UAB, Press Ganey offer new certificate program for healthcare leaders

The University of Alabama at Birmingham's Center for Healthcare Management and Leadership will offer a new certificate program to enhance high reliability leadership skills for healthcare executives. This week-long program, developed and facilitated by UAB and Press Ganey, will be offered starting in spring 2025.

The High Reliability Certificate Program will use UAB's state-of-the-art facilities, including the UAB simulation center, to train executives in applying high reliability and human performance principles to enhance quality and operational outcomes in healthcare organizations. Participants will also learn to shape, communicate and sustain a culture of safety and reliability.

The certificate program will be led by professors from the Department of Health Services Administration in the UAB School of Health Professions and consultants from Press Ganey. The School of Health Professions' Master of Science in Health Administration was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. per U.S. News & World Report in 2023.

"By combining the expertise of UAB and Press Ganey, this program will equip healthcare leaders with the critical tools they need to implement high reliability principles, fostering safer and more efficient care delivery for patients and healthcare workers alike," said Charles Hagood, D.Sc., Managing Partner at Press Ganey Consulting and UAB alum. "The data is clear: an organizational foundation of safety and quality utilizing high reliability principles demonstrably improves patient outcomes, staff engagement, and elevates the entire human experience in healthcare."

Registration for the first course is open now, and the first training program is scheduled for March 3-7, 2025.

UAB and Press Ganey announced the certificate program in Birmingham on Oct. 23 at the National Symposium for Healthcare Executives. The event was held at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Mountain Brook, AL, and featured Tejal Gandhi, M.D., Press Ganey's Chief Safety and Transformation Officer, as a keynote speaker.