141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

295654
New perspective on the Affordable Care Act: Accountable care organizations and the health care safety net


Monday, November 4, 2013 : 9:10 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Karen Hacker, MD, MPH, Allegheny County Health Department, Pittsburgh, PA
With the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, national health reform has become a reality. Implementation of key aspects of the law has begun with further elements coming on line in 2014. This special policy-focused session will present new perspectives on health reform. Accountable care organizations are an important element of health reform under the ACA but have not received as much attention as have insurance aspects of the law. Dr. Hacker was previously the Senior Medical Director of Public & Community Health at Cambridge Health Alliance, a public integrated health system, and Division Director for Child & Adolescent Health at the Boston Public Health Commission. She just completed a Commonwealth Fund case study of the Cambridge Health Alliance's transformation to an Accountable Care Organization. Drawing on her experience with health reform in Massachusetts, Dr. Hacker will discuss the impact of national health reform and the accountable care organization model on safety net programs for vulnerable populations.

Learning Areas:

Ethics, professional and legal requirements
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the role of accountable care organizations in the implementation of health reform. List at least 2 ways that the health care safety net for vulnerable populations may be impacted by implementation of the ACA.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have conducted research on safety net institutions who are transforming under the ACA. I have been the chair for the Massachusetts Public Health Association policy committee. I have worked as an administrator in a safety net hospital (Cambridge health alliance) and am familiar with the policy context in MA post health care reform here.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3006.1: New Perspectives on Health Reform