D., MPH, president and CEO of Christiana Care Health System, Dr. James presented his talk, titled “We Count Our Successes in Lives: Quality as a Core Business Strategy,” which made the case that improvements in clinical outcomes can significantly reduce the cost of business operations. According to research done by Dr. James and colleagues, health organizations that focus on better outcomes for their patients often reap the rewards of better financial health. Today, nearly 100 years after his mentors’ groundbreaking discoveries, Dr. James firmly believes that the practice of medicine and delivery of healthcare stands at another critical crossroads.

The keynote presentation by Dr. James was followed by an engaging panel discussion, titled “Organizing for Value-based Healthcare,” featuring:

• Sharon Anderson, RN, BSN, MS, FACHE
  Senior Vice President, Quality and Patient Safety; Chief Population Health Officer
• Edward F. Ewen, M.D., FACP
  Director of Clinical Data and Analytics, Center for Strategic Information Management
• Brent C. James, M.D., MStat
  Chief Quality Officer and Executive Director, Institute for Health Care Delivery, Intermountain Healthcare
• Kenneth L. Silverstein, M.D., MBA
  Chief Clinical Officer
• Eric V. Jackson, Jr., M.D., MBA (Moderator)
  Director, Health Care Delivery Science and Associate Director, Value Institute