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  RESIDENCY FELLOWSHIP IN HEALTH POLICY
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Spring 2020 Course Content

Spring 2020 Course Details

Background: The George Washington University (GW) Residency Fellowship in Health Policy (RFHP) is a three-week elective that provides multi-specialty resident and fellow physicians with an understanding of U.S. health policy and its implications for medical practice and healthcare delivery. 

The program increases participant knowledge of key health policy issues impacting their local communities and the nation, thus preparing them to be effective physician-leaders in system-based practice. The elective traditionally has involved classroom-based learning and in-person site visits at various Washington, DC institutions. However, in light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, we have migrated to an abbreviated online format for this iteration.

With the exception of the first day of the course (Monday, March 16), we will connect once weekly on Fridays from 9-11 am ET to review and discuss course materials. Please be prepared to discuss the articles/videos assigned to you as the program involves peer learning and education. On the final day of the program, you will be required to submit a single written assignment as outlined below. Successful completion of the elective requires attendance at all virtual sessions and satisfactory completion of the written assignment. 

Meeting Schedule:
​

All sessions will take place remotely via Zoom. 
  • Monday, March 16, 2020, 9:00-11:00am
  • Friday, March 20, 2020, 9:00-11:00am
  • Friday, March 27, 2020, 9:00-11:00am
  • Friday, April 3, 2020, 9:00-11:00am​​
Week one: 3/16 - 3/20
Monday, March 16, 2020 9:00 - 11:00 am
​

During this session, we will provide an introduction and overview of the course format and materials for the three week elective, including the final assignment. 
  • Course Orientation & Introductions
  • Why Health Policy?
  • Intro to Health Policy Analysis & Final Assignment 


Friday, March 20, 2020 9:00 - 11:00 am 

This session is our opportunity to review materials together and discuss the relevance to our patients and our practice. The session will include brief presentations.
  • Arrive prepared to give a 5-10 minute overview of your assigned article/video
  • Be an active participant in group discussion & polling
​
Preparatory Materials

History of Health Policy
  • Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan's Reflections 

Introduction and Overview of the U.S. Healthcare System:
  • The Healthcare System of the United States, Healthcare Triage 
  • The Dysfunction of the U.S. Healthcare System, Vox 

​Federal Government Process and Spending:
  • How a Bill Becomes a Law, USA.Gov 
  • Introduction to the Federal Budget Process, Center of Budget and Policy Priorities
  • Where do our Federal Tax Dollars Go? Center of Budget and Policy Priorities

Insurance:
  • Medicare: An Overview of Medicare, Kaiser Family Foundation Issue Brief*
  • Medicaid: 10 Things to Know about Medicaid: Setting the Facts Straight, Kaiser Family Foundation Issue Brief*
  • Insurance Explained, Kaiser Family Foundation
    • Optional: supplemental slides – Medicare, Medicaid
  • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
    • Datagraphic: The ACA Turns 10, Health Affairs
    • The Uninsured and the ACA: A Primer, Kaiser Family Foundation 
    • How Have ACA Insurance Expansions Affected Health Outcomes? Health Affairs​
      • Optional: Summary and Animation, Kaiser Family Foundation
    • ​​​The Affordable Care Act at 10 Years, Brookings
​
Health Reform:
  • Navigating the Shifting Terrain of U.S. Health Care Reform—Medicare for All, Single Payer, and the Public Option, Milbank Quarterly
week 2: 3/23 -3/27
Friday, March 27, 2020 9:00 - 11:00 am 

This session is our opportunity to review materials together and discuss the relevance to our patients and our practice. The session will include brief presentations.
  • Arrive prepared to give a 5-10 minute overview of your assigned article/video
  • Be an active participant in group discussion

Preparatory Materials

​Health Economics​:
​​
Overview:
  • A Dozen Facts about the Economics of the US Healthcare System, Brookings
    • Optional: Medical Mystery: Something Happened to U.S. Health Spending After 1980, The New York Times
  • Health Economics, Harvard School of Public Health
 
Payment and Cost of Care:
  • What if All Health Care Costs were Transparent? TEDMED
  • Fact Sheet: Hospital Billing Explained, American Hospital Association (AHA)
  • My Doctor Makes What? How Physicians are Paid, Forbes
    • Optional: Special Deal: The Shadowy Cartel of Doctors that Controls Medicare, Washington Monthly
    • Optional: Why Medical Bills In The US Are So Expensive, CNBC
​

