FOCUS | EDUCATION
Prepping for both science, business sides of health BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com
BRAD
Crough doesn’t bat an eye at the prospect of sorting through a dizzying tranche of numbers. A skilled coder with degrees in accounting and business, he embraces the data side of his job with Brown Physicians Inc. But the technical, jargon-heavy and ever-changing complexities of the health care industry prove more challenging. After more than a decade as the analytics director for the nonprofit physician group, Crough has come to better understand the health side of his job – at least somewhat. “Still to this day, it can be extraordinarily difficult,” Crough said. And when it comes to new hires, training with no background in health care seems like more trouble than it’s worth, even if the job candidate is a highly trained data analyst. Finding someone already equipped to take on the health and data parts of the job doesn’t seem likely – training programs that combine the two disciplines don’t exist, Crough said. Bryant University wants to change that.
In June, Bryant announced the launch of a new school that combines physical and behavioral health sciences with business and data analytics. The School of Health and Behavioral Sciences builds upon the existing health programs in its School of Health Sciences by incorporating behavioral health, business and data classes into the traditional health care degrees, hiring more faculty, and adding equipment and more lab facilities to support what administrators expect to be a growing roster of students. The new school will also include two new majors, one of which – health care analytics – is the first of its kind in the state, Bryant said. The goal, university officials say, is to serve the growing and unmet need for workers who understand both the science and business of the technology-dependent industry. “It’s increasingly more apparent when you talk to industry professionals that the folks on the business side don’t understand the complexities of things [such as] health care providers and patients, and vice versa,” said
‘Our industry is completely saturated with data.’ BRAD CROUGH, Brown Physicians Inc. analytics director 18 | JULY 22-AUGUST 4, 2022 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com
UNIQUE PAIRING: Bryant University in June announced the launch of a new school that combines physical and behavioral health sciences with business and data analytics called the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences. Joseph Trunzo, left, the school’s associate director, works with sophomore Alex Spitznagle. PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
Kirsten Hokeness, Bryant’s biology department chairperson who will serve as the school’s director. “We really see the value in educating both business professionals and those in health and behavioral sciences about how these fields work together.” It’s not just anecdotal conversations driving Bryant’s decision. Data backs it up, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating health care jobs will increase 16% nationwide over the next 10 years, more than triple the 5% average growth of jobs across all industries. These jobs are also among the most lucrative. The average annual salaries for health care practitioners and data scientists in Rhode Island each topped $100,000 as of May 2021, the most recent data available, compared with the $62,000 state average across all occupations, according to BLS. Crough is eagerly awaiting the first crop of graduates from the new school, which will enroll its first batch of students in the fall. Whether it is sorting through the complexities of insurance billings, analyzing data that measures risk in patient care or studying staff surveys to determine how to reduce burnout, there is no shortage of opportunities for health care-savvy data analysts at Brown Physicians. “Our industry is completely saturated with data,” he said. “The landscape has changed pre- and postCOVID, where there is a void and we really need people to come hit the ground running.” Even before COVID-19, the pressure has been mounting for health care companies to incorporate data analytics, dating back to the Affordable Care Act signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama, said Michelle Rosa Martins, director of patient experience and family-centered care at Woman & Infants Hospital. “Medical institutions have really been held to a different standard in terms of measuring patient care and satisfaction,” Rosa Martins said. “Data analytics is now considered part of the actual medical service we’re providing.” While Bryant’s new school is among a slew of health care programs and degrees across the state’s higher education landscape, its emphasis on the relationships between business and health care, and physical and behavioral health, are unique, Hokeness says. Even Robert Hackey, a professor of health policy and management at Providence College, says Bryant’s programs serve a different function than those at his college, which is also planning to open a School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Bryant’s business reputation makes its approach to an interdisciplinary health care school more likely to succeed, especially coming out of the pandemic, Hackey said. “COVID really underscored so much about how data plays a role in teaching us about what’s going on,” he said. “Certainly, one of the things we’ve learned is that health care must be provided in a holistic manner.” n
