Dec 15, 2020
Bringing the Washington, DC Healthcare Policy Experience to Quinnipiac University
“A critical part of that has to be understanding how policies develop and the implications that both national and state policies have on the ability to deliver high-quality care.”— Dr. Matthew O’Connor, Dean & Professor of Finance
According to statistics, all Boomers will turn 65 by 2030. This will be about 20% of the American population, approximately 70 million Americans. It's estimated that we will need at least 3.5 million additional health care professionals and triple the number of direct care workers. It's going to create a crisis in staffing and health care.
Part One of ‘Bringing the Washington, DC Healthcare Policy Experience to Quinnipiac University’
The Institute of Medicine Landmark report for an aging America on building the healthcare workforce stated that unless action is taken immediately, the healthcare workforce will lack the capacity in both size and ability to meet the needs of older patients in the future. NAS calls it a crisis.
This is why the training of healthcare leaders, particularly in aging policy, is critical to developing good leadership and strategies that can help them understand how the organization needs to function in a very high-quality environment.
Another component is that they must understand what goes on in D.C. and how it impacts the delivery system. Such as how providers are reimbursed, how quality is measured, how money is appropriated for NIH research programs. And, it’s important to show appreciation towards the medical professionals and social workers who are “in the trenches”. They have a practical perspective on how things are being done.
“There has to be an appreciation of the medical professionals, what the social workers bring to the table, and how they think that we need to work more as a team.” — Angela S. Mattie, Esq., MPH
Therefore, given the aging demographic and the lack of providers to take care of these people, there is a need to train graduate students and practitioners on health policy and how things impact their business. As well as to show appreciation towards what the social workers are bringing to the table.
When you think about health care organizations, there are two critical areas. There's the clinical care that's provided. That's the front and center. All clinical care is provided within an organizational framework. And those organizations have to function well. They have to be able to execute on tasks. And, then there is the management vs leadership. They have to be able to have good management policies and good quality control.
Part Two of ‘Bringing the Washington, DC Healthcare Policy Experience to Quinnipiac University’
According to Professor Mattie, there are four pillars of training:
First: We need an interdisciplinary approach to health care. We have a med school, a law school, a school of nursing, a health science program with multiple disciplines, the health care coverage in our school of communication, healthcare analytics, coverage in our College of Arts and Sciences, and an engineering school that's also interested in how they can contribute broadly in the area of health care.
Second: Healthcare leaders need business skills and business students need a deep understanding of healthcare specific to each discipline.
Third: COVID has shown us that we need to train healthcare providers to have crisis management skills. How to set up field hospitals, train staff and take care of patients and plan. This won’t be our own …leadership skills and soft skills like emotional intelligence.
Fourth: And to teach students how federal and state policies impact our communities and our health. And how to partner with those in the field to have access to the expertise in the field in order to do this.
“Universities can contribute to training the next generation of healthcare leaders with an interdisciplinary focus.” — Angela S. Mattie, Esq., MPH
For any students interested, Quinnipiac University has an MBA program that allows a concentration in health care management, and they have a degree in organizational leadership that has a concentration in health care. Quinnipiac has a business analytics program that has health care analytics courses as well.
We are experiencing phenomenal and very rapid changes in everything from artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, and even wearable technologies that will impact healthcare. — Dr. Matthew O’Connor, Dean and Professor of Finance
The role and future of technology are also critical areas that healthcare leaders will need to understand when they get out into practice.
Professor Mattie was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow for the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee in 2000-2001. So, what was different in this Fellowship with a placement in the House, and how did the pandemic impact the fellowship?
Angela completed her RWJF Health Policy Fellowship during the 9/11 terrorist attacks - and during her Health and Aging Policy Fellowship, we have experienced our first pandemic. One of the key things that she worked on as a Fellow was patient safety legislation for good reasons.
Professor Mattie’s father was a victim of a patient safety event. She remained silent about her story despite many years of working with the health care community, thinking it might impact her relationships with others. And the moment she decided to step up and shared it recently, she saw the difference it made to many people’s lives to share her story. The importance of advocacy and telling your story can’t be underscored enough.
As a result, she met a lot of constituents over ground funding for various diseases. Angela remembers one particular group that came in from cystic fibrosis with the lobbyists and various people from the advocacy organizations. They also came in with two moms with the same case. One of the mothers brought a Russian stacking doll with her. Each one of the dolls were episodes that her poor daughter had gone through such as the cost of the episodes. Including hospital admission, 10 day stay, her ventilator, and medicine costs. This was a powerful visual to see.
On another note, The Health and Aging Policy Fellowship has greatly impacted Professor Mattie’s next career steps. She is truly honored and privileged to be a Quinnipiac University (QU) Albert Schweitzer Fellowship recipient this year, which allows her to continue her work. The institute was established to introduce Schweitzer's philosophy, a preference for life to a broader audience. What better way to do that than help bring policy and aging policy to our Quinnipiac community!
Together with Dr. O’Connor, they’re going to establish this health care policy immersion program with a focus on an interdisciplinary team of students and also looking toward individuals who have the ability to make a positive impact on health policy development. So, paying it forward and also developing those that might have an interest in engaging policy or policy in general.
