As the debate on health care reform legislation continues to move forward in Congress, Association of American Medical Colleges President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, MD, urges leaders of the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals to be the standard bearers for innovation in health care delivery.
Darrell G. Kirch, MD
Kirch says that a year ago he was asked if he believed that academic medicine would have any voice in the health care reform debate. He answered that academic medical centers do have a strong voice in ensuring that the special contributions of our members are recognized in any proposed changes in the current legislation.
Kirch, who recently presented at Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center Future Makers Lecture Series, says, “Just as we have a moral imperative to give people basic health insurance, we have an innovation imperative, as educators, researchers and clinicians, to finally make our health care system work well for everyone.â€
In his presentation, Kirch pointed out that, by establishing new models of high-performance, high-value, integrated health systems, academic medical centers 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, he noted.
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 centers 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, continues 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.
Listen to Kirch’s Emory presentation or read his recent address to the American Association of Medical Colleges.
