The "teaching HMO": a new academic partner

Area of Science:

• Academic Medicine
• Health Services Research
• Medical Education

Background:

• Healthcare reform presents challenges to academic medical centers.
• Managed care, a source of concern, also offers opportunities for academic advancement.
• Traditional academic structures face evolving healthcare landscapes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a novel model integrating medical school departments within a freestanding health maintenance organization (HMO).
• To evaluate the benefits and implications of a collaborative alliance between a medical school and an HMO.
• To explore the potential of a "teaching HMO" to revitalize academic medicine.

Main Methods:

• Detailed description of the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Community Health Plan collaboration.
• Analysis of the rationale and benefits of establishing an academic department within an HMO.
• Examination of the replication of the teaching hospital academic structure in a managed care setting.

Main Results:

• The Harvard collaboration established the first medical school department within a freestanding HMO.
• This model replicates the successful academic structure of teaching hospitals within a managed care organization.
• The alliance created a joint entity benefiting both the medical school and the HMO.

Conclusions:

• Alliances between medical schools and HMOs can foster teaching and research in neglected areas like prevention and primary care.
• The "teaching HMO" model offers a viable strategy for academic medical centers to adapt to managed care.
• This innovative approach holds the potential to significantly transform academic medicine in the 21st century.