2012 Upper Peninsula Healthcare Conference 

Innovation in Healthcare Through Technology

Supporting the UPWard Inititative

We are inviting our healthcare industry members to "Invest in the U.P." by sending representatives to this locally sponsored conference. The conference agenda has been developed to address the need for the healthcare industry to develop and grow leadership from within your own organizations.

The Upper Peninsula Healthcare Roundtable and UPWard Initiative Healthcare Committee is made up of representatives from hospitals, long-term home health care, educational institutions and community based organizations from across the Upper Peninsula whose focus is to address workforce issues in the industry, to educate our communities about the economic impact of healthcare in our region, to ensure that our industry has a pipeline of workers to meet today’s and tomorrow’s workforce needs and to assist the industry in insuring that their current and future workforce have the skill sets needed to remain economically viable and globally competitive.

 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Susan Makela currently serves as the Director of Telehealth at Marquette General Health System. As the director of telehealth she oversees both the operations and administrative offices for telehealth and provides leadership to the entire Upper Peninsula Telehealth Network (UPTN). Susan’s responsibilities include collaborating with partners and contractors with expansion opportunities for telehealth, resource on issues of reimbursement, policies/procedures, regulatory and legal issues related to clinical telemedicine applications within and outside of the UPTN. This requires the management and evaluation of all telehealth activities within the network ensuring that telehealth enhances the organizations mission, vision and philosophy of accessible quality healthcare. Susan holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a health care concentration from Northern Michigan University and a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing degree from Eastern Michigan University. Susan is a member of both the American Telemedicine Association and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Dave Lord is Vice-President of Operations at OSF St. Francis Hospital and Medical Group in Escanaba. He received his Bachelor's of Science in Business Computer Information Systems from Northern Michigan University in Marquette. He started working in healtcare IT directly out of college as a computer systems analyst. Since then he has held various positions within the healthcare setting including Director of Planning & Decision Support and has been serving as Vice-President of Operations for the past 8 years. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves of various community service organization boards and committees. Lord grew up in the Escanaba area. He will be speaking to innovation in technology for the consumer: Portal and web-based access to medical records.

BREAKOUT SESSION SPEAKER TOPICS:

Customized IT Approaches for Healthcare Beyond EMR presented by Brad Jackson and Lee Fancisco of Upper Peninsula Rehab Services

Impact of Healthcare Reform on the U.P. presented by Dennis Smith of Upper Peninsula Health Plan

Work and Exercise presented by Mike Koskiniemi of Motions Personal Training