The curricula offered in our undergraduate, Health Executive Master in Business Administration, and Master in Health Administration programs pivoted to virtual learning and immediately integrated expert insight on the COVID-19 pandemic. Webinars were held with Congresswoman and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, incoming Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rene Garcia, medical ethics expert Kenneth Goodman, Chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Michael Chernew, among numerous other experts, to discuss the impact of COVID-19 and the reimagining of health care after the pandemic. The Miami Herbert Business School’s virtual distinguished leaders lecture series featured a conversation with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on the administration’s response to the pandemic nationally and in Latin America.

 

On October 30, 2020, our Center for Health Management and Policy held a global virtual conference: “The Business of Health Care: The Social, Political & Economic Determinants of Health.” Hundreds of participants from around the world joined to hear experts engage in conversations around building a better normal after the pandemic, with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion. As in years prior, this signature event is the only time that the Presidents and senior leadership from the major organizations in the health care sector convene. Top leadership from America’s Health Insurance Plans, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the Medical Group Management Association, the Healthcare Financial Management Association, the American Nurses Association, and Florida Blue joined for a keynote panel discussion on Health Care Access, People, and Policy: COVID-19 and Beyond. University of Miami President Julio Frenk, Miami Herbert Business School Dean John Quelch, Miller School of Medicine Henri Ford, and other renowned experts shared their insight with students and conference attendees. Networking events for students included conversations with Boston Scientific on health care innovation via digital technology, and with VITAS on building a career in a post-pandemic world.

 

The department’s membership in the Business School Alliance for Healthcare Management (BAHM) enabled students to access COVID-19 panels with business leaders and scholars conducted all around the world. The department hosted a BAHM panel with experts from Florida Blue, the President of the South Florida Hospital & Healthcare Association, and the Senior Vice President of Jackson Health System in July, while South Florida was a peaking hotspot.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the impact and importance of the research that our faculty conduct. The Nobel Peace prize was recently awarded to the World Food Program for its global efforts to achieve a world without hunger. At the same time, the devastating economic impacts of COVID-19 have led to more hungry families around the globe, including here in the United States. COVID-19 has led to a surge in US households experiencing various levels of food insecurity, defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. In 2018, 12% of American households reported that they were food insecure, but this rate has nearly doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Several faculty members coauthored a study on the relationships between food insecurity and health care expenditures and utilization, available to read at no cost: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1475-6773.13283. The faculty collaborated with Harvard University to share their insights on the issue of food insecurity and drivers of health in October, and it is not too late to join them in a discussion on this issue on November 5, 2020: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1205359823426807051?source=SFNews

 

This glimpse into a sample of the rich set of activities occurring in our programs suggests that the reach of the Department of Health Management and Policy is local, national, and global. Our faculty have been collaborating with the Global Business School Network (GBSN) on roundtables and their upcoming virtual conference to engage academic leadership around the world on how to build more inclusive societies.

 

The health care sector will feel the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for many years to come. Leading through this uncertainty has challenges. The mission of Miami Herbert Business School resonates now more than ever: to develop innovative ideas and principled leaders that transform global business and society.