At a ceremony in Montgomery on August 13, 2022, Howard W. Houser, Ph.D., professor emeritus in the UAB Department of Health Services Administration and former associate dean in the School of Health Professions, officially received his Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame plaque and was honored in person by the organization and its board.

Administration-Health Services (Health Informatics Track) Ph.D. Candidate, Heather D. Martin, talks about her interests in helping Alabama practitioners battle the opioid crises, UAB’s Learning Health System, and advocating for student success.

The UAB Department of Health Services Administration faculty has grown to 48 with the addition of three new research-engaged members.

As the volume of data in the digital age continues to grow, so does the evolution of the health care industry. From telehealth and health apps to electronic health records and patient surveys, health care generates vast amounts of data daily. Each second, really.  So, how do we share data from one health care system to another while ensuring it's correct and accessible to the right person at the right time? This is the question Hope Gray, MTS, BCC, a doctoral student in the Administration-Health Services program – Health Informatics track, will work to answer as the recipient of the competitive Health Level Seven International (HL7) Informatics Internship.

The UAB Department of Health Services Administration Graduate Program in Healthcare Quality and Safety has received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management in Education (CAHME), making it one of the first two programs of its kind to achieve this milestone. 

Christy Harris Lemak, PhD, FACHE, professor and chair, Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been named recipient of the 2022 Gary L. Filerman Prize for Educational Leadership.

Health quality advocates have supported the idea of a Learning Health System (LHS) for decades. Now, in collaboration with the Center for Outcomes Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE), the UAB Health System is on a journey to develop and implement its own LHS principles to improve patient care.

Paige Bates, UAB MSHA Class 57 President, constantly asks herself: “How can I leave a positive impact on my community?” Read on to learn more about Bates and her vision for the future of health care. 

The UAB School of Health Professions has 12 people, including Dean Andrew J. Butler, Ph.D., named to the Birmingham Business Journal’s 2021 Who’s Who in Health Care.

Gia Pittet, Au.D., Ph.D., recent graduate of the UAB School of Health Professions’ PhD in Administration-Health Services program, has earned international media coverage for her PhD dissertation.

Five students have been awarded a UAB School of Health Professions Blazer Forever Scholarship. The award is given to SHP students during Homecoming Week based on their answer to an essay question. This year, we asked the question: What makes you different? 

Katherine Meese, Ph.D., has been named director of the UAB Center for Healthcare Management and Leadership, charged with providing mindful and strategic vision to the center’s programs by using a translational approach to bridge the gap between academia and the evolving healthcare landscape.

Shannon H. Houser, Ph.D., MPH, RHIA, FAHIMA, professor in the UAB Department of Health Services Administration, won an American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Triumph Mentor Award.

Rachel Mars, lead academic advisor for our B.S. in Health Care Management program, has been elected president-elect of the UAB Council of Academic Advisors. She is the first from the School of Health Professions to hold a leadership role in this organization.

For the second year in a row, a student team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham M.S. in Health Informatics (MSHI) program wins the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Student Case Competition.

Sue Feldman, R.N., Ph.D., director of the UAB Graduate Programs in Healthcare Informatics, is 1 of only 4 subject matter experts selected by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) for the HIMSS21 health and safety panel.

VerCherria Goodman and Jeff Harris – students in UAB Graduate Programs in Health Informatics. – and Jonathan Patterson, a student in the PhD in Administration-Health Services, Health Informatics Track, have been awarded merit scholarships by the Alabama Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (Alabama HIMSS).

Kristine Ria Hearld, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Health Services Administration, director of the doctoral program in Administration-Health Services and past chair of the UAB Faculty Senate, will receive the 2021 President's Award for Excellence in Support of UAB and Shared Governance.

University of Alabama at Birmingham professor Sue Feldman, R.N., Ph.D., is one of 11 people around the world named a recipient of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Changemaker in Health Award. The award is determined by a public vote, making it a unique representation of the voices of the health care industry.

The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Alabama (ASF) announced Ibukun Afon, a student in the UAB School of Health Professions’ M.S. in Health Administration program (Class 56), as a member of its 2021-22 class of Alabama Schweitzer Fellows. Afon is one of 14 graduate students from UAB, the University of Montevallo, and Samford University chosen to spend the next 13 months immersed in community public health projects.