The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has scheduled a workshop on March 20-21, 2014 to examine developments in the U.S. health care industry, including those related to implementation of health care reform legislation and other trends related to cost, quality, access, and care coordination. Specifically, the workshop will address the following five topics:
- Professional Regulation of Health Care Providers — how accreditation, credentialing, licensure, and scope of practice rules may affect competition and consumers.
- Innovations in Health Care Delivery — including retail clinics and telemedicine that may offer significant cost savings while maintaining or improving quality of care and expanding consumer access to care.
- Advancements in Health Care Technology – implications of technology such as electronic health care records, health data exchanges, technology platforms for health care payers and providers, and certain other consumer-oriented technological advances.
- Measuring and Assessing Quality of Health Care – how developments in measuring and assessing health quality may impact competition and health care choices.
- Price Transparency of Health Care Services – how improved price transparency impacts costs to consumers and its potential to facilitate price coordination among health care providers.