West Health launches American Journal of Preventive Medicine Supplement focused on health care cost crisis at mHealth Summit

Supplement features journal articles from health care leaders on stakeholder initiatives that can lower costs

SAN DIEGO and WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The West Health Institute and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine today launched an extensive peer reviewed publication providing insights on how key stakeholders can help avert the crisis of expanding costs in health care.

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Titled "Addressing the Cost Crisis in Health Care: Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities" and to be unveiled Tuesday at the 2012 mHealth Summit, the Supplement to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine brings together thought-leaders throughout the health care ecosystem to discuss the cost crisis and some potential solutions being implemented today, from payer to patient, physician to policy maker and private industry to entrepreneurs.

"Our goal with the American Journal of Preventive Medicine Supplement was to highlight how stakeholders across the full spectrum of health care see the opportunities to address the cost crisis in health care," said Dr. Joseph (Joe) Smith, chief medical officer and chief science officer at West Health. "Leadership representing patients, physicians and policy makers, innovators, investors, insurers, educators, employers and even regulators joined this effort to discuss key opportunities and examples of innovations that are helping address this crisis today to help change the future."

Authors of articles in the Supplement include Dr. Austin B. Frakt, of the Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Boston Healthcare System, discussing policy and real-world techniques that are cutting costs now; Dr. Fik Isaac, executive director of Global Health Services and chief medical officer of Johnson & Johnson, discussing that organization's leading wellness program for employees; Dr. Reed V. Tuckson, executive vice president and chief of medical affairs at UnitedHealth Group, discussing how payers can incorporate data analytics in preventive care; and Dr. Barry M. Straube, director of Marwood Group and former chief medical officer of the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) discussing Federal policy efforts in preventive care.

Please click here for the full table of contents, including all authors and direct links to the full text and PDFs of all 14 articles, which has been provided by West Health. Visit www.westhealth.org/ajpm for a weekly spotlight on each article, which will also provide an opportunity for you to join the conversation on lowering the cost of health care.

Guest editors of the Supplement include Dr. David K. Ahern, national program director of the Health e-Technologies Initiative and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School; Dr. Joseph M. Smith, chief medical and science Officer of West Health; Dr. Eric J. Topol, director of Scripps Translational Science Institute; Dr. Jonathan F. Mack, director of clinical research and development of West Health; and Maria C. Fitzgerald, research librarian at West Health.

The Supplement will be distributed with the January issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the official journal of The American College of Preventive Medicine and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research, an internationally recognized, peer reviewed scientific journal that publishes articles in the areas of prevention research, teaching, practice and policy.

The Supplement will also be discussed live at the 2012 mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, from 3:30-4:45 p.m. EST at the "Can We Spend Less on Health Care?" panel, which will feature Neal Shah of Costs of Care; Tufts University and West Health Fellow Peter Neumann; West Health Policy Center's Mike O'Grady and be moderated by West Health's Dr. Joe Smith.

Please click here for the full list of panels West Health will be involved with at the mHealth Summit.

ABOUT WEST HEALTH
West Health is an independent, one-of-a-kind initiative whose mission is to lower health care costs by creating innovative, patient-centered solutions that deliver the right care at the right place at the right time. Solely funded by pioneering philanthropists Gary and Mary West, West Health is an initiative combining four separate organizations with a shared goal to lower health care costs – the West Health Institute, the West Health Policy Center, the West Health Investment Fund, and the West Health Incubator. For more information, find us at www.westhealth.org and follow us @westhealth.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine (www.ajpm-online.net) is the official journal of The American College of Preventive Medicine (www.acpm.org) and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (www.aptrweb.org). It publishes articles in the areas of prevention research, teaching, practice and policy. Original research is published on interventions aimed at the prevention of chronic and acute disease and the promotion of individual and community health. The journal features papers that address the primary and secondary prevention of important clinical, behavioral and public health issues such as injury and violence, infectious disease, women's health, smoking, sedentary behaviors and physical activity, nutrition, diabetes, obesity, and alcohol and drug abuse. Papers also address educational initiatives aimed at improving the ability of health professionals to provide effective clinical prevention and public health services. The journal also publishes official policy statements from the two co-sponsoring organizations, health services research pertinent to prevention and public health, review articles, media reviews, and editorials.

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, with an Impact Factor of 4.044, is ranked in the top 8% of Public, Environmental and Occupational Health title, and in the top 11% of General & Internal Medicine titles according to the 2011 Journal Citation Reports® published by Thomson Reuters.

SOURCE West Health