Learn about the importance of integration in academic medical centers.
The President of the Association of Academic Health Centers, Dr. Steven Wartman, speaks on the importance of integration in the academic medical center:
The Importance of Integration
"As I’ve come to gain a deeper understanding of the academic health center enterprise, it’s apparent that these institutions are moving towards increasing the integration of their various parts, including health professions schools, institutes, centers, research programs, and administrative departments. This trend is driven by the highly competitive national and international environment that renders internal dissonance within an institution a drag on resources, spirit, and intellectual creativity. Simply put, most institutions are finding it increasingly difficult—and costly—to have some of their key components working at cross purposes. Because the organizational structures of academic health centers vary, institution-specific approaches to address this problem are being implemented at a number of levels. In places where integrative efforts are stymied by rigid structures, institutions are coming up with innovative ideas to bring components closer as a strategic first step. These include merging of structures, establishing new advisory boards, and creating new overarching positions. Some of the desired results, for example, are a reduction in the friction between the teaching hospital and the medical school, or an increase in the funding and support of important mission-related areas. Regardless of the approach used, the goal is the same: to get all the parts of the academic health center working in the same direction in order to take competitive advantage of the power of integration backed by the efficient investment of resources. In the end, I believe those institutions that are able to move effectively in the direction of integration will be the most successful; those that are unable to do so will find themselves in the difficult position of trying to maintain the status quo."
To learn more about academic medical centers and integration, attend Tradeline's Academic Medical Centers 2007 Conference.
