State procurement law: facilitating the collaboration between health department and school of public health.

The mark of an "academic health department" includes shared activity by academic and practice partners sustained over time. Despite a long history of productive interactivity, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health often faced administrative hurdles in contracting for projects of mutual interest. Seeking to overcome these hurdles, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health negotiated a Master Agreement on the basis of statutes designating both as "public procurement units.

Schools of public health and the health of the public: enhancing the capabilities of faculty to be influential in policymaking.

Faculty members of schools of public health contribute to better health largely through their teaching, research, and community service roles. We suggest attention to another role: exerting their influence to ensure effective public health policy. Using recent actions taken at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health as a template, we describe some of the key steps that public health schools can take to help their faculties be more influential in public health policy.

The relationship between the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center--a profile in synergy.

In the synergistic evolution of their research, educational, and clinical programs, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) School of Medicine (SOM) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) have followed one core principle: What is good for one is good for both. The collaboration is underpinned by UPMC's commitment to its community mission, including support for the academic and research objectives of the SOM. UPMC's conceptual origin was fostered by its experience with Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in the 1970s.

Creating a safe environment.

William Sage provides an excellent rationalization for today's medical liability crisis. Patient safety and a safe environment are related concepts directed at helping to resolve this crisis. His paper helps to bring the complexities into perspective and suggests the need for an even better definition of "avoidable error" and for a righting of the tort system in the direction of the health care provider.