The 30th annual UAB National Symposium for Healthcare Executives, Transforming Healthcare, One Provider at a Time, will be held Aug. 2-7, 2010 at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Fl.

June 30, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The 30th annual UAB National Symposium for Healthcare Executives, Transforming Healthcare, One Provider at a Time, will be held Aug. 2-7, 2010 at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Fl.

The symposium, presented by the Department of Health Services Administration in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions, will help participants move beyond the current political debates about healthcare reform and focus on practical strategies for improving the delivery system from the bottom up.

For registration  information, call 205-934-1672 or go to http://www.uab.edu/shp/hsacenter/. Registration deadline is July 10.

The symposium began 30 years ago as a way to provide professional development and education to departmental alumni. Since that time, the symposium has grown to attract a national and international audience of healthcare leaders, many of whom have no prior connection to UAB. The event provides the ideal setting for providers, administrators and academicians to share ideas and strategies for dealing with the ever-changing healthcare industry.

"Since the symposium's inception, we have seen major changes in how America delivers healthcare," said Gerald Glandon, Ph.D., chair of the UAB Department of Health Services Administration. "For example, we've seen the shift from cost-based  reimbursement to the Medicare DRG reimbursement system of today, advances in information technology, government mandates such as COBRA and HIPPA and increased concerns about long-term care and disease management with the maturation of the baby boomers."

Glandon says the symposium constitutes a unique professional development and networking opportunity, as it is independent of any one professional organization.  Attendees can earn continuing education credits for their respective professions while they interact with both clinical and administrative colleagues from across healthcare disciplines. 

"More than 4,000 individuals from 38 states and several foreign countries have attended one or more of our symposia," said Glandon. "More than 300 healthcare leaders have attended at least seven times and some have come for 20 years or more, which we take as the most positive testament to the quality of the programs."

Speakers at this year's Symposium will address many major reform initiatives including: the patient-centered medical home, presented by Paul Grundy, M.D., Global Director of Healthcare Transformation, IBM Corporation; deflating the healthcare bubble, presented by Neal Hogan, Ph.D., Director, BDC Advisors, LLC.; and medical tourism, presented by David Boucher, President & COO of  Companion Global Healthcare, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of BC/BS of South Carolina. 

Hugh Greeley, Managing Director of HG Healthcare Consultants, will also lead a one-day seminar on various models for physician employment.  The seminar will feature representatives from Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, Carolinas Health System, and Piedmont Heart Institute. 

About the UAB Department of Health Services Administration

The UAB Department of Health Services Administration seeks to improve the practice of health administration by developing and sharing knowledge about the organization, financing and delivery of health services and about the information systems needed for effective and efficient delivery of health services.