Blogs

Over the years I'd become increasingly fascinated with the idea of helping our health administration students develop their writing skills. If your institution is like mine, students to get a significant amount of practice with the "usual" writing assignments – strategic plans, executive summaries and the like. One type of writing that students may not have as much positive experience with his personal writing, designed to Earlier this week I discovered a new publication from the National Academy Medicine entitled " Nursing, Trauma, and Reflective Writing ". The piece cites statistics were likely all familiar with – 85% of intensive care unit nurses report ...

In entry #7, I argued: There is no ethical way a faculty member can ignore the Baldrige phenomenon. Just as medicine, economics, and public health must teach the latest documented evidence, AUPHA members must teach the Baldrige model. … Our graduates need to be able to apply the model, and to analyze operations to identify how they depart from the model, and how to fix them. It will not be ethical to do otherwise. Bold words, but I’ll stick by them. If your program does not produce graduates who have those skills, it’s failing. The Baldrige model is the only documented path. If you know of another, you should publish immediately. Bold words, ...

The only rigorous, audited description of excellence in healthcare delivery beyond the level of case studies is the set of “applications” of the 19 healthcare organizations (HCOs) that have won the Baldrige Quality Award. These are 54 page, single spaced documentations of proven work processes. Excellence is strategically viewed, and extensively measured. Applications must follow the “Framework,” which systematically reviews leadership, strategy, customers, workforce, operations, and results. The process that identifies winners includes review by several trained analysts, each spending 20 hours, and a week-long site visit by 5 to 7 senior analysts. Scoring ...

The generic term for computer-based skill-building materials appears to be “Reusable Learning Objects” (RLOs). RLOs are any sort of cloud-stored tool to help students—readings, videos, exercises, cases, essay assignments, simulations, etc. The organizing theme is their specific learning goals. As an instructor teaching a class of future healthcare managers works systematically through the required competencies, RLOs open new opportunities: Timesaving: Selecting an object is easier than creating one. At least the beginners’ RLOs can be fully automated. More advanced RLOs can be scored quickly with rubrics. More and better student feedback: RLOs ...

We have a beginning toolbox (Entry #2), but nothing to brag about. How can we improve the toolbox? Let me lay out some OFIs. 1. We need more and better questions, assignments, and realistic team projects. Colleague Begun says he wants cases. I’m not opposed, but we need to start beginners at the beginning. I’m not sure cases are the best tool for that. You can think of the “assignments” as mini-cases. 2. We need ways to conduct year over year assessment of student learning. I want to find OFIs and do better in ’17. 3. We need to test the overall structure, basically are we producing good professionals? I want to score ...

We have a vision, some early components, and some ideas. We have a beginning, but nothing to brag about. Here’s what’s accessible today. The strongest statement we can make is, “We know these tools can be used in classes of varying sizes. They are supported by most common learning management systems (LMS).” 1. Interactive reading assignments. Student reading tends to be passive. In reality, students must learn to apply many technical components of HCO management. (Think OFIs, balanced scorecards, bonuses, board agendas, capital budget requests, OSHA requirements, clinical guidelines, credentialing, etc.) Free software exists from MIT ( http://nb.mit.edu/welcome ...

The short answer is, “We need a collaborative because we are all short of time.” Revising a course is a lot of work, especially when it must be done on the fly—while teaching to several dozen students. Developing a library of teaching resources will save us all time. A somewhat longer answer is, “Because it will help our students do a better job.” Our graduates need to apply “best practice”, the tools and concepts documented in excellent HCOs. These HCOs are learning organizations that use evidence-based management, measuring and continuously improving performance. Our students need to know how to work in that environment. As instructors, we need to teach ...

Several trends converge around the teaching of entry level managers for healthcare provider organizations (HCOs): Competencies: Most of the accrediting agencies for professional degrees have moved to “competencies”. CAHME is included. “Competency” is defined as: Effective application of available knowledge, skills, attitudes and values (KSAV’s) in complex situations. The essential knowledge, skills, and other attributes (KSO’s) that are essential for performing a specific task or job. (CAHME Self Study Handbook, http://www.cahme.org/ ) Key words in this definition are “skills,” “application,” and “performing”. They rule out knowledge ...