I. Course Description
Tracking Medicine is an eye-opening introduction to the science of health care delivery, as well as a powerful argument for its relevance in shaping the future of our country. An indispensable resource for those involved in public health and health policy, Tracking Medicine uses Dr. Jack Wennberg's pioneering research to provide a framework for understanding the health care crisis; and outlines a roadmap for real change in the future.

This course will explore Dr. Wennberg's groundbreaking book on practice variations. Through a series of lectures, Dr. Wennberg describes his and his colleagues' work beginning with small area variation in Vermont, extending through efforts to evaluate the reasons behind variation in surgical procedures, and concluding with the more recent work associated with overuse of supply sensitive care as described in the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.

Dr. Thom Walsh will facilitate and guide students in the interpretation of variations research and the implications of this analysis across health care disciplines and delivery models.

 

II. Method of Participation

Online: Students will have weekly assignments, including readings, videos, and discussions forums. The course will involve about 3 hours of activities per week. There are four 1-hour live virtual sessions.

Live Online Session Dates (All Sessions are from 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET)

March 13, 2013

March 27, 2013

April 3, 2013

April 10, 2013

 

Textbook

• Tracking Medicine, 3rd Edition, John E. Wennberg.

Link to Amazon

 

III. Course Objectives

At the completion of this course, participants will be able to:  

• Define the potential for societal savings in healthcare expenditures implied by geographic variation research.
• Demonstrate an ability to retrieve and organize data on Medicare reimbursements from the Atlas.
• Distinguish three types of health care, effective, supply-sensitive, and preference sensitive
• Explain the difference between societal spending and institutional costs
• Integrate knowledge of unwarranted variation to recommend strategies to reduce health care spending.

 

III. Audience
Anyone wishing to truly grasp the underpinnings of today's health care system.

 

IV. Faculty

Dr. John (Jack) E. Wennberg, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Jack E. Wennberg, is the Peggy Y. Thomson Professor (Chair) in the Evaluative Clinical Sciences and Founder and Director Emeritus of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. He has been a Professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine since 1980 and in the Department of Medicine since 1989.

Dr. Wennberg is the founding editor of The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, which examines the patterns of medical resource intensity and utilization in the United States. The Atlas project has also reported on patterns of end of life care, inequities in the Medicare reimbursement system, and the underuse of preventive care.

Dr. Wennberg and colleague Al Mulley are co-founders of the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, a non-profit corporation providing objective scientific information to patients about their treatment choices using interactive media. His latest work has focused on the use of this technology to inform patients of the results of outcomes research so they can participate in medical decision making.

Thom Walsh PhD, MS, MSPT, OCS, Diplomat MDT

Thom earned his PhD from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice where his dissertation focused on understanding variation in the costs and utilization of care within and between hospitals. His worked helped to extend Dartmouth's research beyond variation in Medicare reimbursements and to improve upon risk-adjustment models exploring variation. He is currently on faculty as a Curriculum Specialist in Dartmouth's Masters in Healthcare Delivery Science program.

Prior to entering the academic world, Prof. Walsh had a distinguished 17 year career as a Physical Therapist. Thom was the first external hire brought on to launch and develop the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Spine Center. Prior to his work in New Hampshire he was part of a private practice group in New York State with clinics specializing in Spine Care & Sports Medicine. He is board certified by the American Physical Therapy Association as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and recognized as a Diplomat in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy of the Spine by the McKenzie Institute International.

While working as a clinician he completed a Master's Degree in Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth. Thom's prior publications topics include; pay-for-evidence policy initiatives, patient reported health outcomes, the responsiveness of the SF-36 and Oswestry Disability Index, and the clinical use of research data to facilitate the intake, triage, navigation of patients through healthcare systems.

 

V. Technical Requirements for Online Courses

Please refer to the Technical Requirements page to be sure your computer's operating system, internet browsers and plug-ins are compatible with technology used in the course.