Robert L. Dickman, MD; FAAFP, AGSF
Dr Robert L. Dickman was the founding Chair of Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine from 2001-2009 and a practicing geriatrician at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Newton, MA from 2001-2010. Dr. Dickman has been active in the field of geriatric medicine since its inception and has been a fellow in the American Geriatric Society since 1985 and board certified since 1988. He has published text book chapters and articles in Geriatric medicine with a particular emphasison rational drug therapy in the elderly. He has lectured extensively on a variety of topics in geriatric medicine and ethical decision making at the end of life. Dr Dickman has recently retired from the active practice of medicine and works as a consultant to a variety of groups concerned with health care for the elderly.
Richard H. Fortinsky, PhD
Professor of Medicine; Center on Aging and Department of Medicine University of Connecticut Farmington, CT
Richard H. Fortinsky, PhD, is a Professor at the Center on Aging and Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He also holds a secondary academic appointment as Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Nursing. Dr. Fortinsky conducts clinical and community-based research with the goals of preserving and improving health and quality of life, and improving health and social care, for older adults and their families. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, other federal agencies, and numerous private foundations. Currently, his major areas of investigation are: primary care for older persons with memory loss and their family caregivers; health-related outcomes and resource use among older adults receiving home health care; medication adherence among older adults living with HIV/AIDS; and evaluation of evidence-based programs to prevent falls. He teaches in the public health program and mentors numerous master’s level and doctoral students at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Fortinsky received his doctoral degree in Sociology in 1984 from Brown University.
Joan Z. Quinn, RN; MSN; FAAN; GSA
Board Member: VNAA; ProHealth Physicians CT
Medicare Programs Anthem (BCBS)
United Health Evercare Program
Joan Quinn is currently the President of Quinn Consultants, which is involved with all aspects of healthcare delivery and has particular emphasis on older and disabled adults. She is involved in care management and has been instrumental in its development and implementation of this service nationally and internationally in Australia, New Zealand and Canada for many years. She began her career in the healthcare system in the hospital and homecare settings. Subsequently, she worked in one of the first research and demonstration programs funded by the Department of Health and Human Services implementing community based care management programs for older and young disabled adults. Her recent work has been in the private sector where she was the Senior Vice President for Anthem Blue Cross and BlueShield in Connecticut engaged in implementing all Medicare and Medicaid programs in that Company. She then was a Senior Manager in the merger of Nevada, Colorado Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies into Anthem and then Wellpoint companies. Her most recent employment was with United Health Group, headquartered in Minnesota, starting their Evercare Program in Connecticut. This program provided community care management services to high-risk people of any age and targeted older adults with chronic illness by providing Nurse Practitioners in Nursing Homes and the community settings. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Nursing and is engaged on an advisory board at the University in that school. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a Fellow in the Gerontology Society of America.
Dave deBronkart, “e-Patient Dave”
A Voice of Patient Engagement
www.epatientdave.com
Dave deBronkart, better known on the internet as “e-Patient Dave,” may be the leading spokesperson for the e-Patient movement – e-patients are Empowered, Engaged, Equipped, Enabled. A high tech executive and online community leader for many years, he was diagnosed in 2007 with Stage IV kidney cancer, with a median survival of just 24 weeks. He used the internet in every way possible to partner with his care team and beat this unbeatable disease. Today he is well.
In 2008 he discovered the e-patient movement, and began studying, blogging, and speaking at conferences, and in 2009 was elected founding co-chair of the new Society for Participatory Medicine. He was a leading voice in Washington for the new federal regulations to require that patients and families have access to their electronic medical records, and is now engaged full time in speaking and advocating for patient engagement. He’s appeared in Time, U.S. News, and the Health Leaders magazine cover story “Patient of the Future.” In December HealthLeaders named him – and his doctor – to their annual list of “20 People Who Make Healthcare Better,” and in 2010 he released his first book: “Laugh, Sing, and Eat Like a Pig: How an empowered patient beat Stage IV cancer (and what healthcare can learn from it).”