University at Buffalo School of Management

the business of health With the health care industry facing an uphill battle to curb costs and improve efficiency, the School of Management has strategically focused on this changing field with a robust and growing portfolio of programs and partnerships in health care management. • Dual and collaborative MBA/health-related degrees: UB graduate students in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, social work, public health and audiology may pair their health-related program with an MBA to master the business of their field. In partnership with the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the school offers a five-year program leading to a bachelor's in biomedical engineering and MBA. • MBA health care management concentration: Full-time and Professional MBA students prepare to lead health care organizations, with courses in such areas as health policy, law, information systems, strategy and organization. • Accelerated MBA for medical residents: Residents in a Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences program can complete an MBA in three semesters, simultaneously advancing the clinical and management skills needed to lead a practice, take an administrative role and understand the business of medicine. • Executive MBA: An increasing number of physicians earn their MBA through the Executive MBA program, which provides a format that fits their busy schedules, intensive leadership development and an environment in which to learn best practices from faculty, fellow clinicians and others from diverse industries. • Non-credit-bearing program: Now in its second year, the Executive Development in Health Care Management certificate program gives clinicians a broad base of business skills in negotiation, team lead- ership, operations management, finance, change management and other areas. • Faculty research: School of Management faculty conduct research to identify ways to improve health care supply chains, information technology, marketing, operations and more, with colleagues across the nation and from health-related fields. "To change our health care system, we need an integrated, interdisci- plinary set of solutions, at a level that influences policy, practice and designs," says Dean Paul Tesluk. "I aspire for the School of Management to have an active role in leading those discoveries." x — Matthew Biddle Overhauling the system Paul Tesluk, professor and dean of the School of Manage- ment, is an expert in leader- ship and organizational change. The time is right, he says, for a major shift in the U.S. health care industry. "If the current state is bro- ken enough, that will create the motivation to design something new and commit to undertake the effort required to move to a new state," he says. "But at the same time, if you're overwhelmed with problems, you might not have the bandwidth to think creatively and innovate in ways that allow you to make necessary changes." To transform a system as massive and well- established as the health care industry, Tesluk agrees that reimbursement structures must be altered to incentivize stakeholders to work together from clin- ical medicine, pharmaceuticals, administration, the medical device industry and other sectors. "We need to start small and identify specif- ic objectives that are aligned with the goals of the Triple Aim," Tesluk says. "For example, by working together, how can providers, insurers and community organizations lower hospital readmission rates? That's a huge component in cost and quality." Tesluk says institutions like the School of Management can help by educating the health care leaders of today and tomorrow about ways to man- age and improve their systems (see sidebar at right). "We see more and more students in professional programs, particularly in health-related professions, seeing the value of management education," he says. "If you're a primary care physician with exposure to business education, you have a better understanding of the financial factors that impact how your practice runs and are better able to respond in ways that ad- dress these underlying problems." x Tesluk Autumn 2016 Buffalo Business 15 From left: dual-degree students Jasmin Dhanjal, DDS/MBA '18; Conrad Gleber, MD/MBA '17; Laura Bielecki, PharmD/MBA '18; Bisi Aiyelabowo, PharmD/MBA '17; Russell Van Coevering, MD/MBA '17; and Ishita Mehta, PharmD/MBA '17. Photo: Tom Wolf

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