24th National Conference: the Potential for Primary Healthcare Improvements as a Result of Reform Legislation
Last Updated on April 16, 2022 by Lee Burnett, DO, FAAFP
On Tuesday, April 10, 2013, the second morning of the 24th National Conference on Primary Health Care Access, held at the Grand Hyatt Kaua’i, an overview panel will address the issue of potential long-term benefits of the Patient Protection and Accountable Care Act (PPACA).
A three person panel will discuss the the possibilities of improvements in the health care quality and efficacy, of the organization of health care resources, appropriate mix of physician specialties, health status of persons covered, and the cost structure of health care resources.
The overview panel will propose markers for considering whether PPACA, whether as the result of intended or unintended consequences, has advanced the health status of the American public.
The panel will be comprised of Doctors Hector Flores, of the White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles, James Herman of the Penn State University/Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Perry A. Pugno, Vice President of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Recently appointed to the California Blue Shield Board of Directors, Dr Flores is Chair of the Department of Family Medicine in East Los Angeles’ principal academic medical center.
He was a member of the Clinton Task Force Hispanic Advisory Committee and co-chaired the Los Angeles County Healthcare Options Task Force, charged with developing strategies for health care reform.
Doctor Herman is Chair of the Penn State College of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, and is, additionally the Project Director of the federally-funded Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center.
Doctor Pugno’s duties as Vice President of the AAFP include the Academy’s interface with the nation’s family medicine residency programs, with medical school departments, and other entities involved with physician training.
Dr Flores and Dr Pugno are Senior Fellows and Dr Herman a Fellow of the National Conferences.
The panel will discuss a thematic structure for considering whether, as a consequence of implementing the health insurance reform legislation, that long-term initiatives to improve health care delivery are being highlighted and advanced.
The overview panel will be followed by several plenary discussions of case studies in such areas as the integration of medicine and behavioral health in specific settings, in developing community-based medical education in medically underserved communities, in the primary care medical home, and in linkages with community health centers and other primary care access points.
These discussions will take place throughout the 24th National Conference in Kaua’i and will continue through the 25th National Conference at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, April 13-16, 2014.