AUPHA Conducts First Practitioner Focus Group at Studer Group TYYO

By Lydia S. Middleton, MBA, CAE posted 11-10-2011 12:32

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As part of our strategic effort to identify ways to bring our programs/faculty and the field of practice closer together, AUPHA has partnered with The Studer Group to conduct a series of focus groups with CEOs and senior managers that attend the monthly Taking You and Your Organiation to the Next Level (TYYO) Seminars. The purpose of these focus groups is to learn from practitioners their perception of the field of healthcare management education, there perception (if any) of AUPHA, and what AUPHA can do to better inform the field of practice about the value of a specialized degree in healthcare management at the bachelors and masters level.

AUPHA held the first such focus group in September in Seattle, WA. In attendance were sixteen CEO's, COOs, and senior managers who had volunteered to participate. Lydia Middleton and AUPHA Board Member Ken Johnson facilitated the discussion.

Some of the questions asked of participants were the following:

Where do you look when hiring entry-level management staff?
Are we recruiting the right individuals to enter our programs? What should they “look like”?
What degrees are important at the graduate level? MBA, MHA, dual degree
Do you have a program offering a healthcare management degree in your local area. If so, are you engaged with the program at all?
What can AUPHA do to increase awareness among the practitioner community of the value of a specialized degree in healthcare management?
Do you perceive an added value in the MHA degree or do you feel an MBA is adequate preparation. If the latter, why? What could we do to prove the added value?
Would you be interested in developing closer linkages with the academic community? If so, in what way could you see yourself being more involved?
Do you provide in-house continuing education? How do you build that curriculum?
What types of experience should students have as they enter the workforce?
What hands-on experience should students get?
What is your perception of online and/or for-profit universities?
What recruiting efforts have CEOs found to be most successful?

Much of the practitioner feedback was not surprising and echoed what we've heard before. While a few of the participants were aware of AUPHA, the majority had never heard of us. They were likewise unfamiliar with CAHME though most were aware that there were accredited programs in healthcare management. However, none of them indicated that the accreditation status of a program from which a candidate graduated would play a significant role in the hiring decision.

A few had relationships of some kind either with the program from which they had graduated or the program in their local are, but an equal number were not aware of any programs in their area. Most did not know that there were both graduate and undergraduate programs.

One of the key take-aways from the focus group was the emphasis on the need for students to receive hands-on experience as part of their academic experience. Those that were familiar with programs that required a residency at the conclusion of the program were strongly in favor of this approach and several had employed residents or fellows in their hospitals. All agreed that a key message for AUPHA and our members to impart is the fact that all students in accredited and certified programs are required to have field experience before graduation. They felt that this was the most important distinguishing factor between academic programs. They recognized that this is not often found in students graduating from fully online programs.

Another was that we need to worry less about healthcare finance and spend more time on managerial accounting for healthcare which is a critical area that entry level professionals need to understand and many do not.

AUPHA will be conducting another focus group at the TYYO to be held November 31 & December 1 in Atlanta. We would welcome the participation of any members who might be planning to attend that meeting. For more information, contact Lydia Middleton (lmiddleton@aupha.org).

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