Integrating missions of an academic medical center

The recent establishment of the Office of the Vice President for Medical Affairs seeks to face the complexities of a modern academic health center by coordinating activities across a spectrum of programs. In January, Jean Robillard, MD, dean of the Carver College of Medicine, was appointed to the additional position of vice president for medical affairs. As such he heads an office that will integrate planning and operations for three UI entities: the Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and University of Iowa Physicians, the physician group practice.

For many years, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the Carver College of Medicine have operated as separate entities. Physicians in the clinical departments are both faculty in the College and clinicians at UI Hospitals and Clinics. The heads of the clinical departments also wear several hats as clinicians, faculty and administrators responsible for the workings of the clinics and the research facilities of their faculty.

The new office combines the finances, planning, information systems, communications and marketing, legal and governmental affairs, and fundraising and development under a single senior management team. "The result will be an organization that will provide seamless, world-class medical care while engaging in cutting-edge research and top-notch education and training," said Robillard. "It will allow us to fully integrate, raise standards and advance UI Health Care to the next level of distinction."

Improving service to referring physicians is one of the explicitly stated priorities for the newly integrated medical center. One of the first steps is to streamline the way clinical appointments are scheduled.

Another innovation is the Service Academy for support staff, which establishes consistent standards of high-quality customer service across the institution. Over the next year, support staff throughout the organization will learn to put these standards into practice—and providers across the state are a key target for this higher level of service.

Craig Syrop, MD, has been named associate vice president for University of Iowa Physicians. In this role, Syrop seeks to foster much closer ties to the physicians around the state with whom UI specialists and sub-specialists collaborate in providing world-class specialty care.