Improving health care through service

trevor.kenney — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:11:40 +0000

Working part time as an ER nurse, Dr. Claudia Steinke (MSc '01), assistant professor for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Faculties of Health Sciences and Management, sees firsthand the strengths and weaknesses of our health care system. Through her professional and personal experience, Steinke became less than enchanted with the delivery of service in health care.

"I decided to apply a service management perspective to the design of services in health care when I realized that the system isn't designed to provide an exceptional service experience to people. I view the design of health services from a structural, process and outcome perspective, and at the organizational level, there is a lack of attention placed on developing the structures needed to provide for high levels of service quality in health care.

Dr. Claudia Steinke is passionate about designing health care services that are individualized, humanistic and forward thinking.

This in turn affects the process (i.e. individual actions) by which services are delivered," says Steinke.

"The whole mentality and culture in health care needs to change," says Steinke, whose award-winning dissertation explored staff and patient perceptions of the service experience in emergency rooms. "Even the physical design of an emergency room makes a considerable difference to the service experiences of patients and staff. In addition, there are studies that show the impact of the built environment on the health outcomes of patients. For example, studies show that patients who have a bed overlooking a window have shorter lengths of stay, require less analgesic, and are less irritable," explains Steinke.

Steinke is a member of several different research teams within various organizations, educational institutions and committees, including the Government of Alberta; the Vancouver Board of Trade; the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria, Faculty of Business; the Vancouver Island Health Authority; Cohos Evamy integratedesign; and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. She has gained a reputation for research excellence, winning an Academy of Management Award in 2009 for her paper on "Empowering Patients through Service Design."

"My research lies at the intersection of five main fields of study: service management, organization theory and design, human resource management, architecture and health care. My focus is largely on designing for climate for service in health care. This starts with the leadership and designing high quality structures for staff because in order for service excellence to be delivered to the end-user (patients), service deliverers (nurses, physicians, etc.) must receive the support of those who serve them," says Steinke. "In my teaching, I teach students to focus on their presence at work, to attend to the built environment and, to anticipate the needs of patients and their families before they ask because those are tangible things that can set the stage for a great service experience."

Steinke is passionate about designing health care services that are individualized, humanistic and forward thinking. She believes the physical design of the service setting plays an important role in this. Integrating her management and health sciences background, Steinke believes her research can influence the quality of services in health care. The 'service' aspect of health care is an area that is poorly understood, insufficiently explored and deserves a much higher presence. "I hope my research brings to light a new way of looking at things. There are many things we can do to improve the system and the quality of services being delivered, but we have to go beyond the boundaries of health care. By integrating different fields, industries, and sectors, we can find innovative solutions to some of the problems we that we currently face in the system," says Steinke.

Ellis named new Dean of Management

trevor.kenney — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:18:58 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Board of Governors has appointed Dr. Robert (Bob) James Ellis as the institution's new Dean, Faculty of Management. Ellis follows Dr. Murray Lindsay, who spent the past five years in the position and is returning to the academic community at the U of L.

Originally from Vancouver, BC, Ellis is an accomplished administrator who successfully bolstered business programs at both the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Northern British Columbia and Wilfrid Laurier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. With a collaborative and visionary approach, he has a strong track record of attracting accomplished faculty and raising the research profile of the programs with which he has been associated.

"Dr. Ellis is known as someone who is a strong recruiter of talented faculty, and is adept at creating an environment that both supports excellence in teaching and innovative research," says Dr. Bill Cade, the U of L's President and Vice-Chancellor. "He has displayed a unique skill of being able to develop relationships with the business community and subsequently integrate those affiliations into the creation of original programming. We are very pleased Bob has chosen to join our team, and look forward to having him in the community."

With an educational background in psychology, Ellis continues to conduct research in the areas of leadership, teamwork and creativity, and also writes business case studies to capture the issues confronting Canadian organizations. His current research focuses on increasing educational opportunities in society, specifically for aboriginal students in a business environment.

Currently, Ellis is on sabbatical from his role as Chair, School of Business, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Northern British Columbia, a position he has held since 2005. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles over the span of 24 years at Wilfrid Laurier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, including Associate Dean of Business: Faculty Development and Research. Ellis takes up his new position at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge on July 1, 2010.

Ellis says he is looking forward to becoming a part of the U of L and the creative atmosphere he sees within the faculty.

"I'm very excited to be joining the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and becoming Dean of the Faculty of Management," says Ellis. "I've had a lot of administrative experience in my career and my focus has always been to try and increase opportunities for students through the development of new courses or new programs. The faculty here are very innovative and I think at the forefront of management thought and action."

In addition to publishing numerous scientific articles, chapters, and research monographs,

Ellis has served as a visiting professor internationally, both at the Huazhong ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and at Budapest ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Economic Sciences in Budapest, Hungary. A past winner of the Excellence in Case Writing Award, Case Track, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Conference, Ellis is a member of the Academy of Management, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada and the North American Case Research Association.

Ellis joins the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and specifically the Faculty of Management, at a keystone moment, as the U of L readies to open Markin Hall, the new home for the Faculty of Management.

"I think it will be a wonderful place to study management education, and for management educators, faculty and staff to work together and exchange ideas about how to create new programs and courses for our students," says Ellis. "It will also be a place of welcome for our community. Having a great facility provides a springboard for building relationships between colleagues and our community, and for developing innovative teaching and research programs."

Ellis holds a BA with first class honours in psychology from Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (1974), an MA in psychology from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Waterloo (1978) and a PhD in psychology from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Waterloo (1981).

UNews - Academy of Management

Improving health care through service

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Ellis named new Dean of Management

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