Harvard Business School Announces New Program on Managing Healthcare Delivery

Program will help clinicians and physicians enhance care delivery design and
processes
BOSTON--(Business Wire)--
Harvard Business School (HBS) today announced plans to offer a new executive
education program for healthcare professionals called Managing Healthcare
Delivery. The program, slated to begin in October, will be led Dr. Richard
Bohmer, physician and faculty member of Harvard Business School, and author of
"Designing Care: Aligning the Nature and Management of Health Care".

In previous healthcare reform debates, how healthcare is delivered to patients
has often been overlooked. Amidst the current reform push, however, policymakers
and healthcare leaders are increasingly recognizing the importance of better
healthcare delivery as a critical component in improving the value, efficiency
and effectiveness of care.

"To achieve the ambitious goal of outcome-oriented care, we have to improve
organizational design and management skills across the entire system of care,"
said Dr. Bohmer.

"For too long the healthcare discussion has focused on answering the question,
`how do we pay for it`, with less attention given to the `it` for which we are
paying," said Bohmer. "This is changing rapidly, and we want to equip clinicians
and administrators with knowledge, tools and scenarios they`ll need to design
and improve healthcare delivery systems within their institutions."

Bohmer argues that as medical knowledge and expertise has increased - the
treatment of certain problems has become more predictable while other patient
problems remain uncertain. Carrying out these very different types of care
processes requires different management systems, resources, tools and personnel
- but most healthcare organizations are not set up to do this. As a result,
there is a misalignment between patients` health problems and the processes and
treatments applied to solve them.

The new Managing Healthcare Delivery program examines organizational structure
and processes within hospitals, the impact those structures have on healthcare
delivery and the growing role that sound and proven management techniques have
on helping healthcare teams cure disease and prevent suffering.

"Using real-world case studies from leading healthcare institutions,
participants will leave better equipped to identify and manage the
organizational changes required to simultaneously implement best practices for
well-understood health issues, create the new knowledge required to solve
complex health problems, and embed that knowledge into next generation clinical
practice," said Bohmer.

Program participants will build skills in strategy, finance, operations, and
leadership, while acquiring new perspectives and models for innovation. The
program`s four main areas of focus are:

* Design - Developing Effective Operational Models, Teams, and Delivery
Strategies
* Perform - Improving Day-to-Day Operations and Processes
* Innovate - Fostering an Environment of Learning and Leadership
* Apply - Testing Key Concepts in Your Organization

"We are delighted to continue building the robust HBS Healthcare Initiative
through this new program," said Professor David Yoffie, Senior Associate Dean
and Chair of Harvard Business School Executive Education programs. "With greater
awareness of the economic and social impact of improved healthcare systems, we
feel it is important to offer healthcare professionals new insights and skills
that can help them unlock innovation and manage dynamic care settings most
effectively."

Managing Healthcare Delivery is an intensive three-week program, delivered over
a nine-month period; the first module begins in October 25, 2009.

Richard Bohmer is a physician and member of the faculty at Harvard Business
School. His writing and research have focused on health-care operations
strategy, technology adoption, patient safety, and clinical process design and
improvement. As well as Managing Healthcare Delivery, Dr Bohmer chairs Leading
High-Performance Healthcare Organizations.

About the HBS Healthcare Initiative

The HBS Healthcare Initiative (HCI) serves as a gateway for healthcare research,
educational programs, and collaboration. Priority is placed on applying the best
principles of performance management and innovation to this complex industry.
HCI engages with faculty, students, alumni, Executive Education participants,
and many other parts of the University, including Harvard Medical School.
Through this powerful alliance of key stakeholders, HBS aims to educate leaders
who will make an immediate and lasting impact on the healthcare industry. For
more information about related activities at Harvard Business School, please
visit the Healthcare Initiative website.

For Harvard Business School
Jim Aisner, 617-495-6157
jaisner@hbs.edu
or
Amelia Yantis, 617-520-7048
ayantis@webershandwick.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009