AAMC President Calls On Academic Medicine To Accept "The Innovation Imperative"

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 09 Nov 2009 - 2:00 PST

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As the debate on health care reform legislation continues to move forward in Congress, AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., today urged leaders of the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals to be "the standard bearers" for innovation in health care delivery.

"Just as we have a moral imperative to give people basic health insurance, we have an innovation imperative-as educators, researchers, clinicians-to finally make our health care system work well for everyone," said Dr. Kirch.

In his president's address, delivered to more than 3,700 attendees at the association's 2009 annual meeting in Boston, Dr. Kirch noted that while innovation is not for the "faint hearted," academic medical centers (AMCs) are "natural leaders," in this area, given their culture shift toward patient-centered, quality-focused, and team-based care delivery.

He pointed out that, by establishing new models of high-performance, high-value, integrated health systems, AMCs across the country are already undertaking clinical care innovations. Similar efforts are also occurring in research, where greater collaboration helps to address complex problems, and in medical education, where cutting-edge technologies are used to train physicians and promote lifelong learning.

AAMC-supported legislation, introduced by Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.), to establish "Healthcare Innovation Zones" (HIZs) would promote the "rapid expansion" of successful pioneering efforts. These zones would empower AMCs "to partner with local providers and hospitals to conduct large-scale experiments in health care delivery for specific patient populations."

"Combining innovations in health care delivery, critically studying the effectiveness of these innovations, and educating professionals to work in these new models play to the strengths of academic medicine," said Dr. Kirch. "The innovation imperative will allow academic medical centers to finally attain alignment of all three missions, while truly fulfilling their goal to improve the health of communities."

For a transcript of Dr. Kirch's address go here.

Source
Association of American Medical Colleges