system, so far, “is working as expected” with most early programs passing their first reviews and only a small number requiring intermediate feedback or site visits. “Those are good signs suggesting change is taking place.” Dr. Coburn advises programs to take initiative and take the changes seriously. Anything less would undermine the new system, he says.
“The message needs to be loud and clear that the use of this [NAS] program and the milestones needs to be genuine, and there should not be concern that [programs’] accreditation status is going to be impaired. When I see programs using the whole scale and scoring resi- dents genuinely, to me that’s a sign of a good program because it is taking its educator role and the task of critically assessing competency seriously. I would be concerned with a program where all residents seemed to be perfect,” Dr. Co- burn said.
• Baylor College of Medicine Medical Center, Houston;
• Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, Ed- inburg, and The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio;
• Hopkins County Memorial Hospital, Sulphur Springs, and The University of Texas Health Science Center, Tyler;
• Knapp Medical Center, Weslaco, and The University of Texas Health Sci- ence Center, San Antonio;
• Memorial Health System of East Tex- as, Lufkin, and Texas A&M University Health Science Center;
• Scenic Mountain Medical Center, Big Spring, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center;
• DeTar Healthcare System, Victoria, and Texas A&M University Health Sci- ence Center;
• Texoma Medical Center, Denison, and University of North Texas Health Sci- ence Center, Fort Worth; and
• Weatherford Regional Medical Center, Weatherford, and University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth.
State rolls out GME expansion programs
Two new graduate medical education (GME) expansion programs approved by the 2013 Texas Legislature are under way after the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) recently distributed nearly $5 million in grant money. Texas lawmakers approved a total of $97 million in state funding for GME in the 2014–15 state budget, an increase of $30 million, or 45 percent more than the previous two years. The legislature es- tablished five new GME grant programs with $14.25 million in funding for the biennium.
THECB awarded a total of $1.3 mil- lion to nine applicants for the state’s new Planning Grant Program for hospi- tals that have never offered GME, and therefore are not subject to current Medicare GME caps. Those grantees are:
The board also awarded a total of $3.25 million to seven applicants for the new GME Unfilled Position Grant Pro- gram for first-year accredited, but un- filled and unfunded, GME slots. Those awardees are:
• Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth; • Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medi- cine, El Paso;
• University of North Texas Health Sci- ence Center, Fort Worth;
• The University of Texas Health Sci- ence Center, Houston;
• The University of Texas Health Sci- ence Center, San Antonio;
• The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston; and
• The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
At press time, THECB had not yet
awarded money for the remaining three grant programs. Find more information about the grants on the THECB website,
http://bit.ly/1o3PIYT.
Survey: Residents want more time with patients
Residents worry about reduced “face- time” with patients, ranking it as one of the most pressing issues facing the medi- cal profession, according to the latest American Resident Survey by The Amer- ican Resident Project (http://american
residentproject.com/blog/american-res ident-survey). The survey asked residents from
across the country about issues ranging from public policy to patient engage- ment and included questions on the most pressing concerns and trends they face as they begin a career in medicine. More than 80 percent of residents
say care coordination helps them better manage chronic diseases by allowing for more time with patients. Fifty-three per- cent say their ability to engage patients in their own care was more challenging than they anticipated. As they prepare to treat an aging population with more complex condi- tions, residents reported that the No. 1 benefit of coordinated care is the ability to better educate patients and caregiv- ers about how to prevent and manage health concerns. Forty-six percent said the pending physician workforce short- age will be the greatest challenge to meeting the needs of the newly insured. Nearly 80 percent of residents in team-based care settings say medical school prepared them well for that work environment. Residents also say:
• The adoption and use of health in- formation technology is among the trends most important to their per- sonal practice of medicine.
• Financial incentives are an important performance motivator.
• They are relatively interested in al- ternative payment models to fee-for- service. n
Amy Lynn Sorrel is the associate editor of Texas Medi- cine. You can reach her by telephone at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1392, or (512) 370-1392; by fax at (512) 370-1629; or by email at
amy.sorrel@
texmed.org.
April 2014 TEXAS MEDICINE 31
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