Implementing Innovative Visit Models Into Physician Practices, a March 1, 2006 audio conference on CD-ROM, provides inside details on how innovative visit models can be used by physician organizations to achieve better outcomes, while reducing practice costs and still providing the high quality care that physicians want to give their patients.

During this 90-minute audio conference on CD-ROM, your expert panel of speakers, Sue Houck, president, Houck Associates, and Dr. Joseph Spooner, senior vice president of outcomes and academic relations, Care Level Management, provide inside details on innovative visit models. Houck will offer an inside look at ways physician practices are using group visits to achieve efficiencies, reduce costs and improve care, while Dr. Spooner will describe how his organization has developed a group practice model with physicians who only make house calls.

You can "attend" this program right in your office and enjoy significant savings – no travel time or hassle; no hotel expenses. It’s so convenient! Invite your staff members to listen in.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS AUDIO CONFERENCE?

Executives and leadership physicians of physician hospital organizations and independent practice associations, medical group management executives, physician practice management company executives, large physician groups, management service organizations executives, CEOs, COOs, CFOs, medical directors, network development directors, provider relation executives, controllers, contract administrators, contract officers, physician practice office managers, managed care directors, business development executives, consultants and strategic planners.

ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:

Suzanne Houck

Suzanne Houck is the president of Houck & Associates Inc, a leader in ambulatory care redesign consulting and training. Houck’s highly interactive approach builds practical skills for sustainable improvement, using proven tools and real world examples that enable participants to implement changes reflecting a group’s unique strengths.

Houck is the author of What Works: Effective Tools & Case Studies To Improve Clinical Office Practice, the first comprehensive book on ambulatory care redesign. She also has experience as an ambulatory care manager and nurse practitioner throughout the United States and Africa.

Houck formerly served as chief operating officer of Critical Care Incorporated as well as a healthcare consultant for KPMG Peat Marwick.

Houck has a master’s in business administration and has presented at national conferences for numerous healthcare organizations including the American Hospital Association, Medical Group Management Association, American Medical Group Association and the Outpatient Care Institute.

Joseph W. Spooner, MD, MBA

Dr. Joseph Spooner is the senior vice president of outcomes and academic relations with Care Level Management (CLM)™, which developed and operates The Personal Visiting Physicians Delivery System™ nationally.

Dr. Spooner was project leader and lead author of the application that led to CLM’s award of a three-year Medicare Demonstration Project to provide care for up to 15,000 chronically ill elderly residing in California, Texas and Arizona, which commenced on October, 2005. Additionally, he is CLM’s liaison with governmental bodies and the academic medical community.

In the late 1990’s, Dr. Spooner met Dr. Henri Becker, co-founder of Care Level Management (with Mr. Raouf Khalil), when they were both medical officers in a large medical group based in Pasadena, Calif. Intrigued with Dr. Becker’s transformation from an intensivist to a physician visiting the sickest of patients in their own homes, Dr. Spooner accompanied him on “house rounds.” Dr. Spooner then initiated a financial outcomes analysis and was able to demonstrate the savings in hospital and emergency room costs of Dr. Becker’s home visits. Dr. Becker and Mr. Khalil founded Care Level Management in 2001.

From 1990-2000, Dr. Spooner served as a medical officer in a large staff model HMO in Los Angeles for five years, followed by tours with independent practice associations and similar models. He was Chief Medical Officer of UHP Healthcare in Inglewood, Calif., where he brought in CLM’s Personal Visiting Physicians Delivery System, which provides home physician care for hundreds of largely Hispanic and African-American frail seniors.

Dr. Spooner had previously served as UCLA’s Chief of Neurological Services, managing the in-patient and teaching out-patient services. As an elected officer of the 1,700 member UCLA Medical Staff, Dr. Spooner served on the numerous key UCLA Hospital committees. He was co-founder & managing editor of the UCLA Physicians’ Forum.

Previous to his position at UCLA, Dr. Spooner had a private practice on the westside of Los Angeles.

Dr. Spooner graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School and completed his neurology residency and neuro-otology fellowship at the UCLA School in Medicine in 1980. He authored several peer-reviewed articles regarding the balance system of the brain. Dr. Spooner also received a Master’s of Business Administration from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management in 1989. He has written health-related opinion pieces for the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.