MPH alumni help local company achieve its business goals

Oakland University Master of Public Health (MPH) graduates from the School of Health Sciences are helping MedNetOne, the 900+ member physician and healthcare provider organization based in Rochester, achieve its goals of improving patient outcomes, improving patient satisfaction, reducing healthcare costs and improving physician satisfaction.

There are currently four Oakland MPH grads employed by MedNetOne, which has about 50 employees. According to CEO Ewa Matuszewski, who also serves as an Advisory Board member for the School of Health Sciences, Oakland’s MPH graduates are solidly grounded in the future of health care.

“The OU MPH grads we’ve hired have been exceptional in their ability to get immediately entrenched in complicated work that requires not only an understanding of key healthcare principles but the need to manage multiple external relationships with physicians and their practice teams, payers and community partners,” Matuszewski said. “It’s a juggling act that requires a solid education, strong interpersonal skills and independent judgement.”

Kathryn Correll, Manager of Quality Improvement Strategy and a member of the inaugural MPH graduating class of 2015, cites data analysis as a critical component of her studies.

“The data analytics skills I gained from my biostatistics and epidemiology classes are used daily,” Correll said. “A large part of my role at MedNetOne is to analyze patient data that we receive from payers so that we can assist physicians in improving patient outcomes while reducing health care costs.”

Andrew Kurecka, also a member of the 2015 MPH class, served as a MedNetOne intern alongside Correll. He’s now the Director of Innovation, Research, and Improvement. Like Correll, he cites the importance of OU’s emphasis on data.

“Much of the work I do surrounds Population Health Management. Being able to quickly analyze and review data, while understanding certain health care trends in a given population, have made my job a lot easier than it would have been had I not had my OU MPH training,” Kurecka said.

James DeWitte, a third MPH grad from 2015, turned down a position at a federal health agency to join MedNetOne.

“The MPH degree prepared me for a variety of career options. As a Care Management Strategist, I’m working with partner organizations that support value-based payment models, which are moving toward payment for better patient outcomes and benchmarks for quality and total cost of care. I feel well equipped to handle the complex healthcare delivery issues we face each day,” DeWitte said.

Samantha (Michalak) Karson, OU MPH class of 2017, is a Population Coach and an integral member of the quality improvement team. She works with primary care physician member practices on various quality improvement initiatives, such as closing gaps in care and supporting practice transformation activities and the Patient-Centered Medical Home model. She says collaboration and communication are the keys to her professional success. “These skills were emphasized regularly within the MPH program and I use them every day on the job.”

In addition to their MPH degrees, Karson, DeWitte, Kurecka and Correll all hold undergraduate degrees from Oakland as well.