Association of Academic Health Centers

Transcription

1 1 Association of Academic Health Centers About AAHC An academic health center consists of an allopathic or osteopathic medical school, at least one other health professions school or program, and at least one affiliated or owned teaching hospital. The organization and structure of these institutions vary. There are approximately 125 academic health centers in the United States. Approximately 100 academic health centers are members of the AHC. AHC is comprised of institutional members that are the health sciences complexes of the major universities in the United States. There are no individual members. The institutional representative to the association is the chief executive officer, who typically holds the title of president, vice president for health affairs, chancellor or vice chancellor, depending on the institution. AHC's broad array of activities includes forums, policy seminars and publications designed to educate our representatives and interested others about current issues in education, research, health care delivery and health and science policy. AHC collaborated with numerous strategic partners on communications, education, research and international efforts. Finally, AHC periodically engages in special initiatives consistent with its missions, such as current grantfunded projects on health workforce and education. Concentrations of the AHC toward: Broad and far-reaching concerns, such as the future of biotechnology and the ethical implications of research, and overviews of current events and advances and their impact on education, research, and health care; The financial and managerial aspects of the short- and long-term operation of academic health centers, such as research funding, infrastructure, and mission-based management; The organization and governance of academic health centers; and A multiprofessional and interdisciplinary approach to issues and leadership across the span of health professions schools Mission of AAHC Mission Statement: The Association of Academic Health Centers (AHC) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health of the people by advancing the leadership of academic health centers in health professions education, biomedical and health services research, and health care delivery. The AHC has served and represented academic health centers for more than 40 years. More than 100 institutions are members of the AHC. These institutions are the nation's primary resources for education in the health professions, biomedical and health services research, and many aspects of patient care. They each consist of an allopathic or osteopathic school of medicine, at least one other health professions school or program, and one or more teaching hospitals at major universities throughout the United States.

2 2 The AHC addresses important health care issues that range from the problem of the uninsured to the integration of new medical technologies, issues relevant to the education, research, health care, and community service missions of academic health centers. AAHC Programs and Projects We identify and analyze issues, formulate policy, engage in research, move legislative agendas forward, promote innovation, and create partnerships and collaborations to promote and enhance our mission. We inject a long-term, broad multiprofessional outlook into health care debates and open creative dialogue with policymakers. We are member driven, building on the interests and recommendations of our members the CEOs of academic health centers nationwide. We sponsor groups for specialized academic health center senior staff who most often report to the CEO. We establish special initiatives and collaborations on issues of national concern, including access to care, biodefense, and health promotion, disease prevention. We ensure the program achieves it goals and has many outcomes, including recommendations for policy formulation, policy statements, issue briefs, case studies, research projects and analyses and recommendations on best practices and performance measures. We disseminate our findings to a vast audience nationwide. Publications: AAHC does not publish a journal. Publications of AAHC that may be of interest to the Collaborative include: Academic Health Centers Provide Leadership in Community Health Stakeholder Initiatives. Black CE and Evans CH, eds This report describes the key role of five academic health center leaders in initiating outreach to community stakeholders to address major health issues in local communities. Collaborating with key leaders in communities across the country, academic health center leaders developed action plans to address obesity, immigrant health issues, community health disparities, and other health issues. The report describes recommendations, follow-up and ongoing activities, and successful outcomes from each local initiative. The report describes models for coalition building and collaborative action that may be used by other academic health centers working to improve the health of local communities. Academic Health Centers and Universities: Shaping a Common Agenda. Rubin E, Larson T and Griffith J. eds This compilation of papers analyzes the relationships between academic health centers and their parent universities in the context of the social and economic challenges of the mid-1990s. Several papers explore the ways in which society shapes the university environment and culture. Others assess the ways in which universities and academic health centers impact society locally,

