Report from the IOM:
"Academic Health Centers (AHCs) play a particularly important role in
health care because they are the places that train health professionals,
conduct research that advances health, and provide care, especially to the
most ill and poorest populations. An IOM Committee on the Roles of Academic
Health Centers came together in 2001 to consider how AHC roles in
education, research, and patient care will need to adapt if they are to
continue to meet the public's needs in the coming decades.
The report, Academic Health Centers: Leading Change in the 21st Century,
identifies actions by AHCs, as well as public policy steps, that will
enable AHCs to respond to current trends; it also describes three strategic
management systems that all AHCs will need to establish to enable a more
coordinated and cohesive system. It recommends that Congress support
innovation in clinical education through changes in the financing of
clinical education and that AHCs pioneer the use of information systems for
clinical purposes and incorporate their use into clinical education and
research."
The URL
http://www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=13728
The AAMC response:
Washington, D.C., July 17, 2003 - Association of American Medical Colleges
(AAMC) President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., issued the following statement
today on the Institute of Medicine's report, "Academic Health Centers:
Leading Change in the 21st Century":
"The Institute of Medicine's (IOM) report is a commendable and
comprehensive plan for improving clinical education, patient care and
research at our nation's academic health centers. On behalf of our members,
AAMC applauds the IOM for their acknowledgement of the leadership role that
medical schools and teaching hospitals play in the ongoing effort to meet
the future healthcare needs of Americans.
We also appreciate the IOM's recognition that current funding sources are
insufficient to meet the goals outlined in the report. The development of
an "education innovation fund" is an admirable concept and one the AAMC
supports. However, we strongly disagree with the method the IOM proposes to
create this fund. Recommending that a portion of the Medicare Indirect
Medical Education (IME) payments be redirected for this purpose fails to
recognize the difficult financial realities now facing the nation's medical
schools and teaching hospitals. IME payments are a critical source of
funding for the current important societal missions and activities of these
healthcare institutions.
Academic health centers struggle every day to survive in an environment of
diminishing resources. IME payments are already down 30 percent over the
past five years; payments by Medicaid and private insurers have been
constrained; and funding for Title VII health professions programs may be
cut by 93 percent. If IME payments are slashed further, the very
infrastructure upon which our nation's healthcare system rests may well
begin to falter. For this reason, we hope the IOM will come forward with a
more realistic funding alternative.
AAMC looks forward to working with the IOM and other members of the
healthcare community to achieve the worthy goals set out in the report.