In terms of national policy discussion, the current changes in the model and delivery of health care remains among the most heated and complicated of topics.

And on Thursday, Sept. 20, a panel of local experts assembled by The Daily News will participate in an in-depth discussion about the health care industry, including challenges, opportunities and the outlook through 2013.

“The Business of Health Care” seminar, moderated by The Daily News publisher Eric Barnes, will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 1934 Poplar Ave.

Panelists for the event are Susan Berry-Buckley, president and CEO of Lifeblood; Denise Burke, an attorney with Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada PLLC; and Kevin M. Spiegel, CEO and administrator at Methodist University Hospital.

The seminar’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Michael Lachina, chief medical officer at Saint Francis Healthcare of Memphis and Bartlett.

Thursday’s discussion will center on the evolving new model of health care in the United States, including cost, quality and access to care, and how the new model has become instrumental in driving business decisions for health care organizations.

According to Lachina, the total annual expenditure on health care in the U.S. is nearly $2.8 trillion, or more than 17 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, and is expected to top 20 percent by 2020.

The per capita costs of health care in the U.S. is about $7,960 per year, the highest of all industrialized countries and about twice that of most countries.

The seminar discussion will touch on the impact of the Affordable Care Act and the Supreme Court’s ruling on health care reform.

Lachina practiced as a pediatrician for more than two decades before transitioning to health care administration, working at Baptist Health System of East Tennessee in Knoxville and FirstHealth of the Carolinas in Pinehurst, N.C.

Lachina, who completed his undergraduate work and medical school at the University of Alabama, holds a Master of Medical Management degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Berry-Buckley leads Lifeblood, a regional, nonprofit, volunteer blood center that each year supplies more than 100,000 units of blood to and blood products for patient transfusion.

Burke specializes in the areas of health care law, regulatory compliance counsel and advice, and government investigations. She’s a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, Medical Group Managers Association, Healthcare Financial Management Association, American Health Information Management Association, and Health Care Compliance Association.

And Spiegel, board-certified in health care administration and a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, has served as administrator and CEO of Methodist University Hospital in the Memphis Medical District since 2008. He holds a Master of Business Administration in Health Care Administration from Adelphi University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and previously served as president and chief operating officer of Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Ohio.

Horne LLC and Butler Snow are sponsors of Thursday’s seminar.

The next seminar presented by The Daily News will be its “Commercial Real Estate Review & Forecast” Nov. 1, which will examine how commercial real estate has fared during 2012 and a preview of industry expectations for 2013.

To register for upcoming seminars, visit seminars.memphisdailynews.com.