Fresh wave of research talent sweeps into US conference

The School’s Healthcare Management expertise is internationally recognised and is increasingly being strengthened by a new generation of researchers stepping onto the world stage.

By Elliott White

The School’s Healthcare Management expertise is internationally recognised and is increasingly being strengthened by a new generation of researchers stepping onto the world stage.  Last week Dr Ipek Gurol Urganci, presented at the prestigious Academy Health ARM conference in Washington DC.  The event organisers also asked two PhD students from the same research group to also attend and present posters on their doctoral work.

The event, which traces its roots back to the mid 1970’s, is designed to bring together health services researchers, providers and key decision makers to address the critical challenges confronting national health care delivery systems.

Dr Gurol Urganci presented as part of a wider discussion on international approaches in primary pare.  Her paper reviews the latest developments in the use of models to guide resource allocation decisions in primary care. 

“In some ways, healthcare resources are allocated today by looking backwards.  We consider what budget, staffing and other provisions were given to a specific region based on what’s been done in the past cobbled together with some rudimentary demographic information,” explains Dr Gurol Urganci.  “This research is interesting because it allows us to evaluate what patient needs are likely to emerge in the future, based on modelled predictions.  It promises to actually put the resources where they will be needed in a timely fashion, based on a more detailed set of information.  We can stop making allocations by simply asking ‘What did we do last year?’”

Moving beyond the US focus which dominates the event were two business school PhD students presenting posters on healthcare management issues in less developed countries.  Professor Rifat Atun is supervising both Raheelah Ahmad and Yiannis Kyratsis on their doctoral research.  The funding for the trip was provided by the School’s PhD teaching programme.

Ms Ahmad’s work looks at the maternity care use in rural and urban Pakistan.  It challenges the existing understanding that women living in poverty or rurally have a limited understanding of the potential benefits of healthcare.  Early findings suggest that perceptions of healthcare providers amongst these women may actually be one of the biggest barriers to greater use.

Mr Kyratsis’s work is based in Slovenia and Estonia, which is seeing a shift toward public-private provision of primary healthcare.  The research examines how this approach is working on the ground, highlighting important successes and failures.  This work will provide important insights for other former socialist states considering introducing a public-private mix into primary care provision.

The School’s Healthcare Management Group is a recently founded research group. The Group's work informs policy design and organisational behaviour in the healthcare sector.  Its research focuses on how high-quality healthcare can be delivered. The Group uses analysis methods from health economics, management accounting, organisational behaviour, and management information systems. The new economics of happiness and wellbeing are also utilised to provide insights into the measurement of success of healthcare policies. Innovation, the management of change, the importance of complex supply chains and new ideas from services science are also key ideas that have many applications in healthcare.

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