American Indian professionals and community representatives, Indian Health Service (IHS) officials, professors of medicine and public health, and other advocates of improved Indian health services attended a 2-day roundtable conference to: explore the relationship of Federal Policy and Indian health needs, and relate these to issues affecting the general public. Discussion focused on the: need for a health delivery system that responds to important Indian cultural factors; difficulties in recruiting and retaining non-Indian health professionals and in developing a cadre of Indian health professionals; Indian community participation in the design and administration of IHS programs; special problems of urban Indians; legal, legislative, and administrative constraints and the socioeconomic conditions of Indians affecting the IHS's ability to improve the health care quality and to facilitate Indian participation in the delivery of services to urban and reservation communities; consumer-oriented health programs and their relevance to Indian tribes; and implications of recently enacted, pending, or proposed health-care legislation for the administration of Indian health programs. Indian participants emphasized the need for the Indian people to orient themselves toward the health professionals to help retain them in the community. (NQ)