Dr. Tom Dean
[caption id="attachment_62" align="alignright" width="65" caption="NRHA Past President"]
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Tom Dean, MD, Past President of NRHA, is certainly not afraid to call the current state of rural health care a "crisis." According to article published yesterday in the Rapid City South Dakota paper, “We’re into some scary territory... I think we are looking at a major paradigm shift in the way we look at health care,” Dean said. Speaking before the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services in Rapid City, he highlighed the need to focus on the issue of primary care, and the need to address the physician supply problems in rural areas. Why are Dr. Dean's comments relevant? He also currently serves as a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which is the Medicare advisory body to Congress. As the health reform debate proceeds, MedPAC will serve as an important thought leader in the reform process.