OPT-7030 Health Care, Profess, and Diversity
The course introduces the evolution of the US healthcare system, health care reform, the current challenges facing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and their implications for the future of optometry. It presents optometry as a primary health care profession and includes a detailed description of the profession and its practitioners -- numbers, characteristics, distribution, modes of practice and professional associations. The role of the American Optometric Association (AOA) in advocacy and leadership in integrating optometry in our national debate is underscored. The course provides insight into the impact of technology, macroeconomics, population trends, managed care, and the emerging value-based health care on clinical practice. It introduces the concept of population health, inter-professional coordinated care models, the evolving scope of practice and its financial, political and professional implications. This course is designed to engage students in the many challenging issues and dynamic changes facing the US healthcare system and their roles as future optometrists.