Vizient has announced that it will host the 2019 Connections Education Summit, Sept. 16-19, in Las Vegas. Vizient says the annual fall conference offers members, industry experts and suppliers a blended networking and educational programming agenda with innovative perspectives and strategies to improve clinical outcomes, ensure patient safety and reduce costs.
“This year, we have doubled the number of education sessions, which are focused on improving care delivery, patient safety and clinical outcomes,” said Byron Jobe, Vizient’s President and Chief Executive Officer in a news release. “These peer-to-peer educational presentations bring fresh ideas to common challenges along with opportunities to network with colleagues from our diverse membership.”
The event is designed for CEOs, CNOs, CQOs, COOs, CFOs and healthcare leaders in clinical, pharmacy, quality, safety and risk, as well as supply chain areas centered on improving clinical outcomes. This year’s focus is exclusively on education with 112 30-minute, peer-to-peer educational sessions. The majority of the sessions offer continuing education credits for eligible participants.
Topics include:
· Leading your organization
· Engaging your workforce
· Coordinating care
· Preventing harm
· Managing systems
· Fostering innovation
· Service line optimization
· Clinical supply integration
· Pharmacy strategies for quality, safety and cost enhancement
Conference attendees will also hear from several guest speakers:
Sanjay Gupta, MD, neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent, will serve as the keynote speaker at the event’s opening general session Tuesday, Sept. 17. In addition to his work for CNN, Dr. Gupta is a practicing neurosurgeon at the Emory Clinic and the Associate Chief of Neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital. At the event’s opening general session, Dr. Gupta will paint a picture of the importance of extending the art of care to yourself, so you can in turn extend it to others.
Michael Leavitt, founder and general partner of Leavitt Partners, will be the featured speaker at the general session on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Leavitt served as Governor of Utah for three terms (1993 to 2003) before occupying two roles in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush: Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2003 to 2005) and Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (2005 to 2009). Leavitt is currently focused on the advancement of value-based healthcare through Leavitt Partners, is a noted author and frequently appears as an opinion leader in TV and print media.
The event’s closing keynote speaker on Thursday, Sept. 19 is playwright, actor and educator Anna Deavere Smith. The MacArthur Foundation honored Smith with the “Genius” Fellowship for creating “a new form of theatre — a blend of theatrical art, social commentary, journalism, and intimate reverie.” In her speaking events, Smith discusses the many “complex identities of America” and interweaves her discussions with portrayals of people she has interviewed to illustrate the diversity of emotions and points of view on controversial issues.
Jobe and Toby Cosgrove, MD, Executive Advisor, Cleveland Clinic, will discuss the humanity of healthcare in today’s increasingly complex environment. Dr. Cosgrove is the former president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, serving from 2004 through 2017. During that time, he led the health system to new heights of achievement and efficiency, seeing it ranked the No. 2 hospital in America in U.S. News & World Report magazine.
