Altarum Institute and the National Coalition on Health Care are cosponsoring a roundtable discussion on health care consumerism. The event will focus on the following three "purple," or politically independent, themes that apply to all health care consumers:

• For every condition, there is always more than one treatment (or nontreatment) option.
  
  
• For any treatment, there can be significant variation in the safety and quality of its delivery.
  
  
• Within the same level of quality and safety, there can be vast differences in price.

Presenters will address the universal relevance of these three themes to improve the value and affordability of health care. By setting aside preconceived biases about consumer strategies and focusing on the value of transparency and choice, session participants will seek an acceptable platform on which to build support for consumer involvement.

Presenters include:

• Leah Binder, Chief Executive Officer, The Leapfrog Group
  
  
• Ann Boynton, Deputy Executive Officer, California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS)
  
  
• Wendy Lynch, Co-Director, Altarum Institute Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care [panel moderator]
  
  
• Jon Skinner, Professor, Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy and Clinical Practice

Stakeholders from a range of settings will benefit from participation in this roundtable discussion, including government agencies, health systems and providers, associations, academic institutions, and other public- and private-sector organizations.

 

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