Stevens Engineering Management students had a victory at the recent 2008 USMA Capstone Conference at West Point, where they recently won the Best Poster Award for their work re-engineering New York Presbyterian Hospital’s Emergency Department registration. The five-member team from Stevens, also known as "Better Managed Solutions, Inc." includes two students who are completing the Four Plus One program to obtain an ME in Systems Engineering, and three undergraduate Engineering Management students.
Originally conceived as a Senior Design Project, the initiative quickly gained a professional scope as the students made connections inside the hospital, including a Six Sigma Blackbelt internal consultant, and the Chief of Emergency Medicine, who welcomed them to participate in senior management meetings, after they were fast-tracked through the hospital’s volunteer access protocol. "We were treated like consultants," says Adam Hecht, ME Systems Engineering ’08. "They are in the process of implementing bedside registration, which was one of our recommendations, and we are meeting with the hospital staff again to discuss our findings." Word has spread about the study conducted by the team, and area hospitals are contacting the group about their findings.
At the 2008 USMA Capstone Conference, hosted by the USMA Department of Systems Engineering, the team presented their work among a strong group of Systems Engineering programs, including US Air Force Academy, University of Virginia, and West Point students. Many of the research projects presented at the conference were completed with dedicated school staff, and significant budgets, as well as having a military focus.
According to BE Engineering Management ’08 student James Norberg, "It was like being a magic act at a singing contest, bringing in a civilian project to be evaluated." Apparently, the magic worked, with the poster describing an application of business process reengineering to make drastic improvements to NY Presbyterian Hospital’s current Emergency Department registration. After assessing the current process, performing a time study, comparing performance statistics against other local hospitals, and making use of simulation software to complete the final analysis, the team was able to make recommendations to simplify patient flow and make both the hospital staff and the patient experience better.
The School of Systems and Enterprises extends congratulations to Kathryn Abuan, Drew Cottrell, James Norberg, Adam Hecht, and Chris Babula, and faculty advisor Eirik Hole for excellent work promoting the value of Systems Engineering.
