Monday, June 22, at the Sprint Accelerator | 5:30-7pm
Free – Please RSVP Here
Is it possible to transform health care from a cottage industry rife with variation in processes into a smoothly operating factory of care? What are the impediments to success and how do we begin to overcome them? What price do we pay, as patients and payers, relative to the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of our care by allowing this variation to persist? What role do consumers play in catalyzing change? What role to physicians, hospitals, governmental agencies, and other parties play?
These are some of questions that John Leifer, health care consultant and author, will explore with us during his presentation.
The fourth in KC Digital Drive’s Digital Health Innovation Forum series will bring unique insights from industry insiders to bear on questions facing healthcare innovators. The event will also feature presentations by local projects in the field of digital health. Read about previous forums on our blog: DHIF1 (Fitnet, BCBS), DHIF2 (Kauffman, WellToDo, MySmartVisit), DHIF3 (CERT at Mizzou)
KEYNOTE FOR JUNE 22, 2015: JOHN LEIFER
John Leifer has spent more than 30 years seeking to understand and influence the health care industry as a senior health care executive, consultant, academician and writer. An outspoken advocate for patients’ rights, John has published widely on the need for patients to receive appropriate, safe and effective care. He is a frequently cited expert on health policy issues by numerous national publications.
The author of The Myths of Modern Medicine: The Alarming Truth About American Health Care and After You Hear It’s Cancer: A Guide to Navigating the Difficult Journey Ahead, John has worked with major hospital systems, physician groups, managed care organizations and governmental agencies across the nation. John understands not only how health care delivery should work, but also how it does work in practice.
John has held faculty positions with both the University of Kansas School of Medicine’s Health Policy and Management Program, where he served as the inaugural executive in residence, and the University’s William Allen White School of Journalism. In the mid-1980s, he founded and published The Leifer Report, a cutting-edge health care journal. Contributors included President Bill Clinton and Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as well as Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists, industry visionaries and other key influencers within health care.
In 2006, he won the Kansas Health Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award. And in 2009, he completed a master’s degree in Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. His thesis focused on addressing the psycho-social, spiritual and functional needs of cancer patients.
FEATURED SPEAKER: KEN ORTBALS
Ken Ortbals is Chief Operating Officer of First Call. First Call has been providing clinical, educational, prevention, advocacy, and crisis services related to alcohol and drug addiction since 1958. Ken will discuss Community CareLInk, a solution developed by First Call to connect to the people First Call serves and to connect to multiple agencies and service providers across the Kansas City metro area to coordinate care.
More speakers TBD
SCHEDULE:
5:30 – 5:45 – Arrival and networking
5:45 – 7:00 – Presentations
Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be provided free of charge.
PARKING/ENTRANCE: Street parking is available. Enter on North side of building, via alley. If no one is at the door, ring the buzzer for entrance.
This event would not be possible without the generous support of these organizations.
