Tag Archives: healthcare

An Educational Trip of a Lifetime!

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Written by: Nicki Sanchirico Exsc/Kines ’18, DPT ’21

About one year ago, I woke up early during my intersession break to catch a flight to Guatemala.  No, I did not go there to simply escape the cold, although that certainly was a perk!  I traveled there with twelve second- and third-year University of Scranton Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate students, as well as two of our professors, for an educational trip of a lifetime!  Our professors organized a trip for us with a non-profit organization called Hearts in Motion (HIM). On our trip, we teamed up with four students and one professor from another Jesuit institution to provide physical therapy triage services to individuals who ordinarily do not have access to care.

Each day, we woke up with the call of a rooster who lived on the hotel grounds, ate a delicious Guatemalan breakfast, and traveled via bus from our hotel to various locations surrounding the town of Zacapa. At each site, patients lined up to receive our services before we even arrived. As students at a Jesuit school, we are taught to always strive for “magis” or the “greater”. To ensure each patient received the greatest quality of care, we split up into groups that included two to three student therapists and a translator. Our professors, along with two physical therapists from Guatemala, rotated around to each group as needed. This gave us the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from each other throughout the day.

Just as we are taught to strive for “magis”, we also aim for the Jesuit ideal of “cura personalis” or “care of the whole person”. Prior to going on the trip, I doubted how much we could help each person if we only saw them once; however, I was pleasantly surprised when my professors told me that the patients would be able to receive follow up care if needed. At the end of each day and at the end of our trip, we had guided prayers and reflections on our experiences. Out of the 250 patients seen, a pediatric patient marked one of the biggest imprints on my heart. The child had cerebral palsy and malnourishment. His mother reported that he often wanted to stand or walk, but it became too difficult for her to help him by herself. Through the triage services, our professor helped us to retrofit donated braces to his legs to make it easier for the mother to assist her child with ambulation. HIM then offered the child continued services to help address his neuromuscular and nutritional deficits. The look of pure joy that filled the mother’s face after she realized her son would finally be receiving the care that he needs is an image that I will remember throughout the rest of my academic and professional career.

In addition to the educational and emotionally moving physical therapy patient experiences, the cultural immersion experiences made the trip unforgettable. Throughout each treatment session, we gained new insight into the Guatemalan culture and the differences between each surrounding town. Our last couple of days in Guatemala was spent in the beautiful city of Antigua, exploring and enjoying many experiences that the country offers. I had the opportunity to tour a coffee plantation, ride a horse up a volcano, buy Guatemalan goods crafted by the locals, and indulge on authentic food. I am beyond grateful for the service immersion experience that allowed me to fine tune physical therapy skills and my Jesuit ideals of “magis” and “cura personalis”, while having fun along the way!

This trip was just one of the many volunteer opportunities that the University offers to students. Although this trip was specific to physical therapy students, service opportunities are also available to graduate students of other majors. During a typical year, graduate and undergraduate students can participate in both international and domestic service immersion experiences through The Center for Service and Social Justice. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, The Center for Service and Social Justice was still able to offer immersion experiences to students; however, it was in a virtual format! This winter, they offered a virtual domestic immersion chance to explore racial justice in Detroit, as well as a virtual international immersion opportunity with Christians for Peace in El Salvador.  The variety of service and immersion experiences offered by The University of Scranton allows students to enrich their life as graduate students and create unforgettable experiences!

The Leahy Clinic: An Opportunity Like No Other

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The University of Scranton’s Edward R. Leahy Jr. Center Clinic for the Uninsured earned a 2020 Gold Rating from the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) Quality Standards Program.

As a member of NAFC, the Leahy Clinic is required to quantify and qualify the care provided utilizing a formalized set of quality standards set forth by this national association. Voluntary submission of information to the NAFC on the various policies and procedures is required to attain their standards rating along with validation that they are successfully incorporated within the organization. NAFC quality standards elements included policies and procedures related to the following areas: administrative, enhanced access and continuity of care, identifying and managing patient population information, planning and managing care, providing self-care support and community resources, tracking and coordinating care and measuring and improving performance.

