Healthcare Experts Discuss Current and Future Challenges of Chronic Care on NewTalk

    NEW YORK, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- According to the Centers
 for Disease Control, more than 133 million Americans suffer from diabetes,
 asthma and other chronic conditions. The medical care costs for these
 patients account for more than 75% of the nation's $2 trillion medical care
 costs. And as the U.S. population continues to age over the next few
 decades, its medical bills are expected to spiral further out of control,
 even as the quality of care diminishes.
 
     National healthcare leaders from across the country will explore the
 impending crisis and how to solve it in a unique, three-day discussion at
 NewTalk (www.newtalk.org), the online forum that tackles tough issues that
 are inadequately addressed in national political debate.
 
     Titled "Chronic Care: Do We Need an Entirely New Model of Delivery?"
 the discussion will run from Tues., June 24, through Thurs., June 26 with
 participating experts joining online from locations across the country.
 Distinguished participants will include:
 
     -- Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Aetna, Inc.
 (Hartford, CT)
 
     -- Lawrence Casalino, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Health Studies,
 University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
 
     -- Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief, Health Affairs and respected health
 policy journalist (Bethesda, MD)
 
     -- Brent C. James, M.D., Chief Quality Officer, Intermountain
 Healthcare (Salt Lake City, UT)
 
     -- Nancy Johnson, former Member of Congress and chair of the Health
 Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee (R-CT)
 
     -- Tim Jost, Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University School of
 Law (Lexington, VA)
 
     -- David B. Kendall, Senior Fellow for Health Policy, Progressive
 Policy Institute (Washington, DC)
 
     -- Mark McClellan M.D., Ph.D., Director, Engelberg Center for Health
 Care Reform, Brookings Institution (Washington, DC)
 
     -- Peggy O'Kane, President, National Committee for Quality Assurance
 (Washington, DC)
 
     -- Carol Raphael, President and CEO, Visiting Nurse Service of New York
 (New York, NY)
 
     -- John Rother, Group Executive Officer of Policy and Strategy, AARP
 (Washington, DC)
 
     -- Bruce Vladeck, Executive Director, Ernst & Young Health Sciences
 Advisory Services (New York, NY)
 
     -- John Wennberg, Director, Dartmouth University Center for Evaluative
 Studies (Hanover, NH)
 
     "Solving the inefficiencies of chronic care is vital to our health care
 system," said Philip K. Howard, Chair of Common Good, the nonpartisan
 organization that created NewTalk. "This extraordinary group of health care
 leaders can discuss candidly the big changes and tough choices that are
 almost certainly required."
 
     Launched earlier this month, NewTalk (www.newtalk.org) offers a new
 kind of conversation: one that acknowledges reality, uncovers common
 ground, and finds a responsible way forward. It takes advantage of the
 Internet, letting each discussion unfold over several days with notable
 participants contributing from across the country. Recent NewTalk
 discussions have included such renowned American leaders as Michael
 Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York; Bill Bradley, former presidential
 candidate and U.S. Senator, and Shirley Franklin, Mayor of Atlanta, among
 others.
 
     On NewTalk each week, national leaders will bring their knowledge and
 experience to bear on the most pressing domestic issues in education, the
 economy, the environment, health care, and justice. NewTalk is a virtual
 meetinghouse, with experts and thought-leaders from different points of
 view confronting America's hard challenges and debating its tough choices.
 Members of the public are invited to comment online as each discussion
 unfolds.
 
 
    Future forum topics being developed include:
     -- "What is the role of the courts in setting social policy?"
     -- "Over-spending on entitlements: How close is the cliff?"
     -- "Do we need a basic rewrite of No Child Left Behind?"    -- "Is nuclear power essential to addressing climate change and energy
 independence?"
 
 
    -- "Is American infrastructure crumbling?"
 
 
     Recently completed discussions, which are archived on NewTalk, include:
     -- "Is it possible to fix government?"
     -- "Should higher test scores be the main goal of school reform?"
     -- "How can we restore Americans' sense of optimism?"
 
     NewTalk was created and is supported by Common Good
 (www.commongood.org) in recognition of the need to improve the quality of
 public discourse on a broad range of topics.
 
 
 

SOURCE Common Good