It is very clear that we need to consider a new partner to replace Mt. Sinai. Developing a list of considered attributes would be very helpful as we begin to think about options.
Future of healthcare administration
One of the central contributions I would like from a partner is that the partner keep us closely attuned to the future of HCA. This is going to be a very dynamic field as the Affordable Care Act rolls out, and we will need some agency that keeps us informed as to the needs of providers so that we can shift curriculum appropriately.
Profit or non-profit?
Profit would certainly bring a new level of resources to the table, but it might also diminish our ability to attract students. EG: If we were partnered with Pfizer, Merck or other pharma might not want employees attending for a variety of reasons.
A non-profit fits more in line with our profile as part of the Zicklin School of Business. We are a public institution, and that is not to be taken lightly, it seems to me.
Contribution
A key issue is what level of involvement do we want the partner to have? MSSM provided a certain level of faculty (though that has clearly dropped off). We did all the institutional work (accreditation, registration, graduation, admission, tuition collection, back-office support). We also did all the curriculum development and instructional design. Are we looking for faculty only, or do we want a deeper involvement? Greater involvement might really be a bonus for program design, but it also might necessitate governance changes. There might need to be a smaller executive committee that meets with the partner, and that oversees the work of the steering committee.
General type?
We’ve been partnered with a medical center for so long, it might seem hard to think that options might exist. Medical centers do come with a scope of activity that is hard to replicate. And if we want to stay with a non-profit, that eliminates a variety of types (e.g., pharma). But there are other options, such as the Visiting Nurse Service. The choice will undoubtedly be informed by many of the questions above.
Contribution: We need active members of the medical community to evaluate the curriculum critically. To see if what is offered is still up to date and valid. To be an outside voice that can say what they are now looking for.
What is the overall direction of healthcare and is the program providing the tools that we will need in the future.
Larger medical centers offer a greater view of the medical world, they will also be providing many more positions for students as they graduate. That said, they also have their own politics and heirarchy that can get in the way of efficiency, making smaller medical facilities attractive.
An academic medical center makes a very attractive partner, from both an expertise and a brand-name standpoint. It would be great if there was a feeder program set up whereby graduates of the program would be on a fast-track to certain jobs at the partner organization from which we could draw on the material from the program. I was under the impression, until MSSM dropped out of the partnership, that they did have an active role in designing the curriculum and that was attractive for me when deciding which programs to apply to.
Some courses taught by practicing hospital administrators who can run us through a hospital budget, or a performance-improvement process, or a Joint Commission compliance review would be very helpful. The course offerings in the program now are excellent – they provide us a well-rounded business background that is applicable to the roles all of us are looking to fill in the future and even transferable outside the healthcare arena. Also, we all work full-time, so an “internship” program would be infeasible, but it would be really helpful to be indoctrinated into real-life hospital decision-making scenarios in the classroom. We’re all going to be in positions where we have to reconcile medical needs of a patient vs financial needs of an organization at some point in our careers – how about a point/counterpoint class taught by a medical professional and an administrator?
I think Dean Schepers was on the right track with avoiding a for-profit partner. I do think a hospital industry partner would offer more compatible match than a pharmaceutical or device entity.
Steve Reuben, a member of the class of 2014, suggested HHC as a potential partner? There’s certainly merit to this. They have a huge footprint in our market, they partner with some of the private institutions, they’re always hiring, and they have facilities that cater to every segment of the healthcare market.
Another thing to consider – organizational culture of a partner organization. Do we want a partner like North Shore-LIJ, which has a reputation of being very corporate, or a smaller independent community hospital that does not have that type of reputation? I tend to think a big brand name is a good thing.
Thanks for the opportunity!
I agree with what Robert and Daniel have said so far. I understand that Memorial Sloan Kettering is in the process of opening a cancer center in conjunction with CUNY Hunter’s nursing school. Why not team up with MSK for the MBA healthcare program as well? From what I understand, there are quite a few alumni of the healthcare MBA program working at MSK and quite a few employees of MSK enrolled in the program currently. MSK has the brand, the resources, and the motivation to partner with CUNY it seems.
We have a very unique opportunity to redefine vast swaths of this program. I read the proposed mission statement and found it to be very generic and not addressing the distinct needs of the Healthcare MBA program.
Using Professor Lyons 3 overarching topics, we have purpose of the organization, values held and addressed, and stakeholders.
The purpose of the organization is to create healthcare leaders. Healthcare leaders take many forms, from bedside providers to back-office operational staff, but we do what we do out of a desire for patient care. Our product is healthcare, our stakeholders are patients, and there is an altruism to what we do. This is why we are here and it absolutely needs to be part of our mission statement.
Values held and addressed. As future healthcare leaders, we value the needs of the patients under our care while balancing that with the business needs of the organization for which we work and optimizing the outcomes for all.
Stakeholders. Our stakeholders are the organizations we work for and the patients we serve. By being the best leaders that we can be, we satisfy the needs of our stakeholders.
Creating healthcare leaders requires a partnership with a healthcare organization that satisfies this mission statement and is willing to let this program become a conduit in to their organization. Most, if not all of the students in the program, are here to change and grow our careers and we would like ZSB and any external partners to recognize that and be actively involved in the very specialized and specific needs of healthcare leaders.
To that end, a partner has to be large, diverse, well-respected and able to hire newly minted MBAs. As Dan mentioned in his post, I thought HHC would be a good fit and I still do.