Dell Medical School, OnlineMedEd Providing Online Courses to Teach High-Value Care Delivery to Current, Future Doctors

AUSTIN, Texas, March 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In a shared effort to improve the value of care that is delivered in today's health care system, Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin and medical education platform OnlineMedEd are teaming up to teach medical students, residents and other providers about value-based care through online teaching modules, now available at onlinemeded.org/vbhc.

The Discovering Value-Based Health Care learning modules, which are developed by Dell Med faculty members and students, focus on maximizing health outcomes that matter to patients while lowering costs in health care.

"Most medical schools don't teach students about how to reduce waste or what certain procedures and treatments cost for patients – knowledge that helps doctors and patients have more meaningful conversations about treatment options and avoiding harm," said Christopher Moriates, M.D., Dell Med's assistant dean for health care value and an associate professor in its Department of Internal Medicine.

"We hope that by spreading what we've learned about providing high-value care through online modules, this will make these critical lessons more accessible and useful to faculty and students alike," he said. "Most importantly, the ultimate benefit of focusing on and teaching value-based health care is we have the potential to shift the quality of health care delivered by an entire generation of medical trainees."

A 2013 survey of medical students conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges showed that only 15 percent of internal medicine residency programs reported encountering any curricula related to costs or value.

"While many medical schools have since begun to integrate programs about value in health care, there's still a global need for robust training programs for medical students and residents," Moriates said.

OnlineMedEd is used by more than 150,000 learners every month and is one of the largest online communities of medical students and professionals in the world. Although the Value-Based Health Care course supports students and residents, it is also designed to help physician assistants, faculty members and other clinicians to improve health care value.

"OnlineMedEd shares a common goal with Dell Medical School to make better medical education as widely available and accessible as possible," Dustyn Williams, M.D., lead educator of OnlineMedEd. "I'm thrilled to work with Dell Medical School to deliver world-class content in value-based care."

Dell Med's Texas Health CoLab, a hub for product innovation and entrepreneurship, orchestrated the sharing of these training modules with OnlineMedEd in an effort to transform the culture, strategy and goals of organizations to deliver high-value care.

"This kind of collaboration is critical to innovation," said Mellie Price, managing director of Texas Health CoLab. "Our team is excited about working with organizations that share a mission to educate in an effort to improve health."

Dell Med's Value-Based Health Care learning modules were developed with generous support from the Episcopal Health Foundation.

SOURCE Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin