Senator Kennedy Joins International and Local Health Care Leaders Examining New Initiatives to Improve the Quality and Safety of Patient Care; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts convenes Saving Lives, Safeguarding Care.

BOSTON -- Members of the New England health care community gathered today at a health care public policy conference entitled, Saving Lives: Safeguarding Care, to examine best practices for improving the delivery of high quality medical care, glean lessons from the United Kingdom on the topic, and collaborate on the practical next steps needed to improve patient safety.

The half-day conference, which was organized and hosted by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), featured a keynote address by Senator Edward Kennedy, commentary from renowned experts in the health care field including Sir Michael Rawlins, chairman of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence in the United Kingdom and Dr. Lucian Leape of Harvard School of Public Health, testimonials from former patients and two panel discussions.

"The public needs to know that the health care community is committed not only in theory but in action to improving the quality and safety of medical care," said Lucian Leape, M.D., Adjunct Professor at Harvard School of Public Health. "Organizations such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have made safety a priority and taken action on a number of important initiatives; but more engagement and leadership is needed from all constituents within the health care community to ensure that the quality and safety movement produces significant change."

Among the topics discussed at the conference was the urgency and importance of industry adoption of health care information technologies such as electronic medical records and e-prescribing. Recent legislation, such as the Wired for Health Care Quality Act, has demonstrated the federal government's commitment to the adoption of health care information technologies and has served to elevate the issue with the general public. Senator Kennedy, who was instrumental in the creation of the bill, spoke today about setting a national standard for quality care.

"I commend Cleve Killingsworth and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts for convening this conference with so many impressive leaders on improving the quality of health care," said Senator Kennedy. "We have immense challenges in many aspects of health care and public health, and I look forward very much to the recommendations of these outstanding professionals."

More than 200 members of the health care community, including physicians, hospital chief executive officers and quality improvement directors, national, state and local legislators and leaders of public and private industry attended the event, which was held at BCBSMA's Boston headquarters at the Landmark Center.

"The transformation of health care is an ambitious undertaking, one that requires a significant investment of time and resources from all sectors of the health care community," said Cleve Killingsworth, president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. "It is energizing to see so many local, national and international members of the health care community coming together to collaborate and determine how to best confront the issue of improving the quality of healthcare. Our mission is clear - we must do better to make care safer and more effective."

The panel discussions, which included participants from the government, business and health care communities, focused on the obstacles to quality improvement and the probability of current quality improvement initiatives affecting the cost of health care. Specific topics discussed and debated by the panel included the merits of pay for performance, the need to set common national safety goals, and the necessity of having standard treatment protocols in place at health care institutions to assist in reducing medical errors around routine treatments.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (www.bluecrossma.com) was founded 68 years ago by a group of community-minded business leaders. Today, headquartered in Boston, BCBSMA provides coverage to 2.8 million members. Consistently recognized for standards of service that are among the highest in the nation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is the choice for health care consumers seeking reliable and high quality health care coverage. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.