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Contact: Media Relations Officer, (202) 828-0975.
Duke Study Once Again Demonstrates U.S. Teaching Hospitals Provide Quality Care
Statement Attributed to AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D.
Washington, D.C., January 28, 1999 -- The study authored by Donald H. Taylor, Duke University, et al., in the January 28 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine once again shows that major U.S. teaching hospitals are national resources for patient care as well as education and research. After adjusting for a large number of patient characteristics, and co-existing conditions, the authors found that patients admitted to major teaching hospitals for the treatment of stroke, coronary artery disease and hip fracture had better survival than those admitted to other types of hospitals.
Teaching hospitals provide training to health professionals, sophisticated specialty services, care for the uninsured, and superior research settings. The combination of these valued services, as the study suggests, ultimately result in comprehensive, quality care.
For the past 30 years, Medicare has provided dedicated and stable funding for the training of doctors and the many other valued contributions of teaching hospitals. Medicare's role in the financing of education has helped teaching hospitals to train the best doctors and to provide excellent care to the elderly and disabled.
The Duke researchers acknowledge the current debate in Washington about Medicare's role in the financing of graduate medical education (GME). They conclude, that while there are differentially higher costs at teaching hospitals, the better survival rate for patients treated at these institutions is a "social benefit worth considering." We could not agree more. The Association strongly opposes the Medicare Commission's proposal to alter the funding of graduate medical education. We believe that radical changes to the current funding process will introduce inordinate uncertainty into the complex and detailed process of training future physicians -- and ultimately the quality of care.
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The Association of American Medical Colleges represents the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; some 400 major teaching hospitals, including 74 Veterans Administration medical centers; 87 academic and professional societies representing 88,000 faculty members; and the nation's 67,000 medical students and 102,000 residents.
Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.
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