​Payment Reform:
  • The Problem with Pay for Performance in Medicine, New York Times
  • MACRA/Quality Payment Program - State Health Policy, American College of Physicians (ACP)
    • Optional Video: MIPS Value Pathways: The Future of MIPS, CMS
    • Optional Infographics:
      • Five Things Everyone Should Know About MACRA, The Advisory Board
      • MACRA at a Glance, American College of Rheumatology
 
Health Law:

  • Malpractice: 
    • Tort Law: The Rules of Medical Malpractice, Law Shelf
    • Doctors Make Mistakes, Can we Talk About That? Brian Goldman
    • Improving Patient Safety And Lowering Malpractice Costs Through "No-Fault" Compensation Systems, Commonwealth Fund
​
  • EMTALA:
    • EMTALA Fact Sheet, American College of Emergency Physicians 
​
  • Judicial Branch Trends:
    • Is This the “New Normal” for the Confirmation Process? Heritage Foundation
    • Analysis | The U.S. Supreme Court is highly politicized. It doesn’t have to be that way., Washington Post
      • Optional: President Donald J. Trump Is Appointing a Historic Number of Federal Judges to Uphold Our Constitution as Written, Whitehouse.gov
​
  • State Health Policy:
    • The State Health Department's Role in the Policy Process, CDC 
    • Hospital Transparency: Lessons from 12 States' Hospital Financial Reporting Laws – The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) 
    • Maryland Total Cost of Care Model | Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) 
    • Opportunities to Expand Telehealth Use Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, Health Affairs Blog
      • Optional Additional Resources: State Health Policy, Commonwealth Fund
​
  • Primary Care and Prevention:
    • Association of Primary Care Physician Supply With Population Mortality in the United States, 2005-2015  Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD; Seth A. Berkowitz, MD, MPH; Robert L. Phillips, MD, MSPH; et al 
    • Declining Use of Primary Care Among Commercially Insured Adults in the United States, 2008–201
    • ​The Evolving Role of Retail Clinics, RAND Corporation​​​
Week 3: 3/30 - 4/3
​ Comparative Health Systems:
  • Liberty, democracy, equity, and justice in healthcare: Leana Wen at TEDx University of Nevada
  • New Perspectives on Global Health Spending for Universal Health Coverage, WHO -- Sections 2&3
  • US Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2019: Higher Spending, Worse Outcomes? Commonwealth Fund
  • International Health Care System Profiles, Commonwealth Fund -- Explore at your leisure
 
Health Equity:
  • ​Inequality and the Health-care System in the USA, The Lancet
  • What Makes Us Sick? Look Upstream, Rishi Manchanda, TED Talks 
  • Camara Jones: The Gardener's Tale and the Physician's Legitimate Role, Beyond Flexner Alliance 
  • The Social Mission of Medical Education: Ranking the Schools, Annals of Internal Medicine 
​
Medical Ethics: 
 
  • America's Epidemic of Unnecessary Care, The New Yorker
  • End-of-Life Care, The Hastings Center
  • Flattening the Curve, Then What? The Hastings Center
  • Economic Cost of Flattening the Curve, The Incidental Economist

Health Workforce:
  • HRSA Resources
    • ​Distribution of US Health Care Providers Residing in Rural and Urban Areas
    • What is a Shortage Designation? 
    • Bureau of Health Workforce
​​
  • The Role of Graduate Medical Education (GME)
    • Myths and Facts: The Physician Shortage, AAMC
    • The Geography Of Graduate Medical Education: Imbalances Signal Need For New Distribution Policies, Health Affairs 
​​
  • Interprofessionalism
    • Workforce Panelist Presentations
      • Physician Assistants
      • Nurses
      • Pharmacists 
    • Optional: A Sociological Exploration of the Tensions Related to Interprofessional Collaboration in Acute-care Discharge Planning, Journal of Interprofessional Care

​Health and the Media/Communications:
  • ​Opinion | Take Two Aspirin and Call Me by My Pronouns, Wall Street Journal 
  • Immigration Pediatrics, Narrative Matters Health Affairs
  • Kids in Cages: Inhumane Treatment at the Border, Testimony for House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Dr. Gutierrez
Final project DUE friday april 3, 2020 
Submit Final Project

Supplemental Material

Policy Acronyms
HHS Organizational Chart
Health Policy Acronyms
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The Residency Fellowship in Health Policy is made possible through the combined resources of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW, the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Children's National Medical Center.
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2175 K Street NW, Suite 250  |  Washington, DC 20037  |  rfhp@gwu.edu
  • Home
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