Alex Macfarlane Wins ACHE National Essay Competition
Congratulations to Alex Macfarlane on winning first place in the graduate division of the ACHE 2014 Richard J. Stull Essay Competition! His winning essay is titled "Sustainable competitive advantage for accountable care organizations." The award will be presented at the Congress on Healthcare Leadership during the Leon I. Gintzig Commemorative Lecture and Luncheon on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. Alex's essay will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Healthcare Management. This is the second 1st-place win for a University of Missouri Health Management and Informatics (HMI) graduate student in the competition. Cathy Bryan (Executive MHA, 2007) won 1st place in 2008.
Tracy O'Rourke Joins Missouri Foundation for Health Board
Tracy O'Rourke (MHA 1998) has been added to the board of the Missouri Foundation for Health. The 15-member Board oversees all MFH activities and grantmaking, helping to address the health needs of Missourians, especially the uninsured and underserved. Tracey is system vice president, marketing and communications, for SSM Health Care Mid-Missouri Region.
HMI Welcomes Two New Faculty
Brian Hensel, PhD, MSPH joined the faculty as an instructor. Dr. Hensel has almost fifteen years of experience as a health care executive, which included responsibility for a range of post-acute, long-term, and end-of-life care services within vertically integrated, hospital-based health systems. He began his career in health administration after completing his master's at in the HMI program in 1987. In 2001, he returned to Missouri to complete a PhD focused in health communication from the Missouri School of Journalism (2005), followed by a National Library of Medicine Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Informatics (2005 - 2008).
Dr. Hensel then accepted a Health and Aging Policy/American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia (2008-2009), where he helped develop palliative care and advance planning legislation within the Accountable Care Act, and health information technology legislation within the Recovery Act. After this he served for four years as Assistant Professor of Health Services Administration in the Beacom School of Business at the University of South Dakota.
Dr. Hensel returned to HMI in January of 2014. He is focused on teaching and supporting grant and consulting projects. The courses he teaches include Strategic Planning & Marketing and Decision Making for Health Care Organizations. His research and consulting interests include the application of health informatics and media in improving health, chronic disease management, and long-term and palliative care.
Iris Zachary, PhD, MSHI, CTR joined the faculty as an Assistant Research Professor. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Informatics at the University of Missouri. Her research interests include public health, public health informatics, disease registries and research in the registry field. She has served as the Assistant Database Manager for the Missouri Cancer Registry and Research Center for over ten years working with cancer data and cancer data sets.