Positions

Overview

  • Christy Harris Lemak, PhD, FACHE is Professor in the Department of Health Services Administration where she served as Chair from 2014-2022. Christy teaches and conducts research in the areas of health care management and leadership development, with an emphasis on how leadership and organizational factors are associated with high performance. She has examined a complex pay-for-value program for physicians, social determinants of health for vulnerable populations, interventions to improve population health, and the career trajectories of women leaders in health care. Her current work examines leadership competences for CEOs and CIOs for the digital transformation of the health care system.

    Christy currently serves as a Board Member of Community Hospital Corporation (Plano, TX) and the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame. A nationally recognized leader, she was the 2022 recipient of the Gary L. Filerman Prize for Educational Leadership from the Association of University Programs in Health Administration, a recipient of 2021 Leader in Diversity Award from the Birmingham Business Journal, and the 2020 recipient of the Mylon Fottler Award for Exceptional Service from the Academy of Management Health Care Management Division.

    Previously, Christy was a faculty member in Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan and the Michael O. and Barbara Bice Professor of Health Services Research, Management and Policy at the University of Florida. She holds a PhD in Health Services Organization and Policy from the University of Michigan, MHA and MBA degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a BS in Health Planning and Administration from the University of Illinois.
  • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2022 LEARNING THROUGH DIVERSITY: CREATING A VIRTUOUS CYCLE OF HEALTH EQUITY IN HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONSAdvances in health care management.  21:167-189. 2022
    2022 Competency analysis and educational strategies to meet the demand for a learning health system workforceLearning Health Systems.  6. 2022
    2022 Mapping 2 Decades of Research in Health Services Research, Health Policy, and Health Economics JournalsMedical Care.  60:264-272. 2022
    2022 Health system chief diversity officers: who are they and what do they do?Health Services Management Research2022
    2021 Hospital staffing patterns and safety culture perceptions: The mediating role of perceived teamwork and perceived handoffsHealth Care Management Review.  46:227-236. 2021
    2020 Resource-based view on safety culture's influence on hospital performance: The moderating role of electronic health record implementationHealth Care Management Review.  45:207-216. 2020
    2020 Vertical Integration Into Skilled Nursing Facilities and Hospital Readmission RatesJournal for Healthcare Quality.  42:91-97. 2020
    2019 Knowing Better and Doing Better to Advance Women in Academic SurgeryJAMA Network Open.  2:e1910211. 2019
    2019 Market and organizational factors associated with hospital vertical integration into sub-acute careHealth Care Management Review.  44:137-147. 2019
    2019 Practice strategies to improve primary care for chronic disease patients under a pay-for-value programHealthcare.  7:30-37. 2019
    2019 What happens when a hospital buys a nursing home? An examination of the effects of hospital vertical integration into skilled nursing facilities on hospital operating marginJournal of health care finance.  46. 2019
    2018 Hospital vertical integration into subacute care as a strategic response to value-based payment incentives, market factors, and organizational factors: A multiple-case studyInquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing.  55. 2018
    2017 Predictive Value of Screening for Addressable Social Risk Factors 2017
    2017 Essential Values for Population Health ImprovementPopulation Health Management.  20:249-251. 2017
    2017 Outcomes for high-needs patients: Practices with a higher proportion of these patients have an edgeHealth Affairs.  36:476-484. 2017
    2017 Sustained Participation in a Pay-for-Value Program: Impact on High-Need PatientsAmerican Journal of Managed Care.  23:e33-e40. 2017
    2016 A leadership development program for surgeons: First-year participant evaluationSurgery.  160:255-263. 2016
    2016 A Leadership development program for surgeons: First-year participant evaluationSurgery2016
    2016 Health Administration Faculty: Intentions to Retire, Leave the Profession, and Change JobsThe Journal of health administration education.  33:253-270. 2016
    2016 Leadership Characteristics of Academic Administrators in Health Administration: A Brief ReportThe Journal of health administration education.  33:321-332. 2016
    2016 Salaries of Academics in Health Administration: Have Wages Kept Up with Inflation (2009-2015)?The Journal of health administration education.  33:295-305. 2016
    2016 Work-life Balance Among Health Adminstration Faculty Who Are ParentsThe Journal of health administration education.  33:333-350. 2016
    2015 Designing a leadership development program for surgeonsJournal of Surgical Research.  200:53-58. 2015
    2015 Michigan's fee-for-value physician incentive program reduces spending and improves quality in primary careHealth Affairs.  34:645-652. 2015
    2014 Career inflection points of women who successfully achieved the hospital CEO position 2014
    2014 Do provider service networks result in lower expenditures compared with HMOs or primary care case management in Florida's Medicaid program?Health Services Research.  49:858-877. 2014
    2014 Postgraduate Fellowship Chase: Lessons and Recommendations from Five ProgramsThe Journal of health administration education.  87-110. 2014
    2014 Reported experiences with medicaid managed care models among parents of childrenMaternal and Child Health Journal.  18:544-553. 2014
    2014 The quality of surgical care in safety net hospitals: A systematic reviewSurgery.  155:826-838. 2014
    2013 Incentives for healthy behaviors: Experience from florida medicaid's enhanced benefit rewards programJournal of Primary Care and Community Health.  4:112-118. 2013
    2013 A positive deviance perspective on hospital knowledge management: Analysis of baldrige award recipients 2002-2008 2013
    2013 Engaging primary care physicians in quality improvement: lessons from a payer-provider partnership. 2013
    2012 Physician practice responses to financial incentive programs: Exploring the concept of implementation mechanismsAdvances in health care management.  13:29-58. 2012
    2012 Developing leaders in surgeryJAMA Surgery.  147:944-945. 2012
