John Quelch, dean of the Miami Business School and vice provost for executive education at the University of Miami, recently published two books that explore the intersections between healthcare and business.
“Choice Matters,” published in July of 2018, focuses primarily on the correlation between consumer engagement in decisions they make about healthcare and consumer compliance with what they decided.
Quelch said this topic is relevant today because there is a lack of transparency pertaining to the cost of procedures, operations and drugs in the healthcare industry, making it difficult for consumers to make informed decisions.
“What we do in this book is really highlight why clinicians and managers should care about engaging consumers,” Quelch said. “If they engage consumers, the satisfaction with the industry will be great. But most importantly, the healthcare outcomes will be better for the consumers.”
In his newest book, “Compassionate Management of Mental Health in the Modern Workplace,” which was published in September, Quelch analyzes the link between productivity of employees and mental health. He also examines how the stigmatization of mental illness can cause, among other things, a decrease in productivity.
“What we do in this book is try to address scenarios and provide guidance to everyday managers who are not clinicians on how they should address different kinds of problems,” said Quelch.
Former UM President Donna Shalala reviewed the book, saying that mental health in the workplace is a topic that frightens most managers.
“If they read this book, they will strengthen their own skills and transform their workplace and our society,” she said.
Steven Ullmann, Department Chair of Health Sector Management and Policy, said that Quelch is the perfect person to be looking at these issues.
“Dean Quelch comes from an interesting background, being the only professor in the recent history of Harvard to have had a joint appointment in the School of Business and the School of Public Health,” said Ullman.
Because healthcare accounts for a significant percentage of the United States’ GDP, Quelch said he wrote these books to bring awareness to the importance of effective management within such a prominent industry.
“I’ve put out these books, and it’s really a function of cumulative interest and a desire to make an impact on the practice of management in healthcare and related fields,” said Quelch.