Better Outcomes, Lower Costs Focus of Hoag Hospital Foundation’s Forum on Healthcare 2012

Oct. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- More than 750 business and community leaders jammed a hotel banquet room Monday for a conversation about how healthcare reform is driving innovation and new models for access to care at the Forum on Healthcare 2012, presented by Hoag Hospital Foundation and title sponsor, The Edwards Lifesciences Fund.

Hoag President and CEO, Dr. Richard Afable, Edwards Lifesciences Chairman and CEO, Michael Mussallem, and Pacific Business Group on Health President and CEO, David Lansky, Ph.D., delivered a sobering but optimistic assessment of how reform is transforming the way health networks will provide care in the future. They were joined on stage for questions and answers by Deborah Proctor, president and CEO of St. Joseph Health.

“It comes down to value,” Afable said. “We must find new ways to improve outcomes while lowering costs.”

One way to add value, Afable said, is for businesses - working with their health providers - to develop new strategies to keep employees healthier.

At last year’s inaugural Forum, Hoag Hospital Foundation expected 200 attendees, and eventually shut down registration at 500. This year, with costs of health insurance rising and uncertainty over the implications of the Affordable Care Act, there are even more questions and greater interest, said Flynn Andrizzi, Ph.D., President of the Hoag Hospital Foundation.

“With creative thinking and a restructuring of priorities, healthcare in this country will inevitably become more focused on prevention,” Afable said. “In the long run, this will help keep employers costs down and keep workers healthier. Employers who want to remain competitive are going to have to provide access to affordable care. Nobody has all the answers now but we’re fortunate that Orange County is positioned to become one of healthcare’s brightest trailblazers.”

To learn more about the forum, visit forumbyhoag.com.

About the Hoag Hospital Foundation
Thanks in large part to philanthropy, Hoag has become one of the nation’s finest healthcare systems and serves a diverse and growing population.  Hoag Hospital Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Hoag (a separate 501(c)(3) corporation), is an integral partner in Hoag’s vision to become a trusted and nationally recognized healthcare leader.  Under the direction of a volunteer Board of Directors, the Foundation conducts campaigns and programs that generate more than $40 million per year in gifts and pledges.  The Foundation is currently in the planning phase of a campaign with a working goal of $500 million by 2020. Foundation fundraising priorities are based on Hoag’s priorities and include:

•   Mary & Dick Allen Diabetes Center
•   Hoag Family Cancer Institute
•   Hoag Neurosciences Institute
•   Hoag Heart & Vascular Institute
•   Hoag Orthopedic Institute
•   Hoag Women’s Health Institute
•   Hoag Hospital Newport Beach
•   Hoag Hospital Irvine
•   Choose Nursing, Choose Hoag

Please visit www.HoagHospitalFoundation.org.

About Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
Hoag is a non-profit regional healthcare delivery network in Orange County, California that treats nearly 30,000 inpatients and 350,000 outpatients annually.  Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals, seven health centers and five urgent care centers.  Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which has served Orange County since 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010, are designated Magnet hospitals by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that include five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women’s health and orthopedics through Hoag’s affiliate Hoag Orthopedic Institute.  Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report Metro Edition.  National Research Corporation has endorsed Hoag as Orange County’s most preferred hospital for the past 15 consecutive years and for an unprecedented 15 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as the county’s best hospital in a local newspaper survey. Visit www.hoag.org.