Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is requesting funding support for the Health Care Systems panel of the 2007 International Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI) conference. The October 1-4, 2007 conference is the third in a series of international conferences focused on developing evidence-based guidelines for countries with limited resources to improve breast health outcomes. The Health Care Systems panel will explore the development and use of economic modeling tools beneficial to determining cost-effective strategies to improve breast health outcomes. As the cost of health care in the United States grows, Medicare funding dwindles and the number of uninsured rises, more Americans will be faced with the difficult task of finding and affording the care they need. Rather than turn to a system of rationing or placing the burden of making difficult patient decisions on the physician, the scientific team for the Health Care Systems panel will begin the critical policy discussions that impact the quality of care for patients when breast cancer resources are limited. The BHGI summit will bring together leading national and international experts on breast health for this four day conference. Morning sessions will include presentations to highlight key implementation projects relevant to health care system delivery. Afternoon sessions will be devoted to panel discussion and debate to determine the major consensus points for the consensus manuscript that will be written and published following the conference. Panel members will perform a needs assessment of breast health services in a medium-level resource country, predict measurable cost and outcomes as determined by resource utilization, care administered, and patient outcome, and develop a practical economic Modeling tool that uses these data to predict improved patient outcomes. The findings and implementation guidelines from the Summit will be published in the journal Cancer and submitted to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) National Guideline Clearing House (NGC), world health and medical organizations, international health ministries, and patient advocate groups. The resulting 2007 Implementation Guidelines will serve as a practical medical tool providing functional real world examples of """"""""how to implement"""""""" best practices with limited health care resources. ? ? ?
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