Safety net hospitals discuss post-ACA challenges to addressing health disparities

A lack of comprehensive data on health status, treatment patterns and outcomes is one of the key challenges facing safety net hospitals as they strive to implement new health care delivery and payment models in the post-Affordable Care Act era of health care transformation, said panelists at a National Minority Quality Forum and Congressional Black Caucus conference today in Washington, D.C. Other cited challenges include the marked difference in access to care in Medicaid non-expansion states; keeping Medicaid enrollees covered and informed about their benefits, and the lack of a socioeconomic adjustment to account for more Medicare readmissions in hospitals with greater numbers of low-income patients. Panelists also said additional funding is needed from public and private payers to reach beyond hospitals’ walls to improve community health. Participating in the panel on the state of safety net hospitals were Carladenise Edwards, chief strategy officer for Alameda Health System in Alameda County, CA; Tim Egan, president and CEO of Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago; and Joel Freedman, president of Paladin Healthcare Capital. AHA is a sponsor of the conference.