UMGC Summit Looks at Next Generation of Health Care Challenges and Solutions

University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) teamed up with the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) to host a virtual summit that turned a spotlight on the future of an industry that drives a fifth of the nation's economy: health care.

The summit, which is positioned to become an annual event, was titled "INSIGHT: Interdisciplinary Solutions to Promote Next Generation Healthcare." The conference included presentations by UMGC students who offered solutions to a variety of the trending health care challenges, industry leaders round table, career services, and alumni relations.

UMGC Global Health Management and Administration Portfolio Director Liliya Roberts organized the event.

"As you might know, health care encompasses 20 percent of the economy and multiple industries and sub industries," Roberts told participants at the summer summit. "The trending challenges that are meeting us in this-and the next-century are going to be relevant to technological advances, as well as changes in the demographics. And solving these challenges is the job of every single person from every industry we've known."

Marina Caminis, manager of communications and programming for UMGC's School of Business, moderated the summit's first session. During that roundtable, she put a series of questions before UMGC's portfolio directors in data analytics, global health management, human resources, accounting and finance, and biological sciences. One of the questions that resonated focused on the interdisciplinary solutions to the shortages on the labor market.

"Considering that health care is one of the largest employers everywhere, how do you see your industry and discipline being relevant to the health care services employment market?" Caminis asked.

Kathleen Sobieralski, portfolio director of the UMGC Accounting Program and the regional director of IMA's Nation's Capital Chapter, characterized accounting and finance as the language of business. She said the business of health care requires careful management of revenue and cost. She said goals needed to be set and met.

Caminis also asked how UMGC graduates can transfer their skills and knowledge to the sector's service industry.

"With a graduate degree and certificates, you can become a business partner at the table, actually helping leadership make informed decisions about their health care workforce," said Freda Powell-Bell, UMGC Human Resources Program portfolio director.

Robin Searles-Adenegan, who directs the UMGC Biological Sciences Program, said the university works to ensure that students in both undergraduate and graduate programs are well prepared for the job market. She pointed to real world scenarios and experiences that students are exposed to.

Elena Gortcheva directs the UMGC Data Analytics Program. She recommended that students decide right at the beginning of their academic journey the area in which they would like to grow their professional careers. Gortcheva said students could deepen their skill building by taking advantage of UMGC's experiential learning opportunities, from small projects to large initiatives employing health care datasets.

Other featured sessions at the summit examined UMGC Career Services resources, from job and internship postings to assistance with resumes to interviewing tips. Career Services also provides access to Career Quest, an interactive hub through which students can forge professional networks. Representatives for the university's Alumni Relations Office also took part in the summit, detailing many opportunities for students to connect with alumni, student organizations and social media networks worldwide.

An afternoon roundtable brought together four health care thought leaders: Ronnie Ursin, chair of the Department of Nursing for the Borough of Manhattan Community College; Evan Shulman, director of the Division of Nursing Homes at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Wendi Lee Clark, director of personnel for the Avon Grove School District; and James Alexander, facility director of Human Services and CEO for the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women. All four panelists at the roundtable serve as adjunct faculty at UMGC.

Thanks to IMA's sponsorship, nine UMGC students across disciplines presented their research projects focused on trending health care challenges. The student presentations received cash prizes of up to $250. The students were also connected to professional support from IMA's community and UMGC's offices of Alumni Relations and Career Services.

One of the student research projects looked at the creation of an electronic health record application to assist health care experts and immigration check-in processes. Another focused on an accelerated drug approval pathway through the Food and Drug Administration. Yet another offered a database analysis and forecasting tool designed to minimize costs while improving treatment outcomes for children and adolescents with cleft palate.

Carrie Jimenez, a graduate student pursuing a degree in health care administration, discussed her research project, which examined a health portal application that houses all of a patient's medical records and enables data to be entered from wearable devices.

"My findings showed that individual checkpoint and attendance tracker (ICAT) significantly improves how we process immigration detainees by enhancing access to care, boosting participants to engage in making communication between health care providers and government agencies more efficient," said Jimenez, who was a second place prize winner in the student awards competition. "It also tackles big [patient privacy] challenges like HIPAA compliance and data security while working seamlessly with existing health care systems and government agencies."

Additional student research projects looked at:

• the impact of varying concentrations of fetal bovine serum in cell production
• the pros and cons of researching drug side effects online
• strategies for using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance human interactions in health care call centers
• ways in which machine learning can predict patients' cardiovascular disease from medica records

Another student presentation-on the daily use of AI assistants to advance personal health and wellness-brought a first-place award to Teodore Fitch, who is pursuing a master's degree in data analytics. Fitch's research expands work being examined by a consortium at his work.

"… I think this would look like a health care system that's much more interconnected, where AI agents help connect their patient to answer tough insurance questions, discuss treatments with doctors thoroughly and advocate for that patient overall," said Fitch. "The future of health care is brighter with AI agents on horizon, helping at both the micro and the macro levels."

The INSIGHT summit generated strong interest from the professional and student community. Representatives from the School of Business, School of Cybersecurity and Information Technology, and School of Integrative and Professional Studies joined IMA in contributing to the success of the event.

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