Every hospital license, inspection, and policy you rely on traces back to public servants who keep our healthcare system running, sometimes with very little recognition.

Hi there, and welcome to Health Law with Tara Ravi your friendly guide to the world of healthcare law. Here we make healthcare law human, approachable, and a little more exciting than you might expect. We’ll break down regulations, policy, and operational decisions that shape the care people actually receive and uncover insights you can really use.

Quick heads up, although I’m a healthcare partner at Bradley, the views expressed here are my own and not the firm’s or any of its clients, and they’re not intended as legal advice. But I promise to make this fun, insightful, and practical. Whether you’re a healthcare executive, attorney, clinician, or just someone who wants to understand the system better, you’re in the right place.

This is Health Law with Tara Ravi.

Hi there, I’m Tara Ravi, and today’s episode is simple. A big, huge, great thank you. Not to the doctors, certainly not to the lawyers, but this time to the public servants who make sure Georgia’s healthcare system stays in motion and on track.

Every time a hospital opens, and we’re very lucky here in Georgia, we’ve had some beautiful ones open. Or a pharmacy fills a prescription, or a claim gets paid, someone behind the scenes made it happen. Often with limited resources and a very long to-do list.

Change is happening here in Georgia. Georgia’s growing fast. People are moving here. It’s an amazing state. Come visit, maybe stay, if you’re nice. Since COVID, people from all over the country have been moving here. Families, young professionals, retirees. We’re also seeing the silver tsunami, with more older adults aging into Medicare. That means more hospitals, more clinic, more care, and more strain on the people regulating it all.

Our public servants are doing everything they can to keep up, and often without the staff they really need. And yet every day, they show up. They show up after hours, they show up on the weekend, they are so responsive and such a joy to work with.

Here’s who keeps it all running. The Department of Community Health. Within DCH, there’s the Healthcare Facilities Regulation Division, which inspects and licenses hospitals, surgery centers, nursing homes, and post-acute care facilities. We also have the Georgia Composite Medical Board, which makes sure doctors are qualified and held accountable. We have the Board of Pharmacy, which oversees pharmacies and pharmacists, so medications stay safe. There are also other boards that regulate other professionals, the nursing board, the physical therapy board. And then we have the Department of Public Health, which handles prevention, vaccines, maternal health, and emergencies. They’re the quiet foundation that makes care possible in Georgia.

How does the federal framework fit in? There’s the federal layer, CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They set the national rules for how care gets paid for. But they can’t do it all themselves, so they hire local contractors to run the day-to-day. In Georgia, that’s Palmetto GBA. In plain English, they pay Medicare claims, they check that hospitals follow the rules, and they help providers understand coverage and billing related to Medicare services. Think of CMS as the rule maker, and the contractors are the people who keep the system moving. They turn policy into practice.

So how does this all connect? These agencies and contractors, they touch every part of the care cycle. Preventative care, vaccines, screening, wellness visits, acute care, hospitals and surgeries, post-acute care, rehab and home health, long-term care, nursing homes and hospice. At each step, someone in public service is making sure care is safe, licensed, and reimbursed properly. So today, to every inspector, analyst, surveyor, and administrator working behind the scenes, thank you. Thank you for your responsiveness, your hard work, your passion for healthcare in the state.

Georgia is growing. People are moving here, retiring here, building their lives here. And you’re doing the hard work to keep our healthcare system steady and strong, often with limited resources but endless dedication. Healthcare law and policy only matters if they reach people, and that happens because of you.

Thanks so much for listening to Health Law with Tara Ravi. I hope you’ll find new ideas, helpful insights, or even a little inspiration along the way.

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Don’t forget to check out the Resources tab on the website, where you can access laws, guidance, or materials referenced in today’s episode. See you next time when we continue exploring health law with some heart.