2010 ARM Agenda: Sessions by Theme

The Annual Research Meeting agenda is organized around 20 themes in health services research and policy. See the full agenda for details on other conference themes.

Quality and Efficiency: Measurement

Sunday, June 27

9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m.

Quality and Efficiency: Methods and Measures
Chair: Peter Hussey, RAND
Panelists: Elizabeth Drye, Yale School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Health Services Corporation
Interpreting Hospital Performance on the CMS Core Measures: Implications of Inclusion and Discretionary Exclusion Rates
Robert Houchens, Thomson Reuters
Medicare Physician Profiling
Michael Howell, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Fundamental Problems with a Class of Quality and Safety Measures: The Perils of Exposure-Time
Eugene Kroch, Premier Inc. and University of Pennsylvania
The Challenge of Modeling Acute Inpatient Readmissions
Michael Pine, Michael Pine and Associates Inc.
New Measures of Risk-Adjusted Rates of Complications of Elective Surgical Procedures Reveal Substantial Variation in Hospital Performance

4:15 p.m.–5:45 p.m.

Better Care and Lower Cost: High Performing Communities in American Health Care
Chair: Donald Berwick, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Panelists: Michael Cropp, Independent Health; James Hester, Vermont Health Reform Commission; Patricia Smith, Alliance of Community Health Plans
Special Session: Despite the widespread barriers to effective health care delivery reform—in payment, policy, habits, and more—some communities in the United States have managed to achieve remarkably low costs while preserving or enhancing above-average quality of care. This session will explore possible factors for success with leaders who are achieving such success, or intend to do so.

Monday, June 28

9:45 a.m.–11:15 a.m.

Measuring Clinical Performance: The Path Forward
Chair: Helen Burstin, National Quality Forum
Panelists: R. Adams Dudley, University of California, San Francisco; Dana Gelb Safran, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Eric Schneider, RAND
Roundtable: Measuring clinical performance is an integral element of payment and reward systems in health care. While research on pay for performance has demonstrated mixed results, there is definite momentum toward reward for clinical outcomes. In this roundtable, panelists will discuss the tough issues, such as attribution, risk adjustment, data sources, and shared accountability that can have a profound effect on the implementation path forward.

11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Quality and Efficiency in Specific Conditions: Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Asthma, and ESRD
Chair: Peter Hussey, RAND
Panelists: Claudia Dahlerus, Arbor Research Collaborative for Health
Race and Ethnicity Data for End-Stage Renal Disease Patients
Karen Joynt, Harvard School of Public Health
Impact of Volume on Quality, Outcomes, and Costs of Care for Heart Failure
David Mosen, Kaiser Permanente Northwest
Is Patient Activation Associated with Future Utilization Outcomes for Adults with Diabetes?
Shadi Saleh, American University of Beirut
Identifying Centers of Excellence in Efficiency and Quality in Coronary Revascularization: An Exploratory Approach for Procedure-Specific Value-Based Purchasing Program Design
Sally Turbyville, National Committee for Quality Assurance
Comparison of Health Plan Quality and Emergency Department Discharges for Medicaid Members with Asthma

Tuesday, June 29

8:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m.

Patient-Centered Medical Home Evaluators' Collaborative: Reporting on Proposed Core Measure Recommendations
Chair: Meredith Rosenthal, Harvard University
Panelists: Asaf Bitton, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Benjamin Crabtree, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Elbert Huang, University of Chicago; Sarah Hudson Scholle, National Committee for Quality Assurance
Roundtable: Panelists will discuss report findings from The Commonwealth Fund’s PCMH Evaluators Collaborative, a group that charged five workgroups to assess patient-centered medical home (PCMH) pilot projects. Findings include measurement of cost/efficiency, clinical quality, patient experience, professional satisfaction, and implementation of the intervention.

From Research to Decision-Making: Lessons in Quality and Usefulness of Observational Research
Chair: Nancy Dreyer, Outcome Sciences
Panelists: Sarah Garner, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; Robert Mechanic, Brandeis University; Fadia Shaya, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
Roundtable: This session will present the perspectives of those that conduct observational studies and comparative effectiveness research, as well as decision makers considering evidence from such studies. Panelists will discuss the growing role of observational research and the decision-making opportunities, characteristics of high-quality studies, the payer and provider perspectives, and initiatives for establishing best practice guidelines.