Students must complete an industry-relevant healthcare systems engineering capstone project, under the supervision and guidance of Lehigh faculty and industry partners. Recent capstone projects have focused on projects such as quality management, patient flow capacity optimization, operating room scheduling, hospital occupancy planning, healthcare supply chains, data mining and health informatics, ER patient throughput optimization, optimal patient care delivery, hospital acquired infections (HAI), therapeutic optimization, medical decision making, pharmaceutical applications, chronic care modeling.
Students work individually or in small groups on healthcare delivery projects that are applicable to their professional interests and the broader needs of the industry, in topics that range from operational to clinical management. Here is a sampling of some of our projects:
Understanding the Millennial Healthcare Decision-Making Process: Why It Matters
What millennials are looking for in healthcare and how providers are catering to them
Identifying Opportunities in Neurotrauma ICU Step Down
Analysis of the ICU stepdown process for neurotrauma patients
Women's Health Center Scheduling Design
Operational Improvements at Reading Hospital’s Women’s Health Center
The Future of Urology: Projecting the Impact of Telemedicine on a Practice
Feasibility and impact analysis of implementing telemedicine for urology visits
Analysis of the ED Inpatient Admission Process
Workflow and time analysis of the ED inpatient admission process
Causes for High Emergency Department Length of Stay
An end-to-end analysis of the operational challenges of an ED department
Designing a Safe Pathway for Diabetic Patients Underdoing Total Joint Replacement
A pathway design for ensuring safe care for diabetic patients pre, during and post-surgery
Improving Task Distribution within a Clinical Research Environment
A resource and workflow distribution analysis to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness in a clinical research environment
Urban ED Forecasting and Operational Benchmarking
Analysis of predictors for visit volumes, resource impacts with applications to Philadelphia
Continuous Improvement Strategies in Healthcare Organizations
An overview of healthcare organizations’ perspectives on continuous improvement
Optimization of Patient Distribution in an Emergency Department
Operational changes to improve throughput through the Rapid Assessment Unit
Prediction of Suitability for Robotic Surgery in Colon Cancer Patients
Statistical analysis of the impact of and pre-operative predictors for converting colon cancer patients from robotic to open surgery
Applications of Technology in Advancing Diabetes II Prevention, Diagnosis and Management
A disease progression view of the challenges and tech-based interventions in diabetes care
Reducing Time to Stroke Treatment for Mechanical Thrombectomies
Observing both real time and previously collected data for mechanical thrombectomy patients to develop a detailed process map to improve operational metrics
Adhering to Imaging Study Standards for Patients with Uncomplicated Low Back Pain
Comparing and analyzing two outpatient clinic processes and differing rates of ordering radiologic studies for low back pain
Improvement of a Surgery Scheduling System at an Orthopedic Hospital
Improving the prediction of hospital bed availability for the scheduler and increasing bed utilization
Inventory Management System at the Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley
Utilizing a lean transformation framework to implement an inventory management system that increases compliance and reduces costs.
Reducing Wait Time in The Heart Center at the American Hospital in Dubai
Reduce patient wait time during outpatient clinic visits