Join the Conversation: Nashville’s Solution to Chronic Disease

$2,650. According to Medicare, that’s the amount that each enrollee saved in healthcare costs when they took part in the YMCA USA’s Diabetes Prevention Program. Funded by CMS over 3 years, the program more than paid for itself with the savings.

Innovations like this program take vision, a little risk, and the collaboration of government, wellness providers like the YMCA, and clinicians who referred patients to the program. It’s the kind of collaboration, fueled by intentionality and connectivity, that NashvilleHealth believes in as we foster a culture of health in our city.

So the question is this: How much can we, as Nashville’s business, healthcare, and wellness leaders, do with patients here to keep their chronic diseases and related health statuses in check? …whether it’s diabetes, hypertension, or obesity in adults and children?

That’s the question that the YMCA and NashvilleHealth, alongside a host of supporting partners, are working to answer at this year’s YMCA Chronic Disease Prevention Summit, happening next week – May 2 – at the Bridge Building. (RSVP today)

Healthcare continues to find incredible opportunity through collaboration and networking. Through informal conversations or formalized structures, it’s likely that we have only scratched the surface on what we – as diverse leaders who work for the wellness of our patients – can do.

The stakes are high: combatting the diseases that affect large portions of our populations. In Tennessee, for example, nearly 15% of adults have diabetes[1] and nearly 40% of adults have high blood pressure[2].

At the same time, the opportunity is great. With better management of these kinds of diseases, businesses stand to reduce absenteeism, payors and hospitals can reduce unreimbursed re-admissions, and wellness centers can better guide patients who come in their doors ready to make lifestyle changes.

It will only happen if we all come to the table. If you are a business leader, healthcare professional, or decision-maker in today’s payor organizations, join us to discuss Nashville’s response to this need with the country’s greatest minds on the issue, including:

• Janet Wright, MD FACC, Executive Director of the Million Hearts, CMS Innovations Center/CDC
• Heather Hodge, Senior Director of Chronic Disease Prevention Programs, YMCA of the USA
• Jim Huffman, Senior V.P. of U.S. Benefits, Bank of America
• Karen Kmetik, PhD, Group Vice President, Health Outcomes, American Medical Association
• Eduardo Sanchez, Chief Medical Officer of Prevention and Chief for Health Metrics and Evaluation, American Heart Association
• Morgan McDonald, MD, FAAP FACP, Assistant Commissioner; Director, Division of Family Health and Wellness, TN Department of Health

To register, visit this link. We look forward to seeing you!

[1] http://main.diabetes.org/dorg/PDFs/Advocacy/burden-of-diabetes/tennessee.pdf

[2] https://nccd.cdc.gov/DHDSP_DTM/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=DHDSP_DTM.ExploreByLocation&rdProcessAction=&SaveFileGenerated=1&islLocation=47&irbFilterby=1&islPriority=P3&islTopic=
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