Teams from 19 universities competed in the third annual Penn State Health Administration Case Competition, hosted by the Master of Health Administration (MHA) program.

The Penn State MHA program welcomed undergraduate, first-year and online MHA students from across the nation to participate in the virtual event. The competition featured students from Columbia University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Southern California, and more.

Students were given 16 hours to develop an innovative solution to a real-world health care challenge. This year, students were challenged to create an innovative strategy for leveraging telehealth services to underserved communities.

The case competition exposes students to industry challenges and allows them to compete with teams from top health-related programs around the country for monetary prizes of up to $1,500. This years’ competition was sponsored by Geisinger.

In addition to Geisinger, the competition was supported by business consulting and advisory executive Christopher Speer, an alumnus of the program who earned his degree in 1977. 

Teams presented their solutions and recommendations to a panel of judges who evaluated each analysis as it applies to real-world standards of practice.

Preliminary rounds were judged by health care professionals across the industry representing pharmaceuticals, insurance, hospital-based systems, physician practice management, and government. Judges served in roles from operations to clinical transformation and innovation, and from health system development to policy, making them experienced evaluators of the kinds of solutions the student teams were presenting.

“The ability to engage with colleagues from such a diverse set of programs builds the capacity for professional collaboration as students begin their careers. It is also a rare opportunity to engage with health professionals to offer solutions to a current issue they are trying to resolve for their organization,” added Calkins.

Final presentations were judged by four leaders from Geisinger who are working on the business domain represented in the case.

Winners of the 2021 Penn State Health Administration Case Competition are as follows:

Undergraduate Programs 
1st place: Danielle King, Kirsten Morey, Gabrielle Mifsud, Makayla Wiltse, Central Michigan University 
2nd place: Daniela Rizzi, Sophia Barnard, Farah Elhoumaidi, Loyola University, Chicago 
3rd place: Samantha Bobinski, Michael Volpe, Janvee Patel, University of Scranton 
Best Presence During Q&A: Gabby Mifsud, Central Michigan University 

First Year MHA Programs 
1st place: Brenna Hill, Atikah Munnee, Eryn Burnett, University of Southern California 
2nd place: Kaitlyn Apodaca, Elizabeth James, Anthony Moscato, George Washington University 
3rd place: Jackson Pettus, Kyle McLaughlin, Madelyn Vera, A.J. Jarman, University of Alabama at Birmingham 
Best Presence During Q&A: A.J. Jarman, University of Alabama at Birmingham 

Online MHA Programs 
1st place: Daniel Fessler, Dominique Martino, Bunty Shah, Penn State 
2nd place: Tara Hank, Shauna Jacobs, Karen Maselli, Blayne Roach, Penn State 
3rd place: Keith Duemling, Beverlee McDowell-Franceschi, Benjamin Munoz, Penn State
Best Presence During Q&A: Kirstyn Nero, George Mason University

Learn more about the Master of Health Administration program at Penn State.