Remaking American Medicine^™ (RAM), Health Care for the 21st Century, is a four-part series, with each segment 60 minutes in length, which will air on PBS in October. This program features stories of positive change in American health care by profiling providers and patients who are successfully collaborating to transform our medical system. Peabody and Emmy Award winner John Hockenberry is the host. Funding is provided by The Amgen Foundation a lead corporate sponsor and with major underwriting from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation^®. Additional funding was provided by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation. Other sponsors include Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

The series will tell stories of changes, focus on the important advances being made in improving the quality of patient care, and feature compelling profiles of providers and patients who are working together to change fundamentally the way health care is delivered in this country. The goal of Remaking American Medicine is to inspire and empower viewers, both members of the general public and health care professionals, to join in efforts to transform American health care.

This program was produced by award-winning CrossKeys Media, L.L.C., and the first segment premieres on Thursday, October 5, 2006 at 10 p.m. (Arizona Time) on KAET Channel 8 and KUAT Channel 6 located in Tucson.


Here is the program line-up:

Thursday, October 5 (10 p.m.)
Remaking American Medicine 101: Silent Killer

Profiles the efforts of Sorrel King, whose 18-month-old daughter Josie was killed at Maryland's Johns Hopkins Hospital. The program shows how King has gone from grieving victim to engaged activist, partnering with Johns Hopkins to make safety a top priority.

Thursday, October 12 (10 p.m.)
Remaking American Medicine 102: First Do No Harm

Focuses on the impact of medical errors and hospital-acquired infections in hospitals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It follows the efforts of physicians challenging their colleagues to live up to their oath to First Do No Harm. At Pittsburgh's Alleghany General, Chief of Medicine Dr. Richard Shannon is confronting an epidemic of hospital-acquired infections. Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey is engaged in actively incorporating the adoption of information technology to prevent medical errors throughout the hospital.

Thursday, October 19 (10 p.m.)
Remaking American Medicine 103: The Stealth Epidemic

Looks at groundbreaking efforts in two very different communities - Los Angeles, California and Whatcom County, Washington - that are transforming the physician-patient relationship and offering hope to patients struggling with chronic conditions such as diabetes and congestive heart failure, which affect nearly 100 million Americans and consumes nearly 70 percent of all health care resources.

Thursday, October 26 (10 p.m.)
Remaking American Medicine 104: Hand in Hand

This segment tells the story of patients and their families who have formed a unique bond in an academic medical center in the small town of Augusta, Georgia, to transform the institution into a nationally recognized facility where partnership among patients, their families and providers is a guiding vision to the delivery of care.

Note that this series will also be re-broadcast on KAET Channel 8 on Tuesdays beginning October 10 at 4:30 a.m. and re-broadcast on KUAT Channel 6 in Tucson beginning on Fridays, October 6, from 4:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m.

Health Services Advisory Group, Inc., (HSAG), Arizona's Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO), is supporting Remaking American Medicine with the goal of increasing community involvement around health care quality improvement and patient safety, and exploring coalition efforts with Arizona Partnership for Implementing Patient Safety (APIPS) and Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA).

Check your local listings for broadcast dates and times: www.pbs.org/remakingamericanmedicine/airdates.html

For more information regarding this series, please go to: www.ramcampaign.org

RAM consumer website: www.remakingamericanmedicine.org/index.html

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