East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine

Revised: 2/20/2024

Introduction from Dr. Block

I am very pleased to share our 2022-2026 East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Quillen College of Medicine Strategic Plan. I am appreciative of the collaborative effort required for the development of our plan aimed at producing initiatives that continue our growth and help position ETSU Health to be the ‘Practice of the Choice’ in the region and Quillen College of Medicine to be the ‘College of Choice’ for the region and nation.

The plan is organized into five objectives with several initiatives that represent specific areas identified to achieve our vision and mission and tie into our four goals. This plan represents the second iteration of planning for the current administration. This document is designed to be a living document, meant to evolve with changes in education, health systems, and community and regional needs. Leaders have been identified that will oversee the implementation and communication of our efforts as implementation of the plan continues.

I want to thank each and every one of you for all you do for our college, our patients, and the region. Your dedication and efforts will be integral to the success of our Strategic Plan and the advancement of our college’s mission, vision, and goals.

Thank you for all you do,

Bill

William A. Block, Jr. MD, MBA, FACOG Vice President for Clinical Affairs Dean of Medicine ETSU Health – Quillen College of Medicine East Tennessee State University

Preamble

This strategic plan is designed to function as an outline of guiding principles for the continuous strategic improvement needed for the College of Medicine. It is recommended that the plan be adopted, then each item be assigned a time window for projected completion and a responsible party. Annual and as needed review and modification of strategic goals and progress should be undertaken to evaluate alignment with real time conditions.

ETSU Health, The Practice of Choice; Quillen College of Medicine, The College of Choice; East Tennessee State University, The University of Choice

Quillen College of Medicine Vision Statement

Revolutionizing Rural Health

Quillen College of Medicine Mission Statement

The primary mission of the Quillen College of Medicine is to educate future generations of physicians and biomedical scientists, especially those with an interest in primary care, to practice in underserved rural communities. In addition, the College is committed to the contribution of knowledge and excellence in biomedical research that improves medicine and is dedicated to the improvement of health care in northeast Tennessee and the surrounding Appalachian region.

Quillen College of Medicine Goals

GOAL 1. Excel in medical and biomedical science education

GOAL 2. Enhance research and scientific discovery in education, biomedical sciences, and clinical care to improve the health of the region

GOAL 3. Deliver high quality, patient-centered medical care through the innovation and transformation of health care delivery

GOAL 4. Attain a diversified Infrastructure to sustain innovation, transformation, and excellence in medical and biomedical science education, research, and clinical care

Quillen College of Medicine Values

PEOPLE come first, are treated with dignity and respect, and are encouraged to achieve their full potential;

RELATIONSHIPS are built on honesty, integrity, and trust;

DIVERSITY of people and thought is respected;

EXCELLENCE is achieved through teamwork, leadership, creativity, and a strong work ethic;

EFFICIENCY is achieved through wise use of human and financial resources;

COMMITMENT to intellectual achievement is embraced.

Strategic Objectives and Initiatives

Objective 1: Advance the educational and learning opportunities for all students and residents in the medical and biomedical sciences programs

Education

Undergraduate Medical Education

Initiative 1: Explore curriculum designs to better prepare students to become physicians.

• Increase vertical and horizontal integration of pre-clerkship and clinical phases of the curriculum through a systems-based pre-clerkship curriculum redesign including Doctoring, and earlier clinical exposure. (Initiate organ system curriculum for class of 2026)
• Further expand rural track program and underserved medicine clinical offerings, within the TriCities and region.
• Identify learning objectives for the pre-clerkship systems based curricular redesign, including the Foundations Course and Doctoring, within the existing timeframe of the new curriculum for implementation; explore use of Learning Communities; and clinical phase redesign.
• Finalize plans and submit to LCME a parallel curriculum designed for graduation in three years and early entry into residencies within the college (focusing on primary care).
• Develop and enhance interprofessional and simulation-based training to apply educational principles to augment learning.
• Monitor content to assure appropriate placement within the curriculum via curricular mapping, transition to a systems-based curriculum, and transition to the DaVinci electronic curriculum management system.

Initiative 2: Enhance instructional techniques to maximize quantity and quality of learning.

• Integrate ‘flipped classroom’ and similar active learning techniques to increase student engagement.
• Provide faculty development sessions to support the required active learning pedagogy required for curriculum transformation.
• Develop the infrastructure for instruction implementation and assessment.
• Plan for implementation of accelerated three-year curriculum for select students.

Initiative 3: Increase clinical learning opportunities within the community.

• Expand rural and specialty training opportunities throughout the curriculum.
• Assure adequate training opportunities for current classes and any potential increase in class size.
• Leverage relationships with local graduates to give back to Quillen through teaching, increasing loyalty and engagement.
• Explore expansion of upper payment limit benefits to affiliate physicians within the community.

Initiative 4: Increase educational opportunities outside of the traditional boundaries of the College of Medicine.

• Promote and grow medical student participation in new joint MBA program.
• Expand collaboration with the College of Public Health for expansion of graduate programs beyond the MPH degree.
• Expand programs of interest to groups underrepresented in medicine and build sustainability to help achieve diversity goals.
• Expand programs to enhance practice preparation and explore the possibility of conducting a needs assessment to determine student interest in obtaining certificates in such areas as health systems science and quality improvement.

Graduate Medical Education

Initiative 1: Train resident physicians to provide a workforce to meet the needs of the region and state.

• Collaborate with institutional partners to determine future physician needs and align programs to meet those demands.
• Enhance programmatic recruitment and yield through sharing of best practices among program directors and coordinators.
• Maintain a competitive resident physician compensation and benefits package, including ongoing evaluation of offering ancillary programs such as MBA/MPH, to attract high quality applicants.
• Expand primary care training to utilize new resources provided by the state.

Initiative 2: Enhance skills and opportunities for residents to participate as teachers.

• Provide training in preclinical and clinical education and evaluation techniques to resident physicians.
  • Explore delivery of Resident as Teacher Workshop annually including determining a virtual option if necessary.

Graduate Education (Biomedical Sciences PhD)

Initiative 1: Establish leadership for programmatic development and maintenance.

• Provide ongoing administrative support for the Biomedical Science Graduate Program Committee to aid in guidance and curriculum of the five program concentrations: Cardiovascular Sciences; Cellular, Molecular and Chemical Biology; Immunology, Inflammation and Infectious Diseases; Neuroscience; and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
  • Continuous program evaluation for desired outcomes and curriculum revision as required or needed to meet established outcomes.
  • Assess efficacy of the newly developed Recruitment and Admissions Committee for student recruitment and advisement.

Initiative 2: Educate the next generation of scientific leaders.

• Increase recruitment from potential feeder institutions through personal contacts and marketing plan.
• Monitor the revised funding support for graduate students to determine efficacy and cost.
• Explore opportunities and resources to establish a joint MD/PhD program.
• Evaluate the new curriculum for the five program concentrations for desired outcomes.
• Increase collaboration of faculty throughout the program for both education and research through Quillen Research and Scholarship Enhancement Awards and using the four research centers as a foundation.

Objective 2: Create a collaborative and innovative research enterprise

Research

Initiative 1: Enhance research and scholarly activities within the college to improve the health of the region and add to scientific discovery.

• Maintain administrative support for the Office of Research and Gradate Education infrastructure that facilitates research collaboration across the research and clinical enterprises, departments, and
  • Advance the Quillen Distinguished Research Fellows Program
  • Advance the Quillen Research and Scholarship Enhancement Awards to enhance extramural grant success and promote educational research
  • Support college faculty in ETSU and community centers and institutes.
• Explore feasibility of continuing Chairs of Excellence program.
• Implement a comprehensive faculty recruitment plan to produce next generation of academic leaders in research and scholarly work.
  • Coordinate faculty recruitment of basic, clinical and translational researchers into departments and centers.
  • Assist in the development of academic leaders in research and scholarship from interested college faculty.
• Increase collaboration with other colleges within the university, with other universities within the state of Tennessee and/or region, and with local and regional health care systems and medical industries.
• Analyze and refine compensation structure for research faculty to assure adequate incentive and retention.
  • Evaluate current incentive and retention program.
  • Obtain comparisons from peer institutions.
  • Benchmark current and future compensation to similar colleges.
  • Assure competitive compensation and faculty development opportunities.

