AAMC Testifies Before VA
CARES Commission
April 4, 2003 - AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.,
testified April 2 before the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) Capital Assets Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES)
Commission on the role of academic affiliates in the CARES
program. The CARES program is designed to study the current
and future health care needs of veterans and to realign the
department's capital assets to meet those needs. The role
of the commission is to ensure that the concerns of veterans
and other stakeholders are fully addressed. Dr. Cohen's statement
stressed the importance and value of the academic affiliation
agreements, while outlining for the commissioners some of
the issues facing the affiliations today as background for
the overall environment in which these decisions will be made.
Dr. Cohen's statement aimed to answer three questions: the
AAMC's overall impressions of the major issues facing medical
school affiliations, the potential impact of new work hours
regulations, and the impact of VA's shift toward providing
care in outpatient clinics. Drawing mostly from the discussions
of the AAMC's VA-Deans Liaison Committee, Dr. Cohen explained
the concerns related to part-time physician time and effort
reporting and the issues surrounding intellectual property
in the VA research program. He also testified that the new
duty hour regulations would have minimal effect on most residency
training programs as, with the possible exception of surgical
programs, the vast majority currently operate well within
the 80-hour weekly limits. On the third question, Dr. Cohen
noted that the move toward providing care in outpatient settings
could result in the perception among medical school deans
that the education and research missions are being discounted.
Dr. Cohen concluded his testimony with a call for both partners
in the affiliations to provide a "strong affirmation
of the overarching benefits of a close working relationship."
Also speaking before the Commission were Stephanie Pincus,
M.D., M.B.A., Chief Academic Affiliations Officer at the VA,
and Polly Bednash, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Executive Director of
the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Both Drs.
Pincus and Bednash stressed the importance of the education
mission to the VA health care system. Dr. Pincus provided
guidelines for making local decisions about the affiliations;
Dr. Bednash outlined the important role the VA plays in educating
nurses.
Information:
Jonathan Fishburn, Director, Research, Education and Veterans' Legislative Affairs
AAMC Office of Governmental Relations
jfishburn@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Get Washington Highlights
in your Inbox!
|
