New Clinical Enterprise

Originally Released: March 1, 1996
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MEDICAL CENTER CREATES NEW CLINICAL ENTERPRISE

A new business organization, the University of Maryland Clinical Enterprise (UMCE), has been created by officials at the Medical Center to help meet the challenges of the rapidly evolving health care market. The UMCE was created jointly by the leaders from each of the Medical Center's components -- the Medical System, the School of Medicine and University Physicians, Inc.

Addditionally, Robert A. Barish, M.D., professor of surgery and head of emergency medicine, has been named as the interim director of UMCE.

At the core of the UMCE is the Medical Center's integrated delivery system which emcompasses the following:

Primary care sites in West Baltimore (UniversityCare sites at Edmondson Village, West Side, Waxter Center, Penn-North, Howard Park and the UMMC downtown campus)
Acquired primary care practices in both West Baltimore and Central Maryland
Linkages with community physicians through the Davidge Group (a practice management organization whose services also include information systems support and managed care contracting services to affiliated practices)
Creation of several multispecialty practices (such as University Pediatric Specialists in Bel Air and the facility under construction at Shipley's Choice in Anne Arundel County)
Managed care contracting and utilization management

"Academic medical centers throughout th country are exploring new ways to govern themselves efficiently and meet the demands of the market for quality and value," notes Morton I. Rapoport, M.D., president and CEO of the Medical System. "This new organization gives us a streamlined approach that will ensure that the Medical System, the School of Medicine and the clinical practices work together in the most efficient way possible to fulfill our overall missions."

Notes Donald E. Wilson, M.D., M.A.C.P., dean of the School of Medicine, " Today's marketplace, which places greater emphasis on pricing, demands that we become increasingly competitive, not only to be responsive to patients, referring physicians and payors, but also to adequately fund our education, research and community service missions."

The UMCE will be overseen by a board consisting of the president of the University of Maryland at Baltimore, the dean of the School of Medicine, the president and CEO of the Medical System, the chairman of the Medical System Board of Directors, and the president of the University Physicians, Inc. (UPI). Development of the primary care network, which will eventually include more than 200 primary care physicians throughout the region, will be jointly funded by the Medical System, the School of Medicine and the UPI.

"I am looking forward to heading up this new organization," says Dr.Barish. "There are many challenges awaiting us, both internally and externally, as we evolve into a health care system that can effectively meet the demands of patients and payors while still maintaining our role as one of the nation's leading sites for medical education and research."

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This page was last updated on: March 12, 2008.