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.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150302/178866LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-leaders-calling-for-progress-in-improving-advanced-illness-care-300043837.html
SOURCE Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC)