May 15, 1997
Professor brings health care research center to the UW
The University of Washington will receive a new resource in health care management and organization research with relocation of the Center for Health Management Research — a cooperative industry / university research center.
Now based at Arizona State University, the center is directed by Dr. Howard Zuckerman, professor of health administration and policy at ASU who has recently been appointed professor of health services at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine.
With an overreaching theme of integrated health care systems, the center’s research attempts to focus on “real world” problems such as the restructuring of patient care and evaluation of physician-organization arrangements. Newly funded projects involve prenatal services for teens, clinical practice patterns and information systems.
The center is supported by 15 health care systems and the Network for Healthcare Management, a national consortium of university programs for continuing education and research. Research agendas for the center are defined by representatives of the health care systems and communicated to participating research partners.
Designated as a cooperative research center by the National Science Foundation in 1992, the center is one of 50 in the country. It is distinguished by its multi-university base and as only one of two centers focusing on health care management research.
“Zuckerman and the center represent new and innovative ideas in research and will give the university a tremendous resource to draw on in enhancing the effectiveness of health care delivery,” said Dr. William Dowling, chair of the UW Department of Health Services. “The center will allow us to greatly expand our research and teaching on the design, management and evaluation of integrated delivery systems.”
In addition to his appointment at the UW, Zuckerman will serve with the Washington Health Foundation, the education and research arm of the Washington State Hospital Association. Zuckerman received a Ph.D. in medical care organization from the University of Michigan, a master’s in business administration from the Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Administration at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College in New York.
Zuckerman’s research and writing have focused on the structure, strategy and effectiveness of integrated delivery systems, physician-organization arrangements, system governance and management, alliances and other inter-organizational relationships.
He has served as a consultant to numerous professional and hospital organizations and is currently on the Board of Stewardship Trustees of Catholic Health Initiatives, the governing council of the American Hospital Association’s Health Care Systems Section; the national advisory council of the Healthcare Forum; and the board of the Network for Healthcare Management.
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