Abstract
Program Description: Discussions regarding health care (HC) legislation, reform, and costs continue to be in the public conscience. The media in large part have presented little facts and the enacted health care law has been met with mixed responses from the public, HC sector, and politicians. A central philosophical and public health question is should everyone have covered HC? The panel will suppose the answer is yes and present evidence for what systems could succeed in the US. This program presents facts from national and worldwide experiences that have been essentially absent in media discussion forums. It will also provide participants with an analysis of the political environment surrounding the HC debate in the US. The potential implications of a universal health HC system versus a nationalized HC system on otolaryngologists in private and academic practices will be discussed. Health information technology (HIT) beyond the electronic health record is just beginning to become widely implemented. There is evidence of rapid shifts in how HIT and exchanges will change the current models of clinical practice with socioeconomic implications. The various ways HIT has been and will be used to improve quality of care, shift revenues, and impact access to information will be presented. This set of presenters collectively has experience in a wide breadth of health care systems including private, academic, US government, as well as the Canadian and United Kingdom HC systems. They will provide their perspectives on the current challenges and successes associated with their systems. In conclusion, the panelists will have a moderated question and answer session covering questions such as, what is the preferred model for delivering health care for all in the US and how would you fund it? What is the scope of practice considerations in Canada, UK and US? The audience will also be able to provide and view their answers using the interactive audience response system.
Educational Objectives: 1) Understand various government healthcare systems, politics of healthcare, and the impact on otolaryngologists. 2) Understand the current and future status of health information technology and exchanges beyond medical records. 3) Learn about global models of health care delivery from panelists with experience in varied healthcare systems.
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