National Academy of Medicine to Host SYNERGY Event Aimed at Envisioning a Future HealthScience System

The Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES) announced today that the National Academy of Medicine will host a special systems event, SYNERGY 2022, to convene at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on December 12-13, 2022 in Washington, DC.

BOSTON, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- SYNERGY 2022 is the third event in a series of 'systems-thinking' exercises convened by ACRES since its founding in 2012, and the most ambitious to date. Together with its partner organizations, the MITRE Corporation and FasterCures, ACRES is bringing together a select group of 60 leaders and innovators from health, business, government, technology, academia, and patient groups to apply systems-thinking and systems engineering principles to envision a new integrated approach to health and science in the US. Our goal is to create a truly enterprise-wide system that uses advanced technologies and analytics to achieve levels of quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness that have not previously been possible in health and science.

"Many realized from their COVID-19 pandemic experiences that our present approach to health and science in this country remains fragmented, inefficient, and dysfunctional—we talk about a 'healthcare system' but we are far from that goal," said Greg Koski, PhD, MD, ACRES President, and Founder. "While there are enterprises with successful systems, such as international air transport and banking, we have been unable to similarly apply systems-thinking and design to our health-science enterprise—and the result is a disconnected, inefficient, and extremely expensive endeavor that fails to provide optimal care and benefits to patients. We can and must do better."

Dr. Michael McGinnis, the Leonard D. Schaeffer Executive Director of the National Academy of Medicine, expressed support for SYNERGY 2022's focus on better integrating the generation of scientific evidence and insights from health and health care activities, saying "The National Academy's Learning Health System Initiative has been working to facilitate the alignment of science, informatics, incentives, and culture to accelerate progress. The vision is now clearer, but advances in practical execution depend up on the sorts of discussions anticipated at SYNERGY 2022."    

ACRES' SYNERGY 2022 non-profit partners, the MITRE Corporation of McLean, VA, and FasterCures, a center of the Milken Institute of Santa Monica, CA, are also two highly respected advocates for improving our nation's health.

MITRE is committed to applying systems-thinking across government, industry, and academia to solve major national challenges, particularly accelerating the application of advanced technologies for enduring impact. MITRE currently operates several federally-funded research and development centers (FFRDC's) for a variety of federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. MITRE is a key sponsor for the SYNERGY 2022 event. MITRE Vice-President, Kimberly Warren, who holds a Master's of Science degree in artificial intelligence, also heads the CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare FFRDC and is assisting in planning the event. "We believe that bringing together government, non-profits, academia, and industry can achieve data-driven innovation in healthcare, public and population health, and real benefit for patients. We are honored to be a partner in making this event happen," said Warren.

Similarly, Esther Krofah, MPP, Executive Director for Health at the Milken Institute brings to SYNERGY 2022 her extensive experience in fostering collaborations among diverse stakeholders to address critical challenges and shared goals that improve the lives of patients. "This event comes at a time when many are motivated to approach 'health-for-all' in a smarter, more effective manner. FasterCures applauds ACRES's vision and initiative in convening this event and we are excited to be part of it," said Krofah.

SYNERGY 2022's two-day working exercise in systems thinking seeks to envision and draft a blueprint for an "Intelligent HealthScience System". Such a system, which combines human ingenuity with advanced technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, can effectively provide analysis and feedback from multiple sources—whether patient data and outcomes, real world evidence, genomics, pharmacology, adverse events, or costs—enabling providers to deliver optimal precision care at a personalized level for every patient in an efficient and equitable manner. A full report of the proceedings will be published after the event.

Koski added, "The National Academy of Medicine's 2001 landmark report "Crossing the Quality Chasm" called for a new patient-centered health system for the 21st century and laid out parameters for achieving it. Our challenge now is to co-design a system that will deliver on that promise, and that is precisely what SYNERGY 2022 intends to do."

ACRES, The National Academy of Medicine, MITRE Corporation, and The Milken Institute are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations operating in the public interest. For additional information, please contact Mary F. Tobin, PhD at mtobin(at)acresglobal(dot)net.

Media Contact

Greg Koski, PhD, MD, Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES), +1 (617) 869-8101, [email protected]

Mary F Tobin, PhD, Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES), +1 (301) 325-8333, [email protected]

SOURCE Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES)