The National Project's Working Hypotheses 9-13-04

Last Updated on April 16, 2022 by Lee Burnett, DO, FAAFP

Below are the Working Hypotheses of the National Project on the Community Benefits of Family Medicine Residency Program (draft of September 13, 2004)

TAXONOMY SECTION I (Ambulatory Care Services)

• Family Medicine Centers originally were conceived to provide resident experiences in group practice.
• Placing comprehensively trained physicians in mission-oriented ambulatory settings had unintended, positive impacts on their communities.
• In many communities, referral specialists do not seek to provide services to publically financed or medically indigent patients.
• The range of services provided by the Family Medicine Residency Programs models an efficient demarcation of services between family medicine physicians and referral specialists.

TAXONOMY SECTION II  (Access)

• Family Medicine Residency Programs provide systems of care that enhance or complement the community’s health care safety net.
• The importance of the Family Medicine Residency Program to the Community’s safety net is underappreciated by policy makers, administrators, and the Family Medicine Residency Program itself.

TAXONOMY SECTION III (Physician Graduates)

• The graduates of an established Family Medicine Residency Program impact the medical communities that surround the program.
• The contributions of an established Family Medicine Residency Program to its medical community may not be appreciated by the Family Medicine Residency Program, host institution, nor community leaders.

TAXONOMY SECTION IV (Quality Assurance)

• Family Medicine Residency Programs have incorporated quality assurance concepts into their Systems of Care.
• The widespread adoption of chronic disease guidelines and application of quality assurance concepts by the Family Medicine Residency Progrtam will have important patient benefits.

TAXONOMY SECTION V (Benefits to Host Institution)

• Family Medicine Residency Program have taken on responsibilites to meet institutional needs and the institution’s community obligations.
• Administrators (and Family Medicine Residency Program directors) often do not realize the extent nor the value of these responsibilities, nor their replacement costs.

TAXONOMY SECTION VI (Community Services)

• Family Medicine Residency Programs in the aggregate provide significant amounts of clinical services in a variety of community settings.
• No one has attempted to quantify the number of Family Medicine Residency Program patient encounters in community settings, nor to estimate the cost of replacing them (yet).