Rahn Says Let Mission Statement and Strategic Goals Guide UAMS

By Yavonda Chase

“Fundamentally, we are here to improve the human condition,” he said. “That’s where our value lies. And to the extent we can demonstrate that we are doing that, we’ve got value to the public whose interests we are here to serve.”

About 300 people attended Rahn’s State of the University presentation Feb. 7 in the Fred W. Smith Auditorium in the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, with additional employees watching remotely from Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and UAMS Regional Campuses around the state.

Rahn praised the colleges for their success in educating UAMS’ 2,800 students, noting that 87 percent of students graduate on time.

He pointed to other Academic Affairs accomplishments in recent years, including introducing an interprofessional education curriculum, implementing a student information system, converting to an online bookstore that allowed for the opening of a Student Center, centralizing continuing education and establishing a centralized registrar’s office.

“An enormous amount of work has been done in the Academic Affairs Division to support all of our academic programs across the institution,” Rahn said.

He also noted the impact that UAMS’ educational efforts have on Arkansas as a whole.

UAMS ranks second in the nation at keeping its medical school and residency program graduates in the state. Fifty-eight percent of practicing physicians in Arkansas are graduates of UAMS, while 72 percent of licensed pharmacists graduated from UAMS.

UAMS is responsible for residency education at 66 accredited programs that have spots for approximately 800 residents. These programs are in Little Rock at UAMS, ACH, and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, and around the state at UAMS Regional Campuses.

Most recently, UAMS has worked to support new residency programs — White River Medical Center in Batesville and the Unity Health System in White County — in which the accreditation rests with a different institution.

“Think of what the state would be, think of what the health care workforce would be, were it not for the output of UAMS,” he said.

Another important aspect of UAMS’ mission is its focus on research, Rahn said, an area that has made great strides. In the first six months of fiscal year 2017, UAMS researchers at UAMS, ACH and the VA secured $111.6 million in funding, equaling the entire amount raised in fiscal year 2016.

UAMS BioVentures, which has 24 active companies with more than 300 employees and a payroll of $18 million, was recently converted to a 501c3 not-for-profit entity with its own governing board. Now known as BioVentures LLC, it will allow for greater investment and national growth.

Over the last couple of years, the Northwest Regional Campus has secured nearly $10 million for translational and community-based research that focuses predominantly on the Marshallese and Latino population in that area of the state.

Of course none of UAMS’ academic or research achievements would be possible without its clinical programs that subsidize and inspire education and research, he said.

“The excellence we can demonstrate clinically serves a very important function in the education and training of health professionals for the future,” he said. “Our clinical program is the platform for clinical research and for ideas that lead to basic research.”

Those clinical services continue to be in high demand, with UAMS Medical Center being at or near capacity on a regular basis. In January, UAMS opened a Clinical Diagnostic Unit with 16 beds and 4A with 12 beds.

Other areas of clinical progress include the implementation of the electronic medical record system EPIC and the redesign of clinical care under the patient-centered service line model — major innovations that have enabled “us to really focus everyone’s efforts on excellence through the eyes of patients and through demonstrable quality metrics.”

Partnerships will continue to be increasingly important for UAMS, Rahn said. UAMS and ACH are redesigning their partnership into a child health practice plan that will be a single, shared endeavor between the two hospitals. The plan is expected to go into effect July 1.

UAMS in 2015 joined with Baptist Health System, Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Washington Regional Medical Center and St. Bernard’s in Jonesboro to form a Partnership for a Healthy Arkansas, a shared services organization.

UAMS continues to grow its partnership with Baptist and currently provides services in vascular surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, maternal fetal medicine, emergency medicine and orthopedic trauma.

One of the key questions for UAMS is determining what its northwest Arkansas strategy will be, Rahn said.

So far, several academic and research programs have been located at the northwest campus, which has 226 students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy and other health professions programs.

But the clinical enterprise has lagged behind, and continuing to grow in northwest Arkansas will require strategic planning on UAMS’ part, he said.

Rahn announced that Regional Programs, formerly known as the Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), would now be known as Regional Campuses to stress that the sites are an extension of all components of UAMS’ mission around the state.

Regional Campuses are in Fayetteville, Jonesboro, Fort Smith, Texarkana, Pine Bluff, Helena-West Helena, Magnolia and Batesville.

UAMS is an asset to the state of Arkansas, Rahn said. In addition to educating a large portion of the state’s physicians and providing state-of-the-art medical care, UAMS has a huge economic impact on the state.

According to an impact study by TEConomy Partners, UAMS has a total economic impact of $2.6 billion. When you add ACH and the VA, that impact grows to $4.5 billion.

For every $1 UAMS receives in tax revenue, it generates $25, Rahn said.

Of course, UAMS faces challenges, including aging buildings and uncertainty regarding future of the Affordable Care Act and Arkansas Works, he said.

Rahn outlined several key strategies for the future of UAMS, including seeking increased flexibility with funds to pursue partnerships, expanding the mission in northwest Arkansas and developing the capacity to accept insurance risk.

He also stressed that Arkansas needs a dental college, noting that the state is 50th in the nation in ratio of dentists to population and that 64 percent of Arkansas children, ages 6-9, have at least one untreated cavity, compared to a national average of 54 percent. The closest dental school is in Memphis, and the average tuition is $70,000.

“We need a college of dentistry,” he said, as he wrapped up the hour-long presentation.