Carl Greiner, M.D., vice chairman for education and professor in the departments of psychiatry and preventive and societal medicine, has been named UNMC’s assistant dean for clinical affairs in the College of Medicine.
In this position Dr. Greiner will work chiefly with University Medical Associates (UMA) — the physician group practice of UNMC — in the UMA’ s effort to operate as a business. He will attend all UMA administrative and board meetings, and also will act as the liaison with the hospital with respect to risk management and compliance processes.
“I am honored to be in the position to work with such a huge piece of university responsibility,” Dr. Greiner said. “I look forward to working with UMA, participating in the search for a new UMA professional liability insurance carrier and establishing a more efficient discussion of risk information with Nebraska Health System.”
UMA currently includes approximately 400 physicians and more than 60 physician assistants and nurse practitioners. For four years, UMA administrators successfully have been working to change UMA operations to enhance clinical revenues and reduce overall overhead expenditures, said Rod Markin, M.D., Ph.D., associate dean for clinical affairs and president of UMA. By the end of next year, it is projected that UMA will have doubled its annual revenue since its inception in 1995.
“The position of assistant dean for clinical affairs was created because UMA has never had a second physician in place responsible for clinical decisions to act in the absence of the president,” Dr. Markin said. “Dr. Greiner is an astute clinician with 20 years of experience and a keen observer of human interaction. These skills, combined with his interest in the business of medical practices, make him a very qualified leader for UMA.”
Dr. Greiner attended a workshop at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University and in the past has taken leadership courses examining health care case studies through the Harvard Business School. His leadership training and psychiatric expertise make him a solid fit for the position, he said.
“There’s a hard part and a soft part to business,” he said. “My knowledge and experience in both areas will bring a well-rounded sensibility to problems.”