Funds Flow FAQ

Clinical Funds Flow is the structured process by which financial support from the hospital through CU Medicine is distributed to School of Medicine departments based on clinical activity, leadership roles, and strategic alignment. 

Clinical Funds Flow creates formulaic transparency; rewards performance; and ensures that departments have the resources to support faculty, recruit strategically, and drive mission-aligned growth.

Historically, Clinical Funds Flow was a series of separate negotiations that lacked foundational principles and transparency. We want to ensure equitable treatment across all School of Medicine clinical departments and ease the process of negotiations on campus with UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. 

Leaders at University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, CU Medicine, and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital have been working on redesigning and modernizing our Clinical Funds Flow model for more than 18 months.

We are well-positioned for continued growth and mission support, so we are adopting these Clinical Funds Flow changes from a position of strength.

While other academic medical centers are laying off staff, cutting investments, and reducing the amount of care they provide, we are poised for continued growth.

Adopting the new Clinical Funds Flow model ensures that the school, our faculty practice, and the health system are aligned on our priorities, that we fulfill our shared mission, and that we focus on common goals to achieve them.

• Increased Funding: School receives more from UCHa than historical
• Upside Incentive: Rewards for enhanced productivity
• Downside Protection: For both coverage and structural services
• Generous Recruitment Support: Support for new recruits for up to two years (60% / 80% ramp up expectation), and the support is retained by the Departments even if new recruits ramp up faster than expected 
• Annual Increases: Built in annual inflationary increases
• Favorable Benchmarks: Support levels benchmarked higher than almost all other academic medical centers 
• Department Autonomy: The new funds flow model provides lump sum funding to the Clinical Departments – the department retains the ability to deploy its preferred compensation plan to faculty
• Aligned Growth: Enables aligned investments for growth while other academic medical centers are adopting austerity measures
• One Practice Commitment: Interdepartmental and partnership strategies will be aligned to ensure that all boats rise through better data, transparency, accountability, and well-placed incentives for ALL missions
  

We are already conducting funds flow reviews to those missions and will be rolling out those models soon. 

This change took effect on July 1, the beginning of our fiscal year.

No, it receives more money.

As a result of the new Clinical Funds Flow model, the School of Medicine will receive more money this year from UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. The total contribution from Clinical Funds Flow will increase from $235 million to $240 million.

Going forward, Clinical Funds Flow will be adjusted by medical CPI along with any additions to recruitments or clinical coverage models. Any net efficiency in the structural models because of productivity or collections will fully benefit the department in FY26. In FY27 and beyond, these efficiencies will be shared as savings to both the department and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.

No. Departments will still be responsible for setting faculty compensation.

No. The new Clinical Funds Flow model protects payment for clinical time associated with shift-based services or unit coverage.

The School of Medicine and department chairs maintain autonomy over the compensation plans. The hospital also has committed to the School of Medicine to maintain its support for the current year, even if productivity decreases for any reason.

The new Clinical Funds Flow model does not decrease the amount of money received by the department, even when the hospital no longer supports a specific medical directorship. Instead, the department receives the same amount of funding and can continue support at its own discretion.