The primary topic of the meeting was "Federal Funding of Health Technology: Where is the Money and How Do You Get It?" In a separate presentation, we also discussed the technological challenges facing the new Part D prescription drug program.
Many of our members and their clients wanted to know more about how to successfully obtain federal grants and other funding. Our feature speaker on this subject was Laudy Q. Robinson, who is vice-president of Strategic Health Policy International, Laudy has trained and guided more than 1000 organizations in effective grantseeking strategies, securing millions of dollars in funding from the private and public sectors. Her experience with U.S. and foreign governments, policy analysis, and patient advocacy helps SHPI clients apply public policy and political dynamics in the global marketplace.
Laudy is co-author of Grantseeking: Art, Science, Strategy, a step-by-step manual based on the reality that successful grantseeking is not just about just writing strong proposals, it’s about carefully selecting, understanding, and nurturing your donors, public or private, as well as understanding the key steps to writing a compelling proposal. A special benefit of attending will be a free copy of this book.
We also had a shorter presentation assessing the technological challenges of the Medicare Part D drug program, from both the beneficiary and health plan standpoint. As has been well publicized, the internet dimension of the enrollment process has been a major source of frustration for many Seniors. We discussed that, as well as how health plans and PBMs were faring in their dealings with Medicare. Leading this part of the discussion was Bruce Ardis of the Ardis Group, which has provided consulting services to a number of health care technology firms seeking managed care industry placement and pricing guidance. The firm has been in operation since 1997 and is based upon Mr. Ardis’s over 30 years of experience in the industry working both for providers and managed care organizations.