Pallotta is One of Only 30 Out of 100 Applicants Accepted

By Laura Freeman

Not so long ago, a healthcare delivery system was a doctor, a medical bag and perhaps a horse-drawn buggy for making house calls.

Delivering health care in America today has become far more complex. Even a small practice requires a staff with the expertise to deal with multiple payer requirements and government regulations. New layers of nuance are being added daily as biosciences, technology and AI continue to evolve. Multiply that by the number of patients a larger practice or medical facility serves and the challenge grows.

Practice management and hospital administration have become specialties in themselves. To meet the need for professionals with in-depth knowledge and the skills to manage the business side of health care, major universities and medical schools have been expanding their degree programs in health care delivery.

One example that has been receiving high marks is Dartmouth’s Master of Healthcare Delivery Sciences program (MHCDS). This year, out of 1,000 applicants, the first student from Alabama was among 30 who were accepted. Anthony Pallotta, MSHQS, Practice Administrator of Birmingham Pulmonary Group, is already well into the fall semester.

“The program is a hybrid course of study that begins with an immersive two-week residency followed by live online classes and an ongoing collaborative project with your six-member study work group,” Pallotta said. “There’s another residency early next year, and as we develop and complete our project, we will be presenting our solutions to real care facilities that are seeking help with the problem.”

At the beginning of the term, students were given a list of projects and allowed to rank their order of preference. Then study group leaders were selected and they in turn chose five other members from those interested in the project.

“I was pleased to be able to with my first choice,” Pallotta said. “We are working on ways to improve access to care for cancer patients at the Mayo Clinic.”

Cancer treatment is a specialty that the Mayo Clinic is noted for and has a long track record providing. However there are still challenges.

“Basically it’s a matter of coordinating timing,” Pallotta said. “Many patients seek treatment at the Mayo Clinic. We want to make openings for new patients available in a way that considers both the urgency of their need and when in the course of the disease patients are best able to receive the maximum benefits from care. At the end of the term, we’ll be presenting our plan on-site in Minnesota, and then again at the Dartmouth College MHCDS Panel.”

This year’s Dartmouth class is made up of 16 physicians and 14 students in areas related to practice management who already have advanced degrees in the field.

“Many of the physicians are looking toward careers as chief medical officers of large institutions,” Pallotta said. “Practice Administrators like me want to be ready for the changes we see coming as advances in health sciences, technology, shifts in the populations we serve and influences like AI become a factor.

“We learn so much from each other, seeing how people from different areas and different skill sets approach things in different ways. You notice things you may not have considered before. It broadens our perspective so we are able to get in the habit of thinking outside the box.”

In addition to working full-time as an administrator at a busy Birmingham pulmonary group that is part of the St. Vincent’s/UAB healthcare system, Pallotta is a father to two children under age six, and he sets aside at least 15 hours a week for his live online class plus extensive preparation, follow-up and project work. Classmates from all over the country and as far away as Manila stay in close contact as they work, and they will be flying in for another intensive residency at Dartmouth early next year.

“The faculty has been very welcoming and supportive, and I’ve met some really terrific people in the class. They are very talented, but also very human and that makes it easier to connect and exchange ideas,” Pallotta said.

Next spring, when Pallotta adds a second masters degree to his CV, will the time, hard work, travel and multiple interviews in the rigorous selection process be worth the effort to become Alabama’s first graduate in Dartmouth’s Masters of Healthcare Delivery Sciences program?

“Definitely. We’re working to bring home to our organizations things that can make a real difference in how healthcare is delivered to patients for years to come,” he said.