Objective 3: Intentionally and deliberately expand the clinical enterprise to become the preeminent healthcare provider and resource for interprofessional, quality care in the region

Clinical Care

Initiative 1: Become the “Practice of Choice” for the community and the region.

• Launch a centralized contact point for patients and optimize digital applications.
• Expand the primary care footprint in the region by adding primary care practices in identified areas of need by exploring federal funding options for rural and underserved areas.
• Explore after-hours clinic to meet patient demands.
• Create a culture of customer service as a priority across the organization through staffing recruitment and retention along with annual training.
  • Maintain competitive compensation packages for staff including professional development and tuition assistance
  • Provide customer service training initiative for all faculty and staff.
• Optimize telemedicine care delivery and evaluate revenue performance.
  • Increase telemedicine utilization through training and potential telemedicine stations.
  • Review billing procedures and provide billing instruction to clinicians as needed.
  • Enhance and optimize telemedicine platform features.

Initiative 2: Recruit and retain clinical faculty to expand clinical services in outreach initiatives; to meet the gaps in clinical services; and to replace retiring faculty.

• Identify current gaps in clinical services within each department.
• Create specialty-specific faculty recruitment plans to meet faculty gaps and replace retiring faculty.
• Seek coordinated, collaborative faculty recruitment efforts for the college including collaboration with departments and health system partners to fill faculty positions.

Initiative 3: Become the “employer of choice.”

1. Evaluate and refine compensation plans for each position.
2. Create a culture where each employee is valued.
3. Encourage development and growth for each employee, meeting their goals.

Initiative 4: Aggressively pursue clinical strategies to improve population health.

• Determine role of data utilization to drive clinical care to have appropriate technology to support quality reporting.
• Review interprofessional resources to ensure appropriate staffing in behavioral health, pharmacy, and other resources as appropriate for specialty.
• Refine the electronic medical record to improve care documentation for interprofessional care and maximize data retrieval for assessment of patient outcomes through a dashboard.
• Pursue high-quality data analytics and format to inform clinical care and improve health outcomes.

Initiative 5: Establish marketing campaign to inform the public of available services.

• Focus future marketing on academic and clinical expertise, the benefits of residents providing care, and the expanse of services to the region available through ETSU Health.
• Focus on expertise and health benefits provided by interprofessional team care and additional service lines.
• Highlight benefits of receiving care in an academic environment.
  • “Care from the experts training the next generation of providers.”
  • “The brightest minds” and “the future of medicine.”

Objective 4: Build depth to enhance our educational, research, and clinical enterprises by expanding and supporting faculty, staff, and learners through recruitment and retention, professional development, collaboration, and mentorship

People

Initiative 1: Provide a college-wide consistent approach to all faculty development.

• Develop a sustainability plan for faculty development oversight for the college.
• Administer a career and skill development needs assessment every two years.
• Develop, design, and implement a robust orientation program for all new faculty containing but not limited to the following areas: basics of adult learning; instructional skills and curriculum design; evaluation and assessment of learners and peers; program evaluation; scholarship expectations and examples; identification and engagement of mentors; promotion and tenure requirements.
• Develop, design, and implement a career advancement program for junior to mid-career faculty containing but not limited to the following areas: educational program design and implementation; management and administrative skills; advocacy and participation in national organizations; health system design; community engagement; developing and maintaining a scholarship portfolio; basics of research and funding resources; and individualized plans for personal career goals.
• Develop, design, and implement a program for senior faculty and college leadership containing but not limited to the following areas: strategic planning basics; workforce development and retention of junior and mid-career faculty; financial management; feedback within annual faculty evaluations; advocacy skills; participation and leadership in national organizations.

Initiative 2: Provide a comprehensive faculty evaluation process that promotes professional department and supports the priorities of the college.

• Create goal-oriented summary document to the annual evaluation process to be used during the supervisory dialogue to support personal development and college priorities.
• Create acceptance and interest in piloting a 360-review process for academic leadership (dean, associate deans and chairs).

