Video LectureLegislative & Regulatory Issues Facing Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), together with the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, is the most sweeping health care reform bill since the enactment of the Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1965. With the primary goal of expanding the availability of health insurance coverage to a large number of the currently uninsured, the PPACA also brings a number of delivery system redesigns, cost controls and programs aimed at quality improvement. The PPACA will need tens of thousands of pages of new regulations written over the coming years in order to translate these provisions in law into programs and processes. Because of this, uncertainty still exists over the implementation of this law and the realization of the true impacts on our health delivery system will be years in the making. There are, however, a number of near-term provisions which provide some predictable measure of impact on the practice of pathology and laboratory medicine. The intent of this presentation is to highlight those challenges and opportunities. In addition, other pending legislative and regulatory actions outside of the PPACA, are imminent and are noteworthy for their impact as well.

Originally presented August 2nd, 2010 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Lecture Presenter

Ronald Weiss, MD, MBA Ronald Weiss, MD, MBA
Professor of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine

Dr. Weiss practices hematopathology, including hematologic flow cytometry; teaches medical students, pathology residents, and fellows in both hematopathology and laboratory management; and is a medical director for ARUP Laboratories. ARUP is a clinical enterprise of the University of Utah’s Department of Pathology and serves as clinical laboratories for University Health Care, as well as a nationally recognized reference laboratory. Dr. Weiss is also involved in advocacy issues for pathology and laboratory medicine at the state and federal level.

Objectives

After this presentation, attendees will be able to:

  • Describe the key elements of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
  • Describe other governmental initiatives of real or potential importance.
  • Discuss how political advocacy activities can influence these decisions.

Sponsored by:

University of Utah School of Medicine and ARUP Laboratories