ISE alumna Jennifer Rose (Class of 2000) shares the wisdom and experience she has gained from 15 years in healthcare engineering
Jennifer Rose has spent her 15 year career in the healthcare industry with Premier, Duke and now Performance Services. She is a senior director with oversight of management engineers, comparative data, quality programs and patient satisfaction. Rose received her BSIE from NC State in 2000.
What’s the single most important experience or understanding you gained in the ISE department?
Teamwork and collaboration. Much of the work we do in healthcare revolves around multidisciplinary teams. Working as a team during many of my classes and my senior design project really set me up for success as a healthcare employee.
What’s the most pressing issue facing society that engineers should be working harder to solve?
A pressing issue is being able to provide high quality, affordable healthcare to the growing population. Engineers in healthcare should be working harder to understand healthcare reform. For example, within my team we are focused on pay for performance quality programs, care bundles, care redesign, throughput and length of stay, productivity and overall performance improvement. These are all linked and are all key to the future success of healthcare.
What would you like to achieve in your career? What are you most proud of so far?
I am most proud of how much I have grown in the 15 years since I graduated from NC State. I never thought I would be leading a team at Duke, and now I get asked to speak about our program at numerous forums.
What’s the best book you have read?
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This book was a true testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
What advice do you have for current ISE students?
If you know you want to be in the healthcare field, get involved early. Enroll in the healthcare certificate program or try to get an internship. Healthcare is a very complex industry, so the more you know, the more marketable you will be when trying to get a job.