ESRI Health GIS Conference to Feature Speakers Innovating Health Care
Hear the Latest on Health Care Delivery and Information Technology Trends
Redlands, CA (PRWEB) June 3, 2009
Changing global health is challenging health professionals everywhere to rethink how they work. The ESRI Health GIS Conference (http://www. esri. com/healthgis) provides opportunities for health and human services professionals to network and collaborate with colleagues from across the globe and see the latest innovations in using geographic information system (GIS) technology to improve approaches to human health. The 2009 conference, being held September 21-23 in Nashville, Tennessee, will focus on the theme Improving Our Health with GIS and will feature a variety of innovative speakers.
Keynote speaker David C. Goodman (http://www. esri. com/events/health/agenda/keynote. html), M. D., M. S., is a professor of pediatrics and community and family medicine, as well as associate director, at the Center for Health Policy Research, and coprincipal investigator for the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care at the the Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy and Clinical Practice in New Hampshire. Attendees will learn how "geography is destiny" as Goodman discusses what the premier research center has uncovered in evaluating health care. He will describe how geographic variation studies reveal serious deficiencies in health care costs and delivery.
"This year's speakers embrace the use of spatial thinking to advance global health and bring something special to the conference," says Bill Davenhall, ESRI's health and human services solutions manager. "Attendees will hear firsthand about how real-world experiences in successfully applying geography to improve our health achieve astounding results."
Attendees will also hear views on health care today from a hospital CIO of 20 years. Featured speaker Charles E. Christian (http://www. esri. com/events/health/agenda/keynote. html), Fellow, College Healthcare Information Management Executives (FCHIME), Fellow, Healthcare Information Management System Society (FHIMSS), director of information systems and CIO at Indiana's Good Samaritan Hospital, will relate his experience in applying health care information technology in a community hospital. Christian has also experienced the health care world through his participation in national health care advocacy organizations. He will delve into topics in the news and on blogs regarding the latest stimulus bill's potential health care impact and where health care reform might be going.
Featured speaker Chris McInnish (http://www. esri. com/events/health/agenda/keynote. html) is the children's affairs liaison to the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center. McInnish will describe how an integrated approach to GIS across health and human services is possible. Attendees will find out about McInnish's experiences in building statewide support of the Alabama Resource Management System (ARMS), a Web-based information system containing demographic and statistical data accessible by state agencies and nonprofit organizations. He will show how it helped his organization make better decisions to support area children and families.
"The issues facing the health and human services communities across this country are complex, and GIS tools are allowing us to share important social service messages with nontechnical audiences in powerful ways," says McInnish. "I'm grateful ESRI has provided the opportunity for social services to stand tall and for highlighting how GIS can communicate a community's real needs while focusing on people and results."
The Awards Luncheon speaker, Dr. Jane Linder (http://www. esri. com/events/health/agenda/lunch_speaker. html), is the principal of NWN Corporation in Massachusetts. Linder will talk about the surprising nature of wildly successful initiatives and what leaders have to do differently to "grow good little ideas" into incredible outcomes. Her research draws on examples from public and private sectors, small organizations and large. In her work with human service organizations, Linder has helped clients both improve service to citizens and reduce costs.
The early bird deadline to register for the conference and save is June 26. For information about the event and to register online, visit www. esri. com/healthgis (http://www. esri. com/healthgis). Also, attendees receive special hotel reservation rates (http://www. esri. com/events/health/registration/hotels. html) that provide the best value and convenience.
About ESRI
Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www. esri. com.
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