In order to make its
educational offerings as flexible and exportable as possible, Tufts Health
Care Institute has launched an initiative to develop computer-based
managed care education. This effort builds on the Institute's successful
introductory CD-ROM and its vision for a comprehensive managed
care curriculum.
To support this effort, THCI has forged a contractual
relationship with AstraZeneca that is based on a mutual goal: to provide
targeted, high-quality, computer-based managed care education to those
who need it most. "Both organizations want to help physicians feel
more comfortable in this evolving
environment," says Rosalie Phillips, THCI executive director. "We
have decided to develop a comprehensive `on-line' curriculum,
and AstraZeneca is enthusiastic about its value to health professionals."
New Customized CD-ROMs
As a starting point, THCI's introductory CD-ROM has been
customized for four target audiences: practitionpractitionersare residents,
surgical residents, and medical students. It is now in the hands of more than
520 users, and that number is expected to triple in the next six months.
Meanwhile, during the next two
to three years, THCI will develop a library of additional
computer-based training courses.
"Our plans call for courses in such areas as evidence-based medicine,
quality measurement and improvement, teamwork and
communication, and utilization management," says Dinah Vaprin, THCI
associate executive director.
"Using the updated CD-ROM as a foundation, we will develop an
`on-line' library of current, customized education that is appropriate
for web-based learning and designed for easy use by learners in office,
hospital or home settings," says Vaprin.
AstraZeneca and THCI announce a formal
partnership for the development of on-line managed
care education. From left to right, Maureen
Gillick, AstraZeneca's account director, national
sales/managed care; Brian Smith, regional business director for specialty
and hospital care at AstraZeneca; Philip Boulter, MD,
THCI medical director and THP senior vice president
and chief medical officer;
Teresa Silverman, senior director, learning
design and development, THCI; Sarah Harrison, AstraZeneca area leader
for hospital, pain and anti-infectives; and
Rosalie Phillips, executive director, THCI.
"We are aware that the caliber of THCI's programs is very high," says
Maureen Gillick, national account director, national sales/managed
care, for AstraZeneca. "They understand how all the pieces fit.
"The computer-based education project is a unique undertaking.
At AstraZeneca, we see it as a value-added program. We're saying
to health care providers: `We want to help you to practice better, and
you can turn to THCI and AstraZeneca for the training you need in
managed care to do that,'" says Gillick.
National Committee to Advise THCI
THCI has assembled a national advisory committee to guide
and advise the Institute in this endeavor. Philip Boulter, MD, medical
director for THCI and senior vice president and chief medical officer of
Tufts Health Plan, is chairing the group. David B. Nash, MD, MBA,
associate dean and director, Office of Health Policy and Clinical Outcomes,
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, is serving as deputy chair.
"I am enthusiastic about Tufts Health Care Institute's leadership in
the field of managed care education," says Nash. "The CD-ROMs and
other materials produced by the Institute are the most current and
interactive materials available anywhere to teach physicians at all stages of
training about managed care."
