The “Week in DC” exposes students to all aspects of healthcare policy, governmental as well as corporate influences and the general power structure that influences the execution of medical care in the United States. For those who have been practicing physicians like myself, multiple loose ends are beautifully tied together into a comprehensive whole that when combined with my recent Executive MBA completion provided tremendous insight into issues I thought I had previously understood.
Under the current healthcare environment with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act the competitive forces for quality over quantity in healthcare have become deafening and are starting to take hold. Imagine having 5 to 6 speakers per day that are absolute experts in areas ranging from CMS, government policy, consultants to hospitals, the insurance industry and the device industry.
The week also allows a time for reflection on the general direction in which healthcare is headed – I refer to the visit to the Cato Institute. Now add to that the outstanding faculty and support staff that go along with you and the result is intense high quality educational exposure.
This week should be obligatory for all HSM students.