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PROFESSIONAL ISSUESIOM calls for education innovation fundIts report asks Congress to use existing funds to reward new approaches to care, but some say diverting money could hurt institutions.By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. Aug. 4, 2003. Congress should take a portion of the Medicare indirect medical education payments it makes to academic medical centers and create a fund that only finances innovative education, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine. But, the idea is meeting some resistance among medical educators. Jordan Cohen, MD, president of the Assn. of American Medical Colleges, greeted the report with caution. "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," Dr. Cohen said in a prepared statement. IOM committee members said they intensely debated the funding recommendation, which was one of a raft of proposals aimed at modernizing academic medical centers and improving patient care, knowing it would be controversial. "The section on financing is the most unusual, most provocative part of the report," said IOM task force member Nancy-Ann DeParle, a senior adviser for JP Morgan Partners and a former HCFA administrator. "Most reports talk of the struggles of academic health centers and the need for more funding. We say redirect the money we have." The report, "Academic Health Centers: Leading Change in the 21st Century," proposes that Congress create a competitive grant fund using a portion of the indirect medical education payments it doles out each year. In 2003 those payments were estimated at $2.6 billion. This ongoing fund would support such educational innovations as the use of clinical information systems and testing of new educational approaches in hospital and nonhospital settings. [...]Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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