NEW YORK, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The 14th annual UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference begins today at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and runs through Wednesday, February 4. More than 2,000 portfolio managers, analysts, and investors are scheduled to attend. The conference features presentations by senior executives from 133 firms from around the globe in the fields of hospital management, managed care, distribution, pharmaceutical services, geriatric care, senior living and laboratory services.
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Rapidly rising health costs remain a major challenge for employers across the country and have prompted healthcare services companies to focus more than ever before on restraining medical inflation. Industry consolidation, already a well-established trend, is expected to continue in 2004 and beyond as companies seek economies of scale to provide the optimal mix of service and low cost. The industry is also in a state of transition with new business models forming, especially for drug distributors. Conference participants will learn from company executives what strategies managed care companies and drug distributors are employing to rein in medical costs, which companies have the winning strategies, and how efforts to contain medical inflation are changing how hospitals do business.
“With healthcare costs rising faster than other consumer expenses, healthcare companies are under extreme pressure to maintain good service and quality while holding the line on costs,” said William McKeever, UBS Managed Care analyst and conference host. “This conference will help investors navigate this specialized and complex sector by bringing together industry leaders who will identify near- and long-term marketplace opportunities and explain the mechanisms of healthcare delivery in the U.S. and abroad.”
Delivering Monday’s keynote will be Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of AAHP/HIAA, who will speak on Medicare reform, opportunities for the health plans, and the 2004 outlook for healthcare legislation. Tim Trysla, policy advisor to the Administrator, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, will discuss the status and future of Medicare in Tuesday’s keynote address.
A panel discussion Monday on healthcare benefit changes will feature John Wethington, senior vice president and chief administrative officer of human resources, UBS Wealth Management USA; Ken Sperling, consultant, Hewitt Associates; and Diane Gasser, Benefit Manager, Thompson Financial.
Online conference information
To access audio transmissions and the conference agenda please go to the UBS Investment Bank website at http://www.ibb.ubs.com/. Audio transmissions of company presentations will be available live and by replay. Replays will begin three hours after the actual presentation time and will be available on the site for four weeks.
The 14th Annual Global Healthcare Services Conference underscores UBS’s universal and comprehensive approach to covering the healthcare industry, with more than 230 healthcare companies covered by 55 research professionals in more than 20 countries.
In addition to Mr. McKeever, the conference is hosted by other members of UBS’s Healthcare Research Team: Ricky Goldwasser, Healthcare Service & Distribution Analyst; and Ken Weakley, Healthcare Facilities analyst.
UBS Securities is a business group of UBS AG , one of the largest financial services firms in the world with 66,000 employees in more than 50 countries. UBS is a leader in equities, corporate finance, M&A advisory and financing, financial structuring, fixed income issuance and trading, foreign exchange, derivatives and risk management.
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CONTACT: William Dentzer of UBS AG, office, +1-212-713-8515,Conference Press Desk +1-212-588-8004
