ADVISORY/IHA Hosts Second Health Literacy Conference To Promote Organizational Solutions To $73 Billion National Crisis.

News Editors/Health/Medical Writers

ADVISORY...for Thursday, May 15, and Friday, May 16

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

Who:        The Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) and more
            than a dozen low-literacy experts, including:

            -- Rima E. Rudd, Sc.D., Harvard School of Public Health;
            -- Marian Ryan, M.P.H., Molina Healthcare of California;
            -- Tracy Scott, Ph.D., Emory University School of
                Medicine; and
            -- Gloria Mayer, Ed.D., Institute for Healthcare
                Advancement.

What:       A disconcerting 90 million American adults are either
            functionally illiterate or read at or below the fifth-
            grade level.  When it comes to reading medical information
            -- most of which is written at a 10th-grade level or
            higher -- this lack of understanding creates billions of
            dollars in wasted healthcare spending.  For example,
            low-literate patients incur 6% more hospital visits, spend
            two extra days in the hospital, and need to make extra
            trips to the doctor.  IHA's second annual health literacy
            conference, "Organizational Solutions to Low Health
            Literacy," will address a number of possible solutions to
            this crisis.

When:       Thursday, May 15th and Friday, May 16th
            8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Where:      Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, Calif.)

Why:        Published research has documented that more than $73
            billion in unnecessary healthcare expenditures is
            attributable annually to patients with low literacy
            skills; and there is a strong, proven correlation between
            low reading skills and poor health status.  This
            conference will bring together some of the leading
            researchers and analysts on this subject for a critical
            two-day review of the most innovative and most effective
            solutions to improve health literacy in the U.S.
            Spotlighting best practices from around the nation,
            information will be presented in an operationally oriented
            fashion to help attendees understand how these solutions
            were developed and how they can model solutions for their
            own organizations and regional situations.

Background: The IHA is a non-profit organization that provides
            healthcare information with particular emphasis on and
            attention to literacy levels.

Interviews: For members of the news media unable to attend the
            conference, a number of the guest speakers have agreed to
            make themselves available for one-on-one phone interviews
            prior to or immediately following their presentations.