Symposium Today

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Welcome to Symposium Today, a daily summary of news, quotes, insights and media coverage from the Colorado Health Symposium.

In this issue:
Obesity isn’t OK for Oklahoma City mayor
Does prevention save lives, money?
News Coverage and social media
Next up: Thursday, July 29
Speaker slides available online

Quotes of the day:
“It’s undisputed that healthy people are less expensive than people with illness and disease. Whether a preventive program saves money is another question: It may save money, it may not save money.”

— Peter J. Neumann
Director of the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health,
Tufts Medical Center

“Cost-avoidance is what we’re trying to achieve, not cost savings.”

— Dr. Joseph Thompson
Surgeon General of Arkansas

Keynote highlights: Obesity isn’t OK for Oklahoma City mayor
It seems nearly all politicians talk about operating “leaner” these days, but Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett practices what he preaches. At Wednesday’s keynote luncheon at the Colorado Health Symposium, Cornett talked about how he changed the culture of obesity in his hometown, beginning with his own 42-pound weight loss, and putting the fast food capitol of the country on a diet.

Cornett said the “wake-up call” about the obesity problem came when a national magazine short-listed Oklahoma City as one of the most obese cities in the country. “Being on a list of most obese cities can’t possibly be good,” Cornett said. “Employers will ask: ‘Do I want to create jobs in this place?’” As mayor, Cornett said he couldn’t run from his responsibility.

To promote discussion on the problem, Cornett challenged Oklahoma City to go on a diet with the goal of losing 1 million pounds. The move generated worldwide media attention for Oklahoma City and landed Cornett on the national talk show circuit. While the campaign was successful in raising awareness on the issue, it was not a politically calculated move. “Political instinct is to tell people what they want to hear. Nobody wants to hear they’ve got to lose weight... Not one of my political advisors said ‘this is a good idea.’”

So far, more than 40,000 Oklahomans signed up for the citywide diet, losing more than half a million pounds. But the campaign has also energized a cultural shift in Oklahoma City, which has developed more parks, pedestrian walkways and bike paths to encourage residents to get active. Unlike other mayors who took on obesity by setting nutritional standards for restaurants or banning trans-fats, Cornett worked with restaurateurs on the problem. He even endorsed healthier fast food options for Taco Bell. “I knew I wasn’t going to stop 35,000 people a day from going to Taco Bell. But even if they go to Taco Bell, there are choices to be made,” he said. To recognize his achievements, chefs around the city even added a “Mayor’s Special” to their menus consisting of healthy fare.

Today’s plenary discussion: Will prevention save lives, money?
An emphasis on prevention could improve the quality of health care, but the verdict is out on whether prevention will save money (or if saving money is the point), said Peter J. Neumann, director of the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts Medical Center. Neumann cited a Tufts analysis that showed there’s no statistical evidence that prevention is any more cost-effective than treatment.

But health care professionals shouldn’t be discouraged from focusing on prevention, even though it doesn’t necessarily save money, Neumann said. He added that smart, targeted prevention could save lives and improve health.

Adding to the discussion, Dr. Joseph Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., said that prevention – particularly in tackling the issue of childhood obesity – could help communities avoid more serious health problems in the future. Thompson, the surgeon general of Arkansas, talked about how his state slowed obesity rates by raising public awareness, setting physical-education standards and encouraging schools to leave their gyms open over the weekends so kids will get more chances to be active. Given the extent of the obesity problem, the question of whether such initiatives will “save” costs in health care is a moot point. “Cost-avoidance is what we’re trying to achieve, not cost savings,” Thompson said.

Though recent statistics show obesity is growing in Colorado and nationwide, Judith Bell, president of PolicyLink, said she’s heartened by recent efforts that could reverse the problem in the near future and improve the overall health of the population. Bell cited Michelle Obama’s campaign to combat childhood obesity and the growing movement of urban agriculture that provides produce in areas where it’s hard to find fresh fruit and vegetables in grocery stores. Bell also cited a chilling fact that there are no major grocery store chains in the city of Detroit, a pattern that is growing more common across the United States.

Jodee Kozlak, executive vice president of Human Resources for Target Corp., said the large retailer has invested in an innovative program to encourage its employees to improve their health, resulting in increased participation in vaccination programs and a dramatic shift in the company’s culture of wellness. In keeping with that vision, Kozlak said Target will make changes to the kind of food it offers customers during the next few years.

Dr. Jim Krieger, M.D., M.P.H., chief of the Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Section of Public Health - Seattle and King County, Wash., urged policymakers to consider environmental factors, such as housing and air quality, as a means of prevention and improving health. “The educational approach (to prevention) alone doesn’t seem to be working,” Krieger said. “There is a paradigm shift in public health that focuses on policy, systems and environmental changes.”

News coverage and social media
Feature summary of story (or stories) from traditional or outside media and links (if available).

On the opening day of the Colorado Health Symposium, the Summit Daily News spotlighted the event and its importance in the world of health policy.

In the broadcast world, Rocky Mountain PBS’s Colorado State of Mind will air its segment taped at the Colorado Health Symposium on Friday, July 30. The topic is “What Will Health Care Reform Look Like?”

Elsewhere, the Symposium generated a flurry of social networking activity.

 Follow Us on Twitter @HealthSymposium
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Symposium attracted more than 250 followers. We are using the #10CHS hashtag for this year's Symposium posts. You can tag your own Symposium-related tweets with the #10CHS hashtag to join in the conversation. Search on #10CHS using Twitter Search to keep up with a running list of all Symposium-related tweets.

 Visit the Colorado Health Symposium Blog
Summaries of each speaker’s presentation will be posted during the Symposium. These individual perspectives are a great way to experience the plenary session. We encourage you to add your two cents to the discussion by commenting on the postings.

 We’re Live Streaming Video on Ustream
On Wednesday, there were more than 250 views of the Colorado Health Symposium over Ustream. Many plenary session speakers from the Colorado Health Symposium will be featured on live broadcasts. You can add your input using chat and view the social stream to link up with Twitter.

 Connect with us on Facebook
Stay updated on Symposium happenings by "liking" our official Facebook page. We encourage you to share, comment on and "like" the Foundation’s Facebook posts.

 View Speaker Interviews on YouTube
Go behind-the-scenes with the Symposium on YouTube by viewing selected speaker video clips during the event.

Next up: Thursday, July 29
8 a.m. – Welcome and overview: Anne Warhover
8:30 a.m. – Plenary session: “It’s Broken: Now How Do We Fix It?”
11:50 a.m. – Lunch and keynote address: Richard Carmona, former U.S. Surgeon General
2 p.m. – Breakout sessions: “Bringing Supermarkets to Low-Income Communities”; “Colorado's Evolving Health Care Landscape”; “Increasing the Value of Health Care — One Community at a Time”
6 p.m. – Reception: John Iglehart Award
7:30 p.m. – A Night at the Theatre with Anna Deavere Smith

View full agenda

Speaker slides available online
Looking for great statistics or tidbits from this year’s Colorado Health Symposium? We will post many speakers’ PowerPoint presentations online. [learn more]