    2012 Leadership Development in Surgery 2012
    2012 Physician Practice Reponses to Financial Incentive Programs: Exploring the Concept of Implementation Mechanisms. Annual Review of Health Care Management: Strategy and Policy Perspectives on Reforming Health SystemsAdvances in health care management.  13:29-58. 2012
    2011 Navigating patient navigation: Crossing health services research and clinical boundariesAdvances in health care management.  11:149-183. 2011
    2011 Changes in per member per month expenditures after implementation of florida's medicaid reform demonstrationHealth Services Research.  46:787-804. 2011
    2011 Timeless truths. NCHL to promote leadership development that works whatever future holds.Modern healthcare.  41:25. 2011
    2011 Successful implementation in the public sector: Lessons learned from Florida's medicaid reform programJournal of Public Health Management and Practice.  17:154-163. 2011
    2011 Developing Healthcare Leaders: What We Have Learned, and What is Next. White Paper 2011
    2011 Improving Healthcare Management Education Using Principals from Baldrige and Evidence-Based ManagementThe Journal of health administration education.  28:187-208. 2011
    2011 The Evolving Leadership Development Agenda in Health Care: A CommentaryAdvances in health care management.  10:167-169. 2011
    2010 Outsourcing administrative functions: Service organization demonstrations and Florida medicaid PCCM program costsJournal of health care finance.  37:1-12. 2010
    2009 A malpractice lawsuit simulation: Critical care providers learn as participants in a mock trialCritical Care Nurse.  29:52-60. 2009
    2009 Organizational determinants of outpatient substance abuse treatment duration in womenJournal of Substance Abuse Treatment.  37:64-72. 2009
    2008 Expanding the definition of access: It isn't just about health insuranceJournal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.  19:625-638. 2008
    2008 Tailored treatment in the outpatient substance abuse treatment sector: 1995-2005Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.  34:282-292. 2008
    2008 Evaluating Florida's medicaid provider services network demonstrationHealth Services Research.  43:384-400. 2008
    2008 A Bedsore Medical Malpractice Lawsuit: Critical Care Providers Learn as ParticipantsCritical Care Nurse2008
    2008 Variations in hospital administrative costs 2008
    2007 Innovative teaching for health law: a case study of a hospital medical malpractice lawsuit simulation.The Journal of health administration education.  24:43-57. 2007
    2007 Tailoring of outpatient substance abuse treatment to women, 1995-2005Medical Care.  45:775-780. 2007
    2007 Case management and client access to health and social services in outpatient substance abuse treatmentJournal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.  34:221-236. 2007
    2007 Do licensing and accreditation matter in outpatient substance abuse treatment programs?Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.  33:43-50. 2007
    2007 Is managed care closing substance abuse treatment units?Managed care interface.  20:28-32. 2007
    2006 Insights from a national survey into why substance abuse treatment units add prevention and outreach servicesSubstance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy.  1. 2006
    2006 Analyzing administrative costs in hospitalsHealth Care Management Review.  31:347-354. 2006
    2005 Organizational survival in the outpatient substance abuse treatment sector, 1988-2000Medical Care Research and Review.  62:697-719. 2005
    2005 Factors associated with interorganizational relationships among outpatient drug treatment organizations 1990-2000Health Services Research.  40:1356-1378. 2005
    2005 Factors that influence staffing of outpatient substance abuse treatment programsPsychiatric Services.  56:934-939. 2005
    2005 Politically Connected: Using Organization Theory to Strengthen the Political Competency of Health Care Executives.The Journal of health administration education.  22:67-84-67-84. 2005
    2005 Politically connected: increasing the political competency of healthcare executives in health policy.The Journal of health administration education.  22:67-83. 2005
    2004 Collaboration to improve services for the uninsured: Exploring the concept of health navigators as interorganizational integratorsHealth Care Management Review.  29:196-206. 2004
    2003 Changes in Managed Care Activity in Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Organizations, 1995-2000Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.  30:369-381. 2003
    2003 Administrative burden and its implications for outpatient substance abuse treatment organizationsPsychiatric Services.  54:705-711. 2003
    2003 Creating a Financialy Sound Strategic Plan: An Interview with Christy Harris Lemak, PhD and Louis C. Gapenski, PhD 2003
    2003 Strategy as simple rules: Understanding success in a rural clinicHealth Care Management Review.  28:179-188. 2003
    2003 Why do drug treatment organizations use contingent staffing arrangements? An analysis of market and social influencesJournal of Health and Social Behavior.  44:180-197. 2003
    2002 Medical Group Practice Information Systems Used within Managed Care EnvironmentsJournal of Ambulatory Care Management.  25:40-51. 2002
    2002 The adoption of computer-based information systems by medical groups in a managed care environmentJournal of Ambulatory Care Management.  25:40-51. 2002
    2001 Managed care and drug treatment practices: A model of organizational response to external influenceAdvances in health care management.  2:131-159. 2001
    2001 Managed care and outpatient substance abuse treatment intensityJournal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.  28:12-29. 2001
    2001 Selective contracting in managed care: The case of substance abuse treatmentMedical Care Research and Review.  58:455-481. 2001
    1998 Managed care and technical efficiency in outpatient substance abuse treatment unitsJournal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.  25:377-396. 1998
    1997 Directors' perceptions of the effects of managed care in outpatient substance abuse treatmentJournal of substance abuse.  9:1-14. 1997
    1997 Managed Care Penetration in Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment UnitsMedical Care Research and Review.  54:490-507. 1997
    1997 The Effects of Managed Care on Administrative Burden in Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment FacilitiesMedical Care.  35:1060-1068. 1997
    1996 Beyond adoption to sustained use: Telemedicine for rural communitiesTelemedicine and e-Health.  2:285-293. 1996

