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  • Washington Highlights

    AAMC Responds to E&C Members’ Request for GME Information

    Len Marquez, Senior Director, Government Relations

    Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., issued a Jan.16 statement regarding the association’s response to the Dec. 6 House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee’s Open Letter Requesting Information on Graduate Medical Education (GME).

    Members of the committee requested health care provider and public input on GME as they consider the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on the Governance and Financing of Graduate Medical Education’s report, “Graduate Medical Education That Meets the Nation’s Health Needs”. The AAMC also shared its response to the IOM with the Energy and Commerce Committee.

    In the statement, Dr. Kirch emphasizes the fundamental role the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals play “in strengthening the U.S. health care system, training the world’s best doctors while providing quality health care, and conducting ground breaking medical research.”

    Focusing on AAMC’s fundamental patient care mission, he further states “the nation’s health care system faces the twin challenges of improving access to high quality care while managing costs and addressing what will be a significant shortage of physicians in the coming years.” To meet these challenges, Dr. Kirch highlights the multifaceted approach the AAMC and its members have endorsed, including:

    • Leading continued innovations in care delivery, such as team-based care, telemedicine, and accountable care organizations (ACOs);
    • Ensuring meaningful and reasonable transparency and accountability standards for Medicare Indirect Medical Education (IME) funding to strengthen the public’s understanding of the critical role federal payments play in supporting academic medicine; and

    • Explaining the need for a modest increase in the number of residency training positions supported by Medicare in order to begin alleviating the projected physician shortage.

    Finally, Dr. Kirch ensures that “America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals are committed to preserving patient access to care through an adequate and well-trained physician workforce. By taking these steps we can ensure that patients continue to receive the highest quality care possible.”