Newton-Wellesley Hospital Administrative Fellowship/Residency Program

Program Background

The Administrative Fellowship/Residency program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital began in 2001 with a full-time administrative resident supporting the Finance Department and Operations Management Services Department. Since that time, NWH has dedicated financial resources to have two separate positions. The residents were Master's degree candidates who had completed their academic training in Healthcare Finance and Management, and as part of their program were required to have a yearlong field placement. In 2005, NWH decided to also expand the program to include recent graduates of advanced degree programs related to healthcare administration as fellows.

Objectives

The major goal of the program is to provide a comprehensive and practical experience for future healthcare executives in a high exposure environment, while providing the hospital with a productive employee equipped with the latest in healthcare academic training. Each of the fellowships are guided by the Vice Presidents of the division their position falls under, via their direct report. It is a collaborative effort between the Fellow and the hospital in selecting projects that are a priority for the hospital and meet the education goals set forth by the Fellow at the commencement of their program.

Upon arrival, the Fellows will be enrolled in an inter-departmental orientation that includes administrative and clinical (both inpatient and ambulatory) services. The orientation typically lasts 3-4 weeks and is broken into half day sessions with either directors of specific departments, observations with their frontline staff, or a combination of both.

These fellowships provide an opportunity to understand the many perspectives of healthcare management within the hospital, the physician organization, and the overall healthcare system. The expectation is that by working in a variety roles for the different projects, these experiences will provide an understanding and attainment of skills applicable to future experiences; and, therefore, build on their educational foundation.

Fellows/Residents Projects:

• Project management for opening of new café
• Database development for Charitable Foundation for tracking, reporting, and balance detail of all endowments, donations, and temporary funds
• Developed, planned and implemented a hospital program to have managers and supervisors meet, greet and escort patients to their service locations
• Detailed computerized provider order entry process flow impact and estimated impact (financial and clinical) of system on medical errors
• Participated on team to operationalize comprehensive Spine Center in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital
• Documented and performed flow analysis on hospital Materials Management, Storeroom, and Receiving functions
• Participated in Six Sigma Work-Out and Lean workshops
• Tracked and submitted departmental productivity data against national benchmark database
• Contributed to in-house Medicare Cost Report filing
• Participated on team that converted physician billing from outside billing organization to in-house service
• Formulated inpatient discharge trend analysis by service type for Partners HealthCare System, Inc.
• Participated on HIPAA Electronic Transactions team and Security team with rollout of new regulations and training
• Developed Finance Training Manual for Managers and Directors
• Reviewed business profitability for satellite Urgent Care Center services (occupational medicine, urgent care, radiology, pathology)
• Developed comprehensive business plan for Wound / Ostomy service with Hyperbaric Chamber and structure for financial arrangement with external LLC
• Evaluated direct and downstream impact of inpatient Psychiatry Services
• Documented rollout of Automatic Billing Notification system
• Led rollout of new capital projects tracking system
• Analyzed patient throughput within Emergency Dept.
• Performed a nurse call light analysis
• Evaluated Sleep Lab expansion opportunities
• Participated in Laboratory patient satisfaction initiatives