Health Reform Passes--NOW WHAT??

The US House of Representatives, and then the US Senate, passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act just a few short weeks ago. While much has been written about the bill, I would like to drill into some of the lesser known components of this landmark legislation. For example, I was happy to learn that starting in 2013, the bill calls for a national, voluntary 5 year pilot on bundling payments to providers around 10 inpatient conditions. In 2013, it imposes financial penalties on hospitals for excess readmissions and in 2015, it exacts a 1% penalty on hospitals in the top quartile of Hospital Acquired Conditions such as infection.Other policy issues include allowing hospitals and physicians to provide leadership in voluntary Accountable Care Organizations which will enable the parties to share savings from improved care management. It creates the CMI or the Center for Medicare Innovation to test out some of these new models. Finally, it calls upon the Sec DHHS to establish a National Strategy to improve quality and interagency working groups to carry out the work.There is even a call for a federally funded Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute!!! Well, this all sounds like a full employment act for the faculty, staff and graduates of the Jefferson School of Population Health. More news to follow on this front....what do you think--- after Health Reform, Now What?? DAVID NASH