By Benita Dodd

Former HHS Secretary Dr. Louis Sullivan, Lt. Gov. Cagle
To Address 2007 Georgia Health Care Symposium

Leaders Initiate Dialogue on Health Care Reform, Issues Facing Georgians

ONLINE REGISTRATION

September 19, 2007 (Atlanta) – The 2007 Georgia Health Care Symposium: Guiding Principles for State-Based Health Care Reform, opens at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, at the Auditorium at the Capitol Education Center in Atlanta.

Sponsored by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and led and moderated by Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Governors, this event spotlights the challenges surrounding health care delivery in Georgia. Symposium speakers will include the former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, Georgia’s No. 2 elected official, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, as well as a panel to highlight perspectives from the physician community and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Georgia Public Policy Foundation President Rogers Wade described the symposium as a “unique opportunity for Georgians to explore the market-based, patient-oriented options being proposed in health care delivery.”

“The viewpoints of these speakers, from a leadership, regulatory and personal perspective, will collectively shine a light on the desperate need for the current system to be fixed,” he added.

Dr. Fitzgerald will moderate “First-Hand Perspectives on Healing the Maladies in Medicine,” a panel discussion featuring:
• Peter Pitts, the FDA’s former associate commissioner for external relations, author, nationally syndicated columnist, adjunct professor at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, co-founder of Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.
• Dr. M.J. Collier Jr., vice president of the Georgia State Medical Association, a radio talk-show personality, former board chairman and president of the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians, former president and board chairman of the Atlanta Medical Association, as well as former president and board chairman of the 100 Black Men of America South Metro Chapter.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the first Republican elected to the state’s second-highest office, recently unveiled his proposals for helping cover the uninsured residents of Georgia. In his discussion, “Meeting the Health Care Needs of Georgians,” Lt. Gov. Cagle will reinforce his commitment to an environment in which Georgia’s citizens and businesses can prosper.

Dr. Louis Sullivan, one of the nation’s leading public health policy experts and a practicing physician for nearly 50 years, will address the 2007 Georgia Health Care Symposium to initiate a national dialogue on the need for an outcome-focused, value-based approach to health care delivery. He will unveil to Georgians his strategy for transforming the U.S. health care system through “The Symphony of Health Care Delivery” campaign,” focusing on several key points to ensure that all patients receive valuable treatment, as conducted by the physician:

- Both physicians and patients are essential in the decision-making process.
- Patients should receive individualized care to meet their specific needs – one-size-fits-all doesn’t work when it comes to health care.
- Health care innovation is important to all patients, and new approaches are necessary to provide health care for all those in need.

There is no registration fee for this symposium, but the deadline to register is Monday, September 24. A registration form is available at www.gppf.org/pub/gallery/healthcareinvite092607.pdf. Please make reservations by calling (404) 256-4050, faxing (404) 256-9909 or emailing reservations@gppf.org. For information, contact Mary Margaret Brannen at mmbrannen@gppf.org or (404) 256-4050.



Media interested in attending this event please contact Benita Dodd at benitadodd@gppf.org or (404) 256-4050.

Directions to the Capitol Education Center:
http://gba.georgia.gov/00/channel_title/0,2094,59377335_74073926,00.html