Nash on Health Policy

The Meaning of Mission

2008-09-28T12:16:00.002-04:00

I just returned from ROME, Italy, following a spiritual retreat for the Board of Trustees of Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP) a large not for profit system headquartered in Cincinnati OH. I have been on the CHP Board for ten years and this retreat was the culmination of our visits to the "mother houses" of the orders of sisters who have come together to help form the system. For me, this was a journey to learn more about the mission of CHP and to see it in action in real time!! We visited various key Vatican dicasteries, or Papal Offices, concerned with health care world wide. We had a chance to meet with key leaders within the dicasteries and to further our understanding of the role of the Catholic Church in global health issues. Among the highlights of the trip was our participation in the weekly Papal audience with our special seats just a few feet away from the Holy Father.CHP is a mission driven organization with a core goal of taking care of the poor and underserved. In these challenging times, seeing the mission in real life and almost being able to actually "touch" it made me better appreciate its meaning. As always, I am interested in your views here too. Thanks for your support, DAVID NASH

Launching a New School

2008-09-08T20:11:00.002-04:00

As our regular readers know, Thomas Jefferson University has enthusiastically embraced the creation of a new school on our campus called the Jefferson School of Health Policy and Population Health----unanimously approved by the Board back on July 28 of this past summer. Our team has been hard at work building the new school and I want to share aspects of this challenge with our readers. We are in the process of searching for some key new leaders to help us build the Masters Degree in Health Care Quality and Safety. This is a tall order as we are looking for persons who can teach, do research, and instill enthusiasm for this nascent field. We are also creating a new curriculum from scratch along with bylaws, a faculty committee structure and the like. Of course, we are also preparing the marketing plan and any day now, we will launch our first national press release. Our work is guided by a New School Task Force that meets every other week and reviews all of the key decisions. We also recently held our second New School Advisory Committee and received all kinds of input from across our own campus. Finally, we have had fruitful meetings with our colleagues at the University of Delaware and at Dickinson College. I will be providing our readers with regular updates now that the summer is over and we are in full swing with the operational blocking and tackling. Buckle your seat belts and hold on tight for this exciting ride!! I look forward to hearing from all of our readers. DAVID NASH

Jefferson Board Approves a NEW SCHOOL !!!!

2008-07-29T21:16:00.002-04:00

On July 28th, the Jefferson University Board of Trustees unanimously approved the creation of a unique new school called the JEFFERSON SCHOOL OF HEALTH POLICY and POPULATION HEALTH after carefully reviewing a proposal created by a task force from our Department of Health Policy. This Task Force met regularly for nearly nine months and presented its finding to an on campus Advisory Committee, and to two subcommittees of the Board as well. After gathering input from many stakeholders I am so proud to report that the new school will be created by some key organizational shifts on our campus---namely, moving our Dept of Health Policy out of the Medical College, where it has been since its inception 19 years ago, and combining it with the already successful MPH Program currently housed in the Graduate School of the University. Hence, these two entities, our Dept and the MPH Program, will serve as the nidus of the new school. In a nutshell, our school will offer a series of Masters Degrees including the MPH, a Masters in Health Policy and two innovative degrees---a Masters in Health Care Quality and Safety AND finally, a Masters in Chronic Care Coordination. Shortly, we will be creating a new website exclusively focused on the new school but I was anxious to get this very exciting news out to our consituents around the nation.I will begin a series of postings as we make progress on the new school and will strive to keep you posted as to the challenges and accomplishments as we move forward with the vision. Remember, if you are not a part of the solution for fixing the broken health care system, you are automatically a part of the problem!! Let me know what you think and thanks for your support, DAVID NASH

Eighth Annual DM Colloquium

2008-05-27T20:39:00.007-04:00

The Eighth Annual DM Colloquium was held last week in Philadelphia. Nearly 300 persons from all over the country, and overseas, joined us at the Hyatt at Penn's Landing for three days of presentations, workshops, brainstorming sessions, and some fun too. We heard from leaders in the public and private sectors that there is convergence of Disease Management, Prevention and Wellness. These themes are also connecting to work site wellness, productivity improvement and employee satisfaction. The entire field appears to me to be in flux and our conference highlighted all of these changes. Specific issues included a discussion of the controversy surrounding the Medicare Health Support program, measuring ROI in DM, the impact of health reform on DM and physician leadership for DM, among many other topics. Please view the video from my opening address to the assembled crowd from Monday May 19th where I reviewed the entire chronic care waterfront. I am interested in views of the meeting and you can download the presentations from www.dmcolloquium.com. Thanks again and I look forward to your comments. DAVID NASH

Catholic Healthcare Partners Board are on board with Quality & Patient Safety

What a week for Health Policy at Jefferson!!