Procedures documented by the Leahy Clinic, Lackawanna County’s only free clinic, include reports of the diversity in its racial, ethnic and language composition within the patient population. Language services and multi-lingual staff of the clinic interpret for the patient utilizing culturally specific dialects that decrease the possibility for misdiagnosis due to lack of understanding in both directions of interpretation. The Leahy Clinic has also established relationships with medical and diagnostic specialists with the goal of improving overall health and decreasing inappropriate Emergency Department utilization due to lack of accessible care, by implementing a patient navigation system.

“We have been members of NAFC for the past 10 years, and along with University of Scranton students, have been able to develop resources and provide patient care based on best practices for delivery of outpatient care,” said Andrea Mantione, D.N.P., director of the University’s Leahy Community Health and Family Center, which includes the Leahy Clinic. Both Dr. Mantione and Maria Vital, Ph.D., operations manager at the Leahy Community Health and Family Center, have been featured as guest speakers to NAFC’s national audience.

“We continue to work with both the National and State Association of Free and Charitable Clinic as a model of high quality health care delivery to our most vulnerable populations,” said Dr. Mantione. “We are excited to have received this top rating highlighting our commitment to providing quality care for our patients.”

The Leahy Clinic, now in its 13th year of operation at the University’s Panuska College of Professional Studies, provides free non-emergency healthcare to uninsured Lackawanna County residents who may otherwise forego healthcare due to cost or seek care in hospital emergency rooms. Through the innovative collaboration of community health provider volunteers with undergraduate and graduate student volunteers and faculty members, as well as other University resources, the Leahy Clinic has been able to offer free care that includes medical, counseling, physical therapy and low vision services, along with exercise and nutrition classes. Since 2007, the clinic has served more than 7,000 individual patients through more than 16,000 visits.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered near Washington, D.C., the NAFC is working to ensure that the medically underserved have access to affordable quality health care and strives to be a national voice promoting quality health care for all. Both the NAFC and The Leahy Clinic for the Uninsured are dedicated to ensuring that patients receive quality health care.

The Leahy Clinic provides unparalleled academic experience and hands-on opportunities for our health care students.
Learn more about the Panuska College of Professional Studies.

Is Nursing Anesthesia Right for you?

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The Nurse Anesthesia (NA) program is a full-time, rigorous, and comprehensive 36-month program, which prepares registered nurses to become Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists. Students are given the opportunity to integrate classroom content with direct application of advanced techniques in the provision of anesthesia care to patients throughout the lifespan. Clinical skills are learned in a variety of environments, each of which offers experiences in the anesthetic management of specialized patient populations.

More about our program:

  • Prepares nurses to function in the role of certified registered nurse anesthetists.
  • 100% graduate employment rate.
  • 90% first-time certification exam pass rate.
  • 28 months, full-time study to degree.
  • Facilitates a direct access to faculty and advisors on a regular basis while enriching the academic experience.
  • Gain practical knowledge from faculty who bring significant clinical work experiences to the classroom experience.

Learn more about the program, and see if it’s right for you!

What’s the Deal with HIPAA?

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Data breaches in health care organizations placing patient information at risk are increasingly common and have an estimated cost of over $2.2 million per occurrence.1In an effort to combat digital information from slipping through the cracks, the federal government crafted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)2  to protect patient privacy through enforcement of how health care organizations use, store and disclose information.

For health and human services students committed to comprehensive quality in patient care, health and safety, it’s important to understand the purpose of HIPAA laws and how they affect the operations of organizations. Qualified professionals, who have a clear understanding of the HIPPA privacy laws, are vital to improving HIPAA workflows and mitigating risks of data breaches.

The Basics of HIPAA

Patients have often encountered HIPAA whether they realize it or not; when they go to their health care provider’s office prior to an appointment and fill out their health history, they’ll be asked to read and sign several pages of forms. These forms may include HIPAA paperwork that outlines how their information may be shared within the organization.

HIPAA regulations include the Privacy Rule3 and the Security Rule.4 The Privacy Rule establishes protections  that set parameters on how providers use patient information and who they share it with. This rule also enables patients to request health record copies or make corrections to them in case of errors. The Security Rule outlines actual procedures on how to safeguard patient information. Procedures may include details on how or where information can be housed as well technological specifications for software protection.

Health care providers such as physicians, registered nurses, emergency medical technicians, and patient care coordinators must abide by HIPAA regulations2 to ensure quality patient care and privacy. Health plans and third party organizations that process patient health information are also bound to compliance.

