Making the Health Dollar Go Further

4 February 2011

Gaining better value for money in health care will be a key issue at an international symposium at The University of Auckland on 17-18 February.

The US-NZ Health Innovation Symposium will bring together American and New Zealand experts in the field to look at how the two countries can collaborate to further their strategic health research.

The keynote speaker is Dr John Wennberg from Dartmouth Medical School whose work shows that in the US, areas spending less on health and providing less intensive care often achieve better outcomes than those spending more. He believes the Medicare system could reduce spending by at least 30 percent while improving the medical care of the most severely ill Americans.

His keynote address is on “Understanding what works and what patients want”. He will discuss how to reduce unnecessary surgery and the overuse of acute care hospitals through outcomes research and informed patient choice.

Dr Wennberg is a co-founder of the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, an NGO using interactive media to provide objective scientific information to patients about their treatment choices.

The 150 attending the symposium will discuss four themes: Health service innovation; Food, nutrition and health; Medical devices; Biopharma. Session topics range from “Health information and social networks” to “Bioengineering applications in healthcare”.

“Past, present and future NZ-US drug development projects” will be outlined by Professor Bill Denny, Director of the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre.

“Innovation in the design and delivery of health care and in technologies and solutions that promote personal health and well-being is critical if we are to continue to meet the demands of the communities we serve within fixed national budgets,” says the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon.

“To maximise the potential for these developments we need to ensure a continued flow of new ideas that can be developed and implemented in a wide range of health care settings including in our homes.”

The evening of 17 February, immediately before the symposium, will feature a research showcase of medical and industrial biotechnologies from seven New Zealand universities and a networking event.

A public lecture by Dr Wennberg on “Understanding variations in the way medicine is practised” will follow. He will explain why the amount of care patients receive often depends more on where they live and the doctors they see than their preferences for care or the illnesses they suffer.

The symposium takes place immediately before the fourth US-NZ Partnership Forum in Christchurch where government, business and community leaders from the two countries will discuss ways of enhancing their relationships in trade and investment, science and technology, innovation and business investment. The symposium’s findings will be fed into the Partnership Forum.

The symposium is being held in association with the US-NZ Knowledge Network, a group established by The University of Auckland and by New Zealand expatriates in the Greater Boston area.

DETAILS OF THE SYMPOSIUM PROGRAMME ARE ATTACHED. MEDIA ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND SYMPOSIUM SESSIONS, THE SHOWCASE EVENT AND THE PUBLIC LECTURE. DR WENNBERG AND OTHER SPEAKERS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW.

Note to editors: Dr Wennberg will be speaking at a Health Informatics New Zealand seminar in Auckland on 16 February, on the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care which is probably the most influential innovation in US healthcare policy for a generation.

ENDS

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