Access to health care in Arizona’s rural communities is the focus of the 41st Annual Rural Health Conference and Performance Improvement Summit, August 7 & 8 at the Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Ariz. Hosted by the University of Arizona’s Center for Rural Health at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, the annual conference brings together a statewide audience of health care providers, policy makers, academic, county and community health professionals, administrators, hospitals, insurers, federal agencies and private and public clinics.
This year the conference will be held in conjunction with the 9th Annual Performance Improvement Summit for Critical Access Hospitals which brings together hospital CEOs, CFOs, CNOs, Quality Managers and IT personnel.
“As Arizona transforms its health system, it’s crucial to foster collaboration,” said Dan Derksen, MD, director of the Arizona Center for Rural Health,” and professor of public health policy at the UA College of Public Health. He recently spoke at the National Governors Association Health Workforce Policy Academy meeting in Washington, D.C., and will present the Andrew Nichols Rural and Border Health Policy Lecture: “State Pacesetters Transform the Rural Health Workforce.”
Presentation tracks will include integrating health care, understanding coverage under the Affordable Care Act, increasing Arizona's inter-professional health care workforce and performance improvement of critical access hospitals.
The Keynote speaker is David Saÿen, regional administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, San Francisco Office will present "Unfolding the ACA – A lesson in origami from CMS."
Additional presenters include Tom Betlach, director, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS); Dan Derksen, MD, director, Center for Rural Health, UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health; Will Humble, director, Arizona Department of Health Services and Debbie Johnston, senior vice president, policy development, Arizona Hospital & Healthcare Association.
For information about the Rural Health Conference, please visit the Center for Rural Health website.
