The Task Force on Academic Health Centers, which existed from 1996 to 2003, sought to address the impact of a changing health care financing system on the traditional missions of academic health centers: medical education, biomedical research, specialized health care services, and, at many institutions, care for indigent and uninsured patients. Task force staff at Massachusetts General Hospital worked with analysts at Georgetown University and the Association of American Medical Colleges to develop independent information about the future of academic health centers (AHCs) and supply information to AHC leaders and policymakers. The task force was chaired by Samuel O. Thier, M.D., president and chief executive of Partners HealthCare System in Boston. David Blumenthal, M.D., professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, served as program director.