HIPAA’s Influence on the Health Care Industry

HIPAA regulations create a unique ripple effect in health care and public health. These federal rules are in place to harmonize privacy with access to quality care; the regulations protect patient privacy, but sharing information between providers from different organizations requires increased coordination with patients and facilities to ensure consent. For clinicians, students, scientists and other professionals involved in health care, research is vital as a cornerstone to improving patient care outcomes and the effective use of technology.

HIPAA’s impact on research can present obstacles to participant recruitment, diversity in study participants, access to data and the completion of studies. These challenges may directly increase the amount of funding needed for research.5

In many cases, HIPAA can work to directly benefit the workplace by boosting the responsibility and transparency of health information management. Digital paper trails can determine who views patient records, tracks changes, or updates information.

HIPAA also enhances integrity of a health care facility’s business practices by enforcing data access restrictions, which limits liability. Strong password enforcement is another key feature of HIPAA’s security measures, which can cut back on sensitive data access from inside and outside of a health care organization.

Regulations require the implementation of data backup strategies and malware protection parameters. Cyber breaches cost the industry up to $6.2 billion in losses, 1 so protection augmented by HIPAA can reduce a facility’s overall cost of operation, and prevent loss or tampering of patient records.

HIPAA’s physical security requirements, which include details regarding camera surveillance, securely locked doors, identification badges and power loss contingency help organizations implement the extra layers of protection they need to ward off data breaches.

The Role of HIPAA for Health Informatics Jobs

While the HIPPA privacy rules protect sensitive information regarding patient health and care, rules do permit certain authorities to disclose protected information without authorization to protect the health of individuals and populations.6 Examples of situations where disclosing information may be critical include child abuse or neglect, persons at risk of contracting or spreading disease and medical surveillance related to workplace injuries.

Cultivate Solutions for the Health of Your Community with an Online MSHI Degree

The University of Scranton’s Master of Science in Health Informatics (MSHI) program offers a curriculum developed to teach students the skills to protect the health of individuals and communities through prevention and health education. The online MSHI program offers a flexible class schedule to accommodate working professionals who demonstrate leadership skills and to wish to advance their education and career.

Learn more about Health Informatics at The University of Scranton.

1 Ponemon Institute. (2016). The sixth annual benchmark study on privacy & security of health care data. Retrieved from http://www.cahiim.org/hi/aparprocess.html
2 U. S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n. d.). Health information privacy. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html
3 U. S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). The HIPAA Privacy Rule. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/index.html
4 U. S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). The Security Rule. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/security/index.html
5 U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health. (2007). Clinical Research and the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Retrieved from https://privacyruleandresearch.nih.gov/clin_research.asp
6 U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n. d.). Public health. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/public-health/index.html

Journey from Clinician to Administrator: Advancing in Healthcare Administration

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Neel Pathak, an MHA graduate, has eight years of progressive management experience in diverse settings, including major health systems, healthcare associations, accrediting organizations, and academic institutions. He is a skilled clinician, an experienced administrator, and a strong advocate of initiatives in process excellence. He also serves as a Baldrige Examiner for state and national levels. His unconventional career path, he says, was shaped by earning his MHA degree online at The University of Scranton. Read on to learn how he’s impacted patient care on national and regional levels.

How did you decide on a career in the healthcare field?

I’ve had an interest in the healthcare field since high school. I’m originally from India and I spent a year and a half practicing as a clinician—a physical therapist. Though I loved being a clinician, I had an insider’s look at the management activities of the clinic. That sparked my interest to learn more about the business and delivery of healthcare. That interest motivated me to move to the United States to pursue a program in healthcare administration.

What made you choose The University of Scranton?

It was the combination of having all the right elements in one place. First, I wanted to attend a program that was strong academically and demanded an administrative residency or fellowship so I could gain more first-hand experience in the field. Second, I only looked at CAHME-accredited programs because I knew that meant the rigor, integrity, and quality of my education was ensured. I was able to have a phone interview with the program director, Dr. West, while I was still in India researching schools. He’s also a member of CAHME’s Board of Directors, so I knew I was talking to an extremely knowledgeable professor—and we really connected! I appreciated the personal and student-centric approach. It seemed like the perfect fit.

How did you find your residency/fellowship?

