National health officer to focus on improving outcomes for children
In an address at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans, Patrick Conway, MD, FAAP, chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will discuss how quality improvement programs in all 50 states are committed to providing children with better health security through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by expanding health care coverage at a lower cost.
Through the ACA, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide health coverage to nearly 60 million Americans. CHIP provides health coverage to almost 8 million children in families who seek to provide safe, efficient, high-quality medical care.
Dr. Conway, who is also director of the CMS Office of Clinical Standards and Quality, will also discuss how accountable care organizations and pediatric hospitalists work together to make health care safer and more effective for hospitalized children. Dr. Conway's presentation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, at the Section on Hospital Medicine Program in the New Orleans Convention Center, Room 281-282.
The CMS is responsible for all quality measures, value-based purchasing programs, quality improvement programs, clinical standards and survey and certification of Medicare and Medicaid health care providers across the nation.
"We are launching a number of programs designed to pay for quality and value instead of volume," said Dr. Conway. "Pediatricians have an opportunity to lead medical homes, quality improvement initiatives, and systems accountable for better health outcomes for children. Investment in child health can reap long-term benefits."
Dr. Conway joined CMS from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where he led over 20 faculty and 30 staff in its clinical, education, and research mission focused on improving health outcomes. He served as director of hospital medicine and an associate professor at the hospital as well as a vice president, leading the hospital's outcomes performance efforts, and director of rapid evidence adoption in the James M. Anderson Center.
In past roles, Dr. Conway has advised the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a White House policy fellow. He also served as executive director of the Federal Coordinating Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research, during which time he helped oversee the $1.1 billion effort for improving clinical research focused on patient outcomes, as mandated by the Recovery Act.
Dr. Conway has published his work in journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, and Pediatrics. He is a practicing pediatric hospitalist, completed his pediatrics residency at Children's Hospital Boston, and graduated from Baylor College of Medicine. He also holds a Master's of Science degree in health services research and clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
