Healthcare Research and Delivery is Focus of Upcoming HMO Conference

TEMPLE, Texas, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Groundbreaking research examining medication -- management, health care delivery and outcomes, and new opportunities for health maintenance organizations (HMO) to engage in Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) will be presented at the upcoming HMO Research Network (HMORN) 16th Annual Conference, Emerging Frontiers in Healthcare Research and Delivery.  HMORN will bring researchers from 16 large not for profit healthcare delivery systems from around the country together March 21-24 at the Hyatt Regency Austin.  

Scott & White Healthcare is the host of this year's conference, while The Scott & White Health Plan is the official HMORN member organization.  "This year's HMORN meeting will address issues of critical importance to the national health care industry.  The research presented will address a broad range of topics from mammography screenings to wellness in the workplace demonstrating our broad scope of concern within the industry," said meeting chair Alan D. Stevens, Ph.D., Scott & White.

Among the featured speakers is J. James Rohack, M.D., president of the American Medical Association, who will open the meeting with a discussion on health care reform and the need for collaboration between researchers and providers.  

The director of the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Carolyn Clancy, M.D., will speak on current trends and pressures shaping the health care delivery system, highlighting information technology, evidence-based care management and rapid translation of new advances.  Dr. Clancy will be honored for her leadership of AHRQ by the HMORN Board of Governors with a reception on Monday evening, March 22.

"This year's theme, Emerging Frontiers in Healthcare Research and Delivery, helps us to demonstrate the distinct opportunity we have to bring researchers together with health care providers to share knowledge and experience that will influence future health care delivery and outcomes," continued Stevens.  "HMORN's diversity and national scope are keys to shaping that influence on the future of health care."

Meeting Highlights

Featured abstracts by Scott & White Healthcare researchers include:

• Underuse of Aspirin in Women for Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Events
• Medication Adherence, Rehospitalization and ER Visits Following Hospitalization for Members of a Medicare Cost-Contract HMO
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI): An Efficient, Non-invasive Alternative to Conventional Pre-surgical Planning in Neurosurgery
• Mammography Screening and Surgical Biopsies: Are Women Being Subjected to Unnecessary Biopsies?

About HMORN

The HMO Research Network is an organization of HMO research programs whose mission is to use its collective scientific capabilities to integrate research and practice for the improvement of health and health care among diverse populations.  The Network is comprised of 16 HMO organizations that have formal, recognized research capabilities.  For more information, visit www.hmoresearchnetwork.org.

About Scott & White Healthcare

Scott & White Healthcare is a non-profit health care system established in 1897.  Scott & White is the principal clinical teaching facility affiliated with the Texas A&M College of Medicine, with a Temple campus that includes a four-year medical curriculum.  Along with its 636-bed flagship hospital and clinic facility in Temple, Texas, Scott & White includes nine other hospitals or hospital partners, and more than 60 clinic locations throughout Central Texas.  With more than 800 physicians and scientists, Scott & White has become one of the nation's largest multi-specialty group practice systems.

NOTE:  Media with press credentials will be admitted to all scientific sessions during the conference for no charge.  

SOURCE Scott & White Healthcare