National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) awards CHA Top Honors

Cambridge Health Alliance’s Contribution to Medical Education Reform at Harvard Earns Top Honor from the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems

Cambridge, MA...Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) announced today it has received the 2007 Chair Award presented by the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH). CHA is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School (HMS) and in 2004, as part of HMS' curriculum reform efforts, CHA developed an innovative pilot program for third-year medical students - the Cambridge Integrated Clerkship (CIC). The NAPH award honors the CIC.

ABOUT THE HMS-CIC
The CIC is one of several models being evaluated by HMS as part of its medical school curriculum reform efforts. The CIC curriculum emphasizes continuity and whole patient care. Twelve third-year HMS students spend an entire year at one hospital (in this case, CHA) instead of doing traditional rotations in different specialties at different institutions. Over the course of a full year students learn how one hospital’s systems work, develop relationships with faculty, and care for a panel of patients. In addition to following patients through the entire course of illness, CIC students participate in weekly tutorials based on actual care of their patients, which integrates instruction in the basic sciences with training to address common and important issues in medicine.

Now in its third year, the CIC’s success underscores how the severity and diversity of disease at safety net hospitals provide an outstanding training ground for future physicians. CHA’s hospitals are important settings in which to teach medical students about societal and public health aspects of medicine, cultural competence, increasing access, and reducing disparities. Public hospitals are environments that attract staff of tremendous talent and commitment, and are agents of change.

ABOUT THE NAPH AWARD & LUNCHEON
The NAPH Safety Net Awards program recognizes hospitals that have designed and implemented creative and successful programs to address the demands of an ever-changing health care environment. The Chair Award is the NAPH Awards Committee’s top selection, and this year there were 64 submissions. CHA leadership, and the Harvard Medical School faculty at CHA that founded the CIC, accepted the prize at the 2007 Safety Net Awards Luncheon on June 28, part of the NAPH Annual Conference taking place in Boston.

ABOUT NAPH
The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) represents more than 100 of America's most important safety net hospitals and health systems. These facilities provide high-quality health services for all patients, including the uninsured and underinsured, regardless of ability to pay. NAPH is the only national organization representing the interests of public and other safety net hospitals and health systems before Congress and the Administration. For more information: www.naph.org.

Cambridge Health Alliance is a regional healthcare system with three hospitals and more than twenty primary care practices in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston's metro-North communities. As a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance offers medical residency/training programs and undergraduate learning experiences in hospital and community settings. Cambridge Health Alliance also includes the Cambridge Public Health Department, CHA Physician's Organization (CHAPO), and Network Health, a managed Medicaid and Commonwealth Care plan.