AHA forum focuses on delivery innovations, challenges

San Diego is host through Thursday to more than 1,000 hospital executives, directors, trustees and clinicians in town for lectures and debates on healthcare leadership, dealmaking, innovation and technology.

The 22nd annual Health Forum and American Hospital Association Leadership Summit features celebrity speakers, including former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, writer Malcolm Gladwell and journalist Cokie Roberts. Healthcare executives in charge of quality, physician contracting, post-acute care, operating efficiency and new payment will talk strategy.

Leaders from Penn State Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center will tout the tactics used to reduce readmissions 9% and boost patient satisfaction scores by 22% within a year. Linda Duncan, administrator for Penn State's Center for Enterprise Innovation and one of the scheduled speakers, said effective team-based care was key. “We often think we can just put a group of people together,” she said. But “there's a certain science” to teamwork.

Electronic health-record use and data analytics are major topics this year, with executives from Arlington-based Texas Health Resources and Truman Medical Centers, Kansas City, Mo., slated to discuss how they evaluate and prioritize information technology investment. Representatives of Intel Corp. and Wal-Mart will speak about their companies' initiatives to use their buying clout to lead payment and delivery changes.

Follow Melanie Evans on Twitter: @MHmevans