Proposals for health care reform: how do we evaluate them?

Abstract

The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine suggests a systematic approach to evaluating proposals for reform of the medical care system. Described are the three components of the problem--access, cost, and quality. Then, goals are proposed for health care reform. With this background, we describe the major questions that reform proposals must address and the potential impact of reform on emergency medicine. Emergency physicians must actively support health reform legislation that is in the over-all best interest or our patients and our specialty, and work with the new federal administration to evaluate proposed changes.