NCQA Quality Awards

Every year, the NCQA hosts a major event in Washington D.C. called the Quality Awards Dinner. Typically, the NCQA gives out multiple awards to deserving politicians, providers, and others, who have contributed to the quality agenda at the national level. This year, the dinner was held on Wednesday night March 18th and I attended along with one of my key new faculty members, Dr Susan DesHarnais---she directs our Masters Degree Program in Quality and Safety. The attendees at the dinner, numbering nearly 500, come from all across our industry. I recognized key policy persons from many of the biggest managed care plans in the country, vendors who service the industry and of course, the phamrmaceutical companies too. I was lucky enough to sit at the MedAssurant table, a key firm involved in processing data from managed care companies and helping them to turn that data into useful information to measure and improve quality. For me, the highlight of the evening was the brief talk by Dr Peter Orszag, director of the OMB and a key player in health reform. He reiterated the Obama Administration key message ---create an agenda for Comparative Effectiveness Research, change provider incentives,promote health IT and finally, invest more in prevention and wellness----that sure all sounds good to me!! I am more convinced than ever that our new Jefferson School of Population Health could not have come along at a better, or more challenging time!! Kudos to NCQA on a great event and for their ongoing work in our field. Hope I see you there next year, DAVID NASH

Medical Student Idealism

I just returned from making several presentations at the Annual Meeting of AMSA, the American Medical Student Association, in Washington D.C. Over 1,000 students from across the nation converged on DC for four days of seminars, lobbying, and networking. I feel recharged from the experience as I soaked up some of their idealism and energy!! Even the theme of the meeting ,Take Back our Profession,had a certain positive edginess to it. The students who met with me were focused on leadership, specifically, what are the skill sets necessary to become a leader. We agreed that medical education does not really provide leadership training, at exactly the time that we need it the most. We reviewed the many opportunities that now exist to get a second degree during medical school, such as an MPH or an MBA. Of course, I spent time talking about our new Jefferson School of Population Health and the unique opportunities to pursue a masters degree in health care quality and safety, as well as degrees in public health and health policy. They were intrigued and asked scores of questions about these new programs too. In the end, I came away with a great feeling that there is indeed hope for the future and that some medical students are still idealistic and willing to work for the greater good. I think our new programs will add to the options available and will enhance the leadership model for students.Good leaders prepare the leaders of tomorrow!! AMSA is a good example of this kind of positive role modeling behavior. We should do more to emulate these programs at every medical school. I hope some medical school deans are listening carefully. Thanks for your continued listening too. DAVID NASH

Population Health Colloquium and then some!!

This past week our team from the Jefferson School of Population Health hosted the ninth annual Population Health and Disease Management Colloquium at a beautiful hotel on the river front in Philadelphia. Despite the worst winter storm of the season, and nearly eight inches of snow, we had a full house for three days of learning. What I took away from our meeting is the emerging confluence amongst wellness, prevention, disease management and care coordination. It seems to me that these concepts are fundamental to the pending reform of the health care system and the leaders who were present made a strong case for making reform happen. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) , otherwise known as the Stimulus Bill, explicitly recognizes these issues and calls for billions of dollars to be spent upgrading the public health infrastructure of the nation and creating a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Analysis. Our conference, and of course, the Jefferson School of Population Health, are part of the answer for health reform. Also this past week I was featured in a story about care coordination in the Philadelphia Inquirer and a radio interview for National Public Radio WHYY in Philadelphia. We are working tirelessly to get the message out that reform can only happen when we rationalize how care is delivered, increase the evidence basis for health care, and change the pernicious incentives as they are currently structured. I hope that our national leadership is up to this tough task. Thanks for your participation, DAVID NASH

Saving a Life

Just a few days ago my wife and I were walking to her downtown parking garage following a meeting in center city Philadelphia that we were both attending. Two blocks from the garage, on a bench outside a diner, we noticed a middle aged white male slumped over and another man gesticulating for help. As we approached to see what we could offer, the man on the bench turned blue and I could not feel his pulse. At that moment, a nurse colleague of my wife's was on her way home and she joined us as we put the man on the sidewalk, propped up his head with a pillow, and began CPR. Bystanders began to gather and one of them called 911 for an ambulance. Fortuneately, within minutes, the CPR was successful and the man regained consciousness and was whisked off to my hospital, Jefferson University Hospital blocks away. We have subsequently learned that despite the complete lack of any medical history, a healthy diet, and a normal EKG, he has severe three vessel coronary artery disease and will be undergoing bypass surgery, at Jefferson, tomorrow!!! I am not sharing any more personal information about this lucky guy out of respect for his privacy, but I did want to reflect on my experience. I am so grateful for my training as physician, and in CPR as well, as my instincts just took over as we swung into action to help. I am also grateful for the wonderful care that he received at my own hospital, which makes me proud to be a part of the team. Do you know CPR?? Could you have saved a life too if called upon?? What greater gift could I have given him and in return, my wife and I feel blessed that we were there at the very moment that counted. I hope that we will remain friends with this nice guy for a long time and that he will continue to lead a productive life too. Health reform, the economic crisis, launching our new school are all important, but the one on one connection and saving a life sure helps to put everything else into clear focus. What do you think?? I sure hope everyone gets training in CPR too!! DAVID NASH