Academics

H. Nembhard to serve as featured panelist at international World Quality Forum

Harriet Black Nembhard, professor of industrial engineering and director of the Center for Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems at Penn State, will discuss the role of quality improvement methods in health care delivery science and translational research at the upcoming World Quality Forum of the International Academy for Quality in Budapest, Hungary. Credit: Paul Hazi. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Harriet Black Nembhard, professor of industrial engineering and director of the Center for Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems (CIHDS) at Penn State, has been named a featured panelist at the World Quality Forum of the International Academy for Quality (IAQ) Oct. 26-27 in Budapest, Hungary.

The forum will feature panel discussions on quality tools, quality management, lean and six sigma processes, corporate and social responsibility, global quality education, quality development in health care and quality in manufacturing.

Nembhard’s contribution to the discussion will be to address the role of quality improvement methods in health care delivery science and translational research.

“Work in this area deals with applying rigorous methods to the process of moving a new idea into clinical practice and health outcomes,” she said.

Research Nembhard conducted with David Munoz, a recent graduate of the doctoral program in industrial engineering at Penn State, "lays important groundwork on combining quality methodologies with operations research tools to quantify the process and make decisions that will speed innovations into the health care delivery system,” she added.

The mission of the IAQ is to utilize the leadership of elected academicians worldwide to advance the knowledge, understanding and communication of the philosophy, theory and practice activities involved in achieving quality that benefits the needs of society. Nembhard was inducted into the IAQ in 2006.

Started in 2009, the mission of CIHDS is to promote a holistic approach to understanding and solving problems of access and quality in health care. The center does this through interdisciplinary collaboration with the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and the Colleges of Engineering, Information Sciences and Technology, Health and Human Development and Nursing.

Last Updated October 21, 2015

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