Oklahoma City, OK -- A panel discussion on patient-centered care will be featured at the Management of Chronic Disease in the Older Patient: 10th Geriatric Update for Primary Care Providers Conference, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 30 at the Clarion Meridian Hotel and Conference Center, 737 S. Meridian Ave.

According to Thomas Teasdale, conference organizer and director of education for the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine in the OU College of Medicine and Veterans Affairs South Central Health Care Network Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, “patient-centered care can be a vital element to the care of elderly patients.”

“Physicians, family members and caregivers are all involved in the physical and physiological well-being of an elderly patient,” Teasdale said. “As acute or debilitating illnesses occur, patient-centered care can build on the strength of these connections.”

The panel discussion will focus on how patient-centered care fits into a primary care practice and will discuss issues regarding Medicare reimbursement, patient-doctor communication issues and exemplary modules of patient-centered care. Panelists also will identify relevant challenges to including patient-centered care in the U.S. health care system and compare and contrast various strategies applicable to implementing patient-centered care in practice.

Panelists will include Aimee Garcia, associate professor, Baylor College of Medicine; Jim Mold, professor, OU College of Medicine; Bryan Struck, assistant professor, OU College of Medicine; Jerry Vannatta, David Ross Boyd Professor of Medicine, OU College of Medicine; and Douglas Young, medical director, Cherokee Elder Care, Program for All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly Program. The panel moderator will be Jeanne Wei, professor and chair in the Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Cost for attending the conference is $249 for physicians, $199 for members of the public and $99 for OU faculty, Fellows, residents and staff. Participants will be able to earn up to 7.5 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM.

For more information or accommodations on the basis of disability, please call (405) 271-2350 or
(888) 682-6348 or visit http://cme.ouhsc.edu/documents/46686-GeriatricBrochure-brochure972dpi.pdf