Interdisciplinary ambulatory education and service in primary care at the University of New Mexico

To compete and survive in a managed care market, academic health centers must develop integrated delivery systems in general and an integrated primary care system in particular. However, the departmental-based structure at most academic health centers is ill-suited to this purpose. Service and education are usually segregated by department, and the professional activities of primary care faculty in different departments are fragmented, leaving them weakened as a political force within the institution. The University of New Mexico established a model of integrated primary care education and service by creating three interdisciplinary primary care clinics staffed by primary care residents and faculty. The clinics attracted a substantial portion of each department's faculty and residents. The clinics united primary care providers from different departments as a stronger, more unified voice in negotiating with the hospital and in fostering needed changes for primary care in the institution. Interdisciplinary teams require considerable time and labor both in planning (because of joint decision making) and in operation. Better staff structures and staff development must be learned through trial and error because there are not established benchmarks for interdisciplinary teams. Governance presents problems, primarily because loyalties to departments may supersede those to the clinic practice, and sometimes the departments' teaching priorities are challenged by clinic directors' need to ensure filling their interdisciplinary staff needs. These obstacles to collaboration can be addressed creatively, and ultimately the comprehensiveness and quality of care convinces providers and the institution.