RENO -- The clinics at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, which collect more than $35 million a year for treatment of patients, are being brought under tighter controls by the Board of Regents.
The two private nonprofit corporations that run the clinical treatment plans in Las Vegas and Reno will be phased out, giving the regents of the university system more direct authority.
The plans allow faculty physicians to treat patients and generate a profit for the school. But the clinics ran up a $2.2 million loss between July 1, 1997, and June 30, 1998.
The loss was prompted in part by $1 million spent on a patient billing system that never worked.
Recalling those losses, Mark Alden called the groups "renegades" and said, "We have got to get it under control."
The regents loaned money to the clinical program to cover the deficit, which has been repaid, Mike Harter, vice dean of the medical school, said.
Regent Chairman Doug Seastrand called the computer switchover a "disaster," and sought assurances that the restructuring would not suffer from the same problem.
Interim Dean Stephen McFarlane told the regents Friday there won't be a change in software during the transition, which does not yet have a timetable. He said it was critical there be no interruption of revenue from the clinical services, because they contribute 36 percent of the $102 million in revenue for the medical school.
The overhaul of the clinical services will not affect patients, Harter said.
Currently 241 faculty practitioners and 196 resident physicians provide services under the medical school's programs to insured patients, those covered by Medicaid and Medicare and others.
The plan also employs 389 support staff such as nurses, clerical employees and others.
Harter said the physicians are already university employees. The support staff, which has been in the private sector, will become employees of the university. That will give them better health and retirement benefits, Harter said.
But they will not receive civil service protection. Harter said they will be "at will" employees subject to dismissal without the due process given state workers. That also means the clinical programs will not have to go through the state personnel system to hire, he said.
The status is necessary because of the urgency in this field, he said. Clinics must be able to make quick decisions in getting people hired, and the personnel system takes time. The programs also must be able to dismiss employees if they make mistakes in health matters, Harter said.
The new restructured program also won't have to go through the state purchasing system. Harter said it must have flexibility to buy new and sometimes more expensive drugs to treat patients, rather than waiting for the purchasing system to go through a slower procedure.
The restructuring, besides giving the regents more oversight, is needed to meet the new standards of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and to assure that the clinical services are protected in the field of legal liability.
The final plan for the change will be presented at a future meeting of the regents for approval.
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