May 7-8, 2009
InterContinental The Barclay
New York, NY
The 2009 Masters Program is oriented around a case study addressing a hospital system seeking to bond better with its physicians and to improve its quality scores in light of strategic, market, regulatory and operational challenges.
The fact pattern reflects actual issues confronted by healthcare organizations and their attorneys in the fields of (1) antitrust; (2) tax exemption; (3) fraud and abuse; (4) transactions; and (5) physicians and quality The fact pattern also addresses reimbursement and quality improvement issues. The entire fact pattern involves hospitals in relationship to physicians, so we are seeking Master Attorneys, but any such attorneys will participate through discussion around the other content areas.
In order to maximize the educational impact of this program, only a limited number of Master Attorneys in each of the five content areas will be able to participate. A “Master” is an attorney with a minimum of 15 years experience working substantially on the issue for which he/she claims Master status. There will be no more than 35 attendees to this program. Because of the severe capacity limitations we have adopted, we believe there may be legitimate Masters who will not be able to participate because of capacity alone. Thus, AHLA will make a document capturing the discussions and conclusions reached by the participants available to anyone who is interested.
The program will being with a dinner the evening of May 7 in New York City, at which Robert Galvin, MD, MBA, Executive Director of Health Operations and Chief Medical Officer at General Electric will offer his perspectives on the issues to be addressed at the program. Dr. Galvin has a long-standing, deep interest in quality and value from the purchaser’s viewpoint. From a policy perspective, he has been at the forefront of virtually every major public policy quality initiative over the last twenty years, including the National Quality Roundtable, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), Leapfrog, Bridges to Excellence and the National Quality Forum, among others. He is uniquely suited to set a context for the considerations of the group.
With the context provided by Dr. Galvin, participants at the Masters Program will convene the next morning to review and clarify the fact pattern with everyone in the room. The attendees will then break into working groups by content area, each led by a member of the planning committee, to identify issues and best practices, to confront the issues raised by the fact pattern. The group will then reconvene as a whole to hear reports from each working group and to generally discuss the issues identified that morning. The meeting will adjourn by 3:30 pm.
Because of the capacity limits, and because of the unique nature of this program, AHLA has developed an application to participate. Applicants must be AHLA members and have practiced in the subject area for at least 15 years. The planning committee will select the attendees based on a host of factors, including practice setting, geographic diversity, and practice experience, with a goal to establish a balanced content expertise among the participants.
Each applicant is required to submit:
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A statement as to how his or her participation would enhance the value of the program (no more than two paragraphs)
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A curriculum vitae to demonstrate the applicant’s level of expertise in the content areas included in the fact pattern
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A statement as to which of the six content areas the applicant would best represent as a Master participant
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Any other very brief statement (no more than three sentences) the applicant believes would enhance his or her application
The planning committee believes that to complete the application most effectively, it is important to first read the case study.
All applications must be submitted electronically no later than March 23, 2009. Applicants will be notified about participation by March 31, 2009.
Because of the complexity of the case study, and the limited timeframe for discussion, participants will be expected, prior to the program, to prepare in writing some brief substantive points regarding issues they would like to address in their working group discussions. These will be included, with attribution, with the record of the meeting. More specific instructions regarding this submission will be provided to attendees when they are notified that their application for the Masters Program has been accepted.
The format of this approach was recommended by a Fellows Task Force and adopted by the Fellows Coordinating Council as a way to meet the needs of the most experienced members of the AHLA. If it is successful, the AHLA will schedule similar programs in the future.