Business Research with a Healthcare Focus
The convergence of technological advances, policy imperatives, and the disruption brought about by the pandemic has given added impetus to the need for healthcare business research in an industry already faced with significant quality, cost, and access concerns. The United States healthcare industry is massive (nearly 20% of the GDP) and complex. Healthcare providers in the U.S. are providing inferior qualitative results at 2-3 times the cost of other developed countries. Providers are facing increasingly limited reimbursement from the U.S. government, insurers, and employers. The healthcare industry is therefore struggling with finding new ways to increase value by improving quality and decreasing cost. The quest is complicated by the fact that the industry is the most heavily regulated in the country. While policy, regulations, and the government all have roles to play, efficient care delivery also requires businesses – small, medium, large, and startups - to play a significant role in delivering effective and efficient care.
The Healthcare Business Institute (HBI) brings together multiple stakeholders ranging from tertiary care delivery organizations to device makers, pharmaceutical companies, medical supply chain managers, technology solution providers, startups, angel investors, VCs, policy makers, and educational institutions to address complex problems and formulate solutions.
We believe that complex problems cannot be solved without bringing together multiple members of the healthcare ecosystem. The HBI brings together a unique combination of researchers, educationists, students, and connects them to perhaps the world’s most diversified healthcare ecosystem. Houston is home to the largest medical center in the world (the Texas Medical Center or TMC). The University of Houston is the only university in Houston that includes a large community of business researchers at the Bauer College of Business, a world-ranked health law program at the UH Law Center, a computer science department with many distinguished research faculty, and a new UH College of Medicine. The HBI’s strategic location and access to specialists and a variety of firms in the healthcare space enable it to conduct far-reaching research into problems of healthcare delivery and the emerging space of opportunities to transform the functioning of the healthcare ecosystem. In particular, the following trends and events create the ideal opportunity for conducting far-reaching research into all elements of the healthcare ecosystem:
- Advances in artificial intelligence allowing decision makers to combine sophisticated machine learning based prediction models with traditional statistical analysis.
- Emergence of new business models and startups seeking to redefine the healthcare ecosystem.
- Changes in healthcare financing, policy regulations and consumer preference.
- Widespread and rapid adoption of telemedicine as a result of the pandemic and the emergence of telemedicine platforms growing in capability and interoperability.
- Advances in tracking and transmission technologies – such as sensor-enabled devices connected through the Internet of Things – that hold the promise of transforming hospital operations and medical supply chains.
- Deeper understanding of models of leadership in healthcare firms and their impact on the care delivery process.
The Institute will focus on the four objectives of Research, Education, Service, and the creation of a Knowledge Portal.