TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical informatics fellowship programs
T2 - In search of a viable financial model: An open letter to the centers for medicare and medicaid services
AU - Lehmann, Christoph U.
AU - Longhurst, C. A.
AU - Hersh, W.
AU - Mohan, V.
AU - Levy, B. P.
AU - Embi, P. J.
AU - Finnell, J. T.
AU - Turner, A. M.
AU - Martin, R.
AU - Williamson, J.
AU - Munger, B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Schattauer 2015.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - In the US, the new subspecialty of Clinical Informatics focuses on systems-level improvements in care delivery through the use of health information technology (HIT), data analytics, clinical decision support, data visualization and related tools. Clinical informatics is one of the first subspecialties in medicine open to physicians trained in any primary specialty. Clinical Informatics benefits patients and payers such as Medicare and Medicaid through its potential to reduce errors, increase safety, reduce costs, and improve care coordination and efficiency. Even though Clinical Informatics benefits patients and payers, because GME funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has not grown at the same rate as training programs, the majority of the cost of training new Clinical Informaticians is currently paid by academic health science centers, which is unsustainable. To maintain the value of HIT investments by the government and health care organizations, we must train sufficient leaders in Clinical Informatics. In the best interest of patients, payers, and the US society, it is therefore critical to find viable financial models for Clinical Informatics fellowship programs. To support the development of adequate training programs in Clinical Informatics, we request that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issue clarifying guidance that would allow accredited ACGME institutions to bill for clinical services delivered by fellows at the fellowship program site within their primary specialty.
AB - In the US, the new subspecialty of Clinical Informatics focuses on systems-level improvements in care delivery through the use of health information technology (HIT), data analytics, clinical decision support, data visualization and related tools. Clinical informatics is one of the first subspecialties in medicine open to physicians trained in any primary specialty. Clinical Informatics benefits patients and payers such as Medicare and Medicaid through its potential to reduce errors, increase safety, reduce costs, and improve care coordination and efficiency. Even though Clinical Informatics benefits patients and payers, because GME funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has not grown at the same rate as training programs, the majority of the cost of training new Clinical Informaticians is currently paid by academic health science centers, which is unsustainable. To maintain the value of HIT investments by the government and health care organizations, we must train sufficient leaders in Clinical Informatics. In the best interest of patients, payers, and the US society, it is therefore critical to find viable financial models for Clinical Informatics fellowship programs. To support the development of adequate training programs in Clinical Informatics, we request that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issue clarifying guidance that would allow accredited ACGME institutions to bill for clinical services delivered by fellows at the fellowship program site within their primary specialty.
KW - Centers for medicare and medicaid services
KW - Clinical informatics
KW - Education
KW - Graduate medical education
KW - Health information technology
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U2 - 10.4338/ACI-2015-03-IE-0030
DO - 10.4338/ACI-2015-03-IE-0030
M3 - Article
C2 - 26171074
AN - SCOPUS:84930705427
SN - 1869-0327
VL - 6
SP - 267
EP - 270
JO - Applied Clinical Informatics
JF - Applied Clinical Informatics
IS - 2
ER -