Vermont's Strategy to Change Its Health Care Delivery System Explored at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont Issues Conference

Vermont's Strategy to Change Its Health Care Delivery System Explored at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont Issues Conference
Vermont's initiative to provide its residents with chronic conditions the information, tools and encouragement they need to successfully manage their health was addressed Monday by a panel of experts who met in Burlington.
The components of Vermont's 'Blueprint for Health' and how the initiative will change the delivery of healthcare were described by the panel at a half-day conference held as part of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont's annual health issues symposium series. More than 400 Vermonters attended, including employers, health care providers, legislators and consumers.
Keynote speaker Dr. Atul Gawande, MD, a nationally renowned surgeon, writer, teacher and 2006 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship 'genius grant,' told the audience that a focus on medical performance would save more lives than a focus on medical research.
Gawande connected highly successful reductions in battlefield casualties in the war in Iraq and examples of improvements in care for cystic fibrosis patients with such a focus on performance.
Speakers describing the Blueprint for Health were: Sharon Moffatt, Acting Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health (VDH); Mary Woodruff, Self-Management Program Administrator (VDH); Dana Krause, MD, Northern Counties Health Care; Laurel Ruggles, NVRH Director of Community Health and Outreach; Art Limacher, Chief Information Officer (VDH); and Dana Noble, Bennington Pilot Project Manager.
The program was moderated by Stephen E. Perkins, MD, FAAP, Corporate Medical Director of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is the state's oldest and largest private health insurer, providing coverage for about 180,000 Vermonters. It employs over 350 Vermonters at its headquarters in Berlin and branch office in Williston, and offers group and individual health plans to Vermonters. More information about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is available on the Internet at www.bcbsvt.com. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is an independent corporation operating under a license with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.