Back to Front PageVOLUME 6, NUMBER 4

Group on Faculty Practice

by Barbara A. Gabriel

The AAMC's 12 professional development groups are the point of entry for many AAMC constituents. Each month this year, the AAMC Reporter will describe a group's activities.

Members of the GFP enjoy a Summer Symposium in Montreal, Canada.

Faculty practice activities, on average, account for 35 percent of medical school revenue. In addition, faculty practice plans are an invaluable resource for physicians in academic medical centers when it comes to billing, contracting, planning, compliance, and marketing. Composed of 415 physician and executive administrative leaders, the AAMC's Group on Faculty Practice (GFP) provides "a national forum for the discussion of issues of importance related to academic faculty practice," says Lilly Marks, GFP chair and senior associate dean of Administration and Finance at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

"Within an increasingly competitive marketplace, we seek to provide the information and direction that help our members navigate the changing terrain of health care delivery and meet both patient and market demands in concert with their academic missions," she says.

"When a patient is seen by a faculty member in an academic medical center, that is a billable service, and there are a lot of issues that arise from that transaction," explains Charles W. Smith, M.D., executive associate dean for Clinical Affairs at the University of Arkansas College of Medicine and immediate past chair of the GFP. "The faculty collectively needs a group that can address those issues. Faculty practice plans serve as that group."

Specifically, the GFP addresses a variety of issues relevant to the business side of faculty practices, including legislation and regulation impacting physician payment, changes in the financing and delivery of health care services, and the emergence of new organizational models for academic physicians, explains Denise Dodero, assistant vice president for the AAMC's Division of Health Care Affairs and GFP executive secretary.

Among the GFP's activities are national surveys, special data collection projects, and educational and professional development programs, including the annual GFP Summer Symposium. This year's Symposium, held in San Francisco in July, addressed issues such as implementing service improvement plans, measuring and demonstrating quality health care, and managing faculty productivity. The group also conducts the annual GFP Financial Survey of Practice Plans, which compiles financial, legal, and organizational data from GFP member practice plans. Members are able to provide survey data via the Practice Plan Profile Directory (PPPD), an interactive Web-based system that can also be used to create customized online queries.

Finally, the GFP keeps its members informed with Academic Clinical Practice, a quarterly publication that highlights health care management trends, and the GFPLINK Listserve, which allows individuals to share information and resources on an informal, ongoing basis.

Information: Denise Dodero, (202) 828-0493

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