3 3 regionally and nationally. Additional papers assess marketplace forces producing organizational and structural changes within academic health centers, as well as such issues as accreditation and tenure. The concluding essay offers some ways in which academic health centers and their parent universities may begin to shape a common agenda. Promoting Community Health: The Role of the Academic Health Center. Skelton WD and Osterweis M, eds This compilation of papers examines health promotion and disease prevention issues and the ways in which these issues interface with the missions of the nation's academic health centers. Papers in the first section discuss the research and data underlying many preventive strategies. Those in section two consider how forces in the public and private sectors are combining to make prevention a national priority. The third section includes discussion and analysis of programs and activities at individual academic health centers throughout the country. Enhancing Health Status: The Role of Academic Health Centers. Osterweis M and Eichhorn SF This volume was intended to assist the AHC membership in developing individual and collective responses to the need for greater innovation in the area of health promotion. The report includes case studies of health promotion and disease prevention activities and programs at six member institutions: the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Kentucky, the University of New Mexico, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Rush-Presbyterian- St. Luke's Medical Center, and the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn. The case studies are intended to be descriptive rather than to furnish a model for replication. Board of Directors T. Michael Bolger, J.D., Medical College of Wisconsin. Chair Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O., New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, Associate Chair for Medicine Frank B. Cerra, M.D., University of Minnesota, Chair Elect (Collaborative member school) Richard H. Dean, M.D., Wake Forest University Health Sciences Nancy W. Dickey, M.D., The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, Associate Chair for Dentistry Michael V. Drake, M.D., University of California System, Associate Chair for Allied Health R. Philip Eaton, M.D., The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Associate Chair for Nursing Harry R. Jacobson, M.D., Vanderbilt University (Collaborative member school) Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, University of Pennsylvania Fred Sanfilippo, M.D., Ph.D., The Ohio State University I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Associate Chair for Pharmacy

4 4 AAHC Councils Council on Workforce and Education Council on Health Care Delivery and Infrastructure Council on Research and Science Council on Organization and Management Upcoming Meetings and Conferences 2005 Spring Meeting: Public Policy: Perverse Incentives and Unintended Consequences April 3-5, 2005 The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Washington, DC Association Activities Relevant to the Work of the Collaborative 1. The Association of Academic Health Centers Awards $80,000 for Community Health- Promotion Programs Press Release: June 11, 2003 Washington, June 9. The Association of Academic Health Centers, through its American Network of Health Promoting Universities, today announces awards of $20,000 to four of its member institutions for planning grants to convene community stakeholders to improve the health of local communities. The grant recipients, selected by an external review committee, are: Duke University Health System, New York Medical College, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. These grants will enable the CEOs of academic health centers to take an immediate and tangible leadership role in brining together key local leaders for a working session to take stock of the health of the community and to identify collaborative steps that can be taken to improve one or more dimensions of the health of the community. The role of the academic health center CEO publicly demonstrates the institution s commitment to improving the health of the greater community, said Dr. Clyde H. Evans, director of the Network. Active involvement of Dr. Ralph Snyderman at Duke, The Rev. Msgr. Harry Barrett at New York Medical College, incoming president, Dr. Roy Wilson, at Texas Tech, and Dr. Harold Maurer at Nebraska, was a crucial factor in awarding the grants. The grants will be used to help plan and implement a countywide obesity reduction initiative in Durham, NC, an immigrant health initiative in New York State s Hudson Valley, a health disparities project targeting obesity in Lubbock, TX, and an effort to reduce health disparities in Omaha, NE. Each will bring together a unique consortium of stakeholders needed to tackle such complex community health issues and to ensure the success and sustainability of the projects. The American Network of Health Promoting Universities, a grant-funded project of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a coalition of universities and academic institutions dedicated to increasing awareness and incorporating health-promotion and disease-prevention ideals and

