MARINA DEL REY, Calif., April 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Richard Merkin Initiative on Payment Reform and Clinical Leadership and the Engelberg Center for Healthcare Reform at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, launched the new "MEDTalk" series that merges medicine, education and healthcare delivery reform on Wednesday, April 16, 2014. (http://www.brookings.edu/events/2014/04/16-doctors-congestive-heart-failure-health-care-reform)

After a welcome from Alice Rivlin, Director of the Engelberg Center for Healthcare Reform at Brookings, the discussion focused on "Treating Congestive Heart Failure and the Role of Payment Reform, Lessons learned from Duke University Health System and the University of Colorado Hospital." Experts from the Duke University Health System, the University of Colorado, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and Johns Hopkins discussed lessons learned on the economic impact of congestive heart disease, care strategies and how they used alternative payment models to support these innovations. The Honorable Lee Satterfield, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, shared his firsthand, inspirational patient experience. Rounding out the discussion, Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, Merkin Fellow for Payment Reform and Clinical Leadership, provided insights on next steps. Dr. Mark McClellan, Director of the Engelberg Center's Initiative on Innovation and Value in Healthcare summarized the event with participants, emphasizing the importance of first hand experiences from clinicians.

The Richard Merkin Initiative on Payment Reform and Clinical Leadership was established in 2011 by The Merkin Foundation and Dr. Richard Merkin, President and CEO of Heritage Provider Network. The initiative supports two full time scholars at Brookings to study ways to make critical policy changes replacing the current fee for service system, transitioning to new payment models and increasing leadership skills of clinicians.

"The more research we can gather from firsthand experiences from those clinicians on the front lines of payment reform the better we are able to achieve improved healthcare outcomes as well as savings for consumers" said Dr. Merkin. "I'm delighted we are a part of the launch of the new 'MEDTalk' series that is exploring the important relationship between treating congestive heart failure and the role of payment reform."

"The unique element of our 'MEDTalk' series is providing firsthand experience from clinicians that have implemented payment reform," said Mark McClellan, Director of the Engelberg Center's Initiative on Health Care Innovation and Value. "Clinicians have the most knowledge about how to improve care for their patients, they have the trust of their patients, and so clinician leadership provides the best foundation for successful health care reform."

"Clinicians are well-poised to make some of the most important changes to improve the quality of health care, the patient experience, and the health of our communities. Our 'MEDTalk' series represents a broad effort to engage and empower clinicians to actively help change health care for the better," said Darshak Sanghavi, Merkin Fellow for Payment Reform and Clinical Leadership. (http://healthaffairs.org/blog/author/sanghavi/)

"The Merkin Initiative at Brookings is dedicated to involving clinicians in health care policy and encouraging clinician-led reforms. We are delighted to launch the 'MEDTalk' event series to produce accessible, enjoyable content that we hope will demystify health policy issues for clinicians and the public," said Alice M. Rivlin, Director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings.  "Those who actually deliver care must be actively involved in creating a higher value health system that results in a healthier America."

ABOUT HPN: (www.heritageprovidernetwork.com)

Heritage Provider Network, Inc. (HPN) is on the cutting edge of the accountable care model of healthcare delivery: coordinated, patient-doctor centric, integrated health care systems that represent the future of health care in the United States. HPN and its affiliates operate in California, New York and Arizona providing high quality, cost effective healthcare to over 700,000 individuals and are dedicated to quality, affordable health care, and putting patients' wellness first.

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SOURCE Heritage Provider Network, Inc.