Health System Transformation: The Changing Legal Landscape

Health System Transformation: The Changing Legal Landscape

A Three Part Webinar Series

A Webinar Series Co-Sponsored by CDC’s Public Health Law Program and the American Bar Association Health Law Section

The United States health system is undergoing a critical transformation in both financing and service delivery. This shift is aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of health organizations and services, and has resulted in a changing legal landscape. This transformation has led to new implications and pressures affecting providers, health systems, and public health agencies and their legal counsel. It has also created new opportunities for connection and collaboration among public health, health care, and other sectors.

The CDC’s Public Health Law Program and the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section announce a three-part webinar series focused on three components of health system transformation: 1) social impact bonds, 2) workplace wellness programs, and 3) electronic health information.

The Legal Framework for Social Impact Bonds

Date: March 18, 2015 | 1:00-2:30pm EST

Social impact bonds are increasingly being looked at as financing mechanisms for public health initiatives. These new and flexible tools are spurring new innovations in public health programs. With each new innovation more is learned about the potential and limitation of these new tools, and what legal tools could be used to promote the development and use of social impact bonds to advance public health objectives.

This webinar will describe the structure and function of the social impact bond model, and summarize new innovations that use the social impact bond model to fund various public health initiatives, including asthma and early childhood development. Speakers will also outline some of the limitations of the social impact bond model and explore recent state and the federal legislative efforts of to address them.

Law and Quality: Addressing Healthcare-Associated Infections

Date: April 20, 2015

1:00-2:30pm EST

A central tenet of healthcare and public health is ensuring the quality of care delivered to patients. Many of the newest innovations in state law encourage improvements to healthcare quality, including incentives and disincentives to providers and facilities. In the last ten years, states have passed numerous laws aimed at improving the environment surrounding healthcare-associated infection (HAI) among state health departments, health care facilities and providers, and the public. Among the major influences on this environment and its downstream effects, including the burdens and costs for stakeholders, are state HAI laws designed to create state health department programs, incentivize public and private engagement in prevention activities, and collect and analyze data from healthcare facilities. This webinar will discuss the background, data, and tools available to practitioners and policy-makers involved in drafting, analyzing, and implementing state HAI laws.

Electronic Health Information: Assessing the Impact of Law

Date: May 11, 2015

1:00-2:30pm

As healthcare and public health systems transition existing datasets from paper to electronic formats, public health and health care lawyers are being called upon to provide advice on a broad spectrum of legal issues related to electronic health information. For example, a the ability of a health department to obtain and use electronic health information may depend on varying state and federal provisions, as well as implicating topics such as: access to electronic health records, data reporting and collection, privacy and security, and others. Each legal provision can impact health systems and their constituencies by affecting health and organizational outcomes, costs, and behaviors.

This webinar will provide an opportunity to learn more about electronic health information and how it is transforming the US health system. Speakers will provide an overview of the characteristics and scope of federal and state law related to electronic health information, describe best practices in electronic health information implementation, and highlight legal tools that can be used to support the efficient use of electronic health information.

For more information, please contact Simeon Carson, Associate Director, at simeon.carson@americanbar.org.