Dr. Craig Samitt

Dr. Samitt is the President and CEO of Dean Health System, one of the largest integrated delivery systems in the Midwest. A seasoned executive with broad experience across the healthcare sector, Dr. Samitt leads a team of nearly 500 doctors, 4000 staff, 60 clinical and retail facilities, a 300,000 member health plan, and a 2 million member PBM. Under Dr. Samitt’s leadership, Dean has transformed its operational, strategic and financial performance through delivery of “better care at a lower cost,” and has become one of the nation’s leading examples of a high-performing Accountable Care Organization. Dr. Samitt has held senior leadership roles in major healthcare systems for over 15 years. Prior to his tenure at Dean, he served at Fallon Clinic as Chief Operating Officer, on the turnaround team of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care as Senior Vice President, and at Harvard Community Health Plan/Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates as Executive Director of HCHP’s flagship site.

In May 2012, Dr. Samitt was appointed to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). He is also a Chair Emeritus of the Group Practice Improvement Network (GPIN), a Co-Chair of the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) Center for Accountable Care, and a Director of the Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network (WISHIN). Dr. Samitt is widely known for his broad experience across the health care industry, and lectures and consults extensively about cultural transformation, accountable care, change management, physician engagement/leadership, payment reform, and the future of healthcare.

Dr. Samitt graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Tufts University, received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, completed his clinical training at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and earned his MBA from the Wharton School. He is a fellow of the American College of Physician, and has been designated as both an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist as well as a finalist for Modern Healthcare’s Top 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.

Topic List

 1.     Topic:“Healthcare Reform, Accountable Care, and the Top 10 Ways Healthcare is Likely to Change”

Session Summary: As healthcare organizations seek to respond to health reform legislation and become Accountable Care Organizations, full-scale transformation of culture, operations, process, partnership, investment, and leadership will be essential.  In this session, we will examine the journey that high performing Accountable Care Organizations have taken to excel at value-based care and deliver “Better Care at a Lower Cost”. Dr. Samitt will reflect back on lessons learned in his leadership of organizations that have “evolved from volume to value,” and will highlight the strategies, experience, successes, and lessons learned of organizations that have thrived in the world of accountability.

2.     Topic:“Beyond the Herding of Cats: The Art of Physician Persuasion and Engagement”  

Session Summary:  Many of us have heard the expression that managing physicians is like herding cats.  Even in a steady state healthcare environment, where little organization change is needed, influencing physicians so that they adhere to protocol, procedure, corporate expectations, and consistency of practice is exceedingly difficult.  Today, in a time of great change in our industry, it is even more crucial for physician leaders to develop a culture of accountability with an imperative to influence and engage other physicians. This session will highlight elements of the art of physician persuasion including: incentives/compensation, sharing of data, provider profiling, selective MD marketing, strategic recruiting, peer pressure, communication, managing the vocal minority, physician leadership development, MD performance management methods, guilt, and other tricks of the trade.

3.     Topic:“Capitation, Unbundling of Payments and Physician Incentives: Facing the Impending Realities of Healthcare Payment Reform”

Session Summary:  As they say, “You get what you pay for.”  As the healthcare industry seeks to encourage providers to deliver value, not volume, organizations should fully expect that the next major wave of healthcare reform will involve revamping of our payment system. As healthcare providers seek to redefine themselves as Accountable Care Organizations, it will be crucial that they master the ability to design incentive models that align physicians, to craft mechanisms to un-bundle payments, and to bear risk borne via capitation. This presentation highlights the experience and expertise of health systems that have excelled in all three of these domains.

4.     Topic: “Healing Healthcare: Applying the Methods of the Top Companies in the World as the Cure for What Ails Healthcare Delivery”

Session Summary: Regardless of whether healthcare reform is catalyzed by federal/state legislation or is competitively driven, top performing organizations will only survive and thrive if they can create value for consumers, as defined by simultaneous achievement of optimal performance in patient satisfaction, clinical quality, and cost reduction.  To achieve progress on all of these fronts, healthcare organizations will need to look beyond standard healthcare methods and implement initiatives that high-performing masters in others industries use to catalyze change. This presentation will focus on the role that cutting edge business principals can play in the transformation of healthcare delivery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To7WkfTuWII (speaking video)