A group of Florida’s chief decision makers from the state’s Healthcare Administration and health institutions convened at a breakfast healthcare briefing co-hosted by the national law firm Akerman Senterfitt, Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T), and McGladrey LLP, an accounting and consulting firm, to discuss the current landscape and future of healthcare in Florida.
Top executives from local businesses including physicians and physician groups, hospitals, insurance providers, and medical delivery systems attended the morning discussion, which featured panelists Phil Dutcher, chief operations officer of NCH Healthcare Systems; Dr. Jonathan B. Gavras, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Florida Blue; Ralph Lawson, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Baptist Health South Florida; and David Rodgers, assistant deputy secretary of Medicaid for Florida’s Agency for Health care Administration. The discussion was moderated by Robert Slavkin, a shareholder in Akerman Senterfitt’s Healthcare Practice Group.
"Our stellar lineup of speakers addressed critical, timely issues that affect all stakeholders in the industry, including how quality care initiatives can translates into true cost savings, and how interoperability of electronic records can produce a wealth of knowledge to all healthcare providers and insurers," said Slavkin. "Such interoperability allows all aspects of the industry to strategize together on cost-savings and efficiencies."
The panel engaged the audience in an interactive discussion of topics stemming from the Affordable Care Act and Health Reform initiatives, focusing on the consolidation between payors and providers and the resulting impact on the cost and delivery of healthcare. The panel also shared their insights on Health Insurance Exchange models, Medicaid expansion, as well as healthcare mergers and acquisitions among health systems and health insurers, and joint operations of medical practices.
“With a diverse demographic in Florida, the state represents a cross section of the country,” said Kirk Davis, chair of Akerman Senterfitt’s Healthcare Practice Group. "For our second annual event we partnered with firms with a deep understanding of the marketplace to present an exceptional panel that delivered not only thoughtful but creative insights on some of the most significant healthcare challenges facing businesses today."
The Akerman Healthcare Practice Group includes a leading, multidisciplinary team of lawyers and government affairs professionals. Advising clients on a wide range of complex regulatory, risk management, and business matters, the Akerman team represents hospitals and health systems, pharmacies and drug wholesalers, and health insurers and managed care organizations, as well as other healthcare industry stakeholders.
Visit Akerman's Health Law Rx blog for more information on issues impacting businesses and healthcare professionals, including the Affordable Care Act and Health Reform, healthcare M&A and joint ventures, and Medicaid at healthlawrx.com.
About Akerman Senterfitt
Akerman is a leading transactions and trial law firm known for its core strengths in middle market M&A, within the financial services and real estate industries, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 550 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 19 offices, it is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the U.S. by The National Law Journal NLJ 250 (2012). Akerman also is ranked among the top 100 law firms for diversity by MultiCultural Law magazine (2012) and recognized as the Law Firm of the Year for Diversity – South by Benchmark Litigation (2012). More information can be found at akerman.com or twitter.com/akerman_law.