Health Policy Expert Mark McClellan to Chair Aging Technologies Commission

WASHINGTON, April 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. has been named chair of the Commission of the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST), an international coalition dedicated to the development, evaluation, and adoption of emerging technologies that can transform the aging experience.  

In this role, McClellan will help to drive research and education around key policy issues to advance aging services technologies, as well as support efforts that educate health care professionals on how health information technology (IT) can benefit older adults and their caregivers. A former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, McClellan is now director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair of Health Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.

"Health IT has the potential to greatly improve patient health and quality of life outcomes, but its success is far from automatic," McClellan said.  "The CAST Commission will lay the foundation for better understanding how health IT and other technologies can be adopted effectively and lead to improved care for older adults – no matter where that care is received." 

CAST, comprised of more than 400 technology companies, aging-services organizations, businesses, research universities, and government representatives, is supported by the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), a member organization centered on advancing a new and better system of long-term care and services for America's seniors. 

AAHSA CEO Larry Minnix welcomed McClellan's leadership on the Commission.  "CAST could not find a better ambassador for aging services technologies than Mark McClellan," Minnix said.  "Mark is a respected thought leader who understands technology's potential to improve the quality of older adults' care and life.  I am confident his leadership will ensure that long-term and post-acute care improvement is considered an essential element of national health IT initiatives."

CAST's mission is to unleash the potential of technology for innovative development across the continuum of health care, housing and services for the aging. The organization focuses on four goals:

1. Driving a global vision of how technologies can improve the quality of life for seniors while reducing health care costs;

2. Accelerating technology research and development through pilot evaluations with seniors;

3. Advocating to remove barriers to the rapid commercialization of proven solutions; and

4. Promoting a dialogue about standards to ensure interoperability and widespread access to aging services technologies.

To learn more about CAST, visit www.aahsa.org/cast.aspx 

SOURCE American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging