The Baylor University – Hankamer School of Business and Robbins Institute for Health Policy and Leadership have recently announced a new program in healthcare and business which will launch this fall at Baylor.
Joining programs such as the MBA in Healthcare Administration and two Executive Healthcare MBA programs, a new PhD in Health Services Research will launch this fall as part of the Economics program. Furthermore, Baylor University will partner with the U.S. Army to offer the Graduate Program in Health and Business Administration at Joint Base San Antonio Fort Sam Houston.
United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Forest Kim also serves as the program director and assistant professor for the Army-Baylor Health and Business Administration program. According to Kim, the opportunity to research new types of potential healthcare delivery can have tremendous impacts in the field.
One of the new types of healthcare delivery Kim is studying is the patient-centered medical home, or PCMH. Through PCMH, Kim says there should be better patient outcomes and less non-urgent patients in the emergency room. Within the military, it can be much easier to implement these new ideas than trying to introduce them on a wider scale. ““It’s a great advantage because the military can be looked at as a learning laboratory for the nation,” says Kim. “It’s a great opportunity to look at different types of care modalities.”
Kim has already tried the PCMH model on a small-scale with tremendous results. Now that research can be conducted alongside Baylor faculty and students, he imagines even greater strides being made.
“I think we’re just beginning to scratch the surface on opportunities to collaborate,” said Kim. “Recently, we’ve seen the tremendous potential if we increased that partnership.”