Trinity University HCAD Herald

This week our students have enjoyed the annual tradition of traveling to Chicago to attend the American College of Healthcare Executives' (ACHE) Congress on Healthcare Leadership as well as the Trinity University Health Care Administration Department Alumni Association's Dean Duce Award Dinner, which this year recognized distinguished alumnus Bruce Lawrence ('82), President and CEO of INTEGRIS Health.  This cherished ritual offers first-year students a critical experience during the program, through which they are afforded opportunities to bond with classmates, to engage in and learn from ACHE's professional community of healthcare executives, to connect with and celebrate Trinity HCAD alumni, to prepare for Preceptor's Conference with mock interviews, and to experience the city of Chicago.  Current student Camille Fagan put together this great account of her time in Chicago: Earlier this week, all 23 first year on-campus program students attended the American Col

This past Wednesday, the on-campus HCAD first-year students completed a major joint project across the HCAD 5311 (Health Services Organization & Policy II) and HCAD 5313 (Health Economics) courses: the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and Market Analysis project.  For the third consecutive year, this project asked groups of students to each select a specific market in the U.S. and then complete a detailed analysis of their respective market, simulating both a CHNA that is required for nonprofit hospitals throughout the U.S. as well as an economic market outlook that is a common tool developed by health care strategic groups and consulting firms.  The five markets selected by student groups included Baltimore, Colorado Springs, Des Moines, Las Vegas, and San Diego. This year's presentations took a different form than previous years, as the traditional format of having each group formally present their individual analysis in half-hour blocks was replaced by a sim

The past two weeks have been busy ones for our first-year on-campus graduate students as they approach the mid-point of the spring semester.  Between case competitions, ideation sessions, preparations for major group projects and presentations, thinking ahead to ACHE Congress in Chicago in late March and Preceptors' Conference in early May, and studying for upcoming exams, things have heated up in a semester known for being full, busy, challenging, and rewarding. This past week saw our group of three first-year students compete in the 11th annual University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Health Administration Case Competition.  Jake Abrey, Shirly Ho, and Dillon Rai devoted three weeks to diligently preparing their strategic response to the case presented in the competition, which involved meaningfully addressing the needs of emergency department superutilizers at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore.  Their hard work and efforts certainly paid off, and we were thrilled to see

Last weekend, Trinity HCAD's first-year On-Campus students participated in the fourth annual Cleveland Clinic Case Competition.  Five teams worked tirelessly from Thursday night, when they received the case by email, through Monday morning, when they electronically submitted their case deliverables, which involved developing a strategy for the Cleveland Clinic's southern region in northeast Ohio.  The students' responses ranged from building microhospitals, to forming joint ventures with other community hospitals in the region, to establishing specialty facilities focusing on geriatric care. The teams spent almost the entire weekend on Trinity's campus, and each adopted a "home room" to work in.  Each team seemed to develop a different personality over the course of the weekend, with some stocking up on snacks, others playing quiet music, and still others working while basketball games streamed on projector screens in the background.  There were also seve

The Trinity HCAD program takes pride in our connection to the field and our blending of the classroom experience with professional practice.  One of the best illustrations of this commitment is the degree to which we have experienced health care executives and experts in health administration visit our program as guest speakers, as well as taking our students to visit varied health care organizations, where they can gain a first-hand perspective on the work that occurs in today's complex and dynamic health care industry. This semester gives a brief glimpse of how we see such connection to the field be an integral part of the HCAD program experience.  Beginning with the Executive program in early January, our Executive students enjoyed visits by Glenn Robinson, President at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Hillcrest in Waco, and Abbe Ulrich, Principal at Korn Ferry, during their three-day on-campus session.  As the on-campus later returned to Trinity to begin their sp

What might accountable care organizations (ACOs) look like moving forward?  As ACOs continue to grow and evolve in our health care delivery system, how will pursuit of ACO models align with consolidation pressures in the health care industry?  This month's Research Spotlight post shines on a recent article by Dr. Steve Mick (Virginia Commonwealth University) and our own Dr. Patrick Shay, who together considered the question of whether the continued proliferation of ACO models may encourage health care organizations to adopt vertically integrated organizational forms. Their work, included as part of a special December issue of Medical Care Research and Review  dedicated to using organization theory to understand ACOs, applies a perspective known as Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) to explore what degree of vertical integration activity ACO forms may take.  Developed from the work of Nobel laureates Oliver Williamson and Ronald Coase, TCE focuses on the classic "make or buy&qu

The Spring 2017 semester is finally underway.  After welcoming our Executive students to campus last week and then seeing them start the semester strong, we also welcomed back to the Department our On-Campus graduate students late last week.  Many of them enjoyed the winter break to relax, recharge, and reconnect with family and friends, and by the time they arrived back last Thursday, they were eager and ready to begin a fun-filled and challenging semester! The On-Campus students this spring are looking forward to a great course sequence, including coursework that addresses health economics, health care financial analysis, population health management, health care strategic planning and marketing, health care innovations, and physicians and physician relations.  The spring semester is a very busy one, with numerous highlights such as the Cleveland Clinic Case Competition in February, a community health needs assessment (CHNA) and market analysis project in early March, the trip t

The new year has begun, and this week we've also begun the Spring 2017 semester!  We were thrilled to welcome our Executive Program students back to campus earlier this week.  Each semester, Executive Program students travel to campus for three intensive days of classroom instruction, engagement, and professional development.  This semester, first-year Executive students began coursework in Information Technology, Managerial Accounting, and Health Care Organization Theory & Management.  Second-year students embarked on perhaps the most challenging semester of their program, with courses including Strategic Planning & Marketing, Strategic Management of Health Services, and Leadership Effectiveness. In addition to tackling these courses, students from both classes also enjoyed visits and professional development presentations by esteemed Trinity HCAD alumni, including Glenn Robinson, President at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Hillcrest in Waco, and Abbe Ulric