Keynote Speakers

Michael Millenson
President
Health Quality Advisors

Keynote: Tuesday 8:45 AM

Michael L. Millenson, president of Health Quality Advisors, is a nationally recognized expert on patient empowerment, e-health and quality improvement. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, Demanding Medical Excellence: Doctors and Accountability in the Information Age, and holds an appointment as the Mervin Shalowitz, M.D., Visiting Scholar at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

National Public Radio called Millenson "in the vanguard of the movement" to measure and improve the quality of medical care. He has testified before Congress and the Federal Trade Commission, lectured at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and written for publications ranging from the British Medical Journal and Health Affairs to USA Today and World Book Encyclopedia.

Millenson’s client projects have included strategic planning, designing a site to promote high-quality healthcare choices, developing metrics to compare pay-for-performance programs, and writing policy white papers. His clients have included America’s Health Insurance Plans, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Booz Allen Hamilton, Consumer’s Union, the Progressive Policy Institute, Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Millenson was a principal in the healthcare practice of a major human resources consulting firm and, earlier in his career, was nominated three times for a Pulitzer Prize as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He was a consulting producer for the 2006 national public television series Remaking American Medicine and consulted with the Markle Foundation in designing its Connecting for Health e-health initiative.

In addition, Millenson serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Medical Quality, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Managed Care, and is a member of the National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care.

Thomas Valuck, MD, MHSA, JD
Director
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Keynote: Monday 9:30 AM

Dr. Thomas Valuck is Medical Officer and Senior Advisor to Herb Kuhn, Acting Deputy Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). He advises Mr. Kuhn on clinical and policy issues related to Medicare’s payment systems and quality initiatives, particularly pay-for-performance. Recently, Dr. Valuck was named Director of CMS’ new Special Program Office of Value-Based Purchasing, which is responsible for the implementation of Medicare physician and hospital pay-for-performance initiatives.

Dr. Valuck, a native of Kirksville, Missouri, has degrees in biological science and medicine from the University of Missouri—Kansas City. He took clinical training in pediatrics at the Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, before obtaining a Master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Valuck was employed for more than nine years in various executive roles, including Vice President of Medical Affairs at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMed) in Kansas City, Kansas. While at KUMed, Dr. Valuck was awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship, a one-year sabbatical during which he served on the staff of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Dr. Valuck relocated to Washington, DC, to attend the Georgetown University Law Center, where he worked on the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, and earned the BNA Health Law Award and the Federal Legislation Clinic Advocacy Award. As a law student, he worked for the White House Council of Economic Advisers as a health policy assistant to Dr. Mark McClellan, who was the President’s Chief Health Policy Adviser at that time. Before joining CMS, Dr. Valuck was an associate at the law firm of Latham & Watkins, where he practiced regulatory health law.



Scott Burrows
Motivational Speaker
Speaker's Ink

Keynote: Wednesday 9:30 AM

Scott has used his powerful success formula—Vision, Mindset, and Grit—during his entire life to maximize untapped potential and excel and surpass the competition. He played college football at FSU under Coach Bobby Bowden. He was a #1 ranked kickboxer and his last fight was broadcast by ESPN.

At the age of 19, Scott's life took a dramatic turn—he was a passenger in a single-car accident which left him paralyzed from the chest down. Diagnosed a quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair, Scott would not be sidelined. He applied his formula of Vision, Mindset, and Grit and went on to lead a very rewarding and fulfilling personal and professional life.

After graduating from university with a business degree, he entered the life insurance industry and grew his business through 90% referrals after his first year. After only five years, Scott qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table, a 100% commission-driven reward. Less than 6% of his peers achieve this yearly recognition.

A 'Murder-ball' athlete and co-author of Conversations on Success demonstrates that Scott continues to be active on the playing field of life. Today, he is president of an international business venture that exports custom-blended fertilizers to golf courses in various Asian markets. Scott speaks at numerous organizations around the world, revealing that we can all maximize our human potential and surpass the competition through Vision, Mindset and Grit.



Bruce Spurlock, MD
President
National Business Group on Health

Keynote: Tuesday 10:00 AM

Bruce Spurlock, MD is President & CEO of Convergence Health Consulting, Inc., a boutique management consulting firm working with diverse stakeholders in health care. Dr. Spurlock works with physicians and health care executives to create state-of-the-art clinical management programs. He is also a nationally known speaker on health care topics ranging from future health care trends to redesigning specific operational units. He helps organizations create results-oriented programs in a variety of domains by using his experiences as a leader in California quality initiatives, and operational expertise in change management, performance improvement, physician relations, medical staff issues, ICU redesign, peer review, and patient safety.

Dr. Spurlock is Chair of the CHART Steering Committee, a groundbreaking initiative of hospitals, purchasers, health plans, and consumer groups to produce a voluntary, standardized hospital performance report in California. He also leads large, multi-participant quality collaboratives designed to accelerate the dissemination of evidence-based clinical practices. Currently, he is an Adjunct Associate Professor with Stanford University.

Prior to developing his national consulting practice, Dr. Spurlock was the executive vice president for the California Healthcare Association (CHA) where he served as the CHA’s expert in physician group relations, health policy for clinical and managed care issues, and quality and performance measurement. He also practiced internal medicine as a senior physician with The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., for 10 years, where he led patient education, media, and wellness programs and developed shared decision-making tools, clinical pathways and guidelines, RN advice center protocols, and easy access ambulatory services. During his clinical career Dr. Spurlock was an Assistant Clinical Professor for the University of California, Davis, and participated on the American Hospital Association’s Quality Leadership Team. In 1997 he was appointed by California Governor Wilson to the Managed Health Care Improvement Task Force. He is published in local, state, and national journals and has served as a trustee on the California Medical Association’s Board of Trustees. Dr. Spurlock received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, Davis, and completed his internal medicine residency, chief residency, and general medicine fellowship at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Santa Clara, California.