On Friday May 30, BYU Marriott School of Business hosted the first ever Big XII Healthcare Leadership Case Competition on campus. A BYU College of Nursing student and her team took first place out of 12 teams.
Case competitions are popular on college campuses, especially within business. A real-world problem is presented, and students team up to develop creative, evidence-based solutions.
Teams then compete against others by presenting their ideas to a panel of judges. In the end, the best solution wins.
Emily Keeler, who is going into her capstone semester this fall, competed alongside her husband and two other BYU students. The critical role she played on her team is evidence of the immense value a nursing background has in the healthcare field.
While BYU has participated in similar events in previous years, this was the first case competition of its kind, welcoming entries from across the Big XII. Matthew Singler, who worked on the committee that hosted the event, gave details about its scope.
One hundred forty students from BYU, the University of Utah, Utah Valley University, and Iowa State University applied to compete in the competition. A total of 48 applicants were selected, and they were split into 12 highly competitive teams.
The case was provided by Genesis Healthcare System, a network of hospitals in rural Ohio. CEO Matthew Perry, who was in attendance, challenged students to find an issue in their system and fix it in an innovative way.
“It’s a great opportunity to network and build up the ideal that BYU presents of transforming healthcare through Christlike leadership,” Singler remarked.
One requirement was that each team had to combine various disciplines. Emily’s husband, currently working toward a master’s in Healthcare Administration, recruited her to work alongside himself, as well as two students in Public Health and pre-medicine.
“I definitely felt like I was outside my comfort zone,” Emily remarked after the fact. She said that the competition was intense, with every team seeming incredibly capable and bright. Despite some nervousness, her team brought just as much power to the competition.
Each team was given in-depth access to statistics, processes, and other information from Genesis Healthcare, and Emily says that the data is what “gave them the leg up in the competition.” After reviewing it thoroughly, her team found a need: increased support for lung cancer prevention.
Rural Ohio is a manufacturing and mining hub, resulting in generally poor air quality. Furthermore, there are high rates of smoking, which lead to increased risk of lung cancer.
Emily and her team decided that a mobile screening clinic was necessary to identify and treat lung cancer before it becomes deadly.
Emily’s team worked hard to flesh out the idea, working with a professional to create a presentation that would catch the attention of the judges, all of whom were high-ranking officials at places such as Intermountain Healthcare and KLAS Research.
As the team worked, not only did they become more knowledgeable and proficient in the material, they became extremely passionate about their idea. “I think at the end of the day, we believed in our idea so much,” said Emily. “We were like, they need to do this.”
That confidence helped them soar past the competition, clearing round after round until they presented in front of the CEO in the finals. After their victory, he approached them.
“How did you guys know?”
He revealed that Genesis has been considering the same lung cancer issue, looking for data-driven solutions to help citizens of rural Ohio. Needless to say, that was a miraculous moment for Emily and her team.
Additional Big XII healthcare competitions will follow in coming years, and coordinators hope to expand the scope of participating schools and organizations.
Emily encourages nursing students to participate in future competitions; they bring a unique perspective to the table when dealing with healthcare leadership issues.
Congratulations to Emily Keeler and her team. May they continue innovating in their respective fields to make healthcare better for everyone.
To view an interview with Emily and her team, see this social media post.