2008-04-21T12:04:00.004-04:00

First, thanks to all those persons who have been viewing our new videos and for your comments. Now I would like to review several key events on our campus here at Jefferson last week. The Chief Health Policy Advisor for the Clinton Campaign was our featured lunch speaker last Monday and Andrea Palm did a great job outlining the candidate's position and taking questions from the nearly standing room only crowd of medical students. Remember, the big PA Primary is tomorrow!! On Wednesday of last week we featured a campus wide AOA Forum on the Future of Primary Care with representatives from our faculty as well as experts from Independence Blue Cross and Take Care Health. We had a spirited discussion and concluded that reform of the payment system is critical if primary care is to survive. Finally, we capped off the week with a special visit from Dr Richard Carmona, the 17th Surgeon General of the United States who discussed the need for our nation to focus on better coordination of persons with chronic illness. He was adamant that our single biggest contribution toward better health for the nation would be to get our patients to stop smoking. Dr. Carmona also reviewed briefly our plans to launch the Jefferson School of Health Policy and Population Health and he applauded our efforts and voiced a sincere desire to get personally involved. What a week for health policy on our campus!! DAVID B. NASH

Quality & Safety: Beyond the Joint Commission

2008-04-02T13:56:00.006-04:00

SEC HHS Leavitt visit to Jefferson

2008-03-20T06:40:00.020-04:00

On Wednesday morning, March 19th, Sec of HHS Mike Leavitt spent nearly three hours on our campus at Jefferson in Philadelphia. He came to outline the new CMS national EHR demonstration project. Our department, with help from TJUH and others, put together a group of nearly 40 key stakeholders from across the region to sit at a table and work with the Sec on key issues concerning the adoption and dissemination of EHRs in small practice sites. SEC Leavitt did a great job outlining his plan and taking questions from the stakeholders. We hope to post a video of the meeting soon. Now, we will be the convener group responsible for submitting the demonstration project request in just the next few weeks!! I hope to keep you in the loop as we develop the proposal. Thanks for your support, DAVID NASH

Information in this video regarding the CMS EHR Demonstration Project was current as of March 19, 2008. CMS has made changes based on questions and input at this and other public meetings around the country.

For the most current and complete information, along with answers to frequently asked questions, please visit the CMS website.

Sec of HHS Mike Leavitt and JEFFERSON

2008-03-06T20:42:00.003-05:00

I am happy to report that Sec of HHS Mike Leavitt will be our guest, on the campus of Thomas Jefferson University, on Wednesday March 19th and I will have the honor of serving as the convener for a regional meeting on the power of the EHR to improve the quality and safety of medical care. This is after all National Patient Safety Week and Sec Leavitt will be discussing the CMS EMR Regional Initiative---whereby CMS will be giving regional grants to docs in small primary care practices to stimulate the adoption of EMRs. CMS hopes to award one dozen regional grants after conducting nearly 40 visits around the nation.Our Department of Health Policy is once again being recognized for our leading edge work in this field and for our ability to bring together all the key stakeholders for a working session with the Secretary. More news to follow and we will surely post any video that comes from that meeting. Thanks for your support, DAVID NASH

Health & Human Capital Congress in Washington, DC

2008-02-07T08:50:00.000-05:00

David Nash, M.D., chairman of health policy for Thomas Jefferson University's Jefferson Medical College, discusses the prospects for growth and success of employee health and wellness programs. From the Health & Human Capital Congress in Washington, DC.

Original Link:
Corporate Research Group (CRG)

The Catholic Healthcare West Annual Quality meeting

2008-02-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Watch this video or listen to it

The American College of Physician Executives

2008-01-27T21:55:00.000-05:00

I am in Weston FL, just outside of Ft. Lauderdale teaching for the American College of Physician Executives, the ACPE----this is the premier group for senior physician executives interested in the quality and safety agenda. This year is the 15th anniversary on the launch of my course entitled, THE THREE FACES OF QUALITY and my colleagues and I have taught more than 5,000 ACPE members in this four day overview course since 1993. We are also teaching the ADVANCED APPLICATIONS IN QUALITY course at this same hotel so I am going to be running back and forth between two big conference rooms at the Bonaventure Hotel!! If you would like to learn more about these courses I invite you to visit the ACPE at www.acpe.org and also be sure to check out my on line version of the THREE FACES at the site marked INTERACT. I am looking forward to another exciting session with so many docs from around the country.

New Video

2008-01-15T15:01:00.000-05:00

Interclerkship Day number FIVE

2008-01-06T17:22:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year and let's make it a great 08!!On January 7th our Department will sponsor the Fifth Annual Jefferson Medical College Interclerkship Day on Patient Safety. This is a unique program in the nation where we bring the entire Third Year Medical College Class, all 255 students, to an offsite hotel and spend the day talking and learning about their role in improving patient safety. With the help of famous speakers like John Nance from ABC news and other faculty, we review the recent literature on patient safety and we give specific examples as to how Third Year Students can participate in the hard work of improving medical care. We have previously published our experience with this program in the American Journal of Medical Quality. Most Third Year Students, even with just six months of clinical experience, have seen a medical error occur or at least a near miss.They have seen obusive behaviours by their more senior colleagues, and they have been reluctant to speak up. Our program, focusing on the tenets of Crew Resource Management, helps them to overcome their fears and to make a difference for patients. I am proud of our entire Department and hope that these kinds of programs will make a difference in the future. What do you all think??? DAVID NASH

