With all of the serious talk about the need for a different kind of health care, you will be excited to know that we have a number of sessions directly related to health care reform and its impact on people with breast cancer. Healthcare reform is now squarely on the national agenda and various approaches, proposals and tools are being considered to get us there. Join us for the following sessions to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues.
Begin on Sunday with How Will Healthcare Reform Impact Breast Cancer (Plenary Session, Sunday 9:00 am), where we will delve into answering questions such as:
• How will the proposed approaches impact people with breast cancer?
• What will specific tools, such as health information technology and comparative effectiveness research, have to do with reform?
• Should cost effectiveness play a role and are we willing to give up some access to achieve overarching reform? Finally, how can we assure that this process results in an affordable, evidence-based and ethical system?
After a quick break, take our new workshop Health Information Technology: Building the Information Highway (Session 1, Sunday 10:45 a.m.). Access to and use of personal health information is a component of NBCCF’s framework for health care reform. A major national effort is underway to create health information technology that will improve health outcomes, quality care and lower cost. You will examine current proposals and legislation for HIT, the challenges it poses and its place in healthcare reform.
After you have fortified yourself with some lunch at the Annual Membership Meeting Luncheon, head over to the Healthcare Reform 101: Guaranteed Access to Quality Healthcare workshop (Session 2, Sunday 2:00 p.m.), where you will learn about current legislative reform proposals currently under debate in relation to NBCC’s framework for comprehensive healthcare reform. Learn how these proposals stack up, and sharpen your advocacy skills and knowledge needed to help achieve NBCC’s #1 priority: guaranteed access to quality healthcare for all. (link to our website page on this)
It’s not a complete look at health care reform until you’ve heard from key policy makers on how the new Congress and Administration are dealing with research funding and health care reform. So, on Monday, go to Politics And Breast Cancer: New Congress, New Administration… What Will They Do? (Plenary Session, Monday, 10:00 a.m) A key question to be answered is: how can advocates influence this process?
At this point in the conference, you will have learned quite a bit about healthcare reform, and you’ll be feeling pretty good, ready to go back to your communities and advocate.
But wait, there’s more!
Act now to build off of everything you’ve learned so far; don’t miss the Comparative Effectiveness: What Will it Mean for Healthcare Reform? workshop (Session 3, Monday 2:30 p.m.) where you will learn about the role of comparative effectiveness research in health care reform proposals. Learn why this approach is important to consumers in decision-making Explore how comparative effectiveness research aids in healthcare policy-making and decision-making.
Now you’re ready to go!