Maintaining the integrity of a biomedical communications department.

In a changing public economy, reductions in the number and size of awards for research, education, and public service in addition to government pressures to reduce Medicare and Medicaid health expenditures will have significant impact on levels of funds available to academic health sciences centers. As competition increases for shrinking financial resources the biomedical communications department must reshape itself to a broader market place if it is to survive. The development of a separate marketing corporation is proposed as one model to promote integrity.