Dr. Dennis Weaver, executive vice president and chief medical officer for the Advisory Board Company and Advisory Board Solutions, will present the first Distinguished Population Health Lectureship at UMMC on Thursday, May 26 at noon in CW308.
Weaver's lecture, “Population Health: Accountable for Progress,” is open to all faculty, staff and students. The Office of Population Health is sponsoring the event.
Weaver focuses on strategy, development and operations for accountable payment models, population health management and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). With Advisory Board Solutions, he provides customized and holistic solutions for health systems.
Beech
“As the inaugural speaker for the Distinguished Population Health Lectureship, Dr. Weaver is on the cutting-edge of value-based health-care models,” said Dr. Bettina Beech, associate vice chancellor for population health.
In value-based health care, the emphasis is on patient outcomes and health rather than volume of services. It's part of the paradigm shift represented by population health.
“(Weaver's) visit to UMMC will provide guidance and insights into the establishment of the School of Population Health as a leading educational environment in this field,” Beech said.
Approved by the State Institutions of Higher Learning in April, UMMC's new School of Population Health is expected to open in 2017. Its mission is to create leaders prepared to transform health-care delivery and the health of Mississippians.
“Dr. Weaver has over 20 years of experience in senior health-care leadership and in working with hospitals, hospital systems and employers to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of health care,” Beech said. He is a nationally recognized expert and noted speaker on the design and implementation of the medical home and accountable care organizations.
Among Weaver's accomplishments is the management of one of the largest medical home transformations in the country. The Adirondack Regional Medical Home Pilot in New York resulted in an ACO of 5 hospital systems, 33 primary care practices, 224 primary care providers and 9 payers. As a result, Adirondack ACO LLC provides greater quality, lower cost and enhanced patient experience.
Weaver earned a B.S. from the United States Air Force Academy and an M.D. from the University of Iowa. He completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Wilford Hall Medical Center and trained in flight surgery at the School of Aerospace Medicine, both in San Antonio, Texas. Weaver also earned an M.B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis.
The Advisory Board Company's mission is to “make health care better, education smarter, and our communities stronger.” According to their website, they “believe that we can change the world-in partnership with our members, we transform health care and education, strengthening communities across the nation and around the globe.”
Weaver contributes his perspectives on population health management to the Company's Care Transformation Center Blog.
“At its most basic, population health management means actively working to keep your community healthy,” Weaver said in a 2014 blog post. “When you think about it that way, it makes you wonder, 'Who or what is influencing the health of individuals in my community the most?'
“Socioeconomic factors play a major role in maintaining or preventing good health, but they are all too often ignored when health systems are considering their population health management strategy,” Weaver continued. “Typically, health systems see non-medical determinants of health as outside their purview. But they don't have to be.”