Overview

What differentiates the U.S from the world’s highest performing, lowest cost health care systems? One key element is the international focus on a strong foundation in primary care. Yet to move to this model in the U.S requires an enormous transformation in the way care is organized, delivered and reimbursed. This presentation builds on previous presentations on the integration of behavioral health and primary care to illustrate key concepts and processes related to primary care transformation. It also lays the foundation for upcoming presentations on telehealth and virtual care.

Learning Objectives

At the completion of the program, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the mandate for transforming primary care.
• Describe how RNs can be better utilized to improve patient and staff satisfaction and clinical outcomes in a cost-effective way.
• Identify three strategies for preparing RNs to practice in enhanced roles in primary care.

Speakers

Diana J. Mason, RN, PhD, FAAN

Diana J. Mason is the Senior Policy Service Professor at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University School of Nursing. She is Professor Emerita at Hunter College, City University of New York, where she was the inaugural Rudin Professor of Nursing and co-founder and Co-Director of the Center for Health, Media, and Policy until 2016. Dr. Mason is a past President of the American Academy of Nursing, former editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Nursing, and producer and moderator of a community radio program on health care issues since 1985. She is the lead editor of the award-winning book, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care, now in its 7th edition, and the author of over 200 publications, including regular blogs on policy for JAMA News Forum. Her scholarship includes a focus on media and health policy and on what can be learned from nurse-designed models of care. Dr. Mason is the Co-Principal Investigator for a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to explore how nurses address building a culture of health in their innovative models of care; the study is a collaboration between the American Academy of Nursing and the RAND Corporation. She is a member of the boards of directors for the Primary Care Development Corporation and Public Health Solutions, and a member of the National Advisory Board for Kaiser Health News. She holds two honorary doctorates, as well as numerous awards for her teaching, policy leadership, publications, and journalism.