Recent research from faculty at the University of Houston – C.T. Bauer College of Business combined healthcare with business strategies to best prepare for the rising Zika virus outbreak.
The research came from Bauer College Associate Professor Elizabeth Anderson-Fletcher, who teaches courses focused on supply chain – the system of resources, information, activities and people involved in the production and distribution of a commodity.
In her paper entitled “The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Ebola Crisis: A Perfect Storm of Human Errors, System Failures and Lack of Mindfulness,” Anderson-Fletcher proposes strategies from supply chain that could prevent healthcare management problems from the Ebola crisis from occurring again.
According to Anderson-Fletcher, “[i]f we view the current Zika virus pandemic through a supply chain lens, then one could imagine all of the necessary elements- science, resources, people, supplies, logistics, and governmental policies – needed to respond rapidly and comprehensively to a global public health emergency.” She adds that issues during the Ebola crisis were largely failures of communication, and it is therefore critical to focus on avoiding these failures with Zika.
Anderson-Fletcher’s study of management during the Ebola crisis was largely based off of recently released research from the University of Houston Hobby Center for Public Policy, particularly a study co-authored by Bauer College Associate Professor Dusya Vera.
The Bauer College professor further discusses her connection between business and healthcare management in an article for the Houston Chronicle’s Inside Policy & Politics section.
“When we think of global public health, we typically think of health care policy, bioscience, and medical practice,” said Anderson-Fletcher. “but…it’s also important to consider the situation from a business supply chain perspective.”