Two Physicians Appointed to TJU/U.S. Healthcare Managed
Care Fellowships

Two physicians have been appointed as the first fellows in the US Quality Algorithms (USQA) Managed Care Fellowship Program at Jefferson. They are Robin Smith, MD, and Ralph Bischof, MD

The fellowship is a first-of-kind collaboration between one of the country's foremost managed care companies, U.S. Healthcare, which provides the funding, and a leading academic medical center. The fellowship will train a new generation of physican-managers to take influential roles in managed care organizations, and to measure and improve the quality and efficiency of patient care services.

During the one-year postgraduate program, fellows pursue a full-time curriculum of course work, practicum experience, research and patient care focused on the tenets of quality management and clinical outcomes measurement.

"Our goal is to develop a new generation of physician-managers with the skills to be leaders in a rapidly transforming healthcare delivery system," explains David B. Nash, MD, MBA, director of Health Policy and Clinical Outcomes and fellowship co-director.

The fellowship curriculum includes modules such as medical informatics, biostatistics and epidemiology, quality and utilization management, and the organization of integrated healthcare delivery systems. The program is geared towards physicians who have completed a residency in internal medicine, family practice or pediatrics, as well as other medical backgrounds.

It involves a dozen faculty members across three Jefferson departments and an equal number of U.S. Healthcare medical directors, says Dr. Nash.

"There is no program or curriculum like this in any place, anywhere - so far," adds Dr. Nash. "That's what so exciting about it ­p; there is nothing like it anywhere in the United States, though I am sure other companies will eventually mimic what U.S. Healthcare has done jointly with Jefferson."