April 2, 1999

Research from the MGH/Partners Institute for Health Policy suggests that academic health centers (AHCs) in highly competitive markets may have less internal funding available to support scientific research than do centers in less competitive markets.

The study, which appeared in the March 24 Journal of the American Medical Association, found that, although 6.1 percent of research support in less competitive markets was provided by the AHCs themselves rather than from external sources such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), only 2.5 percent of research funding in highly competitive markets was provided by the institutions.

Joel Weissman, PhD, of the Institute for Health Policy, the study’s lead author says: "As competition in health care markets continues to grow, more medical schools and teaching hospitals are going to find it harder to compete, and that means they are going to have less money to fund research on their own." Internal funding, the authors note, is especially important for new lines of research that may not be eligible for NIH or other external support. David Blumenthal, MD, director of the Institute for Health Policy, was a co-author of the study, as were Demet Saglam, Eric Campbell, PhD, and Nancyanne Causino, EdD, all of the institute.

Blumenthal also directs the Commonwealth Fund Task Force on Academic Health Centers, which recently released a report stating that grants from the NIH do not fully cover the costs of supported research and that projected increases in the NIH budget will not be sufficient to help AHCs meet the challenges of today’s competitive environment. Although AHCs traditionally have used surplus funds from patient care and other sources to subsidize research, competition is squeezing out those sources and may jeopardize the ability of AHCs to take advantage of increased NIH funding, the report said. Samuel O. Thier, MD, president and CEO of Partners HealthCare System, chairs the Commonwealth Fund Task Force.

© 1999 Massachusetts General Hospital.