5 5 practices throughout the university and the communities it serves. The Network works to enhance the role of academic leaders in health promotion. The Association of Academic Health Centers is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health of the people by advancing the leadership of academic health centers in health professions education, biomedical and health services research, and health care delivery. 2. Center for Inter-Professional, Community-based Learning The Center for Inter-Professional, Community-based Learning (CICL), was a cooperative agreement between the Association of Academic Health Centers (AHC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services- Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), from January 1997 to June CICL s primary objectives are to: 1. Strengthen and institutionalize academic health centers commitment to interdisciplinary, community-based learning, particularly in under-served areas. 2. Provide expertise to academic health centers with respect to model curricula, training sites, and relationships with community care facilities for interdisciplinary, communitybased learning. 3. Support an interdisciplinary network of health care professionals who are working to create and strengthen an interdisciplinary, community-based curriculum. CICL serves as the umbrella for the AHC s multiprofessional activities, including: The Group on MultiProfessional Education (GOMPE) Representatives from AHC member institutions who are responsible for coordinating interdisciplinary and multiprofessional activities and programs on their respective campuses. The Congress of Health Professions Educators An annual national gathering of faculty and administrators from across the health professions dedicated to: engaging in dialogue on the future of educational policies and practices; promoting and fostering collaboration and interdisciplinary activities among schools within academic health centers; and, educating participants on current and emerging public policy issues. 3. American Network of Health Promoting Universities The American Network of Health Promoting Universities is an AHC project that seeks to elevate health promotion on the agendas of academic health centers (AHCs), enhance sophistication among all AHC leaders about health promotion, increase the range and effectiveness of health promotion efforts at AHCs, strengthen partnerships between AHCs and local communities, and increase awareness of AHCs' contributions to health promotion. The Network consists of 72 AHC institutional members that embrace the concept of health promotion and strive to improve the health of all their constituencies by taking account of the health consequences of their policies, decisions, processes, programs and activities. This commitment to health promotion and disease and injury prevention is manifested in their multiple roles as educational organization, employer, community institution, and, often as health care provider. The Network seeks to identify and disseminate innovative examples of programs, policies, processes, and

6 6 organizational structures that improve health. By looking at these best practices through a "health impact" lens we hope to encourage seeing these institutional features in a new light. Our goal is to create "connective tissue" among institutional leaders and between institutional leaders and health promotion practitioners across the country as a way to learn from and build upon each other s work. Network Projects: Newsletter: The goal of the newsletter is to stimulate exchange among members and with important stakeholders outside academia. The newsletter will include best practices, lessons learned from "front line" practitioners, regular updates on activities, and education and research issues related to health promotion. The newsletter will attempt to weave together the multiple aspects of health promotion with the multiple dimensions of the academic mission, focusing on issues specifically relevant to academic health centers and their leaders. Dissemination of Best Practices: The Network will highlight best practices from member institutions in health education and clinical preventive services. It will also spotlight best practices in institutional policies and organizational structures that enhance health promotion efforts, in developing and maintaining community partnerships, in implementing participatory community-academic research projects, in communicating to the public the contributions being made to the community by academic health centers, and in other areas. Editorial Board Meetings: Each year several sites will be selected where an academic health center is already actively engaged in health promotion in its community. At each site, briefings will be arranged with members of the local media (print and electronic), the academic health center leader, and the Network director. These events will bring together senior leadership of the academic health center with opinion leaders of local community; better educate opinion leaders about the importance of health promotion and prevention; build or enhance networks among local health promotion practitioners; stimulate the beginnings of a community-wide effort to articulate a vision of a healthy community and take steps to achieve that vision. ADEA Meeting with CCPH CCPH staff met by phone with AHC Vice President Clyde Evans to discuss possible collaboration on promoting community-engaged scholarship. Top Strategic Issues: Workforce issues Access to health insurance/care Health promotion/disease prevention Current Initiatives: Network of Health Promoting Universities- RWJ grant has expired but AAHC is committed to continuing the program. Advances in Care- initiatives developing health education seminars for providers and patients.

7 7 Center for Interdisciplinary Community-Based Learning- HRSA grant has expired, AAHC trying to find other funding to continue the program. GOMPE (Group on MultiProfessional Education) Council on Bioterrorism Global Health Trilateral Meetings Other Councils: Education and Workforce Issues, Research, Healthcare Delivery Opportunities for working with the Collaborative: AAHC tends to work at a level higher than promotion and tenure criteria Interaction is with Vice Presidents and Chancellors Congress of Health Professions is designed to cut across health disciplines, attracts deans and individual faculty not Vice Presidents. Promotion and tenure issues may come up at this type of event. o 2005 scheduled for 1 st week of June- Focus on curriculum framework, clinical prevention and population health. AAHC will send the Commission s report to all AAHC members and extend an invitation to AHCs interested in working on this issue further. Contact Information Association of Academic Health Centers 1400 Sixteenth Street, NW, Suite 720 Washington, DC (202) References: Association of Academic Health Centers Website. Accessed 11/22/04.