Again, for any students interested, Quinnipiac University has an MBA program that allows a concentration in health care management, and they have a degree in organizational leadership that has a concentration in health care. Quinnipiac has a business analytics program that has health care analytics courses as well.
About Dr. Matthew O’Connor
Dr. Matthew O’Connor is Dean and Professor of Finance in the School of Business at Quinnipiac University. He has been with Quinnipiac since 1999, when he was appointed Assistant Professor of Finance. From 2005 to 2008, he served as Chair of the Finance Department. In 2008, he was appointed Interim Dean of the School of Business, and in 2009 he was appointed Dean. As Dean, Dr. O’Connor led the school’s efforts to expand its graduate programs, including launching the online MBA and online Masters programs in Business Analytics and Organizational Leadership.
Under his leadership, the business school stewarded the successful design, development, and launch of the School of Engineering. Conscious of the need to provide value to students, Dr. O’Connor also led efforts to develop accelerated dual-degree undergraduate to graduate programs, significantly reducing the time and cost of comprehensive higher education.
Dr. O’Connor is committed to the university’s teacher-scholar model. He launched and continues to teach the Finance program’s student managed portfolio course, which now has $3.0 million of assets under management. Additional teaching areas include undergraduate and graduate courses
in Corporate Finance, Financial Modeling, Investments, and Portfolio Management. In 2005, Dr. O’Connor was honored with a Quinnipiac University Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2010, Dr. O’Connor was honored with the SIFE Most Supportive Dean of the Year Award. Dr. O’Connor has published in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Banking and Finance, the
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Corporate Finance, the Journal of Applied Business and Economics, the Financial Services Review, and the Financial Review.
Highly committed to professional service, Dr. O’Connor served two terms on the Initial Accreditation Committee for AACSB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, International. He also serves on the boards of United Methodist Homes, the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, and Junior Achievement of Southwest New England. He is a Corporator for Ion Bank and a former Director at CEU.com, the Technology Investment Fund, and ReSET, the Social Enterprise Trust. Prior to joining Quinnipiac University, Dr. O’Connor worked as a Treasury Analyst for Rogers Corporation and an Actuarial Analyst for MassMutual Life Insurance, Co.
Angela S. Mattie, Esq., MPH
Angela Mattie, a professor of management in the School of Business and director of the long-term care and compliance certificate program. She also holds an appointment at the medical school at Quinnipiac University (QU). At Quinnipiac, she created a corporate compliance certificate program, the first program accredited by the national association. Ms. Mattie and her colleagues received the International Compliance Award for their contributions to healthcare compliance.
Angela completed the 2017 Bruce Bradley, Leapfrog fellowship designed for corporate professionals who want to take an active role in steering employees and their families to safer, higher-quality hospitals and health care systems. In 2019-2020, she was named a Health & Aging Policy Fellow with a placement in Representative DeLauro’s Washington, DC office.
Prof. Mattie serves on several boards, including Trinity Health of New England, where she chairs the Board’s quality & safety committee. She is also a member of St. Mary’s Hospital’s Quality Committee, Board Member of the CT Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and serves as the faculty director/advisor for the Quinnipiac University ACHE student chapter. She is the 2012 recipient of the Distinguished Faculty/Advisor Award from CT ACHE and the 2013 Center of Excellence in Teaching Award from Quinnipiac University.
Prior to joining Quinnipiac, Angela was Vice-President, Performance Improvement for Sisters of Providence Health Care System (SPHS). As a member of the executive team, she had oversight responsibilities for legal, quality, risk management, worker’s compensation, infection control, HIPAA privacy implementation, and corporate compliance.
In 2000-2001, Angela was selected for the competitive Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship. She served as a health policy fellow for the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. During her Fellowship, she was on leave from Anthem, Inc. in the corporate office of medical policy. In her role with Anthem, Inc., Ms. Mattie was responsible for designing risk-reduction strategies and project implementation for uniform medical policy for the corporation.
Before joining Anthem, Inc., Ms. Mattie was Assistant Vice-President, Quality Improvement Services with The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA). She had responsibility for a clinical research program that received state and national recognition. She is frequently called upon by the media for views on healthcare issues and has numerous healthcare management publications and presentations at national conferences.
Ms. Mattie received her Master’s Degree in Public Health (M.P.H.) with distinction from Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) at the University of Connecticut School Of Law, and an undergraduate degree, summa cum laude from Quinnipiac University. She is the proud mother of a MSW and still likes rock-n-roll music.
About Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN, FNP, FAAN
I earned my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (‘96) and Master of Science in Nursing (‘00) as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) School of Nursing (SON). I truly enjoy working with the complex medical needs of older adults. I worked full-time for five years as FNP in geriatric primary care across many long-term care settings (skilled nursing homes, assisted living, home and office visits) then transitioned into academic nursing in 2005, joining the faculty at UNCW SON as a lecturer. I obtained my PhD in Nursing and a post-Master’s Certificate in Nursing Education from the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing (’11) and then joined the faculty at Duke University School of Nursing as an Assistant Professor. My family moved to northern Virginia in 2015 and led to me joining the faculty at George Washington University (GW) School of Nursing in 2018 as a (tenured) Associate Professor where I am also the Director of the GW Center for Aging, Health and Humanities. Find out more about her work at https://melissabphd.com/