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AAMC STAT

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Short, Topical and Timely

November 2, 2009

AAMC comments on Senate reform legislation

In a letter to Senate leaders, the AAMC reiterated its positions on key components of Senate health reform legislation that are important to the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals. In the letter, the AAMC expresses "strong support" for, among other things, provisions that would add almost 40,000 physicians to the workforce in the next 10 years, with preferences for primary care and general surgery. The association also discusses its opposition to proposed payment reductions, and urges Congress to take immediate action to reform the problematic physician payment methodology and avert future cuts.

In addition to this recent correspondence, the AAMC has launched a new Web site which highlights how the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals are working with Congress and the administration to achieve meaningful health care reform.

AAMC briefs Capitol Hill on Healthcare Innovation Zones

Academic medical center leaders held a briefing on Oct. 27 for congressional staff to discuss the transformative potential of Healthcare Innovation Zones (HIZs) as part of national health care reform. The AAMC and the Congressional Academic Medicine Caucus co-hosted the session, "Accelerating Healthcare Delivery System Reform through Healthcare Innovation Zones." This was the first event for the caucus, a new, bipartisan group of congressional members dedicated to maintaining and strengthening the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals. During the briefing, AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., said "we want to motivate those on the front lines to use the tools of innovation in a purposeful way. That's what Healthcare Innovation Zones are all about."

New AAMC ad on GME support

A new AAMC print advertising campaign is designed to raise awareness of the physician workforce shortage and build congressional support for expanded funding for graduate medical education. The ads will run in Politico, The Hill, and Roll Call from Nov. 2 -17.

New AAMC report on health disparities

A new report addresses how U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals should commit to the goal of eliminating racial disparities in health care. The report, "Addressing Racial Disparities in Health Care: a Targeted Action Plan for Academic Medical Centers," states that eliminating well-documented disparities should be part of the mission of preparing future generations of physicians to provide the highest-quality care. The report is available free of charge.

House Democrats release reform legislation

On Oct. 29, House Democratic leaders released an $894 billion health care reform package that is expected to expand coverage to an additional 36 million people. The Affordable Health Care for America Act establishes an individual insurance mandate and a public health insurance option that would reimburse providers using negotiated rates. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the cost of the bill is partly offset by $426 billion in reductions to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs. The legislation does not include provisions to avert the scheduled 21.5 percent reduction in 2010 Medicare physician payment updates.

Report: hospitals serving the poor are slow to adopt EHR

Hospitals that serve disproportionately larger shares of disadvantaged patients are slower to adopt electronic health records (EHR), according to data from the first national survey to measure EHR implementation. The report, "Evidence of an Emerging Digital Divide Among Hospitals That Care for the Poor," revealed that "lack of capital remains a large barrier to embracing digital recordkeeping," and predicted more disparities without the necessary federal funding. The report concluded that successful EHR adoption rates will depend largely on how Medicaid funds health information technology (HIT), because the hospitals rely more heavily on it than Medicare. The report was commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

On the move

The Senate has confirmed rural health care expert and family physician Regina Benjamin, M.D., to be surgeon general. She is the founder and CEO of the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama. Prior to that, she served as chairwoman of the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, and as the associate dean for Rural Health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine.

G. Richard Olds, M.D., chair of the department of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, has been named vice chancellor of health affairs and founding dean of the medical school at the University of California, Riverside.

Previous Editions of AAMC STAT

October 26, 2009 | October 19, 2009 | October 5, 2009 | September 28, 2009

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