of having a primary care provider or
medical home.
Scott & White adopted the idea of a
medical care home decades ago, says
Dr. Rohack. Each person on the Scott &
White Health Plan chooses a primary care
doctor, and that doctor is the hub of the
patient’s care team. “That’s a culture that
Scott & White developed over 110 years.
It’s not easily done. You just can’t flip a
switch and have that culture change
throughout the United States,” he says.
Just the beginning
“This legislation provides support for
Scott & White to reach more patients than
we could when working alone. We can
innovate, but we can’t change the tax code
to provide health insurance to folks. We
couldn’t change student loan repayments
for students in primary care,” he says.
But the reforms passed in this version
of the healthcare bill are just a beginning,
says Dr. Rohack. Legislators chose not to
address several vital issues, like the
formula that dictates how much Medicare
pays physicians. There is modest funding
of $50 million for five years to test
medical liability alternatives like health
courts, expert witness panels, and safe
harbors for following evidence-based
guidelines. With the creation of health
insurance exchanges in 2014, the
problems with buying insurance across
state lines with 50 different state-based
coverage rules will be solved by having a
national baseline for levels of coverage that
patients can shop for and purchase based
on what they can afford. And if a person is
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, patients are encouraged to have a
primary care physician who coordinates their care.
below 400 percent of the federal poverty
level, advanceable tax credits can be used
to help purchase that health insurance.
A multidisciplinary team at Scott &
White Healthcare is working to make
the most of the research, innovation,
and workforce opportunities in the new
law. Scott & White will also continue
educating lawmakers in an effort to ensure
that new regulations are beneficial and fair
for healthcare providers.
“Scott & White has the advantage of
100 years of multispecialty group practice
culture and a dedicated staff who all come
together to put the needs of our patients
first. In my observation, that is what will
help make healthcare reform successful for
our patients,” says Dr. Rohack.
THE CATALYST magazine will
continue to cover news about the
healthcare reform act and how it affects
people in Central Texas. ■
www.sw.org | Winter 11 THE CATALYST
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