February 4, 2008

Healthcare TAP sees healthy growth, new director

Mary Anne Sloan
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To meet the growing demand for its services, TAP has promoted Mary Anne Sloan from Healthcare TAP associate director to director.

"TAP is being presented with an unprecedented level of opportunity to serve our state on health-care and health-care system issues," TAP director David McKinnis said. "As director, Mary Anne will address these opportunities, assuming responsibility for TAP initiatives related to public health and population health, employer cost control, hospital patient flow, lean health care, quality and safety. She also will explore expanded partnerships with funding sources to establish regional personnel."

Current Healthcare TAP projects include:

* Public health preparedness and performance improvement. TAP has performed pandemic planning gap analyses in all 94 of Indiana's county health departments and helped plan for alternate care sites in 11 counties. Staff also is providing assistance to local and state departments of health to complete the current version of the "National Public Health Performance Standards, Local, State, and Governance Instruments."

TAP also is providing performance improvement training to more than 400 public health employees in 21 counties and at the Indiana State Department of Health. The program is expected to expand training to 30 additional counties in 2008.

* Hospital performance improvement. Interdisciplinary teams from Purdue's College of Engineering and School of Nursing have worked with 26 of Indiana's 120 acute care hospitals on 49 projects involving patient flow, lean health care and safety.

* Health-care cost management. With support from the School of Nursing, TAP is piloting an assessment and training program for 10 medium to large manufacturers to teach employees how to lower health-care costs.

Sloan said she looks forward to working with more hospitals, health departments and industries.

"Healthcare TAP has seen an overwhelmingly positive response from the health-care providers with whom we've worked," Sloan said. "Whether it's revamping a hospital's surgery schedule to make it more efficient, helping a company lower employee health-care costs or working with counties to assess public health needs, each project poses unique challenges. I look forward to forming even more partnerships in the years ahead."

Healthcare TAP was launched in May 2005 as a partnership with the Indiana Hospital Association and the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering based at Purdue's Discovery Park.

Writer: Marydell Forbes, (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu

Sources: David McKinnis, (765) 494-6258, mckinnis@purdue.edu

Mary Anne Sloan, (765) 496-1899, masloan@purdue.edu

Steve Witz, director, Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, (765) 496-8303, switz@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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