AAMC co-authors Washington Post
commentary on Healthcare Innovation Zones
AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., and Edward D. Miller,
M.D., dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, co-authored an opinion
article
that appeared Sept. 22 on The Washington Post's online forum, Second
Opinions. The article, "How Academic Medicine Can Help," discussed
the Healthcare Innovations Zones Program Act currently under consideration
in Congress.
LCME to host public hearing on
proposed revisions to standards
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) will hold a hearing
for public comment on a proposal to revise accreditation standards
ED-11 and ED-15. The hearing will be held on Nov. 10, at 1 p.m.
at the Marriott Copley Place hotel in Boston, Mass., during the
2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Written comments may be forwarded until Dec. 31 to the LCME secretary.
Finance committee takes up health care reform
legislation
The Senate Finance Committee began its mark-up of a health care
reform package, the America's Healthy Future Act. The legislation
is an amended version of the act
released Sept. 16 by Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.). There
are more than 500 amendments to the revised proposal, including
ones which would narrow the portion of unused residence slots eligible
for redistribution, allow ambulatory centers to receive Medicare
payments for graduate medical education expenses, establish teaching
health centers, and authorize $125 million in teaching health center
development grants over the next three years. Other amendments filed
would clarify the role, membership, and authority of the Medicare
commission and introduce AAMC-supported legislation, establishing
a "health care innovation zone" demonstration project.
New report on the role of biological research
On Nov. 17, the National Research Council of the National Academies
released a far-reaching assessment
of the role of biological research in addressing significant global
challenges, including renewable energy, food security, and public
health. The report, "A New Biology for the 21st Century", was the
work of a committee co-chaired by Thomas Connelly of du Pont and
Phillip Sharp, Institute Professor of MIT's Koch Institute of Integrative
Cancer Research calls for an integrated national initiative in biological
research to address those global challenges, similar in scope to
the Human Genome Project. The report also recommended more intensive
development of information technologies to support biological research.
The project was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the
Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
New NIH Web site for stem cell line requests
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has opened a new Web site
for researchers submitting requests for approval of human embryonic
stem cell lines in NIH-funded research. Requests can be submitted
via an interactive Web form on a new NIH Web site. NIH Director
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., also announced the creation of
a new nine-member advisory group called the Working Group for Human
Embryonic Stem Cell Eligibility Review, which will help determine
whether research requests meet federal guidelines.
Eisenberg safety and quality awards announced
Recipients of this year's John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and
Quality awards
were announced last week. Tejal Gandhi, M.D., of Brigham and Women's
Hospital, received an award for research and improvements on ambulatory
safety issues using information technology. The awards were established
in 2002 to recognize achievements in quality and patient safety
through research or system innovation.
On the move
Humayun J. Chaudhry, D.O., M.S., FACP, FACOI, has been named the
new president and chief executive officer of the Federation of State
Medical Boards, effective in October. Chaundhry is currently the
commissioner and chief executive officer of the Suffolk County,
N.Y., Department of Health Services.
