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POSITIONING THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AS A LEADER IN HEALTHCARE REFORM

"THE HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS SUMMITS SERIES"
NATIONAL CHAMBER FOUNDATION

As a thought leader on issues of strategic importance to the business community, the National Chamber Foundation (NCF) was interested in developing unique initiatives to contribute to the health care debate and support rational reform. The Foundation, as the research and long term policy arm of the US Chamber of Commerce, was also seeking to engage its state 'Federation' members in serving as catalysts for constructive healthcare change. Dr. Comstock was the Fellow for Healthcare Policy and Workplace Issues, answering directly to Tom Donahue, President and CEO of the US Chamber. Jon Comola had been the Healthcare Sub-Committee Chair and later became a healthcare consultant to the Chamber. Together they developed and executed a series of half-day symposiums, the Healthcare Solutions Summits, in different regions of the country, including Chicago, Houston, Miami, Austin, Detroit, and Salt Lake City.

The purpose of the forums was to critically examine the root causes of health system failures and highlight local success stories where the needs of all stakeholders have been balanced and addressed. This grassroots/tops outreach effort engaged the public, through local media reporting, in a dialogue about where the health care system has been, where it is today and where it should be going.

The aim was to stimulate dialogue and debate leading to constructive solutions and recognition of associated trade-offs. We sought to identify factors key to the successful transformation of the local health care delivery system that had relevance for the national debate. The series of forums culminated in a national symposium in Washington DC where the best health care reform success stories and other findings from the forums were presented in March 2001. The Foundation also produced a compendium highlighting case studies from across the country. If you would like a copy of the compendium, please contact us through the link at the bottom of this page.

As a follow up to the Summit Series, Marcia and Jon conducted Healthcare Leadership Roundtables in Salt Lake City, Detroit, and Chicago. These roundtable meetings provided a forum for opinion leaders from all sectors--physician, hospital and health system, pharmacy, media, business, consumer and government--to discuss and debate what was working in healthcare at the community level. They also facilitated discussion around how these groups might work together to address current health care system problems at the local level.

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 Global Knowledge Exchange Network (GKEN)
The Global Knowledge Exchange on Healthcare (GKEN) is a global intellectual talent pool that can be deployed to support organizations wanting to learn about emerging better practices in healthcare from experts in varied sectors; health systems, hospital systems, payers, insurers, health plans, academia, consumer and government purchasers. We are a not for profit international organization Founded in 2008. GKEN has 50 Delegates from ten countries committed to sharing and exchanging knowledge on ways to improve health outcomes and reduce cost. (learn more)

“Leaders need to 1st agree on the principles, the guideposts for the debate, in the abstract.Only then can the conversation focus constructively on important medical, ethical and economic issues” Wye River Group on Healthcare.

This book has been published to describe our methodical process in successfully building a vehicle for the implementing broad scale health policy reform from the ground up. It is dedicated to those who recognize designing a healthcare system that better meets everyone’s needs requires first setting aside the politics in favor of collaboration, compromise and consensus building.

Click here for more information.

In the News

WRGH has accepted an invitation to join the inaugural advisory board for Thompson Publishing Group's Guide to Consumer-Directed Health Care.
They will provide commentary on developments in the field, insights into industry trends, and occasional guest columns. Launched in April, the Guide is the only comprehensive resource to designing and implementing a consumer-directed healthcare plan.


WRGH has joined the Oxford Health Alliance.
We know that prevention of unhealthy behaviors, with regard to diet, exercise and tobacco consumption, is critical in confronting the pandemic growth of chronic disease. The Oxford Health Alliance enables experts and activists from different backgrounds to collaborate in order to raise awareness and change behaviors, policies and perspectives at every level of society.