Initiative 3: Provide community faculty with feedback and professional development opportunities to enhance the educational experience and create community rotations that meet and exceed accreditation standards.

• Finalize and distribute standard evaluation of the credentials of all potential community faculty.
• Contribute to the professional development of community faculty through a periodic needs assessment and education directed at medical education and teaching.
• Provide feedback to community faculty through regular evaluation by all learners.
• Explore incentive options for community faculty including membership to the Center for Physical Activity, parking, continuing medical education, etc.

Initiative 4: Create a leadership program for College of Medicine leadership and aspiring leaders that supports professional development, strategic planning skills, and succession planning.

• Administer an annual needs assessment of the college leadership team (associate deans, department chairs, and aspiring leaders).
  • Identify and/or create training programs as defined by the needs assessment for senior leadership.
• Provide regular, structured feedback to senior leaders in order to develop people, skills, and programs.
  • Annual evaluations with the dean.
  • 3-year summary evaluation of department chair and program.
• Identify junior faculty interested in or capable of senior leadership roles.
  • Provide leadership skills development to junior faculty to prepare them for future leadership roles within the departments and the college.

Initiative 5: Recruit and retain a diverse academic community to enhance the perspectives, effectiveness, and academic discourse within the college.

• Create an oversight process for activities to recruit and retain an academic community that enhances perspectives, encourages dialogue, and respects the variety of backgrounds and communities in which our graduates serve.
  • Accountability for oversight assigned to Director of Engagement and Community Faculty and student input provided through Engagement and Community Council. 
    • Accountability for oversight assigned to Director for Engagement and Community.
    • Faculty and student input provided through Committee on Engagement and Community. The Committee will make recommendations to the Dean on leadership and resource requirements for effective ongoing development and engagement within the college.
    • Provide consistent guidance for all faculty and administrator search committees on best practices for recruitment and hiring, onboarding, and ongoing support of employees.
    • Annual educational programming for search committees, faculty, learners, and staff on community issues and best practices.
• Conduct ongoing educational programs for the college.
  • Create a campus-wide culture of inclusion and holistic integration.
  • Set goals for increasing the belonging of faculty, administration, staff, and learners.

Initiative 6: Create wellness and resiliency programs for faculty, staff, and learners.

• Determine a centralized oversight structure for coordinated wellness activities for the college.
• Select and implement a wellness survey annually.
• Develop a plan to address identified areas of need and monitor the effectiveness of initiatives implemented.

Objective 5: Develop, strengthen, and diversify an infrastructure that provides for long-term support for the College of Medicine, its vision, and its missions

Facilities

Educational

Initiative 1: Optimize current allocation of office and laboratory spaces.

• Evaluate educational and clinical spaces for proper alignment with teaching techniques and pursue an additional facility with adequate technology to support education and clinical needs.
• Develop a plan to determine space needs and utilization utilizing an assignment protocol based on need, productivity, and priorities across the college.
• Assess current spaces to determine optimal use of current space and enhance audiovisual capability.

Clinical

Initiative 2: Develop land use and programmatic plan for optimal clinical care and education.

• Develop financial plan for “Medical Campus” on State of Franklin Road.
• Optimize utilization of current clinical space with financial modeling prior to development of Clinical Education Building 3 (CEB3).
  • Obtain appropriate funding and commence construction with demonstrated need.

Initiative 3: Evaluate current clinical administrative space for adequacy.

• Renovate clinical space to improve appearance and utility.
• Evaluate proper location of all clinical support staff to optimize clinical care.

Finances

Initiative 4: Stabilize current funding and pursue enhanced funding sources.

• Diversify future funding, including pursuit of federal funding approaches such as Federally Qualified Health Centers, community partnerships, and philanthropic effort.
• Develop infrastructure and programs based on planned program and clinical expansion along with medical student class size while maintaining stable reserves.

Initiative 5: Optimize clinical revenue opportunities.

• Maximize Medicaid reimbursements through Upper Payment Program.
• Improve payer mix through expanded and specific marketing and operational improvements.
• Improve revenue cycle management and billings through partnership with outside vendors and maximizing value-based opportunities.

Initiative 6: Enhance research funding.

