Today, APHA released "Reforming Our Nation’s Health System: Lessons for the Public Health Community." The report covers the proceedings of the Association's Summit on Health Reform, which took place in November 2010 in Denver and which explored the implications of the new health reform law for public health programs and priorities. It's a good primer for the upcoming Midyear Meeting, which will focus on public health's role in implementing health reform.
The new report includes a handy summary of recommendations that came out of discussions at the Denver summit, including calls for public health practitioners to advocate and educate on behalf of the law; demonstrate the value of public health and prevention programs in improving health outcomes and reducing costs; create innovative public-private partnerships; seize funding opportunities to improve community health; and ensure that public health has a voice in insurance reforms.
I'd say that APHA's very own Dr. B put it best:
“If we hope to realize the laudable goals of the Affordable Care Act — expanding access to care, improving quality of care, controlling health costs, and improving and protecting the health of the American people — then we must safeguard the law’s public health and prevention provisions and ensure their timely implementation,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of APHA. “We have a real opportunity to not only put in place comprehensive health insurance reforms, but to transform our communities, reduce our growing chronic disease burden and achieve wellness. The experiences of public health professionals along with their longtime ties to the communities they serve are critical to realizing the promise of health reform.”
For a copy of the report, click here. For more info on next week's Midyear Meeting in Chicago, click here.
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