Page 13 - May 2017

Let’s Connect:

SFHEF Spotlight

South Florida Healthcare

Executive Forum Member

Spotlight May 2017

Urmala Roopnarinesingh currently serves as
the Campus College Chair for the School of
Health Services Administration at the University
of Phoenix in South Florida.
Her role includes enhancing relationships
between the university and the local healthcare
community. Prior to accepting this position she
instructed Health Administration courses at
Keiser University. She has held several senior
executive positions in higher education in South
Florida.
Roopnarinesingh is currently in the final stage
of completing her PhD in Educational
Leadership. She has earned a Master of Health
Services Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in
Sociology and English Literature from the Urmala Roopnarinesingh
University of the West Indies. She is a native of Trinidad and has lived in the United
States for the past seventeen years.
In addition, she is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
She joined the Forum as a Health Services Administration graduate student, served
as an officer in the student chapter and continued her membership which has con-
tributed to her career success. She enjoys playing golf and traveling.

Cover Story: The Need for More Data

Analytics Professionals in South Florida

Continued from page 1
a significant amount of empirical consider the various interventions for
research around the country, interview- each of them and the effectiveness of
ing healthcare providers and representa- such interventions.
tives of healthcare companies and other Armed with this information, she
stakeholders about their need for data might data mine the information about
analytics professionals. As a result, I now other patients in the data set to try to
realize more and more that not only are predict what patients might be suscepti-
such professionals in demand, but stu- ble to various diseases (predictive analyt-
dents and colleges often do not focus ics) and to help determine what inter-
sufficiently on such areas. ventions today might minimize the
Often students fear that they may need patients developing those diseases in the
to be a programmer to critically analyze future (a form of population health man-
data. Although we do need many more agement).
programmers and software engineers, we The real value of pharmacists is in
also need students who can critically their ability to critically analyze patient
analyze data. Thus, a background in pro- data, not in dispensing medications, as
gramming is helpful, along with being more machines will be able to manufac-
facile in mathematics, statistics, databas- ture certain pharmaceuticals on the spot
es, and project management. Students and more technicians will dispense them
who have familiarity with programming under the supervision of a pharmacist.
languages such as Java and/or Python, Will we have sufficient programs in
statistical packages such as SAS and/or South Florida to train professional stu-
R, and can query databases, e.g., with dents in data science and data analytics?
OracleMySQL and/or Microsoft SQL Will we have sufficient undergraduate
Server, are much in demand. programs in this area? If we do not, we
I am asked often what such profes- likely will find it quite difficult to attract
sionals might do with such data analytics companies to South Florida and to grow
training. In the pharmacy space, a phar- the ones we have.
macist who can critically analyze data
might query an existing database to find Paul DeMuro, Of Counsel, Broad and
all the patients with a pharmacy spend of Cassel, can be reached at
$100,000 or more. She then might strat- pdemuro@broadandcassel.com.
ify such patients by disease state and

South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com May 2017 13