Program News: Texas A&M Health Science Center Case Competitions
This October, we sent 3 MHA students to the 17th annual Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition sponsored by the National Association of Health Services Executives, Oct. 10-13 in Houston, TX. Team members Brandon Lewis and Anisha Kalavar, both second-year students, and first-year student Nisha Patel competed against other graduate-level health administration or business administration programs from around the country. This year’s case focused on establishing a patient care coordination plan, in an effort to prevent dual eligible related readmissions and affiliated costs within Catholic Health Partner’s hospitals, in the northwest region of Ohio. The team developed a strategic business plan for the hospital system, offering several recommendations that supported its business model.
In addition to the NAHSE Case Competition, this semester we sent a team to the HUMANA Case Competition, in Louisville, KY, where we were selected as a top 8 team, out of 40 teams. Team members included Christopher Rodriguez and Sarah Loh, both second year students, and Shruti Kaul and Karen Wong, both first year students. The team had 3 days to prepare a presentation for the HUMANA Health Plan, which consisted of recommendations for the organization to deal with dual eligible beneficiaries. Our team was the only MHA program represented at the competition, where we competed against MBA programs, such as Duke and Harvard.
We also, sent a team to the ACHE North Texas Case Competition, located in Dallas, TX on November 15th. The team consisted of: Steven Luther, Kinnari Patel, Taylor Hall, Nick Carmona, and Nikki Harris. They represented our school well, and were among several schools in the Texas area.
We are preparing teams for the University of Alabama-Birmingham, and University of Texas-School of Rural Public Health-Houston case competitions. We wish them all the best, and look forward to their successes.
Fellowship Placements
Throughout this past semester, our students have been selected highly coveted administrative fellowship positions. The following students have been placed at the following healthcare organizations: Shehla Khowja – Baylor College of Medicine, Anisha Kalavar – Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Brandon Lewis – Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Steven Luther – South Texas Health System, Christopher Rodriguez – Cleveland Clinic, Komal Patel – Vidant Medical Center, Nadja Prcic – Main Line Health, David Perez – Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Mai Hoang – University of Texas Medical Branch, Tyler Colton – Vidant Medical Center. We are proud of these students, and are looking forward to the successes of other students, as they are placed throughout the semester.
Certifications
We are proud to announce that our graduating class of 2013 has 16 students that are Certified Quality Improvement Associates (CQIA), with 2 students obtaining Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB). The American Society for Quality (ASQ) provides these certifications, which are considered a mark of quality excellence in many industries. They assist individuals in advancing their careers, and boost organization’s bottom line through their mastery of quality skills. Becoming certified as a Quality Improvement Associate confirms one’s commitment to quality and the positive impact it will have on one’s organization. The Certified Quality Improvement Associate has a basic knowledge of quality tools and their uses and is involved in quality improvement projects, but does not necessarily come from a traditional quality area. The Certified Quality Process Analyst is a paraprofessional who, in support of and under the direction of quality engineers or supervisors, analyzes and solves quality problems and is involved in quality improvement projects. The Six Sigma Green Belt operates in support of or under the supervision of a Six Sigma Black Belt, analyzes and solves quality problems and is involved in quality improvement projects. A Green Belt is someone with at least three years of work experience who wants to demonstrate his or her knowledge of Six Sigma tools and processes.
Lecture Series
Tucker Bonner, Regional Executive of the American Hospital Association, gave an exceptional presentation to the Association for Future Healthcare Leaders last Wednesday afternoon. As the primary AHA supervisor for Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, Mr. Bonner shared profound insight regarding not only the existing policy debates in Washington D.C. such as the residual fiscal cliff, but also topics even closer to home such as Governor Perry’s present decision to forgo Medicaid expansion.
Since Mr. Bonner has also served as a senior level executive for hospitals of varying sizes, he discussed both the obstacles he faced within those roles and the unique challenges he experienced as he transitioned to his current position as it requires a wider perspective and focus. In addition to such vast experience, Mr. Bonner was a member on several esteemed boards throughout his career and was the first Chairman of The Hospital Association. Among the many lessons from this presentation was an important one urging students to maintain a high level of activity within professional healthcare organizations throughout their career; he stated that remaining up-to-date with the timely knowledge these organizations offer will prove paramount to the success of future healthcare executives. We are grateful that Mr. Bonner was able to visit us and for the wisdom he so graciously shared.
Rich Williams, a founder and Principal of the Advanced Plan for Health, visited our campus to provide insight to our students. He possesses a distinct passion for improving healthcare and has pioneered several standard practices within the industry from marketing and sales programs to hospital-based home services. Mr. Williams’ experience is vast and varied as he has held several executive positions throughout his career. His current position is focused around population health management.
On February 1, our Institute for Healthcare Improvement – Student Chapter, had the pleasure of hosting three individuals from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The speakers included: Mr. John Bingham - Vice-President of Performance Improvement and Chief Quality Officer, directs organization-wide efforts for quality including patient safety and accreditation; quality measurement and engineering; and process improvement and quality education for the 19,000 employees at MD Anderson. Dr. Doris Quinn - Director of Process Improvement and Quality Education, oversees clinical process analysis and improvement, and the creation of the “Quality College” for the education of all staff and faculty. Dr. Victoria Jordan - Director, Quality Engineering and Clinical Operations Informatics, leads Quality Engineering and Clinical Informatics within the Office of Performance Improvement. Quality Engineering provides expertise to the organization in process and system improvement by applying quality tools and methodologies that support safety, timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and patient-centeredness.
These individuals provided insight into the quality improvement efforts their organization was pursuing, to ensure increased quality for patients, as well as the importance of quality within healthcare today. Their lecture series also included a process flow chart activity, which engaged students in understanding the importance of displaying and recognizing a process, to ensure efficiency.