At an event in Cool Springs Tuesday, the Nashville Health Care Council  and the Bipartisan Policy Center brought together industry players focused on the continuing role of technology in the health care sector.

The event kicked off with a lunchtime discussion featuring former Senate majority leaders and current BPC Health Project co-chairs Tom Daschle and Bill Frist.

“Policymakers and health industry stakeholders across the country and across the political spectrum understand the critical role that health IT plays in achieving better health, improved delivery of care and lower costs,” said Daschle. “While federal investment has been substantial, increased public-private collaboration and leadership is necessary to promote greater utilization of health IT.”

The lunch program was followed by a panel discussion featuring Aneesh Chopra, former White House chief technology officer and current senior advisor with the Advisory Board Company, as well as Ascension Health CEO Bob Henkel and Jonathan Perlin, who serves as the chief medical officer with HCA. Among the issues they discussed were encouraging the proactive adoption of technology by providers. One panelist noted that the adoption of technology in the health care industry is often dependent on incentives and or penalties for lack of participation. In other industries, he noted, adoption of the technology is adopted on its own as a means to better conduct business.

The day was capped off with presentations from a handful of local innovators who were invited from a number of applicants to participate in the Forum’s Innovation Exchange. Their talks were emceed by the Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s Michael Burcham. Those selected were Healthways, MissionPoint Health Partners/Saint Thomas Health, PharmMD Solutions, Sumner Regional Medical Center and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Among the innovations these companies discussed were the Healthways’ Well-Being Connect and wellbeingGO, MissionPoint’s virtual care network, PharmMD’s ability to track patients’ prescriptions and others. More information can be found here.