Aligning academic and clinical missions through an integrated funds-flow allocation process.

Although much has been written about implementing mission-based management tools to help facilitate managing the primary academic missions at academic medical centers, there is surprisingly little written on standardized methodologies to align financial support across the academic and clinical missions. However, professional fee reimbursement has not kept pace with costs, and this, combined with potential decreases in research funding associated with the reductions in National Institutes of Health funding, creates additional financial challenges for academic clinical departments that do not share in technical fee reimbursement. As an integrated academic health system, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Health System recently took the opportunity to broadly restructure funds-flow opportunities, so as to help align the strategic goals across all of the clinical department activities.