PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA USA -- HEALTHCARE UPDATE NEWS SERVICE(TM) -- SEPTEMBER 8, 2006: ECRI's 14th Annual Conference, "Confronting Dilemmas of Risk in Healthcare: Emerging Trends and Practical Approaches for Decision Makers," to be held November 15-16, 2006, in suburban Philadelphia, PA, will examine the programs and perspectives that impact day-to-day decision making in healthcare. Conference collaborators include Health Affairs, Milbank Memorial Fund, Kaiser Permanente, George Mason University, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

Jerry Avorn, M.D. Chief, Division of Pharmaco-Epidemiology and Pharmaco-Economics, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Lawton R. Burns, Ph.D., M.B.A. Professor of Healthcare Systems and Management, Wharton Center for Health Management and Economics, University of Pennsylvania
Victor Caraballo, M.D., M.B.A. Senior Medical Director, Quality Management, Independence Blue Cross
Alide L. Chase, M.S. Vice President, Quality and Safety, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
Daniel M. Fox, Ph.D. President, Milbank Memorial Fund
Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H. Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Mark Gibson Deputy Director, Center for Evidence-based Policy, Oregon Health & Science University
Jessie C. Gruman, Ph.D. President and Executive Director, Center for the Advancement of Health
Carmen Hooker Odom Secretary, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
John K. Iglehart Founding Editor, Health Affairs
Peter D. Jacobson, J.D., M.P.H. Professor of Health Law and Policy, Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health; Director, Center for Law and Ethics and Health
Larry R. Kaiser, M.D. The John Rhea Barton Professor, Chairman of Surgery, and Surgeon-in-Chief, University of Pennsylvania Health System
Gary L. Kreps, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Communication, George Mason University
Jeffrey C. Lerner, Ph.D. President and CEO, ECRI
Ralph W. Muller Chief Executive Officer, University of Pennsylvania
Mark V. Pauly, Ph.D. Bendheim Professor; Professor of Health Care Systems, Business and Public Policy, Insurance and Risk Management, and Economics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., MSHA, FACP Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Quality, HCA; Former Undersecretary for Health Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs
Richard G. Roberts, M.D., J.D. Past President, American Academy of Family Physicians; Professor and Past Chair, Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin Medical School
William M. Sage, M.D., J.D. Vice Provost for Health Affairs, James R. Dougherty Chair for Faculty Excellence in Law, University of Texas at Austin
Daniel Schultz, M.D. Director, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Barry Straube, M.D. Director and Chief Clinical Officer, Office of Clinical Standards and Quality, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Honorable David G. Trager District Judge, U. S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
Paul Wallace, M.D. Medical Director, Health and Productivity Management Programs, Senior Advisor, Care Management Institute and KP-Healthy Solutions, Kaiser Permanente

Risk in healthcare can be addressed through practical strategies. Public and private payers, regulators, health systems, manufacturers of drugs and devices, providers, judges, and lawyers will reveal their approaches to minimizing risk at ECRI's upcoming conference. This is your opportunity to understand the thinking behind their strategies as well as to learn more about the programs themselves. Because this conference is limited to less than 200 participants, you will get targeted answers to your questions about what works and what does not. This is a noncommercial conference aimed at making all of us better prepared to perform our complex jobs more effectively.

An extraordinary group of experts will address questions in four categories, such as the following:

Clinician/Patient Relationships
• How do economists and non-economists think about risk in the Medicare prescription drug benefit plan?
• What are the risks in shared decision making between clinicians and patients and what really works?

Regulating and Insuring Risk-Laden Products and People
• When FDA approves a drug or medical device or decides to remove it from the market, the key decision makers know that some people may die or be harmed. What goes into their decision making as they weigh benefits and harms to patients, providers, and industry?
• How does the coverage process at CMS directly and indirectly influence the actuality and perception of risk?
• Can our regulatory and coverage decision-making processes be constructively criticized and changed to incorporate more rapid and accurate assessments of risk?
• How do Medicaid programs use research evidence, such as drug class reviews and systematic reviews, to reduce the risk in regulating risky drugs and devices? What are the political risks in states involved in this type of decision making?

Handling Risk in Health Systems
• How do health system executives and clinicians act on the risks inherent in developing clinical services where evidence of effectiveness, to date, is far from meeting proven scientific standards?
• How does Kaiser Permanente's board of trustees establish accountability for quality throughout the nation's largest integrated health system?
• What were some of the most significant initial and downstream risks in transforming the Veterans Health Administration?

Risk in the Courts
• What legal trends will emerge as consumer-directed health plans shift more risk onto patients and providers?
• How might judges rule when cases come before the courts?

Save $100 by registering before September 15, 2006. Brochure and registration form (PDF) can be downloaded from the conference Web site at www.ecri.org/taconf. For more information, please call 610-825-6000, ext. 5891, e-mail circulation2@ecri.org, or write to ECRI, Circulation Department, 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.