Woburn, Massachusetts - January 27, 2009 The National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) today announced that John Colburn, Ph.D., Director of Clinical Development and Kathy Grant, RN, MS, State Program Director, both of Beacon Health Strategies (Beacon) have been selected to speak at the NICHQ’s 8th Annual Forum for Improving Children’s Healthcare, being held from March 9-12, at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, near Dallas/Fort Worth.

The 8th Annual Forum for Improving Children’s Healthcare will bring together nearly 1,000 healthcare professionals of all disciplines to improve children’s healthcare quality. Sessions will cover:

•   Chronic Medical and Behavioral Conditions	•   Patient Safety
•    Quality Improvement-linked to finance, advocacy and equity in care	•    Childhood Obesity

Dr. Colburn and Ms. Grant will present “Improving Behavioral Health Care for Children with Special Needs: Integrated Care, a Five Year Study”. Also presenting will be a roster of notable healthcare leaders including Lucian Leape MD, Adjunct Professor of Health Policy, Harvard School of Public Health; Edward O’Neil PhD, MPA, FAAN, Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco; and J. Hoxi Jones, Strategic Partnership Specialist, State of Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

“We’re thrilled to have such an impressive line-up of speakers present at our 8th Annual Forum,” said Charles Homer MD, MPH and chief executive officer at NICHQ. “The Forum represents the most promising work being done in children's healthcare quality today and these presentations will contribute greatly to the value for attendees.”

Timothy Murphy, Beacon’s President, stated “We are very proud of the programs we provide and the work done by our staff on behalf of children with acute behavioral health needs. Our programs are designed to assist children, their families and caregivers with access to coordinated high quality services. We are excited to share our experiences with our peers at the NICHQ annual meeting.”

For more information, contact john.colburn@beaconhs.com or 781-994-7133.

Founded in 1996, Beacon Health Strategies is a recognized leader in behavioral health care management. Beacon currently serves two million members in the Northeast and the District of Columbia, and is growing rapidly. Accredited by both URAC and NCQA, Beacon’s success derives from its unrivaled clinical and administrative expertise, innovative clinical programming and delivery of customized solutions meeting the unique and complex needs of each health plan partner.

The National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality is an independent, action-oriented nonprofit organization solely dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare provided to children, youth and families.