UT System seeks strategic guidance from health care experts

AUSTIN – As health care delivery, organization and financing rapidly evolve, UT System leaders are reaching out to experts in the field to provide strategic guidance.

The UT System Board of Regents Thursday approved the creation of a Health Care Advisory Committee whose members will have expertise in health care and health care operations, including clinical and business operations, finance, reimbursement, law, policy and quality of care.

The UT System’s six health institutions provide health care to substantial portion of the Texas population each year, including 6.6 million outpatient visits and 1.4 million hospital stays. Altogether, the health care provided by UT health institutions is a $7 billion enterprise annually.

“Improving the health of Texans is one of the UT System’s most important missions, and we want to make the best decisions possible with the best information available,” said Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice chancellor of health affairs. “That means UT System decision-makers need the benefit of the experience and expertise of leaders in the health care field beyond the remarkable knowledge and skills of our institution Presidents and their teams.”

The Health Care Advisory Committee will function much like the University Lands Advisory Board, which was established in 2014 to advise Regents on the operations and management of University Lands. Members of both groups serve in an advisory, rather than decision-making, capacity.

Regent Alex Cranberg, who is chairman of the Health Affairs Committee, told the Board he would be pleased to have guidance from the Health Care Advisory Committee, particularly on difficult and complex medical issues.

“I’m sure future Health Affairs Committee members and regents would be grateful to have additional advice and counsel of such a board,” Cranberg said.

Members will be appointed to the committee at a future Board of Regents meeting. Responsibilities of members will include:

• Recommending strategic direction
• Reviewing major initiatives, joint ventures, contracts and affiliations
• Recommending a balanced scorecard of financial and clinical performance measures to be reviewed quarterly
• Reviewing operations and making recommendations as appropriate
• Recommending policy for approval by the Board of Regents or the Chancellor

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking basic, applied and clinical research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States. With nine academic universities, six health institutions and an enrollment of more than 217,000, the UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates almost two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public institutions in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $15.6 billion (FY 2015) including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With about 20,000 faculty – including Nobel laureates – and more than 70,000 health care professionals, researchers, student advisors and support staff, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.