AHI hosted its seventh annual summit on Thursday, September 24. The summit theme was integration and national and regional leaders presented on topics ranging from health information technology to community-based palliative care.
Attendees included health care providers, and representatives from community-based organizations, businesses, education systems, payers, and government agencies who had opportunities to meet and build a foundation for future integration.
AHI CEO Cathy Homkey pointed out that, “Integration can be more than business agreements and partner relationships. It can be more than co-located services or the sharing of resources and related costs. Integration is defined as an act of combining integral parts into a whole.
“We’re all guilty of operating in silos and we now have a tremendous opportunity to play an integral part in the health care system in the Adirondacks. I’m pleased that one of AHI’s roles is to serve as a catalyst for regional initiatives and health care change through programs and services that bring groups together to achieve integrated results,” Homkey continued.
Homkey posed the question, “What could an integrated health care system look like from an individual’s perspective?” She continued by envisioning a system that operates as an integrated whole:
- It will take infrastructure like health information technology; the morning keynote, Dr. Jacob Reider from Kyron, Inc., shared his experience and expertise from a rural health lens.
- It will take collaboration; a panel of diverse regional health care leaders discussed the challenges and successes of navigating health care transformation.
- It will take new payment models; the afternoon keynote, Gloria Kupferman, from DataGen, focused on patient-centered analytics as a critical part of value-based payment.
- It will take many supports and skills; breakout sessions offered more information about population health, palliative care, patient navigation, leadership, and communication skills from experts in the field.
While there are more components to creating an integrated system, such as shared goals, measurements, patient engagement, the ability to eliminate health disparities and address the social determinants of health in innovative ways, attendees were inspired to discover ways to create an integrated health care system.
“As we work together in our communities, we can create an integrated health care system ‘to ensure that New Yorkers in the North Country achieve high-quality care, better health outcomes, and lower costs’ envisioned by the North Country Health Systems Redesign Commission and the Triple Aim.
“These relationships, coupled with our resources and expertise, allow us to tackle the evolving health care landscape, including population health management and value-based payment. Our collaborative work as a catalyst in our community allows us to transcend regional boundaries to realize a healthier future for all,” Homkey concluded.
Speaker presentations, bios, and a photo gallery from the event can be found on the AHI Summit web page.
For more information, see the AHI News blog, AHI Summit Provides Integrated Health Care Forum.
