The health care industry remains in a state of flux. Most can agree that aspects of it are broken but few if anyone can agree or even articulate how to fix it. This has lead to unprecedented public policy debates, regulation, enforcement and audit activity. In this process, issues of privilege, be it the attorney-client privilege or peer-review privilege are commanding more attention.
In addition we are seeing unprecedented competition among those with the authority to regulate the industry. Questions as to the limits of that power are beginning to be raised. As these issues are being debated, some have begun the hard task of trying to define the perfect health care system. The changes needed to make the modern American health system a more perfect union of patients, employers, plans and providers will require us to fundamentally rethink our existing legal paradigm.
This conference will focus on these key themes of health care reform, privilege, power and the pursuit of perfection.