Scranton’s MHA program provided multiple resources early in the program that helped orient me with the residency/fellowship process. Current students in those phases spoke with us about their experiences. We were encouraged to join the American College of Healthcare Executives, which in turn offered seminars and education regarding fellowships. Faculty advisors were familiar with our goals and matched us with appropriate residency and fellowship opportunities. I knew these are very competitive and it was important to me to find the right option to better understand the healthcare delivery system in its entirety, from strategy to operations and front-line management.

Where did you complete your residency?

I was selected for the Aramark Healthcare Administrative Fellowship and placed at OhioHealth, a health system headquartered in Columbus, OH. This was a unique opportunity to get exposure to two different organizations. Aramark sponsored the healthcare fellowship and the selected fellows were paired with a client organization. Aramark’s philosophy “Everything’s Connected” gave us a unique vantage point in understanding the day-to-day operations of a hospital or healthcare system from not just a practice management standpoint, but also from a service and patient-experience standpoint.

They selected five fellows from across the nation, and I was paired with the senior vice president of support services at OhioHealth. While I was there, I worked on projects in eight different hospitals. They included strategy development and planning for a new neuroscience building, quality and process improvement initiatives, physician-practice management projects, and revenue-cycle management initiatives, among others.

Throughout my fieldwork, I was able to attend industry conferences like the American College of Healthcare Executives Leadership Congress, the American Hospital Association’s Leadership Summit, and the National Association of Health Services Executives Conference.

Because of the unique fellowship structure, Aramark was also able to leverage other healthcare clients in their network to offer us unique observation opportunities at leading healthcare organizations like the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, MD Anderson Cancer Institute, and Texas Children’s Hospital, among others.

How did you transition from an administrative fellow to a research/program specialist at the American Hospital Association?

I wanted to explore different settings in the healthcare industry and build upon my quality improvement experience. I got an opportunity with the American Hospital Association (AHA) in Chicago—they advocate for 5,000 hospitals and healthcare systems across the country.

I worked on The CUSP: STOP CAUTI project with Health Research and Educational Trust—the research arm of the AHA. The project specifically focused on reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections across the country.

We had a national team of experts who provided leadership and guidance on content. In addition, we worked with state hospital associations to get their buy-in and assist them in their journey to reduce hospital-acquired infections. We collected, analyzed, and reported the data on a national level to identify trends and assisted individual hospitals through their state’s hospital associations by sharing best practices.

I’m proud to report that we saw a significant reduction in hospital-acquired infections throughout the project, saving millions of lives and millions of dollars.

After the AHA, you took an opportunity with CAHME. What was that experience like?

Right after my time with AHA, an opportunity with the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) came along. While I was still a student, I worked with Dr. West on a small project with them. When I saw CAHME had a position open for a director of business and development, I knew it would be a great learning opportunity. And it was! CAHME taught me more about business development and I was proud that they ensure the future generations of healthcare leaders are training appropriately.

During my time at CAHME, we made our business processes more efficient by leveraging the right technologies and moving to a cloud-based environment. By using tools like Box, Salesforce, Office 365, and Constant Contact, we improved our day-to-day processes and provided better value for our programs.

This experience of improving quality on a national scale taught me a lot about teamwork and further fueled my passion for quality and process improvement. I launched a signature program—the CAHME Awards—which recognizes organizations that are going above and beyond meeting accreditation standards and are doing exceptionally well. The awards program is very successful and is sponsored by leading healthcare organizations like Modern Healthcare, Ascension, Cerner, Canon, and Baylor Scott & White Health.

The University of Scranton just won the CAHME CANON Award. Is that part of this project you worked on?

Yes! The full name of the award is Canon Solutions America Award for Sustainability in Healthcare Management Education and Practice. As its name suggests, the award serves to incorporate the ideals of sustainability in future healthcare leaders. It recognizes the significant influence of education programs in creating sustainable, inclusive, and socially responsible healthcare organizations. I’m very glad that Scranton won that award!

What do you do in your current role in Ambulatory Services Administration at the Johns Hopkins Hospital?

