With changes happening rapidly in healthcare, studying systems of other countries offers ways of improving efficiencies. Graduate students in the Healthcare MBA (HCMBA) program in the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (FIU) recently presented the highlights of their Master’s Research Project—which included extensive research in China during March 2012—to the leadership of the Memorial Healthcare system.
“When I heard that these students, many of whom are Memorial employees, had a firsthand look at China’s healthcare system, I invited them to speak to our group,” said Aurelio Fernandez (MHSA ’85, BBA ’74), executive vice president and COO, Memorial Healthcare System. “We’ve always been open to new ideas; today we especially need to be creative.”
Memorial employees Dion Corrodus (HCMBA ’12) and Tony Milian (HCMBA ’12) presented the group’s findings to over 350 directors, managers and other executives during a Memorial leadership development meeting on June 14th.
“We did months of research, but visiting the hospitals in China and meeting with key people provided the most insight,” said Milian, director of U18 Sports Medicine at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. “Duplicating China’s healthcare system is not the goal. Rather, we painted a picture of a healthcare system worth considering and possibly adopting some of its strategies here in America.”
“I was especially impressed with how technology helps providers serve people better,” Fernandez said. “For instance, patients scheduling appointments using the Internet enables hospitals to serve a larger population.”
The group of ten students visited five Chinese hospitals with Nancy Borkowski, executive director of Health Management Programs, and Weidong Xia, who teaches health information systems courses.
“All Chinese medical services, including doctor visits and prescription medicine, are only available at hospitals so efficiency is very important,” Milian said. “It’s not unusual for a hospital to have 10,000 outpatient visits daily.”
Continuing the encouragement of higher education.
Fernandez said the presentation confirms his belief that Memorial should continue to support employees working on advanced degrees.
“Hearing extensive research like this shows how important continual knowledge is,” he said.
Apparently, learning is contagious. Lancelot Radlein, director, finance, Memorial Manor Nursing Home, attended the presentation—and applied for the fall HCMBA program at FIU.