Follow up on Mevacor and Holiday Wishes

2007-12-26T21:47:00.000-05:00

Good evening and Happy Holidays from the Department of Health Policy. I wanted to let our readers know that my comments at the recent FDA Advisory Board Public Hearing were picked up by the wire services and appeared in literally hundreds of media outlets, including scores of newspapers across the nation. I tongue in cheek suggested that they should put Mevacor in the nation's water supply and this also engendered some angry comments (from die hard public health types who said that it could cause birth defects if pregnant women were to drink the water!!).Anyway, I stand by my testimony which will appear in more detail in an upcoming issue of the journal, Pharmacy and Therapeutics. I also wanted to take this time to wish all of our readers a very happy and health holiday season and a great New Year. All the best, DAVID B. NASH MD,MBA

Cholesterol Drugs Over the Counter (OTC)

2007-12-13T10:46:00.000-05:00

Good morning!! I am sitting in an FDA hearing in Washington D.C., ready to testify later this afternoon regarding making MEVCOR an OTC drug. Mevacor, a statin, helps to lower cholesterol and a low dose, available OTC, would go a long way to improve the health of the public. I have been involved with this issue for more than eight years, as Merck and J and J have been studying the impact of this possible launch together. It is very controversial and the FDA Advisory Board is grilling all the folks who are testifying today. My plan is as follows---we could do a lot better in our care of patients with a primary prevention strategy for coronary artery disease. Sure, can the public really understand the role of cholesterol in heart disease and will they take mevacor appropriately---these are important questions but we need to move ahead and find out!! I will keep you posted on this important FDA decision. This is after all, a real life health policy issue for our country.As always, I am interested in your views too. ALSO, please let me know what you think about our plans for a new school of Health Policy and Population Health. See my previous posting. I am excited about my new blog so keep your comments coming. DAVID NASH

Jefferson School of Health Policy and Population Health

2007-12-03T14:00:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon.The blog is picking up some speed!! I wanted to let everyone know about some new plans we have afoot on campus. We have been asked by the university President to begin the planning for a possible new school--that's right,a new school to join the other Health Care Colleges on the campus of Jefferson University. The new school is tentatively called, "The Jefferson School of Health Policy and Population Health" or JSHPPH. We plan to offer up to three Master's degress including the MPH,a Master's in Health Policy and a totally new degree, the Master's in Health Care Quality and Safety. I need your input here. What do you think about this new school idea?? What are the competencies that we should be seeking in each of the degree programs?? What sort of student should we seek?? I am very excited about all the possibilities here and will have more to say about this in the next few weeks but for now, I would like to hear from all of you about our challenge. Thanks for your support, DAVID NASH

Disease Management, prevention and wellness

2007-11-30T11:21:00.000-05:00

Good morning and happy Friday. I have been thinking a good deal about the convergence of several seemingly disparate areas---namely, disease management, wellness and prevention. I am privileged to serve on the board of a company called ITRAX or you may know them as CHD. In any event, they are practicing worksite wellness and prevention and getting publishable results. In addition to ITRAX, my work with Informedix, has also lead me to believe that we can make a difference with patients about compliance and adherance to medication. If we can bring together the disease management world, the prevention people and all the corporate wellness, build the research base, and effectively implement these tools, maybe we can really turn around the cost of obesity, smoking and the like. For me, I think this stuff is frankly, "too important to be left to the doctor". Meaning, we are not set up to let the docs do this work and they are not good at it anyway. We need a new model and maybe this combination of talents and tools, with the tripod of DM, prevention and wellness, is the way to go. What do you all think?? Don't forget to join us at our national Disease Management Colloquium, here in Philly, on May 19, 20 and 21. Thanks, DAVID NASH

Here we go for the Health Policy conversation.

2007-11-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon and welcome to my blog. After much to do, we are ready to bring you the most cutting edge conversation about Health Policy in the nation. We are going to be talking about everything--the failed national quality agenda, the silliness of our presidential candidates, the need for CMS to practice what is preaches, and all the rest. We will not pull any punches either as we tackle all the tough questions. I am so proud of our Department of Health Policy, one of only a handful of such departments, based in a medical school, in the country. I also want to thank several key staff members including Valerie Pracilio and Christina Raymond who helped to make this possible. I am also appreciative of the help from our University CIO, Bruce Metz, who gave this his blessing and our University President,Robert Barchi MD, who said "go to it". I sure hope they will still be supportive months from now!! Okay, enough for now. Stand by for action, general quarters, man your battle stations and open fire when ready. Let the conversation begin. Thanks for your support, DAVID B. NASH MD MBA

David B. Nash, MD, MBA explains Hospital Acquired Infections

2007-10-09T09:41:00.000-04:00

Watch this video of Dr. David B. Nash explaining Hospital Acquired Infections.