Academic health centers

Academic Health Centers (AHCs) are comprised of academic, hospital, and clinical practice components that play a key role in healthcare delivery by their special ability to identify and implement improvements in outcomes, safety, cost-benefit, and satisfaction. They do this by utilizing a wide range of academic and clinical health professionals and disciplines to provide cutting-edge, highly specialized patient care as well as disproportionate uncompensated care in communities nationwide; to identify the effectiveness of different diagnostic and therapeutic approaches through clinical research; to foster new discoveries in biomedical science and technology and their clinical application; and to educate future generations of health professionals who apply these improvements. As the traditional homes of innovation in health and healing through research, and as the major sites of implementing change through education, AHCs have been at the forefront of improving healthcare. To successfully improve the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare delivery, it is critical that AHCs continue to serve as uniquely integrated models for improving quality and value through novel approaches in education, research, and service.