New U-M healthcare policy institute set to attract 500 researchers

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 | Source: Concentrate

The University of Michigan Health System is launching the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation from the North Campus Research Complex, a move that could attract 500 researchers to the former Pfizer site.

The institute will harness innovative, interdisciplinary health services research to improve the health of local, national and global populations. It brings together hundreds of university researchers working on ground-breaking studies tackling issues like support for patients with chronic conditions, insurance design, and preventative care. U-M officials hope that by bringing them together at the North Campus Research Complex more collaborations and potential public-private partnerships will form.

"It's very entrepreneurial and exciting," says Dr. Thomas Schwenk, professor and chair of the Dept. of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan Health System. "It's not something every university could do or would be willing to do. That says a lot about university leadership."

If the institute reaches its goal of bringing 500 researchers to the North Campus Research Complex, it would make it one of the nation's largest concentrations of healthcare policy and services researchers.

"This has great potential," Schwenk says. "We're all very excited. There are hundreds of investigators from across the university that can come together on this."

Source: Dr. Thomas Schwenk, professor and chair of the Dept. of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan Health System
Writer: Jon Zemke

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