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The PRC Celebrates 5-Year Green Performing Programs

GME Newsletter | April 2023

The PRC Celebrates 5-Year Green Performing Programs

What is the PRC?

The Program Review Committee (PRC) is a sub-committee of the Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) that was created to provide a special review process for underperforming programs within our Sponsoring Institution (SI).
The PRC responsibilities include:

  • Developing a protocol that establishes criteria for identifying underperformance in programs.
  • Creating reports that describe the quality improvement goals, corrective actions, and process for GMEC monitoring of outcomes and timelines.
  • Provide data to fulfill ACGME requirement I.B.4.a).(1): ACGME accreditation and recognition statuses of the Sponsoring Institution and each of its ACGME-accredited programs.
  • Provide oversight and review of the ACGME-accredited programs':
    • Annual program evaluation and Self-Studies per ACGME requirement I.B.4.a).(4)
    • Trainee clinical and educational work hours, consistent with the Common and specialty-/subspecialty-specific Program Requirements across all programs, addressing areas of non-compliance in a timely manner, per ACGME requirement III.B.5.a).(1)
  • Alignment and integration (where appropriate) between our Graduate Medical Education (GME) and clinical environments of our SI (Proposed based on SI2025 Taskforce report). In particular:
    • Value (Patient Safety and Quality Improvement)
    • Wellness

Identifying Performance

Annually, the PRC will begin the evaluation process that identifies underperformance in our sponsoring institution’s ACGME-accredited programs. The process begins with a predictive model that analyzes various program metrics and assigns an initial flag, known as the “Model Flag”.
The flag colors range from:

  • Green - meeting or exceeding institutional standards
  • Yellow – few changes needed to meet institutional standards
  • Red - not meeting institutional standards
  • Gray – not enough information to evaluate

Programs receiving a yellow or red flag “Model Flag” will have a packet created for them, which provides additional information for further evaluation. These packets are reviewed by the PRC and the final flag is assigned, known as the “Committee Flag”. Those programs who receive a yellow or red “Committee Flag” will have a required or optional special program review (SPR) or a program presentation.

Special Program Reviews

The Special Program Reviews (SPRs) can be prompted by the PRC, or a program can request one. They are most often initiated by concerning trends in ACGME Trainee or Faculty Survey Results, citations in the ACGME Letter of Notification and/or changes in Accreditation Status. This process is meant to help and assist programs and is not punitive in any way.
For each program, a subset of PRC members (including a program director, trainee, program manager and GME Director) meet with the following program groups, separately:

  • Program Trainees
  • Program Faculty
  • Program Director and Program Coordinator/Manager

These meetings are used to identify and understand any issues the program may be experiencing. After the interviews, the SPR team write a Summary Report of what was discussed during the SPR. This report is reviewed and approved by the full PRC, and then sent to the program with recommendations on how to implement the various suggested changes. Program directors are encouraged to include how these recommendations were utilized and the outcomes in their program’s Annual Program Evaluation and ACGME Annual Update.

5-Year Green Programs

During the AY23 PRC Annual Program Review, a small number of our 98 programs reached a notable milestone. Namely, maintaining a Green-flag status for 5 consecutive years. This equates to a program having no identifiable issues related to ACGME and UUH Institutional accreditation requirements. Sustaining this status for 5 years is a rare and noteworthy accomplishment.

Congratulations to our 5-year green performance programs!

  • Cytopathology
  • Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Pain Medicine
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Pediatrics
  • Rheumatology
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Sports Medicine