The Affordable Care Act and the Future of Clinical Medicine: The Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The Affordable Care Act is a once-in-a-generation change to the U.S. health system. It guarantees access to health care for all Americans, creates new incentives to change clinical practice to foster better coordination and quality, gives physicians more information to make them better clinicians and patients more information to make them more value-conscious consumers, and changes the payment system to reward value. The Act and the health information technology provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act remove many barriers to delivering high-quality care, such as unnecessary administrative complexity, inaccessible clinical data, and insufficient access to primary care and allied health providers. We hope that physicians will embrace the opportunities created by the Affordable Care Act that will enable them to provide better care for their patients and lead the U.S. health system in a more positive direction. To fully realize the benefits of the Affordable Care Act for their practices and their patients, physicians will design their offices for seamless care, employing new practice models and using technology to integrate patient information with professional society guidelines to keep patients with chronic conditions healthy and out of the hospital. Under the Affordable Care Act, physicians who effectively collaborate with other providers to improve patient outcomes, the value of medical services, and patient experiences will thrive and be the leaders of the health care system.

Primary Care Careers Among Recent Graduates of Research-Intensive Private and Public Medical Schools

“…13 The PPACA also provides increased funding for the National Health Service Corps. 14 Some initiatives have been implemented at researchintensive medical schools to promote primary care as a career choice for students. Many of these schools offer a combination of student-run clinics, primary care interest groups, loan-repayment programs, and certificate programs in urban and rural health that may stimulate and sustain students' interest in primary care.…”

Integrative Care Therapies and Pain in Hospitalized Children and Adolescents: A Retrospective Database Review

“…31 Nonpharmacologic approaches to decrease stress, reduce pain, and enhance relaxation may offer complementary and added benefit to the current pharmacologic standards most often used. In an era of the Affordable Care Act, 32 with hospitals under increased pressure to get patients better quicker and more effectively, integrative care therapies may be a critical piece to the puzzle that is currently underrecognized and undervalued.…”

Provision of Family Planning to Women With Cardiovascular Risk Factors

“…Furthermore, the PPACA emphasizes the use of information technology and quality measures, 32 which can facilitate coordinated care for reproductive-aged women with CVRFs. For example, decision support tools for electronic prescribing of medications can alert a provider that a patient is of childbearing age and caution against the use of teratogenic medications, unless pregnancy is not a possibility.…”