P050: A COLLABORATIVE MODEL TO EXPAND HEALTH SYSTEM SCIENCE EDUCATION
Jordan Taylor-Bentley, BS1; Alex Lima, BSHS, PTA1; Danielle Madril, MD, MHCM, FASA2; François Sainfort, PhD, FACHE1; Stuart Marcus, MD, MBA1
1Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine; 2Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, United Healthcare
Introduction: As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve and become more complex, the critical need for collaboration between all facets of the healthcare system increases. Misalignment among stakeholders—particularly physicians, payers, and health systems—has widened, often surfacing during contract negotiations due to differing definitions of “value” and approaches to improving it. Education is a critical strategy for reducing these gaps, and Health Systems Science, the third pillar of medical education, provides knowledge of how healthcare professionals can work together to improve patient care and healthcare delivery. We have conducted a feasibility study to identify a scalable model for Health Systems Sciences education that is applicable across all levels of healthcare professionals across multiple specialties.
Methods: An experiential 2-week elective was designed for fourth-year medical students based on learning objectives identified using an IRB-approved electronic survey distributed to physician and non-physician healthcare executives. A novel collaborative partnership was established in South Florida between a medical school, a payor and several southeast Florida hospitals to provide a comprehensive personalized curriculum to each student enrolled in the course focused on healthcare administration, stakeholder interplay, and strategies for navigating the U.S. healthcare system The course is delivered through a series of 1:1 interactions and attendance at scheduled and ad hoc organizational executive meetings where participants were able to observe real-time collaboration and decision making as part of their experience. Students are assessed by oral examination and were asked to complete a course evaluation upon completion of the elective.
Results: Physician and non-physician executives closely align on broad learning objectives for the course including leadership, communication and interprofessional collaboration, quality and patient safety, healthcare finance, healthcare delivery systems and operations and management. Five students have completed the course and the feedback from all five reflected that learning objectives were effectively covered and met, that the course stimulated their curiosity and helped them develop their critical thinking skills and the course was strongly recommended for other students to take. By course completion, oral examination revealed that students demonstrated clearer understanding of the roles and interactions of payers, health systems, and providers within a complex healthcare environment. This collaborative course has since been scaled up to an interactive Health Systems Science week scheduled for 65 participants at a single location.
Conclusions: As healthcare delivery continues to evolve, educational methods at all levels need to adapt to accommodate the increasing complexity. Our feasibility study reveals that an immersive experience allows participants to explore the challenges of administrative leadership and apply system-based concepts to actual organizational problems. Individual meetings with executives supported mentorship, deeper inquiry, and relationship-building. Our collaborative model which focuses on medical student education in health systems sciences provides a highly effective learning environment and represents a promising framework for strengthening long-term, cross-sector relationships that enhance system navigation and patient care.