8:00 a.m.

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks, Heidi Leenay, Vice President, OptumHealth Education

9:30 a.m.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS — Delivering High-Quality Care to Diverse Populations: Pursuing Value and Equity in a Time of Health Care Transformation, Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH, Disparities Solutions Center and Massachusetts General Hospital

Improving quality, achieving equity and pursuing value in health care will be essential in a time of increasing diversity and rapid transformation. Research has shown that minorities, and other vulnerable populations, receive lower quality health care, even when they have the same insurance as their majority counterparts. The Institute of Medicine’s seminal reports “Crossing the Quality Chasm” and “Unequal Treatment” both highlight the root causes of these disparities and variations in quality and provide a blueprint for action. This presentation will highlight these and more current findings, along with some practical, actionable health care strategies — including the incorporation of cross-cultural care, or cultural competence — which will improve quality, achieve equity, and drive towards value.

Learning objectives:

1. Define disparities in health and health care, and review the root causes.
2. Present the key quality, safety, value and cost drivers for efforts focused on equity.
3. Provide practical, actionable strategies to improve quality and achieve equity, including the deployment of cultural competence initiatives.

10:30 a.m.

Break

10:45 a.m.

Current and Future Applications of Gene Therapy, Andrew M. Davidoff, MD, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Gene therapy involves altering the genes inside the body’s cells in an effort to treat or stop disease. Either a faulty gene is replaced or a new gene is added in an attempt to cure disease or improve the body’s ability to fight disease. Important medical advances in gene therapy have been achieved during the past few years, with clinical translational trials underway for a wide range of deadly diseases. Among the most notable advancements are gene therapy for genetic disorders, such as severe combined immune deficiency (SCID), chronic granulomatus disorder (CGD) and hemophilia; and for acquired diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases, HIV, heart disease, and diabetes. This session will review the role of gene therapy in the treatment of hereditary diseases, with a focus on hemophilia.

Learning objectives:

1. Discuss the role of gene therapy in the treatment of hereditary diseases.
2. Identify current applications of gene therapy for genetic diseases.
3. Describe recent developments in gene transfer for hemophilia.

11:30 a.m.

Advances in CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy in Leukemia, Shannon L. Maude, MD, PhD, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy continues to have impressive showings in patients with aggressive hematologic malignancies with no other promising treatment options. This session will discuss outcomes when using T-cell immunotherapy against relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Learning objectives:

1. Describe the role of immunotherapy on a patient’s own immune T cells and the patient’s leukemia cells.
2. Discuss advances in immunotherapy for ALL and the promising results that are emerging from clinical trials.

12:15 p.m.

Luncheon Presentation (nonaccredited/optional; lunch provided)
>Learn more about this presentation

1:30 p.m.

Exhibit Hall Grand Opening Dessert Reception

2:30 p.m.

Metabolic Surgery and Transplantation, Tayyab S. Diwan, MD, University of Cincinnati Medical Center

Obesity in transplantation has become prevalent and presents a difficult dilemma for transplant programs. Many transplant centers consider obesity a relative contraindication for transplant due to the associated risks of surgical complications. There are limited clinical alternatives for the management of obesity in the transplant patient other than metabolic surgery, diet and exercise. This session will discuss the safety and efficacy of metabolic surgery, including the sustainability of weight control over the long term and its effect on posttransplant weight gain.

Learning objectives:

1. Discuss the role of metabolic surgery for medical weight loss approaches pretransplant.
2. State the associated risks of surgical complications in obese patients.

3:15 p.m.

The Impact of Frailty on Posttransplant Outcomes, Michelle James, MS, RN, CNS, CCTN, APRN-BC, and Michael Petty, PhD, RN, CCNS, ACNS-BC, University of Minnesota Health

Frailty impacts various general aspects of health care and, in particular, organ transplantation, including patient selection, waitlist management and treatment posttransplant. In general, frailty has been characterized by a compromised physiological reserve. In comparison to healthy aging, inflammatory markers and cytokines are increased in frail older adults. Thus, modifications of the immune response, in addition to physical limitations and changes of metabolism, are likely to impact outcomes after transplantation. This session will discuss the importance of a risk assessment of frailty at the time of transplant evaluation and review effects on outcomes and recovery posttransplant.

Learning objectives:

1. Summarize the pathophysiology of frailty and consequences on immune responses and metabolism.
2. Discuss how frailty impacts transplant outcomes.
3. Define the role that frailty plays in identifying transplant candidates.

4:00–5:00 p.m.

Increasing Living Donation in Minorities: Special Focus on Hispanics, Juan C. Caicedo, MD, Northwestern Medicine; Soledad Mendoza, Kidney Transplant Donor and Alberto Orozco, Kidney Transplant Recipient

For Hispanic/Latino individuals, not having a Spanish-speaking health care provider to help guide them through the transplant process can mean unnecessary suffering and even death. Having a transplant program tailored for the Hispanic and Latino communities with a bilingual team of surgeons, nurses, social workers, transplant specialists, and support staff can make life-saving surgeries more accessible by removing cultural and linguistic barriers. This presentation will include participation from the director of a Hispanic transplant program, as well as a transplant donor and recipient that received care through this culturally sensitive program. The panel will share their experiences and discuss how the program helps patients and their families learn about the options, risks, and benefits of living- and deceased-donor-kidney transplants so they can make informed decisions about what is best for them.

Learning objectives:

1. Summarize the Hispanic Transplant Program.
2. Identify the impact cultural and linguistic barriers have on transplantation and their outcomes.
3. Discuss the experience of transplant from a donor’s and recipient’s perspective.

5:00–6:30 p.m.

Happy Hour Networking Reception — Exhibits Open

7:15–8:15 a.m.

10th Annual Wellness Walk 
>Learn more about the Wellness Walk

8:00 a.m.

Registration and Continental Breakfast — Exhibits Open

9:00 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks, Heidi Leenay, Vice President, OptumHealth Education

9:15 a.m.

Have We Achieved Pareto Optimality or Pareto Efficiency in Transplantation? Michael Abecassis, MD, MBA, Northwestern University

Pareto optimality is a formally defined concept used to judge the efficiency of a distribution when shared goods or resources are allocated to many. Pareto efficiency occurs when all resources are exhausted, and any change in allocation will make at least one party worse off. During this session, Dr. Abecassis will discuss similarities and differences between Pareto optimality, equity, and social optimality in order to provide a conceptual framework to better understand the dynamics and behaviors we are currently witnessing in national debates around liver allocation.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the concepts of Pareto optimality and efficiency and their roles in transplantation.
2. Explain the difference between Pareto optimality and social optimality in the context of resource scarcity (80/20 rule).

10:00 a.m.

The Fight Against the Opioid Epidemic, William B. Leasure, MD, Mayo Clinic

Opioid abuse is a serious public health issue. Drug overdose is a leading cause of injury death in the United States, and there is a clear correlation between opioid-prescribing rates and overdose death rates. This fact accentuates the importance of prescribing guidelines that encourage the use of opioids only when benefits outweigh risks and that promote safe use when opioids are needed. This session will discuss opioid-prescribing guidelines for chronic pain; the clinical decision-making process to reduce inappropriate opioid prescribing; and how organ donations have increased in the wake of the opioid epidemic.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe the evolving epidemiology of the opioid epidemic.
2. Discuss the role of the medical community in the opioid epidemic.
3. Describe key components of opioid-prescribing guidelines for chronic pain.
4. Identify local, state, and national efforts undertaken to combat the opioid epidemic.

11:00 a.m.

Break — Exhibits Open

12:00 p.m.

Lunch — Exhibits Open

12:30 p.m.

Cardiovascular Disease: Guidelines and Challenges in Patient Management, Haitham Ahmed, MD, MPH, Cleveland Clinic

In 2013, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA), developed new guidelines for the treatment of blood cholesterol and risk assessment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The new guidelines recommend the use of statin therapy as the medication of choice in ASCVD risk reduction. This was a major shift from the old approach, creating controversies and a state of confusion. As a result of these new guidelines, health care providers require additional information about how to prevent, treat and manage risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This session will provide insight into the application of these new guidelines to current cardiovascular practices, identify challenges and barriers faced by health care providers, and demonstrate the importance of an interdisciplinary team in the care of patients with cardiovascular disease.

Learning objectives:

1. Identify challenges and barriers faced by health care providers in the care of patients with cardiovascular disease.
2. Describe the latest guidelines for preventing and treating comorbid conditions associated with cardiovascular disease, including hyperlipidemia and hypertension.
3. Explain how health care providers can work as an interdisciplinary team with patients and families to optimize shared decision making and management of cardiovascular disease.
4. Identify continuing controversies associated with the release of the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines.

1:15 p.m.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Continuum: The Relationship Between Obesity, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Transplant, Jane C. Tan, MD, Stanford University Medical Center

CKD is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, progression to end-stage-renal disease (ESRD) and potentially the need for a kidney transplant. This session will explore the relationship between obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and transplant; the challenges of meeting evidence-based guidelines for managing CKD; and the benefits of addressing multiple risk factors simultaneously and the impact on outcomes.

Learning objectives:

1. Explore the relationship between obesity, diabetes, kidney disease and transplant.
2. Describe challenges in meeting evidence-based guidelines for managing CKD and provide suggestions to overcome those challenges.
3. Identify strategies for early and effective detection of CKD.
4. Discuss the risk factors associated with diabetes that cause morbidity and mortality.

2:15 p.m.

Break — Exhibits Open

3:00 p.m.

Diabetes: Improvements in Prevention and Care, Ruchi Mathur, MD, FRCP(C), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

In the United States, an estimated 86 million people are living with prediabetes and 29 million are living with diabetes. Lifestyle management is a fundamental aspect of diabetes care. There is strong and consistent evidence that obesity management can delay the progression of diabetes, and screening and interventions can limit organ damage. Therefore, diabetes patients require initial and ongoing evaluation for diabetes and its related complications. This session will review medical management approaches consistent with guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for health maintenance in patients with diabetes and identify barriers for screening patients at increased risk for diabetes. The importance of an interdisciplinary team approach will also be discussed.

Learning objectives:

1. Identify educational and social barriers to appropriately screen patients at increased risk for diabetes.
2. Identify treatment strategies, including lifestyle management. 
3. Describe the latest tools and improvements for screening, preventing, and managing prediabetes and diabetes.
4. Discuss how learners can improve patient-centered communication to prevent and manage diabetes as part of an interdisciplinary team.

3:45 p.m.

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD): Panel Discussion, Lakshmanan Krishnamurti, MD, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University, and Ines Lukombo, Transplant Recipient

SCD is the most common inherited hemoglobin disorder, affecting 70,000–100,000 people in the U.S. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is currently the only curative treatment for severe SCD that offers excellent long-term survival, but access is limited for several reasons, including donor availability, as well as sociocultural and economic barriers. For our last session of the day, an HSCT recipient will share her experience undergoing transplant for SCD and a renowned hematologist will provide an overview of SCD and review evidence-based guidelines for referral and shared decision making. Treatment options including standard of care and curative therapies, and their outcomes will be addressed.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe SCD along with treatment and management options.
2. Recognize the impact of shared decision as an effective approach to applying evidence-based guidelines for treatment of SCD.
3. Identify strategies to overcome social and economic barriers in individuals with SCD.
4. Discuss indications and outcomes of curative therapies for SCD.

5:00–6:30 p.m.

Optum Provider Network Reception (Ticketed event; by invitation only.)

7:30–8:45 a.m.

Optum Client Breakfast: Perspectives on Transplantation — from the patient, caregiver and nurse case manager’s point of view (Ticketed, nonaccredited event; by invitation only.)

8:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m.

Predicting Risk: Current Research and New Therapies for Optimal Management of Colorectal Cancer, Kristen K. Ciombor, MD, MSCI, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Research is always going on in this area of medicine, leading to great progress in recent discoveries of new and improved treatment and screening strategies. Tests have been developed to find genetic changes associated with colorectal cancer and to predict the risk of cancer recurrence. Identifying these genes can help doctors and individuals decide on their treatment options to extend survival and improve quality of life. This session will discuss management strategies for colorectal cancer, including how health disparities negatively impact colorectal cancer screening rates, and describe the exploration of new therapeutic avenues intended to enhance outcomes and improve detection methods.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe how health disparities negatively impact colorectal cancer screening rates.
2. State current screening guidelines and techniques for diagnosing and assessing colorectal cancer.
3. Identify strategies for reducing colorectal cancer risk, including the role and benefit of genetic testing in individuals with inherited risk.
4. Explore new therapeutic avenues intended to enhance outcomes and improve detection methods for colorectal cancer.

10:00 a.m.

Break

10:15 a.m.

Integrating Telemedicine into Health Care Delivery for the Transplant Population, David Mulligan, MD, FACS, Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center

Telemedicine has continued to grow as a unique way of delivering care to patients, while greatly improving access, reducing cost and positively impacting quality. Dr. Mulligan has been incorporating telehealth in the form of videoconferencing into the transplant setting, thus saving patients the effort of traveling to their follow-up appointments, taking time off work and avoiding potential exposure to other patients while they have a weakened immune system. With a focus on patients that undergo transplantation, Dr. Mulligan will discuss the challenges of integrating telemedicine into health care and its potential impact on improving health care quality, access, equity, and affordability.

Learning objectives:

1. Identify telemedicine initiatives that can benefit health care providers and patients.
2. State the barriers of integrating telemedicine for transplant recipients.
3. Discuss the positive impact of telemedicine on quality, access, equity and affordability for transplant patients.

11:00 a.m.

Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult Transplant Care for Solid Organ Transplants, Saeed Mohammad, MD, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

The transition of health care for adolescents with solid organ transplants as they move into adult-centered services has become more significant over recent years as survival has improved. Since the transfer process from pediatric to adult care can be a challenging phase for transplant recipients, their families, and providers, transition planning should begin at an early age and be an integral component of their ongoing care. This session will address the potential challenges and psychosocial factors associated with transitioning from pediatric to adult transplant care.

Learning objectives:

1. Recognize the psychosocial factors that impact the transitioning from pediatric to adult transplant care.
2. Describe the barriers and challenges to the transition from pediatric to adult transplant care.

12:00 p.m.

Adjourn