Out of the Tower

The Murchison Tower at Trinity University

Here at Trinity University, the tower carries multiple meanings.  Those who have visited or passed by our campus have no doubt seen the iconic Murchison Tower that has become a San Antonio landmark and now serves as the University's official logo.  More generally, the term "ivory tower" has long been associated with academia, becoming a perjorative expression relating to intellectuals and institutions that foster academic elitism and engage in scholarly research without practical application.

This blog, "The Trinity Healthcare Digest," has been created with the intent of bringing the latest research in healthcare management "out of the tower" and into the hands of practicing health care administrators who can engage in study findings, relate the findings to their own experiences, foster a dialogue about how to advance the discipline of health care administration, and ultimately improve the health services patients receive.  In an industry as complex and dynamic as health care, we recognize that it is a considerable challenge to keep up with all of the changes that are taking place as we continually gain new understanding about health care and the provision of health services.  Textbooks on the subject of health care administration that were written just a few years ago are already falling behind current knowledge in some regards, and staying informed and up-to-date on the state of health care administration requires constant and vigilant effort.  At the same time, we recognize that too often health services research falls short in dissemination and application.  For many health care administrators, accessing relevant studies from a range of scholarly journals that speak to the issues and problems they face daily is a difficult, laborious, or frustrating exercise.  We also appreciate the difficulty administrators face in finding the time to read and reflect upon the latest studies.

Therefore, we are starting this blog as a means to highlight high-quality, recently published healthcare management and health services research in a form that will be easily digested by practicing health care administrators.  Each week, we aim to provide a citation and summary of a recent study  from a peer-reviewed journal relating to healthcare management or health services organization.  We encourage you to share your own thoughts and comments on these research briefings, and please also let us know what research topics, subjects, or questions you'd like to read about.  Finally, please share the link for our blog with others in the health care administration profession...let's bring the latest knowledge about health care administration "out of the tower" and bring others into the conversation as we work to make health care work better.