Affordable Care Act architect: What is role of radiology in transformed health care system?

"ACR 2016 is the annual meeting the radiology community needs, and the American College of Radiology is pleased to provide the forum to hear one of the most prominent voices that advised the White House about health care, significantly impacting patient care, federal health care budgets and the Affordable Care Act," noted the College's chief executive officer William T. Thorwarth Jr., MD, FACR. "Attendees will gain a unique perspective from Dr. Emanuel, an architect of today's health law and a leading practitioner shaping the future of health care," said Thorwarth.

The keynoter holds a joint position at the Wharton School and the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he chairs the department of medical ethics and health policy. He is a founding chair at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. He currently serves as chair of the Meta-council on the Future of Health Committee for the World Economic Forum. Emanuel, who served as a special adviser for health policy to the White House Office of Management and Budget, has authored "Reinventing American Health Care," a definitive account of the ACA. He has written on the ethics of clinical research, health care reform, international research ethics, end-of-life care issues, euthanasia, the ethics of managed care and the physician-patient relationship.

ACR's five-day meeting will provide a diverse and flexible program with more than 100 hours of sessions on advocacy, economics and health policy, leadership, clinical education, informatics and innovations, clinical research, ACR governance, quality and safety, plus special sessions for residents, fellows, and early-career physicians. In addition to the keynote address, special events include Capitol Hill Day, with exclusive meetings scheduled for members to bring the "Voice of Radiology" to elected officials, and the Body MRI Boot Camp, an abridged version of the intensive practical course on Body and Pelvic MRI offered at the ACR Education Center.