Cleveland Clinic CEO to speak on the 'Quality Revolution' at largest healthcare expo in the ME

Cleveland Clinic, ranked among the top three hospitals in America by U.S. News & World Report, announced that its Chief Executive Officer and President, Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, M.D., will address Middle East healthcare professionals on the topic of "The Quality Revolution" during the Arab Health 2007 Leaders in Healthcare Conference, on Monday, January 29 at the Dubai International Exhibition Center.

A regular speaker at the Arab Health Congress, Dr. Cosgrove will explain the fundamental changes that are taking place in healthcare systems and how the demands of providers, payers, and patients are driving a quality revolution. He will describe how Cleveland Clinic has leveraged institution- wide innovation to better analyze, measure and improve healthcare quality. He'll also address the range of factors that affect quality, such as metrics and measurement, information technology, performance management and how all of these factors can be tracked by reviewing patient satisfaction: a critical outcome for any healthcare institution.

"Quality in healthcare is at the top of the agenda for healthcare institutions, governments and patients alike," said Dr. Cosgrove. "And the way by which they measure quality is constantly changing. Moving forward, information and quality indicators for treatments and procedures will be critical to demonstrating value in healthcare and providing patients and other medical consumers with the substance they need to make informed choices."

Recognized as a global expert in the sub-specialty of heart valve surgery, Dr. Cosgrove has pioneered numerous surgical techniques and devices to effectuate the minimally invasive reconstruction or replacement of the mitral, aortic and or tricuspid valves saving thousands of lives, worldwide. Having performed over 22,000 operations, Dr. Cosgrove has stimulated innovation in virtually every aspect of cardiac surgical care at the Cleveland Clinic and has participated in numerous conferences and tele-symposia to educate surgeons abroad.

With annual revenues of $4 billion, 34,000 employees, 12 community hospitals, 13 family health centers and five surgical centers that support more than 2.8 million patient visits per year, Dr. Cosgrove leads one of the largest non-profit, private group practices in the world from its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Cleveland Clinic recently reached an agreement with Mubadala Development to establish a world-class specialty hospital in Abu Dhabi, called Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

In addition to Dr. Cosgrove, five other renowned specialists have been invited to speak before and during Arab Health 2007, which runs from January 29 - February 1. These specialists include: Inderbir Singh Gill, M.D., who will speak at the Advances in Laparoscopic Surgery Conference; Richard Schlenk, M.D., who will speak at the Arab Health Orthopaedics Conference; Jeffrey M. Goldberg, M.D., who will speak at the Middle East Obs-Gyne Conference; C. Martin Harris, M.D., MBA, who will speak at Arab Health's IT in Healthcare Conference; and Leonard Calabrese, D.O., who will speak at the "2007 Update: Management of Rheumatic Diseases."