Muskie School of Public Service

Gino Nalli, Chair, Graduate Program in Health Policy and Management, Muskie School of Public Service

Douglas W. Libby, Executive Director, Maine Health Management Coalition

Clinicians and other health care professionals are long experienced in measuring, monitoring and caring for individual patients. Increasingly, these and other measures are being applied to the performance of an entire organization. Current trends also reflect the growing participation and accountability of the consumer in accessing health care services. And, as always, the need to better manage health care costs continues to be a priority.

Through collaborative processes that include health care providers, purchasers and health plans, the Maine Health Management Coalition has been a leader in measuring quality and communicating this information to stakeholders. Mr. Libby will review current trends and developments in the medical marketplace that are fueling the emphasis on value and performance-based decision making.

Maureen Kenney, Manager of Health Care Strategies, Bath Iron Works

Performance and quality measures are increasingly used to establish reimbursement policy, develop communication strategies, design benefit plans and manage clinical operations. In order to achieve better outcomes that contribute to improvements in health status and lower costs, BIW, along with other employers in the state, is working collaboratively with providers and health plans to improve the quality of care delivered by hospitals and physicians,. In tandem, major emphasis has been placed on providing programs and information to the work force in order to help them understand and take a more active role in their own health and the healthcare services that they seek. Ms. Kenney will review these activities and provide insights into future initiatives.

Attendees will be assigned to specific break out groups with colleagues from other organizations. These groups will discuss the degree to which performance and value monitoring is affecting their operations and the challenges that exist in responding to these new requirements. Each group will be asked to summarize their discussion and conclusions.

Speaker: Stephen F. Loebs, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Division of Health Services Management and Policy, School of Public Health, The Ohio State University

Leadership will be required for organizations to effectively respond to these new demands for quality performance, accountability and transparency. Effective leadership is not top down. Rather, health care leaders, at all levels within the organizations, will be required to assemble and participate in focused teams that can identify areas for improvement, develop effective action plans, implement these plans and then evaluate results. Professor Loebs will discuss these key leadership requirements and the critical role that all team members play in advancing performance improvement within health care organizations.

Speaker: Andrew A. Aberdale, President, Aberdale and Associates, LLC.

While quality appropriately begins with services provided to patients, performance measures and processes are being extended beyond the bedside. It is increasingly necessary for managers to monitor the systemic performance of their departments, identify areas for improvement, initiate change and then evaluate results. Many of these processes were developed by manufacturing and industries outside of health care. Mr. Aberdale will provide an overview of these processes and how health care managers are applying them to enhance operational performance.

Attendees will be assigned to specific break out groups (different from the morning sessions) in order to discuss different initiatives that might be appropriate and of value to the needs or their organization and how such initiatives could be introduced. Each group will be asked to provide a summary of the discussion and the conclusions that were reached.

4:30

Adjournment & Reception

8:00 am

Continental Breakfast

8:30

Report on Yesterday's Break-Out Sessions

9:00

Case Study: Operational Reality

• Lois Skillings, RN, MSN, Vice President, Nursing & Patient Care Services, Mid Coast Hospital
• Jackie Cawley, D.O., Vice President of Population Health, PointPartners, Martin’s Point Health Care
• Larry G. Anderson, M.D., Director of Quality Improvement for Maine Health and Maine Medical Center Physician Hospital Organization (MMC-PHO)
• John Yindra, M.D., Medical Director, Central and Western Maine Physician Hospital Organization

This panel will provide insights on and examples of how they are applying performance and quality improvement techniques to their specific health care setting. The discussion will include the external factors that impact their institutions, the roles and responsibilities at different leadership levels and their successes and challenges to date.

Speaker: Maureen Booth, MRP, Director, Quality Management and Improvement Program, University of Southern Maine, Muskie School of Public Service

A variety of data and informational sources exist that are beginning to establish accepted standards for performance and quality. While there is a growing consensus that there should be a common universe of measures for different clinical, financial and programmatic requirements, specific measures are constantly changing; reflecting a growing understanding of what are valid and reliable indicators. This session will provide a catalog of these resources, their application and what health care managers can expect in the future.

Gino Nalli, MPH, Chair, Graduate Program in HPM

12:30

Adjournment

Box lunches will be available to take or enjoy at the Stone House.