Pictured: Bill Hogan, Karen Perdue, Elizabeth Ripley, Marilyn Kasmar, Pat Luby

Session 101 - Ballroom

Opening Plenary Panel - “Better Health, Better Value: Primary Care and Prevention in Alaska"

Presenter(s): Elizabeth Ripley, Executive Director, Mat-Su Health Foundation; Marilyn Kasmar, MBA, CEO, Alaska Primary Care Association; Pat Luby, MS, Advocacy Director, Alaska State Office, AARP; Bill Hogan, MSW, Interim Dean, College of Health, University of Alaska Anchorage; Nancy Merriman, Health Facilities Senior Program Manager, Denali Commission

Moderator Karen Perdue, CEO and President, Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association

The health care system is changing, due largely to pressures of cost, quality and access. Though federal reform will drive some of the change, there are other demands from state government, private employers and the overall market. Can a provider-and-patient team approach empower individuals to take greater control of and responsibility for their own health? How can an effectively reformed health system include such coordinated primary care models, along with strong public health prevention initiatives targeted to broader populations? Members of this Alaska Health Reform workgroup will discuss topics including: The need to increase linkages between primary care and population-based, public health prevention efforts in Alaska; The importance of prevention in any discussion of controlling medical costs (e.g., roughly 75 percent of all medical spending in the US is linked to chronic diseases and about $477 million of all medical spending in Alaska in 2009 was attributed directly to obesity); Opportunities and challenges in the federal law for primary care and prevention efforts in Alaska; Funding issues involving primary care and prevention, including results of recommendations of the “Super Committee” or automatic budget cuts that would follow congressional inaction. A complementary white paper will be made available to summit attendees.