    Book

    Year Title Altmetric
    2011 The evolving leadership development agenda in health care: A commentary.  Ed. 10.  2011

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2016 The Need for Leaders: Leadership for the Future (chapter) 2016
    2015 Healthcare Reform: Implications for Leadership 2015
    2015 Managing and Governing Health Care Organizations. 2015
    2011 Timeless Truths: NCHL to promote leadership development that works whatever the future holds.  25-25. 2011
    2003 Timeless Truths.  4-6. 2003
    2000 Introduction Chapter 2000
    1989 Keeping Rural Facilities Alive and Well.  44-45. 1989

    Research Overview

  • Health care management and leadership development, with an emphasis on how leadership and organizational factors are associated with high performance.

    Complex pay-for-value program for physicians, social determinants of health for vulnerable populations, interventions to improve population health, and the career trajectories of women leaders in health care.
  • Teaching Overview

  • Christy teaches in the areas of health care management and leadership development, with an emphasis on how leadership and organizational factors are associated with high performance.
  • Teaching Activities

  • 06-404 - HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS (Fall Term 2017)
  • 06-404 - HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS (Fall Term 2019)
  • 06-404 - HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS (Fall Term 2020)
  • 06-404 - HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS (Fall Term 2021)
  • 06-404 - HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS (Fall Term 2022)
  • AHD706 - Strat Mgmt Theory and Research (Summer Term 2022)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Fall Term 2014)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Fall Term 2015)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Fall Term 2016)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Fall Term 2017)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Fall Term 2018)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Fall Term 2019)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Fall Term 2020)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Fall Term 2021)
  • HA637 - Leadership (Spring Term 2017)
  • HA680 - Health Administration Capstone (Spring Term 2016)
  • HA680 - Health Administration Capstone (Spring Term 2019)
  • HA680 - Health Administration Capstone (Spring Term 2020)
  • HA680 - Health Administration Capstone (Spring Term 2021)
  • HA680 - Health Administration Capstone (Spring Term 2022)
  • HA680 - Health Administration Capstone (Spring Term 2023)
  • HA695 - Independent Study (Spring Term 2015)
  • HCI611 - Foundations of AI in Medicine (Spring Term 2023)
  • HQS630 - Ldrshp High Reliability HCOs (Fall Term 2021)
  • HQS630 - Ldrshp High Reliability HCOs (Fall Term 2021)
  • HQS630 - Ldrshp High Reliability HCOs (Spring Term 2021)
  • HQS630 - Ldrshp High Reliability HCOs (Spring Term 2022)
  • HQS630 - Ldrshp High Reliability HCOs (Spring Term 2023)
  • HRP410 - Honors Project (Spring Term 2016)
  • HRP410 - Honors Project (Spring Term 2017)
  • HRP410 - Honors Project (Summer Term 2017)
  • HRP410 - Honors Research Project (Spring Term 2018)
  • Education And Training

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Health Services / Allied Health / Health Sciences, University of Michigan System : Ann Arbor 1998
  • Master of Business Administration in Business Administration and Management, University of Missouri System : Columbia 1988
  • Master of Health Related in Health Services Administration, University of Missouri System : Columbia 1988
  • Bachelor of Science or Mathematics in Health and Medical Administrative Services, University of Illinois System : Urbana-Champaign 1986
  • Full Name

  • Christy Lemak