Arthur J. Fried, a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, in the firm's New York office, was quoted in Health Reform WK-EDGE, in “Putting the Pieces Together: The Physician Shortage, Nonphysician Clinicians, and the ACA,” by Melissa Skinner.
Following is an excerpt:
In an interview with Wolters Kluwer, Arthur J. Fried of Epstein Becker and Green, stated that beyond the growing area of traditional physician extenders—that is, health care professionals with advanced degrees and medical training who assist in the provision of personalized health care for patients—there is also a second category of nonphysician providers that is also experiencing a higher demand, care managers and coordinators. Fried said that these roles are growing because a “care coordination model is increasingly being used, in particular for individuals with multiple health and social needs, improving health outcomes by assisting in efficient access not only to the traditional health care system, but to other needed social and community support resources.” The ACA has promoted the coordination of care in several respects and, in turn, perhaps has carved a greater role for these types of providers in the future. …
Fried’s comments also touched on that subject as he discussed how ACOs relied on care coordination and management: “ACOs are also required to have systems in place to identify high-risk individuals and to develop individualized care plans for certain patients … [m]echanisms for care coordination must be in place as well.”