|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
113th AAMC Annual Meeting: Leadership Forum Examines Trends, Future Opportunities Plenary Speakers Address Challenges, From Bioterrorism to Health Disparities Roundup from San Francisco: AAMC's 113th Annual Meeting Notes Trends, Concerns, Solutions Medical School Applications May Be On the Rise For the Love of Country: Afghan-American Physicians Rebuild Medical Education in Their Homeland Caring for Community: Loma Linda Medical Students Organize Health, Mentoring Programs Viewpoint: The State of the VHA Is Strong A Word From the President
|
|
Viewpoint: The State of the VHA Is Strong
The transformation of the VA healthcare system over the past seven years, though not complete, is indeed a landmark beginning. In almost every measure, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) eads private and other government healthcare providers, and its care has become synonymous with high quality. I have reorganized the VHA National Leadership Board structure to support my focus on consistent improvement across the entire integrated healthcare system. Our academic affiliates are playing a significant role in realizing these goals. I believe that by collaborating, we will both be better able to meet our unique missions. Today it is a profoundly better healthcare system, a result of visionary planning and strong management. But credit belongs especially to the dedication and commitment of our 180,000 healthcare employees. It is my intention as Under Secretary to support this dedicated workforce and to perpetuate the dramatic change the VHA has undergone. The VHA and its medical school affiliates have collaborated well, and will continue to do so. Every citizen who seeks medical care - veteran and non-veteran alike - benefits from VA care and its statutory charge to train healthcare professionals. Indeed, the VA is a largely unrecognized cornerstone of medical education in America. Academic partnershipsThe VHA has partnership agreements with 107 medical schools. More than 80,000 healthcare professionals receive clinical training in the VHA each year, and many allied healthcare trainees (in more than 40 disciplines) receive much of their education in the VA's 5,000 education programs. The VHA is the second-largest financial supporter of education for medical professionals after Medicare. More than 80 percent of current trainees highly value their VA educational experience and, if given the opportunity, would choose to train in the VA again, according to an April 2001 VA trainee national survey. The VHA and its academic partners are in the forefront of protecting veterans who volunteer to participate in research. In October, the VHA, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), and the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) agreed to coordinate the accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (HRPP) at VA medical centers, especially for any VA facility whose Institutional Review Board (IRB) of record is administered by the affiliated academic institution. This groundbreaking collaboration means that the review boards of the VA's academic affiliates - after they have gone through and received a final decision on the accreditation through AAHRPP - do not need to be reviewed additionally by the NCQA. The NCQA will then use the information to make its final decision on accreditation of the research protection program at each VA medical center. All VA facilities will continue to be required to be accredited by NCQA. AAHRPP Executive Director Marjorie Speers, Ph.D., lauded this decision. "We are keenly aware that institutions are allocating significant resources to improve the breadth and quality of their human research protection programs," Dr. Speers said. "This decision by the VA means that the accreditation process will not become a duplicative burden for the 43 university affiliates, which is very good news." The VHA's medical educational mission is a critical element in providing high-quality health care for veterans. Heber H. Newsome Jr., M.D., dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, notes, "The VA has been a great complementary partner to many academic medical centers. Each supplies, to the other, missing ingredients." Cooperation - and challengesAs in any partnership, issues may occasionally arise which require additional understanding and mutual cooperation. The VHA faces some very real challenges. With the sustained, rapid growth in our patient population to more than 4.3 million veterans receiving health care, the current resources are clearly insufficient. Additionally, many new users use the VHA predominantly to receive prescription drug benefits while seeking more complex medical care elsewhere, thus threatening the tertiary-care mission. The VHA wants to provide comprehensive health care and to address the unique needs arising from military service; however, we are challenged to avoid becoming a "drug store." Another potentially challenging issue is the work hours of part-time physicians, who are frequently "shared" with our academic partners. While the VHA recognizes the essential contributions of our academic partners, there is concern about accountability and accuracy of work hours reported in the current system. The VHA is addressing the system by which physician time is documented in an effort to make the system more reflective of the changing nature of physicians' work activities. However, until a new system is in place, physicians should recognize that increased attention must be paid to documentation of work activities in order to protect the interests of the physicians, the affiliate, and the VA alike. |
||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Contact Us © 1995-2008 AAMC Terms and Conditions Privacy Statement |
