The Institute of Medicine Reports Crossing the Quality Chasm and Unequal Treatment highlight the critical nexus between improving quality, achieving equity, and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care. For this to occur our health care system needs leaders in quality improvement who have the knowledge and skills necessary to develop strategies to achieve equity.

The Healthcare Quality and Equity Action Forum serves as a dissemination and implementation conference developed and led by The Disparities Solutions Center (DSC) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), as well as alumni from the Disparities Leadership Program. Forum faculty consist of experts in the field, as well as those with real-world experience implementing equity strategies and solutions. The Forum targets leaders that are active in health care delivery and focus on quality improvement (including those from health plans, hospitals, and health centers across the country). It provides participants with the tools and skills to identify and address racial and ethnic disparities in health care within their organizations, with the goal of empowering them to implement these strategies and transform their organizations to focus on quality and equity.

The inaugural Healthcare Quality and Equity Action Forum took place in Boston, MA, on September 24th and 25th, 2012.

Support was provided by Aetna Life Insurance Company; Amgen, Inc.; Language Line Services; The California Healthcare Foundation; The Commonwealth Fund; American Cancer Society; DentaQuest Foundation; and a private donor.

Sample Agenda
Click here to view the agenda from the 2012 Healthcare Quality and Equity Action Forum. This sample agenda provides an overview on session topics and how the conference is structured.

Recorded Sessions
Four sessions from The Healthcare Quality and Equity Action Forum are available for public viewing. Please go to our Forum Videos page to see the recorded session descriptions and watch the videos.

Post-Forum Survey Summary Report
Click here to see how participants rated the 2012 Healthcare Quality and Equity Action Forum. This summary report includes evaluation results and insight into the effectiveness of all panels.

List of Past Speakers

• Zamawa Arenas, Principal, ARGUS
• Steven Atlas, MD, MPH, Director, Practice Based Research & Quality Improvement Network, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Richard Balaban, MD, Medical Director, Community-Based Care Transitions Program, Cambridge Health Alliance
• Esteban Barreto, Senior Research Assistant, Mongan Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Heidi Behforouz, MD, Executive Director, Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment (PACT) Project, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, Chief Health Information and Innovation Officer, Partners HealthCare, former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (NCHIT), US Department of Health and Human Services
• Carmella Bocchino, MBA, RN, Executive Vice President, Clinical Affairs & Strategic Planning America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)
• Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President, Performance Measures, National Quality Forum
• J. Emilio Carrillo, MD, MPH, Vice President, Community Health, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
• Lee Chelminiak, Director of Communications and Marketing, Red Sox Foundation Mass General Hospital Home Base Program
• Nancy Connery, MS, Director, Admitting and Registration Services, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Christina L. Cordero, PhD, MPH, Associate Project Director, Department of Standards and Survey Methods, Division of Healthcare Quality Evaluation, The Joint Commission
• John Cowden, MD, MPH, Interim Section Chief, General Pediatrics, Medical Director, Office of Equity and Diversity, Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
• U. Michael Currie, MPH, MBA, Director, Health Equity Service Program, UnitedHealthcare
• Karen Donelan, ScD, EdM, Senior Scientist, Mongan Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Tamarah Duperval-Brownlee, MD, MPH, Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Services, Lone Star Circle of Care
• Katherine Flaherty, ScD, Principal Associate, Abt Associates
• Gloria Gamba, Colon Cancer Navigator and Research Assistant, Chelsea HealthCare Center
• Romana Hasnain-Wynia, PhD, Director, Center for Healthcare Equity, Northwestern University
• Carlos Jackson, Senior Associate Director, Federal Relations, American Hospital Association
• Kamal Jethwani, MD, MPH, Corporate Manager, Research and Innovation, Center for Connected Health, Partners HealthCare
• Annette Johnson, MBA, Quality Officer, Alameda County Medical Center
• Charles Lee, MD, Founder & President, Polyglot Systems Inc.
• Thomas H. Lee, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Partners Community HealthCare, Inc., Network President, Partners HealthCare, Inc.
• Octavio Martinez, MD, MPH, MBA, Executive Director, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
• Suzanne Mitchell, MD, MS, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
• Elizabeth Mort, MD, MPH, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Vice President of Quality and Safety, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Dave Newhouse, MD, MPH, Assistant Physician in Chief, Marketing, Performance Improvement and Leadership Development, Kaiser Permanente
• Anabela Nunes, MBA, Director of Medical Interpreter Services, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Sanja Percac-Lima, MD, PhD, MGH Center for Community Health Improvement Physician Leader for Cancer Outreach Programs, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Wayne Rawlins, MD, MBA, National Medical Director, Racial and Ethnic Equality Initiatives, Aetna
• John W. Rowe, MD, Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, former Chairman and CEO of Aetna Inc.
• Pam Siren, RN, MPH, Vice President, Quality & Compliance, Neighborhood Health Plan
• Peter Slavin, MD, President, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Brian Smedley, PhD, Vice President and Director, Health Policy Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
• Brian Swann, DDS, MPH, Chief of Dental Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance
• Sarah Thomas, MS, Vice President, Public Policy and Communications, National Committee for Quality Assurance
• Melanie Wasserman, PhD, MPA, Senior Associate/Scientist, U.S. Health Division, Abt Associates
• Donald Weaver, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Affairs, National Association of Community Health Centers
• Eric Weil, MD, Associate Chief, Clinical Affairs, Division of General Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

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