2012 Dialogue for Action

The Foundation convened its 14th annual Dialogue for Action® on March 21- 23, 2012, in Baltimore, Maryland. This year’s conference, A Dialogue for Action on Colorectal Cancer Screening: Today’s Progress, Tomorrow’s Challenge, brought together over 200 health care professionals and advocates from 34 states, the District of Columbia and eight tribal nations and urban Indian health organizations. It was a highly diverse group that was evenly divided among staff from public and private organizations and from public health and clinical preventive services.

The 2012 conference featured dynamic presentations and engaging small-group discussions on cutting-edge topics. Day One began with a stimulating keynote panel discussion on the quality and costs of health care in our future moderated by Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief, Health Affairs. The panelists were: Rich Baron, MD, CMS Center for Innovation, Richard L. Snyder, MD, Independence Blue Cross and Sanford J. Schwartz, MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton School. Health care reform was a hot topic for several speakers, including Ian Millhiser, JD, Center for American Progress and David Woodmansee, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Other topics included issues in implementing screening modalities, cancer screening in primary care, what it will take to keep increasing CRC screening rates, and innovations and best practices in cancer screening. The conference concluded with a lively panel of speakers sharing their perspectives on cancer screening in the media.

Mary Wozniak, MPH, listens as Genevieve Greely, BS, MCHES, shares her organization’s poster (top). Keynote panelists Drs. Schwartz, Snyder, and Baron are introduced by Susan Dentzer (L to R).

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

2012 Dialogue for Action Toolkit: