National Leaders Calling For Progress In Improving Advanced Illness Care
C-TAC convenes national summit about one of the nation's biggest healthcare concerns
WASHINGTON, March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2015 National Summit on Advanced Illness Care: Driving Change through Leadership, Evidence and Action, begins today in Washington, D.C., at the Institute of Medicine's National Academy of Sciences.
The two-day summit—convened by the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC)—comes at a time of rising national attention on how people living with advanced illness are receiving care in America. This summit will provide an opportunity for innovators in policy as well as nationally recognized healthcare providers, faith leaders, patients and family members from across the nation, to discuss implementing proven models of care.
"Advanced illness care is no longer a hidden problem. It's come out of the shadows, and that's a big accomplishment," said Bill Novelli, Co-Chair of C-TAC, a professor at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. "This is a watershed moment for the advanced illness care community. Real change is possible. Each of us at this summit has a piece of the puzzle – it's up to all of us to put it together in new ways so that we can improve lives."
Advanced illness and end of life care has been a key theme over the past 12 months. The Institute of Medicine released its "Dying in America" report last fall and recent books like Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, MD, sit atop best-seller lists. People are calling for change, demanding care that improves their quality of life. One of C-TAC's primary goals is to ensure that people have access to high quality, person- and family-centered care.
"At C-TAC, we are focused on finding and applying solutions to help people who are among the sickest and most vulnerable. The individuals who can do that – the brightest minds in virtually all disciplines of advanced illness care – are here to learn together over these next two days," said Tom Koutsoumpas, C-TAC Co-Chair. "This is the forum that will take us from simply a dialogue to action."
Summit Speakers will include representatives from across the continuum of care, including: Nancy Brown, CEO of American Heart Association; Patrick Conway, Acting Principal Deputy Administrator and Chief Medical Officer of CMS; Victor Dzau, MD, President of the Institute of Medicine; Joe Selby, MD, Executive Director of PCORI; Samira Beckwith, President and CEO of Hope Healthcare Services; Amy Berman, BS, RN, Program Officer at the John Hartford Foundation; Jeff Burnich, MD, Senior Vice President of Sutter Health; Rev. Cynthia Carter Hill, Executive Director of the Alameda County Care Alliance; Christine Cassel, MD, President and CEO of the National Quality Forum; Malene Davis, President and CEO of Capital Caring; Jeannine English, President of AARP; Karen Ignagni, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP); Diane Meier, MD, Director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC); Richard Umbdenstock, American Hospital Association President and CEO; and others.
C-TAC is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C. and is funded by grants and the support of members. Visit http://www.thectac.org for a list of C-TAC's 120+ members, the C-TAC action plan, and more information on the organization. Follow @CTACorg on Twitter and tweet at us under the #CTACSummit2015.
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SOURCE Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC)
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