Adelphi launches center for health ed

Mirroring an industry trend, Adelphi University has launched a new Center for Health Innovation that formalizes an interdisciplinary approach to health care education.

The center offers new master's level courses, a new research magazine and plans for more conferences for professionals and the public.

"What Adelphi wanted to do was take an important step to identify and help solve problems" related to health care in the region, Gayle Insler, the university's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said in explaining the center's creation.

"It's obvious now any one unit, or any one constituency, can't solve this problem," Insler said, citing a need for a comprehensive, collaborative approach. Toward that end, she said the university's Center for Health Innovation sought to "bring innovators together to better prepare professionals and practitioners."

One outside expert said Adelphi's center was in line with industry trends.

"Health care is absolutely moving in the direction of collaboration," said Janine Logan, communications director for the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, an advocacy group. "What Adelphi is doing to bring in professionals in medical fields and related fields is right in line with what needs to be done in health care. It's been a fragmented system. We in health care, hospitals included, are trying to bring a much more coordinated approach to health care. That's better for patients overall."

The center is the culmination of university efforts to integrate health care education disciplines, Insler said. The university has 55 health-related academic programs across its seven schools and colleges.

The center's Web page -- chi.adelphi.edu -- became public last month, and university officials are planning the center's first symposium for next summer or early fall.

Adelphi has added new master's level programs in health information technology and public health that begin in January.

Insler said the health information technology program was designed to address the "questions and challenges" posed by electronic medical records issues. And the public health master's program would emphasize community health, with students placed in internships in community settings.

Also under the auspices of the Center, the university has completed the inaugural edition of a research magazine, to be published annually, called "Erudition," showcasing faculty research.

"What we intend to do, beyond education for our students," Insler said of the center's mission, "is to be an educational voice for the community that would provide symposia, white papers [and] bringing constituents together to discuss the issue."