Centers & Institutes
9th Annual William E. Petersen Symposium on Physician Leadership
"The Strength to Change: Health Care Providers as Reform Leaders"
The 2008 William E. Petersen Symposium on Physician Leadership featured Lois Quam, managing director of strategic investments, Green Economy and Healthcare, for Piper Jaffray. Prior to this position Quam was the CEO of the Ovations division of United Healthcare, providing services to older adults, the Medicare and Medicaid program and AARP.
Quam also chaired the Minnesota Health Care Access Commission, which made the case for new legislation that brought health insurance to tens of thousands of Minnesotans. She served as senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's task force on health care reform and is a senior advisor to the Will Steger Foundation.
For nearly two decades Quam has focused on improving health care access and affordability. In 2007, her concerns about climate change led her to leave a position as a top officer at a Fortune 50 company to help build the green economy.
Text of Presentation
Ms. Quam's written presentation is available here.
Video of Presentation
Physician leadership and the challenge
The economic downturn and health insecurity
The strengths of American Medicine importance of leadership and getting out priorities right
Coverage for everyone – Models for coverage
Medicare as a platform for innovation
Integrating Global models – controlling costs
The characteristics of successful leaders
Video - Questions and Answers
Is there a model of reform between Canada’s system and the US?
How can Medicare become a model for innovation?
How can payment for Medicare, Medicaid and others be improved?
How do we emphasize more prevention?
Is Pay for Performance a useful innovation?
How do we improve “health” as opposed to “healthcare”?
How can you change economic incentives to encourage innovation?
Can consumers play a role in innovation?
The Petersen Lecture Series
Dr. William E. Petersen was chief medical officer for Allina Health System. Prior to that, he served as vice president of medical affairs at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. He was in private practice, specializing in internal medicine, for 32 years. He served as director of the Center for Health and Medical Affairs from 1995 until he retired in 1999. Throughout his career, Dr. Petersen has modeled the most positive aspects of the physician executive and leader.