• Expand grant submission and award numbers through faculty education, a well-planned recruitment strategy, and mentorship.
• Examine research incentives to encourage faculty to obtain multiple awards and assure that research infrastructure is adequate through appropriate financial resource allocation.
• Invest resources in appropriate startup funding to attract established investigators and expand the research awards that serve as bridge funding for researchers.

Initiative 7: Develop efforts to obtain outside clinical and educational grant funding.

• Centralize efforts at locating and recruiting opportunities through creation of an educational and clinical research division.
• Enhance and track the number of applications and awards pertinent to clinical and educational opportunities; explore mechanisms to share population health data for research; and compile demographic data on students, residents, and faculty along with practice locations to support grant applications.

Initiative 8: Enhance funding from state appropriations and legislative initiatives.

• Educate local legislators about needs and opportunities.
• Establish more active presence during legislative session to lobby for college initiatives.

Initiative 9: Enhance philanthropic giving.

• Evaluate and refine employee giving campaigns to encourage new and repeat donations.
• Expand philanthropy from corporate partners and family foundations to enhance support.
• Increase support of Development Office within the college.
  • Provide professional development for staff through the AAMC Group on Institutional Advancement.
  • Develop a recognition program for those with over $25000 cumulative giving.

Strategic Plan Development

The ETSU Quillen College of Medicine 2019-2021 Strategic Plan was developed through an extensive process. The college leadership and identified stakeholders reviewed the vision, mission, and goals. The 2013 Strategic Plan was also reviewed to identify strategic areas that remained relevant to the focus of the college. Through planning meetings and facilitated sessions with consultants from the Division of Organizational Development and the Standpoint Faculty Survey team of the Association of America Medical Colleges, the leadership team created a new vision statement; reaffirmed the mission statement; revised the goals of the College of Medicine; and, identified five areas of focus for the strategic plan: Education, Research, Clinical Care, People, Facilities, and Finances. Each of these areas represent areas specifically selected to ensure the advancement and integration of the missions along with opportunities for innovation and partnership within the university, the region, and beyond.

Key stakeholders, faculty, university leadership, and community partners were given the opportunity to review and comment on the Strategic Plan for 2022-2026. The Strategic Planning Committee consisting of the associate deans and department chairs proposed and approved acceptance of the plan.

Strategic Plan Implementation

Implementation, review, and revision of the strategic plan are integral for continuous strategic improvement for the College of Medicine. A Strategic Planning Implementation Committee has been established and consists of college leadership designated as the responsible parties for the strategies and initiatives. These leaders are listed below. The committee will be responsible for annual reporting, periodic updates, communication strategies, and progress of the strategic plan. An operational plan will use the objectives and initiatives outlined in the strategic plan, enumerate specific outcomes not specified in the strategic plan, and facilitate regular reporting and tracking of progress. The operational plan structure is provided in Appendix A of the strategic plan.

Strategy Leadership:

1. Dean of Quillen College of Medicine
2. Senior Associate Dean/Chief of Staff
3. Vice Dean for Academic Affairs
4. Associate Dean for Accreditation Compliance
5. Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer, MEAC
6. Associate Dean and Director of Admissions & Records
7. Associate Dean, Finance & Administration and CFO, MEAC
8. Associate Dean, Graduate and Continuing Education for Health Professionals
9. Associate Dean, Learning Resources/Medical Library
10. Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education
11. Associate Dean for Rural and Community Programs
12. Associate Dean for Student Affairs
13. Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences
14. Chair, Department of Family Medicine
15. Chair, Department of Internal Medicine
16. Chair, Department of Medical Education
17. Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
18. Chair, Department of Pathology
19. Chair, Department of Pediatrics
20. Chair, Department of Psychiatry
21. Chair, Department of Surgery

Appendix A - Operational Plan

Specific objectives with associated initiatives outlined in the strategic plan are assigned to senior leaders in the college. As leaders, these individuals are responsible for ensuring college operations align with the strategic plan. Specific outcomes and metrics are identified for initiatives from the strategic plan with periodic reporting by those responsible. Aggregate reporting and tracking are maintained by the Senior Associate Dean/Chief of Staff.