October 31, 2007 Medical Home Model to be Featured at LDH Meeting

BATON ROUGE, Oct 31, 2007 - The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals’ Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health will host its fourth annual meeting and education event. The meeting will focus on the components of the patient-centered medical home system, a comprehensive and quality-driven model for primary health care delivery.

Thursday, November 1, 2007
Baton Rouge Marriott Hotel
5500 Hilton Ave.
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The theme of the meeting is “Louisiana's Advancing Systems of Care.” Sessions will focus on the medical home, quality-based initiatives, health information technology, integrating preventive, specialty and inpatient health care services, and developing and enhancing the health care workforce to support the medical home model.

“Through this event, LDH aims to provide education for Louisiana health care stakeholders about national trends and best practices related to the medical home model of care. We will also highlight the progress made by Louisiana health care providers in rural and underserved communities to create better access to quality and comprehensive health care services,” said Kristy H. Nichols, MS, Director of the DHH’s Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health.

Also, the Bureau of Primary Care will also present the findings of the 2005 and 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state-based system of health surveys that collects information on health risk behaviors, preventive health practices and health care access primarily related to chronic disease and injury. Funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the surveillance system provides the primary source of data for states and the nation on the health-related behaviors of adults.

The keynote address will be given by Melinda K. Abrams, MS, Senior Program Officer with The Commonwealth Fund.

Other national speakers include:

George Miller, president of the National Rural Health Association
John Tooker, MD, MBA, FACP, American College of Physicians – Society of Internal Medicine
Ali Mokdad, PhD, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dianne Hasselman, MSPH, Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc.
Sharon Baskerville, Washington D.C. Primary Care Association
Mary Amundson, MA, University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health