Regina Benjamin, MD, to outline priorities as Surgeon General

WASHINGTON, March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, knows first-hand the connection doctors and patients need in order to address tough chronic health threats. Benjamin will discuss her priorities as Surgeon General in a keynote address at the Stakeholder's Summit of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) at 10 a.m. on March 30 in Washington, DC.

"As Surgeon General, I want to provide the nation with the best scientific information available on how to live healthier lives," said Benjamin. "I will also try to bring clarity and understanding to the overwhelmingly confusing conversations about health and health care."

"Cultivate the PCMH: What Really Matters" will be a working meeting of PCPCC stakeholders with the shared goal of advancing adoption of the patient centered medical home (PCMH) across the nation.  The meeting will be held at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center from 8:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The PCPCC is a coalition of more than 700 organizations representing the nation's business leaders, consumers, primary care physicians and other health care stakeholders.  

Benjamin is the former associate dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile, and immediate past chair of the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States.  In 1995, she was the first physician under age 40 and the first African-American woman to be elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees.  She served as president of the American Medical Association Education and Research Foundation and chair of the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA). In 2002 she became president of the Medical Association State of Alabama, making her the first African American female president of a State Medical Society in the U.S.

The March 30 Stakeholder's Working Meeting will include expert panel presentations on other topics as well, including:

• Delivering on the Promise: Success Factors to Advance Care Coordination
• Effective Reimbursement Models: Aligning Incentives for Sustainable Value
• Health IT- Performance Measurement-Meaningful Use: A Perfect Fit
• Expanded Access to Providers Creates Value
• Implementation of the Patient Centered Medical Home at the Community Level & Practice Transformation

The PCPCC is organized and financed to provide better outcomes for patients, more efficient payment to physicians and better value, accountability and transparency to purchasers and consumers. Studies of the PCMH model show that it improves patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes. It also lowers health care costs by improving care coordination and communication between primary care physicians and their patients.

About the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative

The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative is a coalition of more than 700 major employers, consumer groups, organizations representing primary care physicians, and other stakeholders who have joined to advance the patient centered medical home. The Collaborative believes that, if implemented, the patient centered medical home will improve the health of patients and the health care delivery system. For more information on the patient centered medical home and a complete list of the PCPCC members, please visit http://www.pcpcc.net/.

SOURCE The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative

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http://www.pcpcc.net