DEAN BALAS TO CHAIR NATIONAL FORUM ON HEALTHCARE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TODAY
Andrew Balas, dean of the College of Health Sciences at Old Dominion University, will chair the National Forum on Healthcare Knowledge Management at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 29.
The National Forum on Healthcare Knowledge Management, a newly created panel that will debate policy concepts of scientific knowledge management, seeks to support health care that is timely, patient-centered, safe, effective and equitable.
"This forum hopes to bring about a debate within the health-care field," said Balas, who noted that scientifically sound, high-quality care remains a formidable challenge, both in terms of producing and applying new knowledge.
The forum will take inventory of current problems within the industry and make recommendations as to where public health research should be directed. Members of the forum have indicated that while overall research production in the field is growing, there are significant concerns regarding the adequacy of support for science.
"We hope to examine where national health-care resources are being spent and then utilize our resources in the best way," said Balas.
Additionally, the group will asses the relevance of studies to practical applications and the transformation of research discoveries into practical knowledge.
The forum will host four lectures throughout the year, exploring the following themes: "Comparative Effectiveness: Innovation and Access," "Repurposing Knowledge for Health-care Improvement," "Gaps in the Production of New Scientific Knowledge" and "Models for Health Knowledge Management." At the conclusion of the series, the panel will publish a series of white papers making recommendations for improving public health.
"Public health care can benefit drastically from scientific discoveries and we hope we can recommend key areas where research should be triggered," said Balas.
Panel members include officials from Johns Hopkins University, Vanderbilt University, Mayo Clinic, Duke University, United BioSource Corp and Merck Childhood Asthma Network.
For more information about the National Forum on Healthcare Knowledge Management visit http://hs.odu.edu/hs/newsevents/nfhkm_fly.shtml.