Keynote Speakers:
Two for the Price of One!

August 14, 2013

The AARC Congress typically features one keynote address that takes place at the end of the awards ceremony on the opening day of the meeting.

This year, we’re going to have two!

Readmissions Guru

Stephen F. Jencks, MD, MPH, will address attendees during the traditional slot on the first day of the meeting. A consultant in health care safety and quality, senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and former assistant surgeon general of the U.S., his groundbreaking research on readmissions looked at more than 11 million hospital discharges and validated the claims made in the 2007 MEDPAC report.

Published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2009, that study found that nearly a fifth of beneficiaries who had been discharged in 2003-2004 were rehospitalized within 30 days and a third were rehospitalized within 90 days. For patients treated for medical conditions and surgical conditions those figures skyrocketed at one year. Overall 67.1% and 51.5%, respectively, had either been readmitted or died.

Dr. Jencks has continued to explore the area in the intervening years and will discuss his research in the keynote address, pending CMS inclusion of COPD added to the list of diseases in the Readmission Reduction Program, and the role of the respiratory therapist in helping hospitals manage COPD readmissions.

It’s All About People

TV personality Bob Eubanks, best known as the host of the original Newlywed Game, will close things out on the final day of the meeting with an informative talk on communication and the vital role it plays in the health care workplace.

This five-time Emmy Award winner is now one of the nation’s most sought after motivational speakers, and his inspirational—and often humorous—stories have been lauded for their ability to draw people together into a common place where they can enhance their relationships on the job. 

The audience will have a chance to get into the act too, as Bob hosts an interactive session called “Workmates” aimed at helping attendees see just how well they know their own coworkers.

Prizes will be awarded to the winners and there’s even a chance someone in the audience will walk away with $100,000!