With the election past, UNMC is looking toward what impact the results will have on health care reform.
Dr. Juliann Sebastian is the Dean of UNMC’s College of Nursing. She says one of the things the Affordable Care Act will really emphasize, and what staff at UNMC will focus on, is a continuum of care.
She says UNMC will help people learn how to manage their own care as well as how to manage the system.
"So if they’re in a primary care setting and seeing a nurse practitioner, a primary care physician or a physician assistant, and need to be hospitalized, then there will be some kind of transitional care provided to care for that hospitalization. Likewise, when they’re discharged, new transitional care programs are emerging that help people manage that care when they return home."
Dr. Sebastian says because more consumers will have more access to primary care, healthcare professionals will focus more on health promotion and illness prevention.
The Affordable Care Act takes effect next year.