The capstone project is the culmination of the UW Master of Health Administration (MHA) studies. It is designed to give students meaningful hands-on experience in solving real-world health administration problems.
Working in teams of three to four students, teams tackle projects submitted by health care provider organizations in the Seattle area and present recommendations to the participating organizations.
Capstone Project Examples
Listed capstone projects are from the 2024 MHA class.
Washington State Health Care Authority – Exploration of disparities and inequities faced by complex discharge clients
- Key Learnings:
- Research and analysis into barriers to discharging complex Medicaid acute care patients to post-acute care, and comparing effectiveness of Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs)
- Developed recommended policies and tactics for HCA and MCOs to proactively manage complex discharge patients
UW Medicine Hospital and Clinics – Define the business case for an enterprise wide environmental sustainability program
- Key Learnings:
- Analysis and development of return-on-investment of three hospital-based sustainability projects
- Developed tactics for implementation and communications recognizing the importance of sustainability efforts on the broader health system employee engagement
Providence-Swedish Puget Sound Ambulatory Clinical Network – Patient service delivery business plan-Customer service improvement strategies
- Key Learnings:
- Analysis of clinic patient satisfaction drivers and observation of patient engagement workflows
- Developed recommendations for enhancing communications with and decreasing wait times for patients
Proliance Surgical Group – Evaluate and recommend internal vendor contracting process both operations and financial
- Key Learnings:
- Understanding the inefficiencies and risks of decentralized vendor contracting within a medical group structure
- Developed contract authorization decision tools, process workflows, and change management resources for implementation at two surgical centers
Seattle Children’s Hospital – Developing and implementing a midpoint evaluation of Community Health Improvement Strategies (CHIS) and tracking dashboard
- Key Learnings:
- Understanding of various CHIS and measuring implementation tactics
- Developing effective tools for collecting, analyzing, and communicating progress on CHIS implementation (i.e., CHIS dashboard)
Seattle Children’s Hospital – Close-loop referral system implementation for Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) positive screens
- Key Learnings:
- Connecting with Community-based Organizations (CBOs) to link to SCH and take patients who positively screen for SDOH needs
- Developed a learning needs assessment and trainings for CBOs to stay connected to SCH and provide regular service reporting
Seattle Roots (formerly Country Doctor Community Health Clinic) – Screening for Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) – Process review, develop implementation and evaluation plan
- Key Learnings:
- Identification of various barriers to SDOH screening in clinics, including staff engagement, workflow, and patient reluctance
- Research and analysis into the effects of SDOH screening and the improvement in health of populations
Washington State Medical Association – Develop a statewide peer support resource to strengthen physician wellness and restore joy in practice
- Key Learnings:
- Research into and development of a wellness webinar series focusing on empowerment, support, and organizational change
- Research and development of a structure for a state-wide rollout of peer support groups
UW Medicine – Business continuity planning for clinical workflows
- Key Learnings:
- Understanding the interface of clinical workflows and electronic health records and the related effects of clinical systems downtime
- Research into frameworks and development of workflows for managing clinical processes when in a downtime situation