Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Drury Lane Conference Center
Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois
8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Industry experts predict that consumer-driven health plans will affect the American health care system as significantly as the changes brought by managed care two decades ago. Better educated consumers will demand appropriate pricing of hospital services. It is critical that MCHC member hospitals, both as major employers and as health care providers, understand the current marketplace and be prepared to develop strategies to sustain their long-term financial viability and to meet the benefit needs of their own employees.

Who Should Attend
This program is designed for MCHC-member hospital chief executive officers, chief financial officers, chief human resource officers, vice presidents of managed care contracting, public relations executives, revenue cycle executives, employee benefit directors and managers, and patient financial services directors and managers.

Registration Information

Highlights
This full-day symposium will provide hospital executive and management staff with the insights and understanding of consumer-driven health plans necessary for meaningful decision-making. It is an excellent opportunity for hospitals to learn more about the impact of these new products on the local health care delivery system.

The symposium will begin with a panel discussion featuring national and local experts who will share their perspectives as providers, employers, and health insurers. Breakout sessions will offer attendees two tracks of lecture and conversation to address consumer-driven health plans from a provider or an employer perspective. A facilitated group discussion of hospitals’ implementation and educational needs will conclude the program.

The program will provide actionable insights from two perspectives:

• Hospital as an Employer:
  • Explore the factors that motivate employers’ benefit design decisions.
  • Review the approaches for determining whether consumer-driven health plans should be part of the hospital’s benefit package for its own employees, explore options for benefit design, and consider communication strategies for successful implementation of such plans. 
  • Examine the key considerations in developing a communications plan, necessary actions, development of communication support tools and accurately identifying employees' information needs. 
• Hospital as a Provider:
  • Provide a framework to assess and forecast the potential financial impact of consumer-driven health plans on the hospital including the potential rise in self pay issues as a symptom of high-deductible plans.
  • Address the organizational, service pricing, and process improvement strategies for responding to the financial implications of serving a patient population that increasingly embraces consumer-driven health plans.
• Equip attendees with the knowledge to develop an appropriate and successful response to the current environment from both perspectives: “hospital as an employer and as a provider.”