We have a state‐of‐the‐art outpatient center with over 60 clinics, providing 20 ancillary services, and serving about 650,000 patient visits annually. I’m a project administrator in the Ambulatory Services department. My role is to serve as an internal change-management consultant by planning, directing, and implementing projects to improve quality, operations, efficiency, access, delivery, and experience of care for ambulatory patients. We use innovative technologies and business-intelligence tools with Epic and Tableau to make data-driven decisions.

After my time with CAHME, I wanted to explore the ambulatory and practice management setting further. This opportunity with Johns Hopkins, which has been ranked the number one hospital in the country for more than 20 straight years, has been a dream come true in experience and learning.

Are there any projects that stand out in your experiences in ambulatory services administration?

I serve as the Patient Experience Lead for Ambulatory Services. At Johns Hopkins, we have a really strong focus on providing the best possible care in the best possible place. It is challenging to provide that seamless experience in a complex academic medical center environment.

We created an executive council to set goals and provide leadership and mentorship for all aspects of patient experience. We also created a coordinating committee—the working arm that digs deep into the patient-experience data points: Current processes and challenges, workflows, and sharing of best practices to improve care delivery and experience. We look at our scores and compare them to national benchmarks to see what’s working and what we can do to deliver a better experience.

We discuss these results with our clinical care teams to find opportunities for improvement together. We have gained a lot of traction on this and our clinics are highly engaged in this journey. I’m very proud of that.

It sounds like a lot of data and analytics go into your role. Was that something you learned in Scranton’s MHA program? Or is it more on-the-job learning?

There was a lot of emphasis on data in the program, beyond just understanding the foundation of data and finances. We focused on evidence-based decision-making in the MHA program. That being said, I think there are always skills and nuances you have to learn on the job. I’m a graduate of the Leadership and Excellence in Analytics and Data Science (LEADS) program at Johns Hopkins, which focuses on teaching professionals how to use data in their decision-making.

Congratulations on your appointment to the Baldrige Board of Examiners! How did you become involved with the Board?

I was first introduced to the Baldrige criteria while at the AHA. I talked to a few members who completed the examiner training and studied the Baldrige approach and criteria. What I liked about their approach is that it’s not prescriptive and not built for a specific health system with exactly 200 beds. It’s for anyone looking to improve their performance: A hospital, nonprofit, city, or small business. The Baldrige criteria can adapt to these unique situations.

I was selected for the state examiner role after my training opportunity. A few years later, I applied for the national level and became the national examiner.

I review applications for the Baldrige award—a prestigious presidential award that demands a very rigorous process. Baldrige is administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Baldrige criteria encourages applicants to think about their processes and the results from an organizational viewpoint. This, in turn, stimulates conversations about improvement strategies.

How long do you serve as examiner?

The Baldrige examiner term is for one year. You need to reapply again to serve on the Board and go through the training.

You’ve had many high-level positions. Do you think your clinical background helped you get to where you are today?

Yes, it certainly helped! My clinical background coupled with administrative experiences helps me better understand operational issues. It leads to a better vantage point in decision-making. When I was treating patients, I made one-on-one decisions regarding their care. Now the decisions I make affect patients on a larger scale. I have to be mindful of that fact and ensure each decision I make is ultimately patient-centric.

What advice would you give someone looking to move up in the healthcare field, even without that clinical background?

First, you can still succeed in this field without having a clinical background. What you must have top of mind at all times is a focus on quality patient care. With that, you can achieve your goals.

My second piece of advice to anyone looking to advance in healthcare is don’t limit yourself. Take advantage of how broad and diverse the healthcare field is to understand the levels of patient care in multiple settings. There are hospitals, outpatient settings, nursing homes, insurance companies, retail clinics—the opportunities are endless, so branch out.

You’re now involved with current students as a mentor. How did that come about?

I remember when mentors helped shape and guide my decisions as a student. I want to ensure our current students have that same opportunity, and so I serve as an external/alumni mentor for many students in the Scranton MHA program.

We also created The University of Scranton MHA Alumni Society. I serve as one of the board officers and make sure we give back to the Scranton MHA program in as many ways as we can. We meet on a monthly basis and talk through how to improve relationships with current students and re-engage past alumni to better the program.

Connect with Neel Online on LinkedIn or Twitter!

Put Your Passion For Helping Patients To Work

Discover how you can manage healthcare processes, provide the best possible care, or build on a strong business background that helps a community of patients with The University of Scranton’s Master of Health Administration program today.