Top Industry and Government Leaders in Miami for Major Health Care Forum

CORAL GABLES, Fla., Aug. 12 The University of Miami will bring together some of the most influential leaders in business and government, along with hundreds of professionals from across industries, Jan. 12 - 14, 2011 for a Global Business Forum entitled "The Business of Health Care: Defining the Future." Featured speakers include Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. secretary of health and human services; Jeffrey R. Immelt, the chairman and CEO of General Electric; William A. Hawkins, the chairman and CEO of Medtronic Inc.; Thomas M. Ryan, the chairman and CEO of CVS Caremark; Margaret Hamburg, MD, the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Arthur Agatston, MD, the author of The South Beach Diet; and Donna E. Shalala, the president of the University of Miami and a former U.S. secretary of health and human services, among others. The Forum will feature a series of panel discussions organized in six distinct tracks, including:

The University's 2011 Global Business Forum will come two years after its first Global Business Forum, which brought together nearly 700 professionals for deep discussion on the economic crisis and other issues surrounding increased global connectivity. It is expected to draw global health care CEOs and other senior executives, physicians, health industry analysts, consultants and attorneys, benefit managers and human resource directors, architects, planners and developers, medical equipment manufacturers and engineers and many others representing business and government.

"Like our first Global Business Forum, which was held in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the 2011 conference will provide an unparalleled opportunity for deep discussion on some of the most critical issues of our time - areas where business and health care intersect," said Barbara E. Kahn, dean of the University's School of Business Administration, which is organizing the Forum. "With the participation of schools across campus, this will once again be a truly interdisciplinary program that cuts across industry sectors, much like the business of health care does."

The Forum's key sponsors include Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. More information and online registration is available at www.umglobalforum.com.

-- Economics & Health Care: Cost, Accessibility, Reform, and Implementation; -- The Aging Population: Economic and Ethical Issues Surrounding the Shift in Demographics; -- Age of Innovation: Disruptive Medical Technologies, Biotechnology, and Telemedicine; -- Wellness & Prevention: The Obesity Epidemic, Nutrition, Innovative Therapies, and Education; -- Global Health Issues: Emerging Markets, Access, and the Environment; and -- Health Care Delivery 2030: Hospital Design, Technology, and Delivery Systems of the Future

SOURCE University of Miami School of Business Administration