2013 Dialogue for Action

On March 20-22, 2013, the Prevent Cancer Foundation held its 15th annual Dialogue for Action on Cancer Screening in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference brought together over 200 health professionals from 35 states, the District of Columbia, 6 tribes and Urban Indian Health Organizations and Japan all committed to increasing cancer screening! Participants included primary care physicians (internists, family physicians, osteopaths, physician assistants), obstetrician/gynecologists, nurses and nurse practitioners, medical specialists (gastroenterologists, dermatologists, surgeons and radiologists), quality team members in hospitals and insurance companies, staff from government agencies, nonprofits and advocacy organizations, third-party payers, health educators, researchers and survivors.

The 2013 conference featured a lively agenda with top-notch speakers on timely topics that included ways to communicate an integrated HPV message, put healthcare spending on a sustainable path, reduce structural barriers to screening, ensure the quality of healthcare in the coming years and more! Day one began with an engaging keynote address from the Honorable John Polanowicz, Secretary of Health & Human Services, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Access, quality and cost of healthcare were popular topics for several speakers, such as K. Robin Yabroff, PhD, MBA, National Cancer Institute, Richard Wender, MD, Thomas Jefferson University and Alice Middleton, JD, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The Dialogue also included thought provoking panel discussions on “The future of Cancer Screening Guidelines: Reconciling the Benefits and the Harms” and “Health Reporting in the Digital Age: Challenges and Opportunities.”

The conference offered continuing education credit for physicians, nursing professionals and certified health education specialists.